Greg Maletic
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In sheer richness and detail, Tokyo DisneySea does set a new standard for theme park design. But considering how much it cost, did the Oriental Land Company buy itself the best theme park ever?
The Tokyo DisneySea theme park, though virtually unknown in the United States, has been a heated topic for Disney fans on the Internet for the past five years. Thanks to an elaborate design, numerous original attractions--and most of all, a huge budget--it assumed the designation of the "world’s greatest theme park" even before it opened in September 2001. I had the good fortune of taking a trip to visit the park this past May.
My verdict: it’s good. DisneySea is both spectacular and fun, and embraces a level of detail that isn’t always found in its sister Tokyo Disneyland park.
Instead of walking you through the park verbally (Marc Borrelli has already done a great job of this in his overview for LaughingPlace.com), I’m going to give impressions of the park’s two most significant dimensions: its atmosphere and its attractions. (Apologies to those who are live entertainment fans: I’m not, so I didn’t partake in anything that DisneySea had to offer in that area.) Finally, I’ll spend some time analyzing the park, trying to determine why it is the way it is, comparing it to other Disney and non-Disney parks, and thinking about ways the park could have been different.
I should say upfront that if you desire a completely unblemished experience at DisneySea, you might want to skip this review. I’ve tried to limit "spoilers" to a minimum, but in preparing a critique, it’s inevitable that I’m going to give you a snapshot of something that you’d be experiencing fresh if you hadn’t read about it. I’m not going to ruin the park for you, by a long shot--you’ll still be dying to visit after you read this--but if you’re a purist like me, you may want to look away.
My Expectations
…for the park were high, though tempered. I’ve seen Disney do some great stuff
in the past ten years (Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain
at Disneyland Paris) and some other things I wasn’t so enthusiastic about (most of
the Animal Kingdom attractions including Kilimanjaro Safaris, and the proliferation
at all the parks of movie-based shows and Dumbo clones). But after hearing about all of
the brand new attractions, incredible attention to detail, and a new "land"
("sea?") devoted to 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, my favorite Disney
movie, it was impossible for me not to get excited.
Mount Prometheus
The Detail
…in this park is amazing. I’d seen a lot of pictures of DisneySea before
I’d ever set foot in the park, but it was still quite an experience to lay eyes on it
for the first time, popping through the entranceway under the Hotel MiraCosta. I
can’t claim that my eyes were tearing up, but it is a striking site to see
DisneySea’s volcano (called Mount Prometheus on the park map, though I didn’t
see a reference to this name anywhere in the park), the elaborate Fortress, and its
sailing ship parked out front. It’s one of the most dramatic visuals in all of
Disney’s parks, second only to the juxtaposition of Disney World’s Main Street
with Cinderella’s Castle at its end. The sight here isn’t as incongruous as
that: even when the DisneySea’s "lands" intrude on each other, like when
the domes of the Arabian Coast become visible from the Lost River Delta, it’s almost
impossible to object: everything blends together quite nicely. (My girlfriend commented
that the park needed some color--nearly everything is a kind of beige--a problem
accentuated by the overcast morning weather. By the afternoon, the sun had come out, and
the park came to life. On a gray day, the park does look a little washed out.)