Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland


Like the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Cinderella Castle is the icon of
Tokyo Disneyland.
Location Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Coordinates 35°37′58″N 139°52′50″E / 35.63278°N 139.88056°E / 35.63278; 139.88056
Theme Fairy tales and Disney characters
Operated by The Oriental Land Company
Opened 15 April 1983; 33 years ago
Area 115 acres (47 ha)
Website Tokyo Disney Resort Homepage

Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド Tōkyō Dizunīrando) is a 115-acre (47 ha) theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo.[1] Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States, and it opened on 15 April 1983. The park was constructed by Walt Disney Imagineering in the same style as Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida.[1] It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks not wholly or partly owned by the Walt Disney Company (however, Disney has creative control).

The park has seven themed areas: the World Bazaar; the four classic Disney lands: Adventureland, Westernland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland; and two mini-lands: Critter Country and Mickey's Toontown. Many of these areas mirror those in the original Disneyland as they are based on American Disney films and fantasies. Fantasyland includes Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, based on classic Disney films and characters.[2] The park is noted for its extensive open spaces, to accommodate the large crowds that visit the park.[1] In 2013, Tokyo Disneyland hosted 17.2 million visitors, making it the world's second-most visited theme park behind the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.[3]

Dedication

To all of you who come to this happy place, welcome. Here you will discover enchanted lands of Fantasy and Adventure, Yesterday and Tomorrow. May Tokyo Disneyland be an eternal source of joy, laughter, inspiration, and imagination to the people of the world. And may this magical kingdom be an enduring symbol of the spirit of cooperation and friendship between the great nations of Japan and the United States of America.
— E. Cardon Walker, April 15, 1983

[4]

History

The initial contract for the construction of Disneyland in Tokyo was signed in April 1979. Japanese engineers and architects visited California to tour Disneyland and prepare to construct the new park.[5] The construction of the park began a year later and was covered by hundreds of reporters as an indication of the high expectations for the park in the future. The final cost of Disneyland Tokyo was 180 billion yen rather than the projected 100 billion yen. Despite this, Disneyland Tokyo has been a constant source of pride since opening day over 30 years ago.[5]

Themed areas

With a few exceptions, Tokyo Disneyland features the same attractions found in Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.[1]

World Bazaar

A floral arrangement depicting Stitch as part of a celebration.
Main article: Main Street, U.S.A.

World Bazaar is the main entry corridor and primary shopping area of Tokyo Disneyland. Despite the use of the word "World" in its name, the general look and theme of World Bazaar is that of early 20th-century America, matching the "Main Street, U.S.A." areas of other Magic Kingdom-style parks. World Bazaar consists of two intersecting "streets": Main Street (the primary corridor running from the main entrance toward Cinderella Castle), and Center Street, which forms a perpendicular line with Main Street and leads to Adventureland in one direction and Tomorrowland in the other. World Bazaar has a permanent canopy covering the Main Street and Center Street areas, designed to protect guests from the elements.

Adventureland

Western River Railroad.

Adventureland consists of two distinct yet complementary areas: A New Orleans-themed area and a "jungle"-themed area. It is roughly a combination of the New Orleans Square and Adventureland areas found in Disneyland Park in the United States.

Westernland

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Main article: Frontierland

Westernland is an "old west" themed area, the counterpart of Frontierland in other Magic Kingdom-style parks. Like its counterparts, the landscape of Westernland is dominated by the Rivers of America, a man-made waterway that is home to the Mark Twain Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island and numerous live and Audio-Animatronic animals.

Critter Country

Main article: Critter Country

Critter Country is a small area of the park and is dominated by a single major attraction, Splash Mountain.

Fantasyland

It's a Small World.
Main article: Fantasyland

Like other Magic Kingdom theme parks, Fantasyland's central entryway is a castle, in this case Cinderella Castle, a near exact copy of the one in Florida's Magic Kingdom. Lacking any "thrill rides," Fantasyland's attractions are generally dark rides that take visitors through scenes from classic Disney movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio.

Toontown

Main article: Mickey's Toontown

Like its counterparts in other Disney theme parks, Toontown (called "Mickey's Toontown" at other Disney parks) is heavily inspired by the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Appropriately, the major attraction here is Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

Tomorrowland

Main article: Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland has a more urbane look and appears more like a community than a showcase of future technology. Rides include Space Mountain and Star Tours–The Adventures Continue.

Attendance

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Worldwide rank
14,293,000[6] 13,646,000[7] 14,452,000[8] 13,996,000[9] 14,847,000[10] 17,214,000.[11] 17,300,000 [12] 16,600,000 [13] 3

Future

Since the park opened in 1983, Tokyo Disneyland Resort has regularly been the most profitable Disney Resort. By 1994, over 140 million people had entered through the gates of Tokyo Disneyland, more than Japan's entire population of 127.6 million at the time.[14] Since then, its popularity has only increased. Just two years later, it employed 12,390 people, marking Tokyo Disneyland the biggest workplace in Japan’s diversionary outings.[14] Though the attendance is similar to that of other Japanese theme parks, the revenue produced by Tokyo Disneyland is larger than all other national theme parks combined. Many speculate that Tokyo Disneyland is such an economic success due to timing and location; the theme park lies in a metropolitan area with a population of 30 million and opened at the height of a booming economy where hard-working citizens desired an escape from reality.[15]

One of the main goals of Tokyo Disneyland is to improve the park and diversify from the limits of the Domestic Disney Parks. Tokyo Disneyland has recently been adding a national identity within the parks by adding attractions with distinctly Japanese qualities. Cinderella Castle displays the classic Disney character and story plot yet presents the story through the eyes of the Japanese. Once dominated by Disney Legends, Masatomo Takahashi, the former president of The Oriental Land Company, states this growth and development as one of its primary goals: "We must not just repeat what we receive from Disney. I am convinced that we must contribute to the cultural exchange between Japan and U.S.A."[5]

Incidents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Japan's Disneyland a little different". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 9 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "Attractions - Tokyo Disneyland". Tokyo Disney Resort. Archived from the original on 2013-11-24. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  3. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2013 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  4. ↑ Spence, Jack. "Disney Dedication Plaques". Allears. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Oriental Land Co, Ltd. creation period - 50 years of History". OLC Group. 1980-11-28. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  6. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2008 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2008. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  7. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2009 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 2, 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  8. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2010 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  9. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2011 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2012 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  11. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2013 Global Attractions Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  12. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2014 Global Attractions Attendance Report Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  13. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2015 Global Attractions Attendance Report Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Raz, Aviad E (2000). "Domesticating Disney: Adaption in Tokyo Disneyland". Journal of Popular Culture. 33.4: 77–99. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.2000.3304_77.x.
  15. ↑ Rishou, Makiya (1994-04-12). "Disneyland in Tokyo Is a 10-Year Hit : Entertainment: The attraction thrives, even during an economic downturn. It has had 140 million visitors.". Los Angeles Times. The Associated Press. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
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Coordinates: 35°37′58″N 139°52′50″E / 35.63278°N 139.88056°E / 35.63278; 139.88056

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