Went to Tokyo Disneyland and came disappointed about lack of language accessibility for foreigners on rides. Missed opportunity?

[AztecComplex]

So I recently went to Tokyo Disneyland and came out very disappointed that all rides had no options whatsoever for foreigners to enjoy when it came to language accessibility.

While I was there I saw plenty of overseas tourists in the park and while they do have signage, brochures, and menus in English they had none of that for the rides themselves. This is especially bad for those rides where understanding the story is the whole point of the ride like when watching a 3D movie attraction for example.

Of course I'm not demanding the rides being dubbed into English but Disney being an American company first they could, in my opinion, offer subtitles in some way, or lend portable devices that do simultaneous translations for particular rides or attractions. I know in elsewhere Japan they're well known because I was given one when I climbed Tokyo Tower to the top and said device worked wonderfully translating to me stuff judging by where I was standing. It was witchcraft as far as I was concerned!

Just how many non Japanese speakers do these parks get? Are they so few that the park shouldn't care? You think this could be a missed opportunity?

Doing a 50 minute queue only to find out I got into a 3D movie theater that was half live action performers and half a 3D screen that's all only in Japanese was disheartening (that Aladdin attraction starring the Genie at Tokyo DisneySea).

Other than that I still had a ton of fun at Tokyo Disneyland and the staff were incredibly courteous and friendly. Japanese people sure as hell know how to be good hosts!

 

[sirap]

Universal Studios is (was?) even worse. Seeing all my favorite Hollywood blockbuster rides dubbed in Japanese was hilarious though.

 

[NekoFever]

Universal Studios is (was?) even worse. Seeing all my favorite Hollywood blockbuster rides dubbed in Japanese was hilarious though.

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T2 3D at Universal Studios Japan is amazing for this reason.

 

[ForKevdo]

Goes to a Japanese amusement park, wonders where all the English catering is

Wonder if Chinese people whine about the lack of Chinese at Disney Anaheim

 

[subpar spatula]

Umm... don't go to Disneyland Tokyo if you can't understand Japanese?

 

[MikeHattsu]

Disney being an American company first they could, in my opinion, offer subtitles in some way, or lend portable devices that do simultaneous translations for particular rides or attractions.

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Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea is owned and run by Oriental Land Company, not Disney though.

 

[Jonnax]

You come off as the stereotype of the indignant English speaker going "how dare you not speak English in your country"

 

[duckroll]

Umm... don't go to Disneyland Tokyo if you can't understand Japanese?

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That is not reality though? There are tons of visitors who don't understand Japanese visiting the park. That's why all the signage and broadcast messages tend to also be in English. I don't think the performances and the rides have to be translated because in many cases it's a bit hard, but replying with "don't go if you don't understand Japanese" is a really dumb thing to say when we're talking about Tokyo Disneyland lol.

 

[signal]

Would be pointless. I guess they could provide museum / gallery style audio translation devices but a lot of the shows like the animatronic band thing or the lilo and stich show include a lot of live / improvised acts so that wouldn't really work.

There aren't enough foreign visitors to make even occasional non-Japanese shows worthwhile I think. Well maybe Chinese ones lol.

PS fuck space mountain

 

[FF Seraphim]

Good reason to start brushing up on your Japanese! But honestly, you can enjoy like 75% of both parks without knowing much.

 

[MikeHattsu]

Universal Studios is (was?) even worse. Seeing all my favorite Hollywood blockbuster rides dubbed in Japanese was hilarious though.

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It was the only way I experienced the BttF ride, and now they're all gone :p

 

[SuperFinal]

Disneyland Paris Made a pretty good compromise by having the rides feature characters that speak in different languages. It was surprisingly effective, tbh.

 

[Slacker247]

It's great.

And BttF and Spider-Man in Japanese (Universal Studios) is full anime VO! It's great!

 

[subpar spatula]

That is not reality though? There are tons of visitors who don't understand Japanese visiting the park. That's why all the signage and broadcast messages tend to also be in English. I don't think the performances and the rides have to be translated because in many cases it's a bit hard, but replying with "don't go if you don't understand Japanese" is a really dumb thing to say when we're talking about Tokyo Disneyland lol.

