Tokyo DisneySea (東京ディズニーシー) is an 176 acre (714,000 m²) theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just outside of Tokyo. It opened on September 4, 2001 and It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. DisneySea and its companion park Tokyo Disneyland are the only Disney parks not owned by The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo DisneySea has become one of the world's most-visited theme parks and one of the most popular Disney Parks in the world. An estimated 12.2 million visitors visited the park in 2004. It was the second theme park to open at the Tokyo Disney Resort, and the ninth park of the eleven worldwide Disney theme parks to open. It is also the most expensive theme park ever built, estimated to have cost USD 4-5 billion, although the actual figure has been kept confidential. Currently, Tokyo DisneySea is experiencing its 5th birthday celebrations, with new attractions and shows, including The Legend of Mythica and the Tower of Terror.
CONCEPT
The park has an overall nautical theme to it. The idea for the park can be traced to a proposal to build a second theme park in Southern California called "DisneySeas" in Long Beach, California. However the idea was scrapped after the company endured financial trouble with its EuroDisney project. Later the idea was passed on to the Oriental Land Company to expand their resort. Unlike Tokyo Disneyland, the overall intention was to create a more adult-themed park, including faster, scarier rides and shows designed more for an older audience. By the time Tokyo DisneySea opened in 2001, it's concepts and designs had been in development at Walt Disney Imagineering for well over 20 years.
DEDICATION
Welcome one and all to a world where Imagination and Adventure set sail. Tokyo DisneySea is dedicated to the spirit of exploration that lives in each of us. Here we chart a course for Adventure, Romance, Discovery and Fun and journey to exotic and fanciful Ports of Call. May Tokyo DisneySea inspire the hearts and minds of all of us who share the water planet, Earth.
—Michael Eisner, September 4, 2001
LAYOUT
There are seven uniquely themed areas or "ports of call". The entrance to the park is Mediterranean Harbor, which opens up to six more nautically themed ports: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island.
MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR
Mediterranean Harbor is the entrance "port-of-call" and themed as an Italian port city, complete with Venetian gondolas that guests can board and ride. The layout differs from the entry "lands" of other Disney parks (such as Disneyland's 'Main Street, U.S.A.' or the Disney-MGM Studios' 'Hollywood Boulevard') as it is a large "V" shape. If followed to the right, the path leads to Mysterious Island, while if followed to the left, the path leads to the American Waterfront. Built into the architecture in this port is the Hotel MiraCosta. It is unique among Disney hotels as it is the *ONLY* Disney hotel located physically inside one of the parks. In fact the hotel's 'backside' serves to make the Portofino and Venice areas appear like real cities, because there are actual people in the rooms, balconies, and terraces as guests of the MiraCosta while also doubling as the 'berm' of the park. (It is a comment misconception that Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in California is also a park *INSIDE* Disney's California Adventure. But to reach the hotel you cross a brick bridge, walking over the divider line where DCA ends and Grand California begins. Much like how Disneyland Paris Hotel faces the park, but is removed back from entrance gates. Also, Animal Kingdom Lodge isn't technically in the park either, since the particular savanna you see from your room isn't accessable anywhere in the theme park.) Also in Mediterranean Harbor are Fortress Explorations which is an interactive self-guided walking tour, The Legend of Mythica which is a twenty-five minute show located in the harbor itself, and 'BraviSEAmo!', a nighttime show similar in style (but much higher in budget) to IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Epcot and Fantasmic! at Disneyland.
AMERICAN WATERFRONT
This "port of call" represents the northeastern seaboard of the United States in the early 20th century. It features two themed areas, an "Old Cape Cod" section, and a "New York Harbor" section. This land is dominated by the large passenger ship, "S.S. Columbia", and the large skyscraper, Hightower Hotel. Apart from the "Big City Vehicles" which travel around the area and the DisneySea Electric Railway, the land's first attraction, the Tower of Terror opened on September 4th, 2006 on the site of the fictional Hotel Hightower.
