Thursday, July 3, 2008

Tokyo's 25th...


As long as I've been mentioning Tokyo DisneySEA so much lately, I might as well focus on its anniversary. This year the Tokyo Disney Resort is celebrating its twenty-fifth year as the first Disney theme park outside the America.

Hard to believe, but a quarter of a century ago if you wanted to experience a Disney theme park you had to come to the U.S.A. to see it...

The guys over at Laughing Place have got a great article with a bunch of photos from the celebration. Go over and have a glance at some of the elaborate floats and things that the OLC has got available for this special year.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

I was there on April 15th this year. Let me tell you the things we miss hear stateside. TDR is about 75% of the reason why I complain so much.

That said, I'm frustrated with their cartooning/movie-ing up of Tomorrowland -- Buzz barely fits, but Monsters and HISTA? Not really...

I think my issue with Monsters is that it only belongs in a Studio-type park, unless we could create a new "Land" for them. If Monstropolis was separate on the map, it wouldn't bother me so much. Oh, and what would be really cool is if things like Harryhausen's in the attraction were actual restaurants for guests and not just facades. Imagine the experience of being on attraction that is the WHOLE land!

I'll get off of my soapbox.

TDR is 110% amazing!

Unknown said...

"Hear" should be "here." Oops!

Unknown said...

Oh, and while the parade floats are gorgeous and their "The Dream Goes on" theme song is beautiful, I found the music to "Jubilation" to be underwhelming.

I think the song from "Dreams on Parade" had a much better emotional hook.

Interesting trivia/coincidence:

During the 25th anniversary festivities, they played, "Share a Dream Come True" from WDW's 100 Years of Magic celebration (in Japanese, of course), however, in WDW right now, the pre-parade is "Dreams on Parade," albeit watered-down and with altered lyrics.

Oh, and again, since I'm the perpetual critic -- I also love the floats to Parade of Dreams, but can't stand the Brother Bear music. It's essentially the same issue with Jubilation, too much pop music that's based on movies (High School Musical, in this case).

I prefer my Disney parades to have a musical thread, like SpectroMagic, MSEP, etc.

For a point of reference, DLP's "Dancin'" song was awesome and was poppy. Then again, I get misty-eyed listening to "Just Like We Dreamed it," a song that a number of DLP fans hate.

I need to shut up, I think.

Anonymous said...

I think this post got to Corruption. Ha ha ha.

Anonymous said...

Hear should be here???

Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake! Corruption made a mistake!

Honor Hunter said...

Well Corruption,

Tell me how you really feel...

I'll agree with some of what you say, but from what I've seen of Monsters, it's gonna be great.

Not the "factory door" roller coaster I was wanting, but great none-the-less...

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Honor,

I've seen some photos from inside of the Monsters attraction. It's going to blow people's minds. The difference between it and TSMM and Buzz is nuts.

My only issue is the location!

I'm very excited to ride it in the future! (Haha -- get it "future?" "Tomorrowland?").

Please don't think I'm being critical of the attraction itself, which is not only enjoyable for those who interact, but also those who just want be be passive and sit back!

Unknown said...

@anonymous

I've made several mistakes grammatically/spelling/syntax-wise.

I fixed it. I suppose I could have deleted the comment and re-posted.

Ritalin much?

And I've stated to Honor that we are not each other's nemesis, I just like to comment on what he has to say, good or bad.

Honor Hunter said...

You complete me, Corruption...

Unknown said...

Well, that's a nice sentiment Honor, but not really where I was going with that.

Anonymous said...

Way too much man-lovin' going on here for a Disney site. Uhm, I take that back.

t said...

I greatly disagree with corruption on the parade music issue.

I think WDI-CE has done a great job at trying to bring new sights and sounds into their parade productions, and breaking up the classic sound with a bit of pop or something contemporary which adds a new and fresh element. I'd have to say that "Welcome" for Parade of Dreams ("Welcome" is expertly produced) and the play mode music for Jubilation! are great. And trust me, I am NOT a fan of High School Musical whatsoever.

"Just like We Dreamed It" is nice, but not what I would consider the strongest of the bunch. But still nice.

I would disagree with the part on no musical thread in Jubilation! - it's "Treasure the moment" and "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" (which, for most of the units, are the musical bookends). I think what you feel you're missing is a parade music structure that is based on an underliner, like MSEP. Steven Davison, along with Mark Hammond, did it this way to try something new with parade music and not make it so repetitive...give it some variation and contrast.
I would also have to disagree that Jubilation!'s music is underwhelming. I think Mark Hammond (producer, who also did Parade of Dreams) did a phenomenal job, and really improved since POD. Some of the units are just expertly orchestrated and arranged.
Sadly, there are a number out there who don't feel that way...but hey, all of this is just my opinion.

So, in the end...different strokes for different folks. :)