When I look at pictures of the “American Waterfont” area of Tokyo DisneySea, I can’t help but smile.
Why for? Because this part of that theme park is yet another example of Walt Disney Imagineering’s decades-old practice of recycling ideas. Taking concepts for rides, shows and attractions that were originally created for other projects and then finally finding a home for completely different theme parks.
Take — for example — this whole New-York-at-the-turn-of-the-century thing. That idea was initially cooked by the Imagineers as part of an expansion plan for Disneyland ‘way back in 1975. This area — which was then called “Big City USA” — was to have been built in the Anaheim theme park right about where the Fantasyland Theater sits now. Just like the “American Waterfront” area, “Big City USA” was to have featured a big Broadway-style theater which was to have presented live stage show every day.
(Here’s a eerie bit of irony for all you Disney history buffs out there: “Big City USA” ‘s Broadway-style venue was supposed to be modeled after NYC’s New Amsterdam theater. The very theater that Florenz Ziegfeld used to present his legendary “Follies” in.
20 years later, when the Walt Disney Company finally decides to get serious about producing productions for Broadway, which theater does the Mouse take a long term lease on. More importantly, spend tens of millions of dollars on, bringing that historic building back to its former glory? You guessed it! The New Amsterdam Theater.
It’s kind of weird how things work out sometimes, isn’t it? Anyway … )
Mind you, the Broadway Music Theater isn’t the “American Waterfont” ‘s only bit of recycling. TDS’s Electric Railway was also originally supposed to be an attraction at another one of Disney’s theme parks. (That’s another reason why I like Tokyo DisneySea. It’s really sort of the “Elephant’s Graveyard” for Walt Disney Imagineering. If you look carefully at that park, you’ll actually find rides and shows that were first proposed for Westcot, Port Disney, even Disney’s America.)
Anywho … That elevated train idea actually started out life as a concept for Euro Disneyland’s Main Street USA Back when the Imagineers were actively toying with changing the time period that served as the setting for this part of the park.
You see, at the time, the feeling inside WDI was that the whole turn-of-the-century thing had been tapped out. That the Imagineers had already used this era to serve as the setting for the entrance areas for three different Magic Kingdoms. And that the time had finally arrived to do something new.
That’s why the Imagineers proposed rolling forward the odometer for EDL’s Main Street USA To jump right past all the tired turn-of-the-century stuff with this theme park and land solidly in the Jazz Age. The feeling was that – what with all of those colorful 1920s era flappers, gangsters and G-men strolling about – this part of the park would then achieve a new level of energy & excitement. Which (it was hoped) would make EDL that much more appealing to the French.
So – for a number of years in the late 1980s – the Imagineers explored the idea of doing a Jazz Age era Main Street USA (Folks who want a peek at what this version of EDL’s entrance area might have looked like would be well advised to chase down a copy of David Mumford and Bruce Gordon’s “A Brush with Disney.” [ 2000 Camphor Tree Publishers]. This wonderful volume – which is filled with incredible concept paintings by veteran Imagineer Herbie Ryman – reveals Herbie’s take on the whole 1920s idea. One painting on Page 240 & 241 even shows Ryman’s suggestion as to how a Main Street USA elevated train station might be set up… )
Speaking of which … In an effort to give this new version of Main Street USA a heightened sense of energy, an authentic Jazz Age feel, the Imagineers decided to ditch the horse drawn trolleys that had traditionally been found in Disney’s Magic Kingdoms. In their place, WDI wanted to bring in a 1920s era elevated train. Which (it was hoped) – what with that electric train regularly rumbling back and forth on those overhead tracks – would make EDL’s Main Street USA a truly unique experience.
Sounds like a pretty cool idea, doesn’t it? So – in the end – what stopped the Imagineers from going forward with this Jazz Age version of Main Street USA? Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
Eisner, who had originally had been a huge supporter of the whole 1920s idea, began having second thoughts about the retheming project in late 1988. Michael’s main concern was that guests strolling down Main Street and encountering gangsters (albeit colorful comic Damon Runyon-esque gangsters) would make for a pretty sinister way to begin one’s day at Euro Disneyland.
That’s why Eisner eventually asked the Imagineers to push EDL’s Main Street USA time period back again to the turn-of-the-century. To insure that this part of the park maintained its sunny, upbeat feeling. (As a slight concession to WDI, Michael didn’t absolutely insist that this part of the park exactly ape all the other Magic Kingdoms’ 1890s era feel. Which is why the Imagineers opted to go with a 1902 – 1905 time setting with EDL’s Main Street USA Which is what allowed them to do period billboards on the top of some of the buildings as well as that early 20th century auto dealership, Main Street Motors.)
Even so, many of the Imagineers had already fallen in love with the idea of doing a Jazz Era Main Street USA Particularly with the notion of running that elevated train route right through the heart of a Disney theme park. So they lovingly packed away those plans in WDI’s archives and waited patiently for the opportunity to resurrect the idea.
Luckily, the second gate project for Tokyo (which originally started out life as an Epcot clone, then mutated into a bigger, more ambitious version of Disney-MGM before finally settling into a significant revamped version of the “Port Disney” project that the Imagineers tried to get built in Long Beach, CA. back in the 1990s) finally came along.
And — once WDI decided to pull Disneyland’s old “Big City USA” plans out of the files and present them to Oriental Land Company executives as a possible area to be added to “Tokyo DisneySea” — it only made sense to fold the elevated train that had been originally planned for Disneyland Paris into the mix.
So — when you think about it — I guess TDS’s Electric Railway really was “The Little Train That Could.” A project that survived being cut out of Disneyland Paris, only to eventually pop up as part of the Toyko DisneySea theme park.
Paris to Tokyo … You have to admit, folks. That’s one hell of a train trip. Even the Orient Express can’t top that.
Your thoughts?