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Announcing My New Book:
Tokyo Disney Made Easy-The Unofficial Guide to
Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea

Want to visit the Tokyo Disney Resort but unsure how to do it? Don't know the customs? Worried about not speaking Japanese? This book provides explanations of likely situations. You'll learn where to go, what to say, and what to expect during every part of the trip, including the airport, transportation to the resort, hotels, and of course the parks themselves. Language and cultural differences no longer form an insurmountable hurdle. Visit the world's most exciting Disney parks in comfort and ease, confident you'll know what to do at each step

At 174 pages, this book dwells long enough on each topic to make readers really feel ready for the next situation, even before it happens. And it's not just my impressions; this book has been vetted by some of the biggest Internet boosters out there for Tokyo Disneyland, including several on our MiceChat discussion board. Their commentary, suggestions, and ideas have been taken to heart, and led to some drastic revisions from the early drafts they saw. Much of the strengths of this book come from them, and I owe them all a debt of gratitude.

Here's a listing of the index, to give you an idea of what kinds of topics are covered and in what depth:

Planning the Trip Attraction Descriptions Where to Eat
Timeline Tokyo Disneyland Overview Themed Restaurants
Deciding How Many Days to Stay World Bazaar Sample Menu Items and Prices
Choosing the Right Season Tomorrowland English Menus and Western Expectations
Avoiding Crowded Days of the Week Toontown Food Carts
Avoiding Commuter Hassles Fantasyland Tipping
Avoiding Attraction Refurbishments Critter Country Reservations
Selecting the Right Hotel Westernland A Typical Dining Transaction
Making Hotel Reservations Adventureland -
Making Airline Reservations Tokyo DisneySea Overview Where to Shop
- Mediterranean Harbor Where to Find What
Before You Leave American Waterfront Bon Voyage
What to Pack Cape Cod Ikspiari
Money Matters Mysterious Island A Typical Shopping Transaction
Checklist For Leaving Your Home Port Discovery -
- Lost River Delta Visiting With Babies, Toddlers, or Preschoolers
Arrival and Transferring to Your Hotel Arabian Coast Surviving the Long Plane Ride and Jet Lag
Arriving at Narita Mermaid Lagoon Baby Centers
Transferring to Your Hotel - Changing Tables
Arriving at the Tokyo Disney Resort Some Japanese Words You Should Learn Strollers
Tokyo Disneyland Attractions Won't English Be Enough? Buying More Supplies
Tokyo DisneySea Attractions Phrase Book or Dictionary Child Switch
Shows and Parades Learning Some Japanese Before Your Trip No Lap Infants on Rides
- Initial Details About Japanese Grammar Toddler Playground
Park Admission and Touring Plan Phrases About Speaking Japanese Height Requirements for Thrill Rides
Buying Tickets Numbers and Counting -
Transportation to the Park Phrases for Rides/Attractions Venturing Outside Disney
The Golden Rule: Start the Day Early Phrases for Dining Choosing Hotels and Having a ‘Home Base' Hotel
Options for Creating Your Touring Plan Phrases for Shopping Japan Rail Pass
- Phrases About You Navigating Train Stations
Time Savers Bathroom Bullet Train Reservations
FASTPASS Travel and Directions City Maps
Single Rider Lines Time and Calendar Toilet Topics
Child Switch Colors Japanese Signs and Asking Directions
Restaurant Hints Other General Words Miscellaneous Customs
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Money Savers Maximizing FASTPASS Returning Home
Coupons or Discounts FASTPASS Definition Checking Out of the Hotel
Skipping the Monorail Where to Use FASTPASS Transferring to Narita Airport
Restaurant Strategies Where to Use Standby Check-In at the Airline
Food Carts Obtaining a Second FASTPASS Returning Home and Recovering
Snacks From Outside Late Return Planning Your Next Visit
Eat Outside the Park - -
Cheap Souvenirs - -

The book is not fully ready just yet; I'm still making some very minor tweaks and polishing the language from some professional editing. The release date is July 1, 2008, and it will be available at Amazon.

But I've had some folks email me that they are going NOW and could really benefit from this guide. Many ask if I have anything at all they can use. Well, I do have one thing. I printed up about a hundred copies, with the right cover artwork, to send out to reviewers and magazines, and I have about twenty of those left over that I could sell. This version is missing the attractions descriptions but is otherwise complete.

If you're interested, the cost would be $20, including shipping. But since I have so few of those, we need to restrict sales. Email me at [email protected] if you're interested, and I'll reply back how to pay (or I'll let you know if I'm sold out).

Please don't order if you don't need one right away. There are folks going in spring or summer 2008 who could benefit from this book; if your trip is August or later, may I convince you to wait until Amazon has it in early July?


Announcing My Other New Book:
Mouse Trap-Memoir of a Disneyland Cast Member

Last year I sold a preview version of this book, a 200-page recounting of my time working at Disneyland over fifteen years. Now it is finally ready! Amazon won't have it until early July, and the cover price will be $17.99 (onto which you may have to tack on shipping). But I'm selling it directly to you for $16.99, including tax and shipping via the link below

Buy via PayPal:

I spent the majority of those years working in Cafe Orleans and French Market as a Working Lead (the hourly version of manager). If you've followed my online columns before, that won't come as a surprise. What I've never announced publicly before, and thus might surprise you, is the final career as a CM I had in the early 2000s, working for Entertainment Art, a sub-department of the Entertainment Division responsible for putting out temporary displays, temporary decorations, and temporary makeovers. With some notable exceptions, I mostly worked on the ‘crew' who did the actual installations and removals. While that sounds pretty unglamorous here in black and white, it meant I got to roam the park and backstage pretty much at will, and it opened my eyes to a lot of what Disneyland was really like.

