On September 1st, Tokyo Disneyland gets one honey of a new ride.
“Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” doesn’t sound like the sort of attraction that would significantly push the envelope when it comes to theme park ride design. But don’t let the cutesy pooh name throw you, folks. This new Fantasyland ride is really cutting edge stuff.
How Does “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt”‘s Ride Vehicles Work?
How so? Take – for instance – “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt”‘s ride vehicle. These six passenger “Hunny Pots” depart every 20 seconds for another trip through the 100 Acre Woods – but they won’t be rolling along a ride track. So how do these self powered “Pots” make their way safely through the show building? GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.
GPS allows the computers controlling the “Hunny Pots” rolling through the “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” show building to track the position of each ride vehicle down to an 1/8th of an inch of its actual physical location. This sort of precision particularly comes into play in the attraction’s “Heffalumps and Woozles” room, where numerous “Hunny Pots” will be rolling through this surreal setting at the same time. The ride vehicles will seemingly come within inches of striking one another, then gracefully dance around the room in perfect synchronization. The effect – according to those who have experienced it – is magical.
A state of the art ride system – plus fully dimensional sets, numerous AA figures and a huge beautiful new gift shop – makes “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” a ride that you can’t afford to miss the next time you visit Tokyo Disneyland. Unless, of course, you can’t afford to go to Tokyo Disneyland right now. The best you can do is to trek on down to Orlando, to Walt Disney World.
Winnie the Pooh at Walt Disney World
And – sure – that resort’s Magic Kingdom just got a “Winnie the Pooh” attraction too. Only this new Fantasyland ride doesn’t make use of GPS technology. Its “Hunny Pots” just roll along a standard ride track. And WDW’s “Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” attraction doesn’t have fully dimensional sets. It just features a lot of painted flats. And as for that huge beautiful new gift shop … Well, WDW’s consumer products people got a tiny little “Pooh Corner” store tacked onto the exit of the attraction.
What gives? Why do Tokyo Disneyland guests get to go on this state of the art “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” ride when folks visiting WDW get a quick, cramped trip through the 100 Acre Woods? It’s simple, really. Tokyo Disneyland gets the better “Pooh” ride because the management of the Walt Disney Company didn’t pay to build or design that version of the attraction.
That’s right, folks. Eisner & Co. didn’t foot the bill for any phase of the work on the Japanese “Pooh” attraction. The guys who actually run Tokyo Disneyland – the executives of the Oriental Land Co. Ltd. – did.
Oriental Land Company vs. Walt Disney Company – Money & Quality
That’s the Mouse’s dirty little secret, kids. The stateside company doesn’t actually own Tokyo Disneyland. Under the terms of a deal former Disney CEO Card Walker cut with executives of the Oriental Land Company (OLC) Ltd. back in the late 1970s, Disney just leased the right to use the “Disneyland” name to this Japanese business consortium. The deal also allowed OLC to build a theme park that recreated many of the Disney Company’s signature theme park rides and attractions in Urayasu-shi, Chiba. In return, the Mouse got 10% of the park’s admissions plus 5% of all food and merchandise sales.
The terms of this deal also allows OLC to hire Disney’s Imagineers to create new rides and shows – even whole new theme parks – for their Tokyo Bay property. Over the past few years, OLC has been making frequent use of this clause in the contract – repeatedly asking WDI to design ambitious new attractions for Tokyo Disneyland. Mind you, all of this was going on while Disneyland President Paul Pressler was aggressively scaling back expansion plans and cutting back on needed maintenance for Disneyland.
These days, there’s a noticeable difference in show quality between Tokyo Disneyland and the Anaheim original. Putting it bluntly, folks, OLC executive don’t mind spending a few bucks more if it ultimately means delivering a better show for their guests. The stateside Disney theme parks? These days, the budgets for proposed new attractions start out low, then get progressively lower at they slowly make their way through the painful approval process.
California Adventure vs. Disney Seas
The disparity between the current corporate philosophies of the Walt Disney Company and Oriental Land Company Ltd. will become painfully clear next year with the opening of Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) and Tokyo Disney Seas (TDS). Though still six months away from its grand opening, DCA is already plagued with bad buzz. Rumors continue to swirl about the limited capacity of its lightly themed off-the-shelf attractions and how guests are sure to be underwhelmed by this under-funded, under-developed theme park
On the other hand, the advance word on TDS has been aggressively positive. Rumor has it that this may be the most beautiful park Walt Disney Imagineering has ever designed. With the possible exception of “The Indiana Jones Adventure,” you’ll find no old recycled shows here. Imagineers who have worked on this project say that TDS may be Disney’s first theme park to have nothing but “E” Ticket rides.
Counter that with DCA’s anemic assortment of attractions. This cost conscious Disneyland companion may be the first modern Disney theme park to open with no “E” Ticket rides.
Sending the Best Overseas
Isn’t ironic that a company like Disney Enterprises, a firm that regularly wraps itself in the flag when presenting All American shows like “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” and “The Hall of Presidents,” a company that – just a few years ago – actually contemplated opening a theme park that celebrated our nation’s history, “Disney’s America” … sends its very best work overseas, only to been seen by a foreign audience?
Mouse House executives don’t view their actions as deliberately short-changing the company’s American customers. They insist that Disney Enterprises is delivering the best possible entertainment at its stateside theme parks .. while making sure that the price of Disney stock isn’t placed under undue stress by the financial demands of building these new stateside rides, shows and attractions.
Translation: Disney’s US theme parks will still offers its guests the best assortment of attractions money can buy … Provided – of course – the Mouse doesn’t have to pay too much to build, operate or maintain these rides.
How Much Money was Spent on California Adventure & Tokyo Disney Sea?
You want the hard numbers? The Walt Disney Company is spending $1.4 billion to expand its Disneyland Resort. That amount covers the total construction costs of Disney’s California Adventure theme park, the Grand Californian Hotel as well as all the shops and restaurants to be found in Downtown Disney. On the other hand, the Oriental Land Company Ltd. is spending $3.2 billion to expand its Tokyo Bay resort. Of that $3.2 billion, $2.4 billion is being spent just on “Phase One” version of its Tokyo Disney Sea theme park.
$2.4 billion for a single theme park?! Compared to $1.4 billion for all of the new elements that have been added to the Disneyland Resort? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Tokyo Disney Sea is going to blow Disney’s California Adventure out of the water … and that – come September 2001 – Disney’s marketing department is going to have a public relations nightmare on its hands, as it tries to explain away why Disney’s new Tokyo theme park has all these state of the art attractions while Disney’s California Adventure has .. er .. um .. a carousel and a Ferris wheel.
Isn’t it ironic? Japan is known as “The Land of the Rising Sun” while Anaheim will soon be known as “The Land of the Fading Fun.”
Quick. Someone tell me how I can get a cheap ticket to Tokyo.