Conference koolit::disney

    the following is an excerpt from the march 6th Forbes  article,  copied
    without permission
    
    Claude
    
        To  Wilson  (Disney's  Chief  Financial  Officer)  falls the job of
    financing Disney's  ambitious  commitments.    Last  year  he  shrewdly
    squeezed more money from Oriental Land Co.  the Japanese CO.  that owns
    the wildly successful Tokyo  Disneyland (over 60 million visitors since
    it opened in 1983).   Disney  former  management  failed  to  obtain an
    equity participation in the park, or  even  royalties  on  the  use  of
    Disney characters, settling for royalties ranging from  5%  to  10%  of
    park revenues.
    
        Last  April  Wilson  worked out a deal that  will  reduce  Oriental
    Land's royalty payments but will yield $723 million in  immediate  cash
    from oriental.  This will also lessen the impact of  currency swings on
    Disney's cash flow and earnings.
    

In 1972 I visited WDW in Florida for the first time and enjoyed an attraction
called "The Mickey Mouse Revue". Possibly it was similar to something I've
seen referred to herein as "Micky's Birthday". It was a theatrical audioanima-
tronics presentation located in Fanatasyland and included many of the famous
Diseny cartoon characters doing famous musical numbers. When I went back there
with my kids in '80 it was gone and I was told that it had been moved to Tokyo
Disneyland, apparently with some agreement that it would remain uniquely there.
Can anyone substantiate this as being the truth?

Thanks
-Jack

    The Japanese love Mickey much much more than those of us in the
    USA.  Part of the arrangement to open Tokyo DL was that they would
    have a Mickey Mouse Revue.  They moved the attraction and did not
    rebuild the show again. If I remember correctly, it was in 1982
    that the attraction moved to Japan.
    
    Meanwhile back in the USA the Fantasyland Theater, former home for
    the revue laid empty.  The overall average ride wait in Fantasyland
    grew from 12 to 18 minutes just on the loss of this one attraction.
    
    
    The Fantasyland Theater remained empty with speculations that the
    Imagineers were working on a new Pinnochio ride.  Instead the theater
    was used for meeting and occasionally showing movies.  
    
    Captain EO replaced the first 3-D movie, Magic Journeys, at the
    Magic Eye Theater at the Journey to Imagination pavilion, sponsored
    by Kodak, in August 1986.  At that time the Magic Eye was closed
    to refit for EO.  Eventually Magic Journeys found its way to
    Fantasyland where it currently resides.
    
    From my sources, I think the MM Revue will be a specialty just for
    TDL.
    
    

    Too bad. I feel sorry for those people who will never see the MM Revue.
    
    I think there was a special appreciation for it from the "baby-boomers"
    who grew up with many of the characters and songs from that attraction.
    
    Here's a wish that they bring it back someday!
    
    Mike

      A group of my friends spent the holidays in Tokyo.  I was unable
    to go (drats).
    
      I got a Tokyo Disneyland T-shirt w/Mickey on it and one of the park
    map brochures in Japanese.  
      Naturally, I pumped my friends for all they were worth on this
    subject.  Major differences are as follows:
    
      No Matterhorn
      More fireworks every night.
      "Pirates" wasn't as good.
    
      They all agreed however, that the most unusual was the language
    barrier.  Can you imagine the Jungle Cruise in japanese?  All that
    snappy banter, everyone around you laughing up a storm, and you can't
    understand a word of it.  It was the same for the Haunted House and
    Small World.
    
      They're planning a trip to go late this year and this time I'm
    going to make it!
    
    
                                   L.J.

From: [email protected] (Sharon Crichton)
Subject: SPOILER REVIEW of Tokyo Disneyland
Date: 19 Mar 91 14:07:41 GMT
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
 
I'm back from my travels in Japan and since a few net.people asked to give a
review of Tokyo Disneyland, here is my spoiler review (gee, I hope Tim Lynch
doesn't read this group or he might sue me for trademark infringement)
 
Tokyo Disneyland is always referred to as "Tokyo Disneyland," and it's like an
island/blob/blot of Americanism in the middle of Japan. I have heard that it's
built on fill in Tokyo bay and the area around it is definitely an industrial
section of the city (i.e. non-residential). You step off the train into
another world, with that wrought iron, pseudo-turn-of-the-century look that's
unique to Disney. To get there, take the Keiyo line from Tokyo station (it's
part of the JR system) to the Maihama station. Just be warned that it's a
looooong walk through Tokyo station to the train platform. My brother did tell
us that you can pick the Keiyo line up at Yuracucho but we forgot and went
from Tokyo instead. Anyways, it's about a 20 minute ride out to Maihama. You
can tell that Japan is the land of trains and train riding because even at
10:00 (1 hour after the park opens) there were hardly any cars in the parking
lot. And the parking lot looks only about as big as 1 parking section at WDW.
 
