First, as i've said in yesterday's article Tomorrowland Grand Circuit Raceway and Star Jets will be removed but a big part of TDL Tomorrowland Terrace will disappear, too. However, as you'll see on the enlarged version below the entire Toon Town will stay, including the Gadget Go Coaster.
Now, the building on the left of Space Mountain is for sure It's a Small World which will be relocated from where it was previously - near the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall - to where the Grand Circuit Raceway currently is, and this is probably a premiere in a Disney park that such a big attraction will be relocated.
And what will come on its former location, you ask? Well, it'll be an Alice in Wonderland mini land, just like the one envisioned for WDW Magic Kingdom before being cancelled, what you can see on the artworks below, shown in a Disneyland exhibit called the "Realms of Fantasy" and posted December 2012 in a previous D&M article.
Above, the future Alice area at TDL, Below the artwork for WDW New Fantasyland.
The Dumbo ride will also be relocated and placed behind the castle, not far from the Winnie the Pooh ride, and reimagined to look like the one at WDW New Fantasyland. And, yes, it is indeed Beast Castle that we see on the right, with Belle village, and most probably a Be our Guest restaurant.
What is still more mysterious is the area which will be built where TDL Tomorrowland Terrace currently is. We can see plenty of different buildings, vegetation, rocks, water and waterfalls but surprisingly we can't see any entrance, so i suppose we'll have to wait a bit to learn more about this part. One thing is sure, though, contrary to what i thought yesterday it will NOT be a Frozen land...
...and, as nothing looking like a Frozen set can be seen on this new artwork, it means that if there is for real a Frozen land - as it has not been confirmed yet by TDL - that the new "port" at Tokyo Disney Sea will BE a Frozen land. And it doesn't sounds specially like a good news to me. Don't get me wrong, i have no doubts that WDI Imagineers can build a Frozen port that will look great but i think that a Frozen land should be located in TDL Magic Kingdom rather than in the more realistic Tokyo Disney Sea. A Mystic Point land with Mystic Manor would be much much better, specially close to Lost River Delta and the Indy pyramid instead of a Frozen Arendelle. And i'm pretty sure that you'll agree with me on this.
As for what will be the buildings in the picture above some like WDWNews Today think that the original Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty meet and greets - that were removed from early plans for Florida’s New Fantasyland - will be included in Tokyo Disneyland’s Fantasyland - i.e what you can see in the center of the rendering below - but i can't confirm this for now.
Anyway, we've learned a bit more about TDL New Fantasyland, and for the rest, we'll probably have to wait until a 2015 TDL announcement. One more thing: as we know TDL has to face a bigger competition of Universal Studios Japan with the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - and probably soon a Diagon Alley. Although TDL and USJ are not close together as WDW and USF are in Orlando, there is something fun to see that the TDL counterattack is somewhat the same, i.e a New Fantasyland.
All artwork: copyright Disney, Oriental Land
15 comments:
Opposite to what you say, i think that a Frozen port in Tokyo DisneySea would fit perfectly. The theme of the park is ports of different parts of the world. A Norwegian or Northern Europe port with Frozen attractions, or even an Arendelle port would be a perfect fit. it would make sense for the oriental culture, because it would be something very exotic for them. I don't think they would build a Frozen port with an icy landscape and Elsa's ice castle, but it would be more like the Norway Pavillion at EPCOT. Arendelle in the movie itself is a port in a fjord, which is an extension of the sea going into the land. No doubt that it would make a better fit in Fantasyland, but this will allow Disney to add more ideas and attractions based on the film that surely wouldn't have enough space in Fantasyland, and also, fantasy is not an exclusive for the Magic Kingdom style parks, fantasy is present in all Disney parks and in all their lands.
I am a little surprised TDR is not using this opportunity to build more Star Wars attractions, which must be being designed by WDI.
Frozen maybe more suitable to Fantasyland, but TDR clearly is thinking about capacity. TDL is already hugely popular and you add Frozen to it the crowd figures will go through the roof. They have to achieve balance by getting more people to go to TDS.
Mystic Manor is exclusive to HK until 2018. I don't think Tokyo will wait that long and WDI must have other great designs that TDR can use instead.
I find it interesting that this sort of eliminates a Star Wars Land for Tokyo if they are taking so much space away from Tomorrowland.
Not surprisingly it looks great. It looks like The Beast's castle will be larger that WDW's with an entrance to the castle and not "under it"
It wouldn't surprise me if they eliminated Tomorrowland entirely and replace it with a Star Wars Land.