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It's pretty simple advice. Don't go places you can't fully understand and if you go then accept you'll be missing out on information. It's a bit weird to go to another country that doesn't speak English and want them to translate things into English for you. No one should expect or deserve a full English or whatever language they are experience when visiting other places.

 

[MikeHattsu]

It's great.

And BttF and Spider-Man in Japanese (Universal Studios) is full anime VO! It's great!

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They replaced BttF with... Minions :p

 

[Extreme Tactician]

It's pretty simple advice. Don't go places you can't fully understand and if you go then accept you'll be missing out on information. It's a bit weird to go to another country that doesn't speak English and want them to translate things into English for you. No one should expect or deserve a full English or whatever language they are experience when visiting other places.

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Except this is a tourist attraction. Restricting the experience to locals make no sense.

 

[El Bombastico]

I wonder, is Disneyland Paris the same? I know some French but probably not enough to enjoy attractions.

 

[subpar spatula]

Except this is a tourist attraction. Restricting the experience to locals make no sense.

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Plenty of places are tourist attractions but a lot of the time the visitors there speak the language of that country hence having a Disneyland there. You can accommodate to a degree but at the end of the day you're in Disneyland Tokyo. Go with the flow.

 

[massoluk]

Except this is a tourist attraction. Restricting the experience to locals make no sense.

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Unfortunately, it's locale pretty much cater now to just Japanese and some few other Asian Countries. If you want to go to Disneyland, European got one in Paris, Chinese got one in Hong Kong, Americans just go to the originals

 

[dadjumper]

To echo what everyone else has said, you're in another country.
Don't expect everyone to cater to you.

I think it's pretty fucking accessible, all things considered.
I've been to Land twice and Sea once and there sure are a lot of people from other countries there having a decent enough time.

 

[AztecComplex]

You come off as the stereotype of the indignant English speaker going "how dare you not speak English in your country"

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And yet Tokyo Tower has options for foreign tourists. Disney is an American company, I'm wondering why they wouldn't offer options. Maybe there aren't enough non Japanese speaking guests to warrant this investment but I was never demanding the rides to be fully in English, at all.

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

I wonder, is Disneyland Paris the same? I know some French but probably not enough to enjoy attractions.

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Paris has more English support, but it's hit and miss. When my sister's school went, they still had to deal with some attractions being in French. But Disneyland Paris has a direct Trainline from England, so it's a bit more expected that they will want to make more allowances for that than a park in Japan would.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Congrats, now you know how literally every other culture that's not English/Spanish speaking in the US feels. You'll live.

 

[Kwigo]

Disneyland Paris Made a pretty good compromise by having the rides feature characters that speak in different languages. It was surprisingly effective, tbh.

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Was gonna say this.
Usually there are like 2 characters speaking, one in french and one in english. It makes for some stupid exchanges too, like:
"Vous êtes venus si nombreux !"
"Yes Mickey, a lot of people came today !"

If you understand both languages, it can be pretty hilarious sometimes.

 

[Slacker247]

They replaced BttF with... Minions :p

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Travesty!

 

[fick]

Moving past all the snark, it is surprising that a major attraction such as Disneyland wouldn't have multiple language options.

 

[Mendrox]

So I recently went to Tokyo Disneyland and came out very disappointed that all rides had no options whatsoever for foreigners to enjoy when it came to language accessibility.

While I was there I saw plenty of overseas tourists in the park and while they do have signage, brochures, and menus in English they had none of that for the rides themselves. This is especially bad for those rides where understanding the story is the whole point of the ride like when watching a 3D movie attraction for example.

Of course I'm not demanding the rides being dubbed into English but Disney being an American company first they could, in my opinion, offer subtitles in some way, or lend portable devices that do simultaneous translations for particular rides or attractions. I know in elsewhere Japan they're well known because I was given one when I climbed Tokyo Tower to the top and said device worked wonderfully translating to me stuff judging by where I was standing. It was witchcraft as far as I was concerned!

Just how many non Japanese speakers do these parks get? Are they so few that the park shouldn't care? You think this could be a missed opportunity?

Doing a 50 minute queue only to find out I got into a 3D movie theater that was half live action performers and half a 3D screen that's all only in Japanese was disheartening (that Aladdin attraction starring the Genie at Tokyo DisneySea).