There are two kinds of admissions: the daily passport and the Big 10 ticket
book. They still use the A-B-C-D-E tickets there (and I forgot to get an E
ticket as a souvenir before we left!) but we sprang for the daily passport.
Y4400, with a 10% discount for being Disney stockholders. So we got a Magic
Kingdom club passport. They have different passport tickets for different kinds
of things; I spotted some kids carrying "Student Day" passports. In dollars
it worked out to about $30 American. There is a hassle with the passports - you
have to get them out and show them at every ride.
 
The biggest and most visible difference is that Main Street USA is called
"World Bazaar" and is enclosed under a glass and wrought iron roof. Think about
the factory in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Willy Wonka" and you should get
an idea of how it looks. I got a nice perspective photo of the castle framed
under the one end of the roof.
 
My impression is that TDL is more like Disneyland than the Magic Kingdom at WDW,
mainly for these reasons:
 
1. The park is smaller that WDW but a little larger than DL. The sidewalks are
more spread out and wider than at either place.
2. There is a Snow White grotto and yes, the dwarfs seem to be the same size
as Snow White.
3. Space Mountain is smaller. It was closed when we got to it and only opened
when we were in line for the sky ride. Then there was a mad rush of people to
get in line and the line stayed long the rest of the day, so we didn't get to
ride it.
4. It's a Small World is a separate ride that's not shoved into a side building,
and it looks similar to DL, with the clocks and topiary figures outside.
5. Pirates of the Carribean is nice and long with a good long drop at the
beginning of the ride (a manly drop, not a girly drop like at WDW).
6. The railroad has a Primeval World at the end. Unfortunately, it does not
go around the park, only around a small area of Westernland (no, I'm not
kidding, that's the name)
 
My biggest disappointment is that there was no Matterhorn. I was only 8 years
old the only time we were at DL and back then I was scared of roller coasters
(unlike now :-)) I was hoping they would have one so that I could finally ride
it. Oh well.
 
There are some things that are very popular there and some things that have
just not caught on. Country Bear Jamboree is not popular at all - you can just
walk right into it. The Tiki Birds didn't have much of a line and you don't
need reservations to get into lunch at the Diamond Horseshoe (even though you
do need them for the Hoop-De-Doo Revue that they have in there at night). And
they do the old versions of the Diamond Horseshoe and Country Bear Jamboree
shows.
 
Then there were some rides that are so popular that you have to wait hours, even
on a relatively light day like the day we were there (Tuesday, March 12). The
longest waits were for Space Mountain (1 hour), Big Thunder Mountain (90
minutes), the Jungle Cruise (75 minutes), Haunted Mansion (1 hour), and Star
Tours (50 minutes).
 
The thing that stuck with me the most is that it ends up being the strangest
blend of English and Japanese. The signs are in both languages; the narrations
and all announcements are in Japanese but most of the audio-animatronic figures
are still speaking English. So while riding the Haunted Mansion the "ghost host"
is speaking Japanese but the ghosts are all speaking and singing English.
And Country Bear Jamboree starts out in Japanese but by the end most of the
songs are in English. Weird.
 
Here's summary of what's in the park in terms of attractions, with * beside the
ones that we went on and which ticket each one takes.
 
World Bazaar:
 
Main Street Cinema "A"
Penny Arcade
Omnibus/Fire Engine/Horseless Carriage "A"
 
Tomorrowland:
 
Meet the World "Complimentary" - The Guide book lists this one as "Revolve on
 a carousel through time and relive Japan's fascinating encounters with other
 cultures"
*Star Tours "E" - Mostly in Japanese but the monitors while you're standing in
 line are still in English. I guess the "Endor Spendor Inn" just doesn't
 translate well. I'd never been on this before so I made everyone stand in line.
 Can't wait till May when I get to hear it in English and actually know what's
 going on! (I know the basic premise - droid's first flight) This is fighting
 with Haunted Mansion to be my favorite ride.
American Journeys in Circle Vision 360 "D"
Space Mountain "E"
Captain EO "E"
StarJets "C"
*Skyway to Fantasyland "D"
Grand Circuit raceway "C"
 