LOST RIVER DELTA
The dominate structure in this "port of call" is a large, ruined South American Inca temple which houses the attraction Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. The ride is similar in style and story to the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland, with a 'storm' theme (including a massive swirling indoor tornado) in contrast to Disneyland's 'fire' theme. Also located in the Lost River Delta is the DisneySea Steamer Line which transports guests back to Mediterranean Harbor, 'Mystic Rhythms' a live theatrical show that takes place in an abandoned hanger that has been reclaimed by the jungle, and Raging Spirits which is a roller coaster situated in the ruins of an ancient ceremonial site featuring a 360 degree loop.
PORT DISCOVERY
The overall theme of this "port of call" is futuristic, as it bills itself as a 'marina of the future'. Home to the fictional 'Center for Weather Control', Port Discovery is home to three attractions: StormRider, a simulator-type ride; Aquatopia, a boat ride that uses LPS tracking (the 'trackless' technology also used in Tokyo Disneyland's Pooh's Hunny Hunt) to move and spin through a lagoon and a waterfall, and the DisneySea Electric Railway, an electric 'trolley' that transports you to the American Waterfront.
MERMAID LAGOON
Mermaid Lagoon is home to many of the characters of The Little Mermaid. This "port of call" has two areas, one indoors and the other outdoors. Both areas are bright and colorful and feature fanciful architecture designed after the undersea palace of King Triton. Most of the rides are geared towards younger children. Attractions in this "port of call" include Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster, a small junior coaster; Scuttle's Scooters, a slow spinning ride; Jumpin' Jellyfish, a tame parachute ride; Blowfish Balloon Race, a carousel-type ride; The Whirlpool, a spinning ride similar to Ladybug Boogie at California Adventure and the newly opened Cars attraction at Disney Studios Paris; Ariel's Playground which is a children's playground/extensive walkthrough attractio using sets designed for the never built Little Mermaid dark ride; and the Mermaid Lagoon Theater which is home of 'Under the Sea', a show featuring live actors, large-scale puppetry and Audio-animatronics that recreate the story of The Little Mermaid.
ARABIAN COAST
This "port of call", like Mermaid Lagoon is themed after a popular Disney animated film, this time Aladdin. It recreates an exotic Arabian harbor combined with an "enchanted world from 1001 Arabian Nights." There are three attractions in the land: Sindbad's Storybook Voyage, an indoor boat ride who's art direction seems to be (at first glance) a variation on "it's a small world" (complete with it's own theme song, composed by Alan Menken), but actually (using newly developed audio animatronics which have full, 'life-size scale range' of movement in miniature) ends up surpassing the technical wonders of the classic Pirates of the Caribbean; Caravan Carousel, a double-decker carousel that can hold over 190 passengers; and the Magic Lamp Theater, which houses a combined live-action/animatronic based magic show with a 3D movie featuring the Genie.
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
Mysterious Island is a "port-of-call" within Mount Prometheus, the giant volcano that is the Park's centerpiece and most prominent feature. It relies heavily on the storytelling of Jules Verne and, specifically, the mythology of the volcano fortress mentioned several times in the books called "Vulcania." The smallest "port of call," it nevertheless holds two of the more popular attractions: "Journey to the Center of the Earth," a thrill ride (using Test Track technology from Epcot), and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," a next-generation dark ride (using a new type of 'overhead monorail' system resembling the one used in Peter Pan) where you board your own mini submarine and ‘dive’ into the deep. While appearing to be a volcano on the water, Mysterious Island is not an island at all. It is instead built into the side of Mount Prometheus, which is part of the show building of the two attractions.
[edit] Awards and Credits
In 2002 Tokyo DisneySea won a Thea Award from the Themed Entertainment Assosiation. The award was for the concept, design, and construction of the theme park which was presented at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, CA. During the ceremony and on its official website a long list of people were credited for the concept, design, and construction of the park.
SYMBOLS
The park's two symbols are the AquaSphere - a water fountain with a large model of the earth - in the entrance plaza, and the gigantic volcano, Mount Prometheus, located in the center of the park. The volcano and Cinderella Castle in Tokyo Disneyland, the other park in the resort, are exactly the same height.
