Tokyo Disneyland

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.

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. 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.

Themed areas

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

World Bazaar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Future

Since the park opened in 1983, Tokyo Disneyland Resort has regularly been one of the most profitable Disney Resorts. 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. 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. 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.

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."