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By land and by sea, the
Magic Kingdom and its gang of cartoon
citizens have taken over Tokyo, first arriving when Tokyo
Disneyland opened in 1983, and
completing their invasion when the seven Ports of Call at DisneySea welcomed
their first visitors in 2001.
Tokyo Disneyland Attractions
Tokyo Disneyland is a replica of its sister US theme parks, Disneyland in
Orange County, California, and Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.
Although neither it nor DisneySea is owned by the
Walt Disney Company, visitors to the
Tokyo
theme parks would never know it as
they gambol through the World Bazaar, Critter Country, Mickey’s Toontown,
Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Westernland, the Japanese
counterpart of Orange County’s Frontierland.
“Frontier” does not translate well into Japanese, but Big Thunder Mountain,
Tom Sawyer’s Island Rafts, Mark Twain’s Riverboat, and the Country Bear
Jamboree certainly do. The only noticeable differences between Disneyland
USA and Tokyo Disneyland, in fact, are that the Haunted Mansion has moved
from New Orleans Square to Fantasyland, because Japanese ghosts exist only
in fairy stories; Main Street USA has been supplanted by the glass-canopied
World Bazaar; and its Western River Railroad has a single station instead of
Disneyland’s four. |
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Japanese
trains making more than one stop are government regulated, so visitors can’t
use the Western River Railroad to move through the entire park. The vast
open areas of Tokyo Disneyland are very special in a part of the world where
land is the most valuable of commodities, and they are also necessary; Tokyo
Disneyland’s crowds make it the third most visited theme park in the world,
with Tokyo DisneySea right behind.
Tokyo Disneyland is open daily from 9AM to 10PM; tickets are available at
Tokyo Station, Yaesu North Exit, or from any travel agent. A single day pass
good for all attractions at either Disneyland or DisneySea, runs $52 for
adults.
Where to Stay during a Visit to Tokyo Disneyland
The Park Lane Hotel Tokyo in Nishi Kasai offers reasonably-priced
comfortable and clean accommodations with free Internet access, and has free
bus service to and from Tokyo Disneyland twice a day.
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