Still living on in some corners of the internet, Nara Dreamland, the theme park in Japan that was heavily “inspired” by Disneyland, is the subject of a new side-by-side comparison by a Twitter user.
What’s Happening:
- Twitter user Jason Schultz @ArchivistJason has shown off a side by side comparison of the popular knock off park, Nara Dreamland, against the original inspiration, Disneyland in Anaheim.
- Using a vintage (1960s) souvenir guidebook from Nara Dreamland, Schultz has shown how similar the unlicensed Japanese park was compared to the California original.
- Nara Dreamland (AKA Dreamland), opened in Nara, Japan in 1961, and was heavily “inspired” by Disneyland. The entrance was nearly identical to that of Disneyland, and included its own train station with a street that led to a familiar looking castle. The park even had its own mountain similar to the Matterhorn that was complete with its own bobsled style roller coaster.
- The park was popular, especially since it was the closest thing that Japan had to a real Disneyland at the time, but then in 1983, a real Disney park popped up with Tokyo Disneyland, and attendance at Dreamland began to decline. By 2004, the park also declined in quality, especially when compared to Tokyo’s second official gate, Tokyo DisneySea. At this point, Universal Studios was also in the game, with Universal Studios Japan now open in nearby Osaka. At this point, Dreamland was only seeing attendance around 400,000 people per year, with the park officially closing in August of 2006.
- The park was still left standing though, left for curious fans and urban explorers to traverse, leading to a strange resurgence in popularity on the internet as “the knock-off Disneyland.” Eventually, the park would be completely demolished in 2016.
- In Schulz’s tweet thread, you can see how similar the park was, with some photos being indiscernible at first glance.
- For more information about Disney in Japan and Nara Dreamland, check out our Legacy Content on the topic here.
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