A look at a hotel dining spot where
imagination runs wild
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 Fifteen: Oceano Restaurant
Text by Al Lutz
It's been a long tour! In the last fourteen
installments we visited the MiraCosta Hotel, toured DisneySea itself,
and even got to enjoy some vistas of this uniquely designed park.
I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, and I
hear there is a rather unique restaurant at the hotel named "Oceano."
Shall we?
Todd (our terrific photographer for this
series) originally sent these shots in with the hotel photos we first
published - but we opted to hold them for the end of the series so as to
not delay in starting the tour of the park itself. In looking them over,
I think you'll agree the Imagineering folks have done an outstanding job
in the decor - certainly warranting this restaurant having its own
section of the tour.
Below is the entrance to the restaurant...
The wall divider up close reveals itself to
be an impressionistic sculpture of underwater flora and fauna - the
modern art fish are very creative.
The serving area carries through the theme -
note the pastel colors in the ceiling, with the molded shapes suggesting
water ripples, along with the mosaic swirls in the floor. Even the
stainless steel legs holding up the counter are curved - as if
undulating underwater.
I like the seaweed like stainless steel
posts shown below in a close up from the above shot - this appears to be
a buffet serving area - although the benches in back could also indicate
this could be a waiting area for yet to be seated diners.
The murals in this area are apparently lit
from behind as well as from the front...
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