Fantasyland:
 
Peter Pan's Flight "C"
Snow White's Adventures "C"
Cinderella's Castle "D" - Blue roofed and no restaurant. Instead they have the
 Castle Mystery Tour, where you have to solve the mystery. My brother said the
 special effects were nice but since there was a line and it's only in Japanese
 we didn't go on. The Guide book lists this one as "Can you conquer the Disney
 villains in the castle?" But "Disney villains" sounded interesting.
The Mickey Mouse Revue "D"
Pinnochio's Daring Journey "C"
Dumbo the Flying Elephant "B"
Cinderella's Golden Carousel "C"
*Haunted Mansion "E" - My favorite ride so I tried to videotape it as we rode
 through. Don't try it - not enough light for my brother's Sony 8mm Handycam.
*It's a Small World "E"
Alice's Tea Party "B"
Skyway to Tomorrowland "D"
 
Westernland:
 
Westernland Shootin' Gallery "B" or Y200 - This is the only attraction not
 included in the passport price.
*Country Bear Theater "D" - One thing that was really funny was that the
 attendant kept trying to get the audience to clap along but the polite Japanese
 would only do it for a few seconds and then stop. Then she'd try it again. And
 again. And again.
 (I was really hoping Big Al would sing "Blood on the Saddle" in Japanese but
 it was in English.)
*Diamond Horseshoe Revue - The songs are in Engligh and the two main characters
 speak mostly English. Slue Foot Sue and Diamond Jim and two of the dancers are
 American but the comedian was Japanese. But even though he spoke Japanese it
 was still very funny because you could tell what was happening and his body
 language was great.
Mark Twain Riverboat "E"
Big Thunder Mountain "E"
Tom Sawyer Island Rafts "B"
Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes "Complimentary"
Coming Soon: Splash Mountain - They make only a small attempt to hide the new
 construction there, unlike in America. The crane was right beside the Haunted
 Mansion and you could watch them work right in broad daylight. In fact, I took
 pictures.
 
Adventureland:
 
*Pirates of the Carribean "E" - No door labeled "33" in sight, although there
 was a door in the World Bazaar with just "126" on it. Hmmm. There is the Blue
 Bayou restaurant which overlooks the loading area, very much like the Mexican
 restaurant at Epcot Center. We ate there for dinner and it was very good.
Jungle Cruise "E" - Somehow, I think it would lose something if you couldn't
 understand the jokes in Japanese and my brother assures me that they do jokes
 like in America.
*Western River Railroad "D"
The Enchanted Tiki Room "D"
 
 
My recommendation is that if you find yourself in Tokyo with a half day or full
day to spare, then go and just look around. If you've never been to the parks
in America, then you might want to go but you won't have as much fun as if you
were at DL or WDW.
 
If anyone has any questions, just let me know. I tried to get all of my
impressions into one posting but email or post if you want to know anything
specific.
 
-- 
Sharon Crichton                         CDS Systems Evolution
[email protected]                    Mead Data Central
sharonc%[email protected]           P.O. Box 933
                                        Dayton, OH 45401
Friend: "Don't you think you deserve to earn just as
         much as a man who does the same job?"
Marge: "Well, not if I have to do heavy lifting or math."

    The Mickey Mouse Revue will always be an "E" ride to this Mouseketeer.
    
