D&M Exclusive Report : Tokyo Disney Sea's " Turtle Talk " Pictures by Yumiko Murata

"Turtle Talk" (with Crush) is the brand new attraction at Tokyo Disney Sea and it will open October 1st, but here at Disney and more, thanks to D&M correspondant in Tokyo Yumi Murata who was at the press event yesterday we already have all the pictures to show you (yeah, i know, we're good!), so there we go, and double click on each to see the pictures in big size!



Turtle Talk is located at the American Waterfront inside the Columbia ship, and i must say that it's a genius idea, you'll see why in a few seconds.



As usual at Tokyo Disney sea, WDI Imagineers did a fantastic job of theming. Turtle Talk is not a E-Ticket, but they did a great queue decor, a great pre-show and a more than perfect decor inside the show theatre. Here is the entrance, outside the Columbia.





Guests enter then inside the Columbia and here is the queue decor which looks beautiful.









It's time now to enter inside the pre-show of the attraction.



Let's have a closer look at the decor of the pre-show room and especially to the sea animals visuals displayed on the walls.











This next picture introduce a genius idea: Although we're in 2009 we must not forget that the "time" of all the American Waterfront land is supposed to be early century. So the Imagineers found this excellent idea to justify the principle of the attraction: "The invention of the century: Hydrophone allows us to talk with fish!"



And the pre-show movie follow this concept as the movie is supposed to have been filmed early last century. It shows first how the "Hydrophone" is working and then a little girl talking to a turtle with this invention. What a perfect introduction to the show.













Then it's time to enter the show theatre - the Columbia "Undersea Observatory" - and look at this great theming! Everything from the lights to the whole decor is fantastic. AND the best idea is the screen which looks like a "window" of the ship looking on the sea - and i remind you that at TDS the real sea is just behind (or almost) the Columbia!





Guests enter the theatre...by the way, look at the incredible high-definition of the screen...stunning.



...and "on with the show"! You all know the principle of the attraction, so i don't think it's necessary to explain what is happening...however, have a closer look at the picture below and you'll see that a supposedly "real" Hydrophone is located inside the theater on the left side of the screen.



Here comes Crush!









Ooops! Here comes a whale...







A last goodbye to Crush before we exit the attraction...





And the Imagineers didn't forgot to theme the exit too!







Outside, guests can find some Turtle Talk merchandise.



The cost of Turtle Talk - officially announced by Oriental Land - is approximately ¥1.3 billion, more or less US$13.1 million. We all know that WDI attractions are expensive but when i see this quality of theming for a "C" Ticket attraction, i can't stop thinking that the money was well used and that WDI Imagineers are simply the best. Lucky Japanese!

All pictures: copyright Yumi Murata and Disney and more

Have a look to Yumiko Murata and Paul Hsu web site about Entertainment called Premiereport !

Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat

Latest - and good - news from Asia !

No, these good news are not about Shanghaî Disneyland - still waiting for Beijing official agreement - but about Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.

Let's begin by HKDL as its destiny was recently in jeopardy. Reuters press agency announced yesterday that "The Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is close to agreeing to invest more capital in Hong Kong Disneyland and allow the island's government convert its loans to equity to maintain its majority share of the theme park"

Reuters source - somebody close to the talks - also said that "Hong Kong's government will not budge on two points: the need to retain equity control of the project, and a refusal to put up any more cash for the park"."The Hong Kong government might reduce its holdings, but still retain a majority shareholding. That's the bottomline."

So, may be had a genious idea to create a "win-win" ending for both parts... If everything goes fine, may be the park's expansion that would enlarge the park's existing area by around a third and feature three new "lands" will not be a dream anymore. Let's cross our fingers!

At Tokyo Disneyland the future looks bright, as it is not less than four attractions that will open in the next three years. Tokyo Disney Sea will have the first one with Turtle Talk with Crush next October. The attraction will be located inside the huge S.S Columbia - no doubt there is plenty of room available inside for an attraction. Cost of this small attraction is U.S $ 13.1 M.



Mickey's Philarmagic will be the next attraction to open, this time at Tokyo Disneyland's Fantasyland in 2011. Cost is around U.S $ 60.5 M. Unfortunately, Philarmagic's opening mean the very end of the beloved Mickey Mouse Revue - that's why i did an article about it a while ago.



The same year, a Cinderella walk through will open inside Cinderella's castle with dioramas, paintings, and most of all a recreation of the grand ballroom where - in the movie - Cinderella danced with her charming prince. Cost: U.S $ 20.2 M.



In 2012, it's Toy Story Mania that will open in the New York area of the American Waterfront. Cost: U.S $ 115.9 M.



Finally, TSM won't be build in the Cape Cod area which doesn't mean that there won't be anything new in this small land. In fact, a new shop dedicated to the extremely successful "Mickey Bear" plushs should open anytime soon in the Cape Cod area (that's a D&M exclusive news!)

Also, if i'm indicating above the costs of the attractions it's not only because it's always interesting to know them, but it may also help some of you to understand why sometime it can be difficult to get a budget approval even for small "A" Tickets.

I'm very happy for TDL and TDS japanese fans, but a little bit less for foreigners. as you can see, if we except the Cinderella walk-through, all the other attractions already exist in the U.S which means that there won't be any new TDL unique attractions coming in the next three years. But it's true that they recently opened the new Monsters Inc attraction, a version which exist only at TDL.

Let's end with a little week-end gift with this great TDL-TDS map at the top of this article! Enjoy!

All pictures: copyright Disney