Land of the Rising Mickey
Page 6 of 6
"somewhere..."
It was a couple of weeks after the grand opening of DisneySea. I was at the park with a
friend who was involved in much of its wonderfully detailed painting. Her aspects of the
job had been completed a couple of months prior to the park's opening and it had been that
long since she'd seen it.
We stood at the sundial, atop The Fortress, in the shadow of Mt. Prometheus. As we took in the gorgeous view of Mediterranean Harbor and American Waterfront, she said something that's really stuck with me... It embarrassed her to say it. She was worried I'd think she was weird. I told her that I already think she's weird, so she should go ahead because she really had nothing to lose.
After smacking me in the head, she told me that she felt like this wasn't the same place she had done all that work, the same place that had been a construction site only two months earlier. It was so different. But that wasn't all of it. She was sad. Despite the crazy heat and humidity of the summer... the bitterly cold wind of the winter... the standard six and sometimes seven day work weeks... the mean F.A.D. (Field Art Directors - her bosses) ... she missed it.
While she was working on the park she would complain to me, constantly, about how difficult it was. There were several points during those hard times when she was ready to quit. I would remind her of the special thing she was involved in and tell her that if she left it wouldn't be long before she'd regret it. Yes my argument was corny, but my words helped, for one reason - They were true. The construction of DisneySea was special. It was obvious. Of course its sheer scale was part of it, but there was something more. There was a feeling around the place and I was very far from the only one who noticed it. Something very unique was happening, something that went beyond the construction of a theme park.
It's still hard for me to put my finger on it... DisneySea Park has its own exquisite flavor of magic. But DisneySea the construction site and the area surrounding it had a different flavor, which was equally (perhaps even more?! Wow...) exquisite. There was such a unique energy happening at that time. I think a lot f it had to do with it being such a massive collection of creative people - creative people who were being pushed to their limits (something central to the philosophy behind the creation of the park and part of the story which will have to wait for another day).
But simply telling me that she missed those days wasn't what she was embarrassed about. It's what she said next... and yes, it's a little weird, but she summed up in a way that I hadn't been able to a feeling that I share in my own way.
She said she's keeping the idea in her head that the DisneySea we were standing in isn't the same place as that construction site where she'd slaved away. The idea that that feeling is gone forever is something she doesn't want to deal with.
Looking up and down the coast of Tokyo Bay from our perch up there on The Fortress she said, "I'm going to believe it's still out there... somewhere..."
You know what? So am I.
Discuss It
Related Links
- TokyoResort.com
Marc's Tokyo DisneySea Site - Marc's Tour of DisneySea
-- Marc Borrelli
Marc Borrelli has been visiting Disneyland in California for over thirty years and has had the opportunity to observe many of the Park's onstage and backstage workings. He is an entrepreneur who alternates between working obsessively and having way too much time on his hands. In the past few years he's spent much of that time exploring his hobby of trying to figure out just what it is that makes the people who design, build, operate, and go to Disney theme parks tick. He is now living in Tokyo, Japan and has turned his attention to the Tokyo Disney Resort and the unique culture in which it exists. He also created and maintains his Tokyo DisneySea Preview website.
Land of the Rising Mickey is normally posted on the first Monday of each month.
The opinions expressed by Marc Borrelli, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
© Marc Borrelli and LaughingPlace.com. All rights reserved
-- Posted November 15, 2001.