Tokyo DL's evolution since the 1980s Just curious... How has Tokyo Disneyland evolved over the years since it's opening? Not just in the attractions roster, but in the sense of the culture of the place.
And are there any TDL attractions that were designed but never executed? Any lands that never were?
No takers?
Joe will be here shortly to answer. I am on my way to TDL this morning (the 17th) but it's snowing in Tokyo this morning and that should be interesting.. It's supposed to stop by mid morning and get sunny and cold... Brrr..
I have been visiting the park since 1988 and can only testify to what I have seen since then... but do not have time as I am running out my hotel's door to go to the park for a couple of hours.
Later dude.
Hello from Hong Kong.
To answer your question.. the only attraction that was announced for TDL but never built was the Matterhorn. In the TDL 5th anniversary press kit back in 1988, it was announced that the Matterhorn would be built at TDL... but it never happened.
As for cultural stuff... well, I am not quite sure I understand exactly what you are asking for... but we have discussed the guests' behaviors at the park as one of purely cultural manner.
One thing that many old timers at TDL mention is that japanese CMs used to play face roles of some of the western characters...like Cinderella or Snow White. Since I have been visiting TDL, I personally have never seen a japanese CM playing the part of a Disney princess/prince except when it comes to Mulan. However, recently in the "Cinderellabration" show, Charming's father (the KING), was being played by a japanese CM. Kind of odd...
Interesting tidbits, thanks TDLFAN.
I'm kind of glad the Matterhorn is one-of-a-kind at Anaheim.
Thats interesting I had heard about plans to put the Matterhorn in WDW, but never at TDL. I wonder where in Fantasyland it would of been built.Originally Posted by TDLFAN
You mean... where in Fantasyland it would have been built.
A question for anyone who knows...while browsing I came across attendance figures for 1999 showing TDL park with over 17 million visitors. In 2006 both TDL and TDS had about 12 million each. My question is...are the decreased numbers at TDL the result of TDS, and if so, have overall profits increased or decreased since the second park opened?
The profits have definitely increased since Tokyo DisneySea opened. It was stated in the press release that the goal of the second gate was to bring a total of 25 million visitors to the resort. Judging from attendance figures, it seems to be doing just that. It brought more guests to the resort, but at the expense of Tokyo Disneyland.
~ Tokyo DisneySea’s Arabian Coast at nighttime ~
^^ Thanks TDRFan. If 25 million was their target they have certainly met that. Still I would imagine they would like to see even more visitors...maybe the total profit is greater today...but still going from 17 to 12 million is a big decline for the original park...so profit per park is probably a lot less than what it was. Not to mention the $ 5 billion cost for building TDS.
Anyway...going back to the topic of unbuilt attractions...according to a Jim Hill article from 2004, Tomorrowland in Tokyo was supposed to have had a major makeover, just like what was supposed to have happened at Orlando and Anaheim in the 1990s. This remodel would have been called Sci-Fi City. The article is linked below:
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...09/26/472.aspx
In addition to SciFi City for TDL, there are also the attractions which didn't make the cut for TDS. Check the article linked below...and there are also a few additional pieces of concept art for these attractions on Disneytheque.
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...disneysea.aspx
Surprisingly, they made a profit pretty quickly. They announced a profit (somewhere around $100 million, maybe a bit less if my memory serves me correctly) a month or two after the park opened.
~ Tokyo DisneySea’s Arabian Coast at nighttime ~
^^ Certainly the DisneySea model should serve as a lesson to Disney. Here they built a proper park and got 12 million plus visitors per year from the get go. On the other hand when they build a "budget park" like WDS, HKDL, DCA, the original D-MGM or original AK, they spend the next 15 - 20 years just trying to get enough people to come see the park. They don't even have to spend as much as they did at DisneySea...which is extravagant even by Disney standards...but a Disney park at outset needs at least $ 2 billion or so. The budget parks above (minus hotels / infrastructure etc) were all built for less than $ 1 billion...in some cases less than $ 0.5 billion. The result being a park that many people don't believe is worth $ 100 or so of their money for a visit...which leads to annual visitors of around 4 to 6 million...numbers which might be even less if it were not for the Disney name.
When it comes to TDS attendance I'm not quite sure its as great as what people like to make it out to be. Yeah it managed to pull in some good numbers in the opening year, but that came to a cost to TDL. When you think TDL before the opening of TDS was pulling in an annual attendance of 17 million, that means the costly addition of TDS only added an extra 8 million guest.
If the park was such a suscess why in the last 5 years have we seen Raging Spirits, Tower of Terror and Mythica come to the park.
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