There are still plenty of rooms for expansion after this expansion is finish.there are still land outside of the parks like open parking space.
Just spit-ballin' here, but could the new TDS "port" be a Star Wars themed port of sorts?
I guess the Tomorrowland Terrace site is going to be a cluster of parade-viewing restaurants. OLC mentioned the introduction of parade restaurant in the press release.
I would be really, really surprised if they built a Frozen area in TDS. Like you said, it seems to fit better over in Disneyland, and I think that's the case for a number of reasons, not just in terms of theme, but also style and demographic. Plus, Frozen just doesn't seem like the kind of movie that can support a whole land (or port). The world it takes place in doesn't seem to have as much depth as movies like Aladdin, or even Cars.
TDS, with the exception of Mermaid Lagoon and maybe Arabian Coast, is generally a more realistic, even hard-edged theme park. It appeals to an older, slightly more mature demographic. I think adding a Frozen area would mess with that balance. I think any addition to TDS needs to appeal to the teenage and older demographic in order to be successful.
Plus, with all the of the fantasy projects going on over in Disneyland, it would seem odd if the projects over in TDS were also fantasy. It would seem like an over-saturation of the theme. With that in mind, and the fact that TDS is geared towards a different audience and that Tomorrowland is effectively being downsized, I'm thinking the addition in TDS might lean more towards sci-fi.
^ Brian,
When TDS was designed and opened it aimed squarely at an older, more adult audience (as Japan's populace ages). A lot of the content and entertainment (like DisneySea Symphony)and marketing reflected this strategy.
Then, around ten years ago, there was a leadership change at OLC and the decision was made (to my chagrin) to make TDS much more kid/kawaii (cute characters) friendly, just like TDL.
Since then (around 2005), virtually EVERY THING added or altered at the park has reflected that strategic shift:
Toy Story Mania, Jasmine Spinner, Duffy expansion, Turtle Talk, Delta Character Greeting Trails, re-theme of Med Harbor shops to Daisy Duck, Alan Menken sing-a-long version of Sinbad, Fantasmic, etc., etc.
Creating a Frozen port fits perfectly with this altered OLC strategy for DisneySea (as much as I wish TDS would return to its more adult-aimed, original roots).
^ Anonymous...
I have to politely disagree with the notion that TDS was originally targeted squarely at an older audience. Arabian Coast and Mermaid Lagoon were both there on opening day, and they both are targeted to the younger Guests.
Has the OLC decided to make the park more kid friendly? Maybe, but I don't think its so drastic to the point that it makes the whole park MUCH more child friendly. The only major change is Midway Mania, and that is not a ride that appeals exclusively to a younger audience. It has appeal with young adult audiences too. As for the Sinbad changes, it was a ride in an area designed for kids that is supposed to be appealing to kids. The changes reflect a better implementation of the original intentions, not a change in intentions.
^Poor choice of phrase on my part. You are of course correct and worded it better in your original post: TDS is "generally a more realistic, even hard-edged theme park. It appeals to an older, slightly more mature demographic." This was the aim of the park: to also appeal to that mature Japanese demo that was not enthralled by Disney characters and cuteness.
That has been reversed to a degree, as every investment OLC has made in the park since 2005 has been to infuse lovable, cute characters (Disney, Pixar and original (the tiger, Gelatino) to make the park less hard-edged and more appealing to children.
While things like Toy Story Mania and Fantasmic have plenty of appeal to adults as well as children (so will the Frozen attraction), they also fulfill the "cute and Disney" mandate.
That's why I wouldn't be surprised of OLC goes with Frozen (no indications they're moving away from the "cute and Disney" strategy at TDS, even though I'd rather see more "hard-edged" material.
I'd argue Sinbad 1.0 (a personal favorite) was intended to be a slightly more aspirational attraction than a solely kid-aimed ride. It was right between Pirates and Small World in execution and tone and would have benefited greatly from a minor, Pirates-scale drop.
the village flume looks like Tangled actually, doesn't it
I think that an Arendal port village is a perfect fit for Tokyo Disney Sea. It is based on a culturally rich country with historically rich details and architecture -- Just like the rest of TDS. There is also already "fantasy ports" in TDS like Little Mermaid and in part, The Arabian Coast. I can't wait for the addition of Arendal into TDS.
I agree with Alain and I would hate to see an Arendelle port in TDS.
They are already adding a lot of fantasy in TDL, more fantasy in TDS would definitely be TOO MUCH!
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