That silver Mickey was created by Disneyland’s Entertainment Art department.
That silver Mickey was created by Disneyland's Entertainment Art department.

The combined job experiences were so varied and so much fun for a Disney enthusiast that I knew I'd have to share them with the world. I'd been planning a book on being a Disneyland CM even in the early 90s, so it came as a shock to me when David Koenig's Mouse Tales first came out. In that volume, I recognized instantly many features of the CM life and attitudes. Yet there were also gaps. David was never a CM himself, and without his ‘boots on the ground', it wasn't really possible to provide a full snapshot of that life.

So I pressed on with my preparations, outlines, and notes. Over the years as an online columnist, I've sometimes tapped those notes for smaller anecdotes, and of course my views and attitudes as they exist today were originally formed during those years as a CM, so they've really been central to me being who I am. It's taken me years to write up those notes into a single narrative.

By way of introducing the book, let me simply present the chapters and provide a brief synopsis of each one:

Welcome to the Disneyland Cast!

This is the story of interviewing and hiring in, and the orientation programs back in 1987. You'll also read about job types and benefits for each type.

Me (on the right) in 1987.
Me (on the right) in 1987.

Studying at the Disney University

This chapter provides specifics on ‘continuing education' courses offered at the Disney University, like Lead Development, Guest Complaints for Leads, Performance Appraisals for Leads, and We Create Happiness.

We Are Family

Disneyland did an awful lot of community building. Read my accounts of canoe races, Disney Family Christmas Parties, Backstage Magic, Cast Blast, Working Lead Appreciation Events, Distinguished Service Award Banquets, Minnie's Moonlit Madness, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Spirit Award pins, tours of WDI and the Disney Studios, Flashback, and, since this is a chapter about family, that omnipresent visitor Arthur Holmson.

A cake in 1994, for my first parting with the company.
A cake in 1994, for my first parting with the company.

The Happiest Backstage on Earth

Follow along on a verbal tour of the entire Disneyland backstage, going behind the berm, into the tunnels and underground areas, and circle all the way around the back, passing by maintenance buildings of all stripes.

Innovation and Reinvention

A front-line CM has the ability to suggest ways to improve the workplace around him; these are some of my suggestions. Some were approved; others not. You'll also read about the creation of the Fantasmic Dessert Balcony.

We're Not Carrots!

A definition and description of my department called New Orleans Restaurants. See what it's like to work in the Blue Bayou, in the CM teria, in the cavernous food prep kitchen downstairs, or in the steaming dishroom with an SUV-sized dish machine.

Some Enchanted Evening

Enchanted Evenings were private parties restricted to just one land, with lavish decorations and special menus. From the private opening of Toontown to Liz Taylor's gala 60th birthday party in Fantasyland, I share my observations and experiences.

The Lead costume in 1990.
The Lead costume in 1990.

Maggots, Fires, and Falling Elevators

Stories of mishaps are universal to any workplace, but somehow they are just more fun when they take place at Disneyland. To the stories mentioned in the chapter title, I could add stories of falling stacks of trays, CMs stealing money, bomb threats, and even the CM with the most Guest complaints in our location.

Stupid Guest Tricks

From lost kids to strange Guest complaints, this section tackles the unusual interactions with the visitors. Don't miss my strange series of things that fell from the sky: bird poop, bones, berries, and wristwatches seem to materialize with no warning. And no accounting of guest tricks would be complete without the requisite clam chowder fight.

Boys Will Be Boys

What could be more fun than a chapter dedicated to listing the ways people goof off while at work? There's playfulness with the cashcart, horseplay (some of it involving the Mouse-O-Rail), last day pranks, and some roaming around in off-limits backstage areas.

Raging Hormones

Attraction, infatuation, and even stalking occurs at Disneyland too. Hook-ups were so prevalent, I created a ‘kissing web' to chart who was kissing whom, and it was astonishing to see just how connected the department was. Hear also about the places people would retreat to for some time alone, often just steps away from the Guests.

I folded and painted an awful lot of ribbons.
I folded and painted an awful lot of ribbons.

The Disneyland Ninjas

This is the chapter on Entertainment Art, with the cavernous warehouse of props located off-property and the constant placing and removing of decorations onstage. Almost every story here is fun and fascinating in its own right, but two in particular stand out: crafting many of the decorations you see in the Haunted Mansion Holiday (that is MY name on the naughty/nice list in the snake's mouth, 17 names down from the top), and being inside a fully deserted Disneyland at noon on September 11, 2001.

The shadows tell the story: this is the middle of the day, with no one around.
The shadows tell the story: this is the middle of the day, with no one around.

Escaping the Mouse Trap

From goodbye parties on the last day of work, to young people who die during their days as a CM (and the big funerals that result), all of us escape the mouse trap eventually. Not that we ever escape mentally.

With the exception of the chapter on EntArt, all of these stories relate Disneyland life from the perspective of my restaurants, and doesn't try to present a holistic view of all of Disneyland. After all, I didn't work in those locations and didn't live those experiences. Not that my memories are unique. I have no doubt there are thousands of DL CMs out there, current and former, who have equally interesting memories, and I hope some of them publish their stories, too.

Behind the Indian Village.
Behind the Indian Village.

At 200 pages, the book relates my stories in enough detail to provide a ‘you are there' feel, but tries to move quickly to the next topic, not lingering overly long on any one memory. I tried to keep the audience in mind as I wrote this, stripping out the parts that are presumably only interesting to me (the crass term for self-absorbed writing is ‘literary masturbation'). The result is hopefully a snappy, breezy read that paints a picture of how dynamic life as a CM is, how fun it can be, and how much a sense of family it engendered, at least in my case.

The final cover art has taken some time, but is now finally ready.

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© 2008 Kevin Yee

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