    Mike

    
    	The Walt Disney Company suffered a significant setback in its
    plans to increase the number of Disney theme parks world-wide when --
    earlier this month -- the Oriental Land Ltd. Company ( The firm that
    leased the rights to build the first outside-of-the-US Disney theme
    park from the company back in the late 1970s ) said " No " to Disney's
    plan to build a second theme park right next door to Tokyo Disneyland.
    	What Disney had hoped to do was build a Japanese version of the
    Disney - MGM Studio Theme Park right next door to the first park,
    thereby changing Tokyo Disneyland from a one-day-to-visit kind of place
    to a several-days-to-explore kind of attraction, much as Disney hopes
    to do with Disneyland later this decade when it opens Westcot Center.
    	The key sticking point seems to have been the amount of cash Disney
    expects its Japanese partners to pony up. First time around, the
    Oriental Land Ltd. Company got the rights to build a Japanese
    Disneyland just by promising to hand over 10% of the profits. This
    time around, I'm told Disney was looking for something closer to a
    50 / 50 split.
    	Given those terms, Oriental Land Ltd. politely begged off ... 
    Which -- I'm told -- made Eisner furious. He insisted that Disney
    send Oriental Land Ltd. a bill for well over a million dollars to
    cover the cost of developing the plans for a Toyko Disney Studio
    Theme Park ... I haven't heard yet whether Oriental Land Ltd. has
    decided to pay.
    	Even though few outside of Disney have heard about this deal
    falling through, I'm hearing that the folks over at MCA are crowing
    over Eisner's misfortune. They were working over-time with Japanese
    officials, trying to get the necessary clearances to build a Japanese
    Universal Studio Theme Park before Disney got a chance to re-create
    their studio theme park over there ... But, now that Disney's deal
    has hit the rocks, MCA can slow down all its high speed wheeling
    and dealing and hold out for the best terms at the best price ...
    	Given that the theme park industry is booming over in Japan
    ( Thanks -- in no small part -- to the phenomenal success of Tokyo
    Disneyland ), it must be killing Eisner to know that a Japanese
    Disney - MGM Studio Theme Park would sure to be a hit with the public
    ( Thereby generatting gobs of new cash for the company ) ... But 
    Oriental Land Ltd. said " No. "
    	As the endless wrangling over the Muppet merger demonstrated,
    Mike's not a guy who likes to lose. Chances are -- he'll be back at
    the negotiating table with Oriental Land Ltd. soon, seeing if more
    generous terms clear the way for the project ... Or he may go looking
    for another site and other partners to help build Disney's next 
    Japanese park ...
    	But -- for now -- there is no joy in Mouseville. Mighty Michael
    done struck out ...

    I'm gonna bet "Moolah" Mike doesn't go for more than a 65-35 split.

     ------ '92 TDL Information ------
Tokyo Disneyland will have "SPLASH MOUNTAIN"
(Now, it's under construction.)
We'll be able to see it at November. 

Akio 

    
    	Among the future attractions currently being considered for Tokyo
    Disneyland would be an expansion of its Fantasyland section. The area
    -- currently called " Storybook Gardens " -- would initially feature
    shows and attractions based on A.A. Milne's " Winnie the Pooh " stories.
    Beyond that point, attractions based on " The Little Mermaid " as well
    as " Beauty and the Beast " would eventually appear in this area.
    	In particular, given how popular the " Dumbo the Flying Elephant "
    attraction is with Tokyo Disneyland guests, the Imagineers are giving
    some thought to creating a similiar attraction featuring the enchanted
    objects from " Beauty and the Beast. " This time around, instead of an
    elephant, you'd climb inside a tea cup that looked like Chip and/or his
    brothers and sisters. In the center of the attraction would stand a
    giant Lumiere. The tea cups -- attached to the central spinning 
    mechanism via giant fork, knife or spoon shaped beams -- would rise 
    or fall through the air, depending on the rider's whim. The music 
    that would play as the attraction spun would be -- but of course --
    " Be Our Guest. "
    	What would make this attraction different from Dumbo is that the
    Imagineers hope to animate at least two of the over-sized figures
    featured in the attraction. Lumiere will supposedly wave his arms
    and sing along as the ride spins, while a larger-than-life Cogsworth
    will stand nearby and tell Lumiere when it's time to load and unload
    the attraction. The Imagineers hope to record 30 minutes -- or more
    -- of new dialogue for these characters with the hope that parents
    stuck in life with their small children won't be bored by repetitive
    stuff.
    	Stateside Disney fans shouldn't get too concerned about this
    particular attraction going to Tokyo first, for plans are already
    underway to bring a similiar Lumiere-Cosworth-&-Chip-spinning-attrac-
    tion to Disneyland, WDW's Magic Kingdom as well as Euro Disneyland.
    
    	Any other questions ?
    					jrh
     
    

    
    	Given all the hoopla surrounding the grand opening of WDW's Splash
    Mountain, I was expecting a similiar amount of hubbub when Tokyo
    Disneyland's version of this fabulous flume attraction. But -- to date
    -- the Walt Disney Company's been pretty quiet as to when this Disney-
    land favorite will be making its Japanese debut.
    	I've made several calls to WDI, trying to get info on Tokyo's
    Splash, but everybody there is hard at work on Disneyland's upcoming
    Toon Town area. Soooooo -- could one of our far eastern DEC Disney
    dweebs maybe shed some light on the status of this attraction ? A quick
    call to Tokyo Disneyland's Guest Relations office is all it would take.
    
    	Thanks in advance for your kind time and help,
    
    					jrh
    

    http://www.tokyodisneyland.co.jp