This probably can be considered the
centerpiece of this dazzling new park
While Disney has been building and opening
the California Adventure park in Anaheim, the Oriental Land Company has
been working on a new Disney park clear on the other side of the world,
in Japan.
Like it's new California cousin,
Tokyo DisneySea park resides next door to the existing Disneyland park.
The similarity ends there however, because Tokyo DisneySea is not like
any park in California, or even the world. The Oriental Land Company has
broken the mold with a theme park full of detailing so incredible it can
easily be compared to -- if not surpass -- some of the most expensive
and richly themed hotels in Las Vegas, such as the Venetian and Bellagio.
MousePlanet is extremely pleased to
offer you the following photos, taken by Todd Meigan*, over a recent
weekend during a soft opening of the park. Todd is a regular contributor
to our MousePad discussion boards, and is our very own Tokyo insider. We
hope Todd's photos will give you an idea of the sheer wonderment and
amazement of the new park.
Part Thirteen: Mysterious Island
Text by Al Lutz
Remember the Charlie Brown Halloween TV
special? They had a wonderful running gag in it, that took place when
all the kids got together after each place they went trick or treating
at. Each child would look in his bag after they hit each house and tell
the others what they were given, "I got a chocolate bar!" one
would exclaim, "I got a candy apple" the other would brag,
"I got some candy corn!" another would shriek. Then each and
every time at the end of the listing of all the wonderful treats
everyone had received, Charlie Brown would dejectedly announce his
prize, "I got a rock."
Now you probably have some kind of inkling
of how I feel as each night I assemble these photo essays for you. While
I see that Tokyo DisneySea got a New York waterfront, complete with a
steel cruise liner, I remember we got an off the shelf cheap carnival in
California Adventure. When I see Tokyo got a Fantasyland type of kids
area with Mermaid's Lagoon, I remember we have two recycled movies from
Florida. When I marvel at the photos on this page of the Jules Verne
inspired 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the
Center of the Earth attractions located inside a volcano no less, I
think of our bread baking and tortilla making.
It's no wonder why many of you can not get
through the reservations lines for this new park any time of the day or
night when you call, while California Adventure has to give away tickets
to get people to come.
But enough of my grousing (and from the
scads of email I get I know you all feel the same way). Let's take a
Disney Steamer into the inside lagoon of Mysterious Island shall we?
As we arrive (pretend that boat above is
coming in, not leaving ;) ) - we make a quick trip up to a view point
above and see the following map - obviously put together by Captain Nemo
himself - giving us the lay of the land...
As we look up from the map - we see what has
to be the showpiece in this already dazzling new park - Mysterious
Island...
The shot above is the view to the left of
you - the shot below is the view to the right of you...
The scale of this thing is amazing isn't it?
Captain Nemo tells us what we are looking
at...
CONTINUED
*"Todd Meigan" is our insider's
pen name. Todd is a cast member currently working at the Tokyo Disney
Resort. Want to send some comments to Todd? E-mail him at todd_meigan@hotmail.com