Other than that I still had a ton of fun at Tokyo Disneyland and the staff were incredibly courteous and friendly. Japanese people sure as hell know how to be good hosts!

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Went to DisneySea and now that you mention it...you are right! I didn't really notice because I understand simple Japanese. We went for the Arielle show for example and it was to get everything there. But yeah missed opportunity but with the amount of people visiting...I don't if it's that easy to handle.

Umm... don't go to Disneyland Tokyo if you can't understand Japanese?

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Your funny takes were funnier a few weeks ago. :p

 

[AztecComplex]

Umm... don't go to Disneyland Tokyo if you can't understand Japanese?

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Isn't that like saying "don't go to Mongolia if you don't speak Mongolian"? How boring it would be if you limited your visits to countries that spoke a language you speak, and if you only speak one your options would be even more limited!

Fact is these parks in Tokyo receive many non JP speaking guests. If they didn't they wouldn't be offering park maps in English, for example.

 

[AztecComplex]

PS fuck space mountain

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Is there something particularly wrong about Japanese Space Mountain? I didn't get to ride that one. What's wrong?

 

[subpar spatula]

Isn't that like saying "don't go to Mongolia if you don't speak Mongolian"? How boring it would be if you limited your visits to countries that spoke a language you speak, and if you only speak one your options would be even more limited!

Fact is these parks in Tokyo receive many non JP speaking guests. If they didn't they wouldn't be offering park maps in English, for example.

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You're taking it too strictly, I elaborated further. Don't go if you can't handle a language barrier.

 

[Jonnax]

And yet Tokyo Tower has options for foreign tourists. Disney is an American company, I'm wondering why they wouldn't offer options. Maybe there aren't enough non Japanese speaking guests to warrant this investment but I was never demanding the rides to be fully in English, at all.

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Tokyo tower is just a tower you go up. It's cheap to do so.

And sure Disney is an American company. But they're not the US embassy, there isn't a requirement to subtitle everything.

Or maybe have you considered that it's likely that a lot of visitors are from Asia. Chinese or Korean may be a better secondary language to use rather than English.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Did they at least have sea salt ice cream?

 

[massoluk]

Tokyo tower is just a tower you go up. It's cheap to do so.

And sure Disney is an American company. But they're not the US embassy, there isn't a requirement to subtitle everything.

Or maybe have you considered that it's likely that a lot of visitors are from Asia. Chinese or Korean may be a better secondary language to use rather than English.

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Also Tokyo Disneyland is a joint operation, not wholly owned by Disney. Also, if I'm planning for Disney vacation.... to be honest I'd go to Hong Kong. The one in Tokyo is for when I have time for detour, there's a lot more to Japan than going to a Disney theme park.

*Only because I know some Chinese and it's closer

 

[signal]

Isn't that like saying "don't go to Mongolia if you don't speak Mongolian"? How boring it would be if you limited your visits to countries that spoke a language you speak, and if you only speak one your options would be even more limited!

Fact is these parks in Tokyo receive many non JP speaking guests. If they didn't they wouldn't be offering park maps in English, for example.

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If they ever offer another language it will be Mandarin or Cantonese not English so you'll be out of luck even if they cater to non-Japanese tourist majorities!

Is there something particularly wrong about Japanese Space Mountain? I didn't get to ride that one. What's wrong?

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It's sp00ky and feels like the support structure is cm away from my head while riding. Literally thought I would be killed when I rode it. Same as the other space mountains probably.

 

[NullPointerException]

T2 3D at Universal Studios Japan is amazing for this reason.

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Yup. It is so entertaining!

 

[Conal]

Disney should really stop translating their films into other languages. I cant think of a single reason for a business to want to try and increase their potential customer base and to think otherwise is pretty ignorant tbh

 

[Timbuktu]

Unfortunately, it's locale pretty much cater now to just Japanese and some few other Asian Countries. If you want to go to Disneyland, European got one in Paris, Chinese got one in Hong Kong, Americans just go to the originals

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China's got two, another one in Shanghai.

If they are to cater to tourists more in Tokyo, they should probably have more Chinese. They probably spend more there nowadays.

Also Tokyo Disneyland is a joint operation, not wholly owned by Disney. Also, if I'm planning for Disney vacation.... to be honest I'd go to Hong Kong. The one in Tokyo is for when you have time for detour

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Hong Kong's is pretty small, although they are expanding it. Shanghai's is probably the most localised one, but it does have new rides that you don't get elsewhere.

 

[Arebours]

Also Tokyo Disneyland is a joint operation, not wholly owned by Disney. Also, if I'm planning for Disney vacation.... to be honest I'd go to Hong Kong. The one in Tokyo is for when you have time for detour

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I don't think they own any of it. it's just licensing.

 

[MikeHattsu]

90% of the visitors are from Japan:

And I bet a huge chunk of the overseas visitors are from other Asian countries :P

 

[Jonnax]

Here's another bit of info:

90% of visitors are from Japan.
I'm almost certain the rest wouldn't be majority English speakers.

http://www.olc.co.jp/en/tdr/guest/profile.html

 

[AztecComplex]

Was gonna say this.
Usually there are like 2 characters speaking, one in french and one in english. It makes for some stupid exchanges too, like:
"Vous êtes venus si nombreux !"
"Yes Mickey, a lot of people came today !"

If you understand both languages, it can be pretty hilarious sometimes.

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Interesting.

Does Disneyland Paris use subtitles at all during their attractions or pre shows? Like does the Tower of Terror is still all in English during the pre show but the TVs show French subtitles or something like that?

 

[AztecComplex]

90% of the visitors are from Japan:

And I bet a huge chunk of the overseas visitors are from other Asian countries :P

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It's worthy of note how in 4 years they more than doubled their numbers of overseas visitors! 10% is not a small number but you're probably right in that the majority of those are probably from Asian countries.

 

[Deleted member 15428]

Rides have a story? Next we're gonna have ride spoilers... Oh my God

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

Disney should really stop translating their films into other languages. I cant think of a single reason for a business to want to try and increase their potential customer base and to think otherwise is pretty ignorant tbh

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This sarcasm is unnecessary. They do have support for English on the signs and have English speaking staff at hotels and in printed material at the park. The website also suggests they do have at least some English speaking cast members.

That they don't appeal to a random English speakers every whim is different, and frankly a bit unreasonable.

 

[Kwigo]

Interesting.

Does Disneyland Paris use subtitles at all during their attractions or pre shows? Like does the Tower of Terror is still all in English during the pre show but the TVs show French subtitles or something like that?

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Errr the ToT is actually completely in French I think, but I'm not sure.
I don't remember ever seeing subtitles tho.

Honestly, I'm that used to speaking, reading and listening the english language that I don't even notice the difference when the characters switch from French to English.

 

[AztecComplex]

Rides have a story? Next we're gonna have ride spoilers... Oh my God

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i can't tell if you're being serious but yeah, ride spoilers are a thing. And yes, rides do have storylines. They've been having them for decades now. Some attractions (mainly the ones that aren't thrill rides) the whole point of their fun factor comes from its story and how it's being told.

 

[Deleted member 31873]

You should've gone to guest relations and asked for English story cards, which are available for most of the major attractions at both parks. You can also ask staff at some shows for the electronic devices that show the English translations for what they're saying too.

Sounds to me like you didn't do either of these things.

 

[massoluk]

China's got two, another one in Shanghai.

If they are to cater to tourists more in Tokyo, they should probably have more Chinese. They probably spend more there nowadays.




Hong Kong's is pretty small, although they are expanding it. Shanghai's is probably the most localised one, but it does have new rides that you don't get elsewhere.

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True, the preference is mostly because I knew some Chinese and I don't need to apply for Visa to enter HK

 

[signal]

The mickey mouse shaped nuggets sucking is the real problem with the park.

 

[AztecComplex]

Errr the ToT is actually completely in French I think, but I'm not sure.
I don't remember ever seeing subtitles tho.

Honestly, I'm that used to speaking, reading and listening the english language that I don't even notice the difference when the characters switch from French to English.

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Now I'm more intrigued. Western Europe haas so many langurs and is such a rich culture that Disney built in France first and foremost because of its centralized geographical location meaning they were gunning for visitors from all over Europe (unlike Tokyo Disneyland which caters mainly to locals). I would've imagined that all the rides would tell it's story in some combination of French and English at the very least but now that you're telling me that the entire ToT experience was in French I'm even more intrigued.