I'd be very curious to learn how much creative time Michael put into Tokyo Disney Seas VS. California Adventure.

Anyone?

I believe the answer to that question is ZERO.

From what I heard, many of Tokyo DisneySea's attractions originated from several OLC executives sitting down with several Walt Disney Imagineering executives, and giving them a 'wish list'.

It is said that OLC said, "We want Indy from Disneyland, we want Tower of Terror from WDW, we want something for kids, etc.", and WDI came back with, well...you can see the pictures of what WDI came up with.

It is also said that OLCs requests were not always balanced- for example, they wanted an icon to represent Tokyo DisneySea. WDI wanted that icon to be the fortress and volcano, but OLC wanted something on the size and order of EPCOT's Spaceship Earth. Since this would obviously destroy the theming and design of what WDI had going, a compromise was made, and hence the AquaSphere, located near the entry gates of Tokyo DisneySea. You can see how this Disney/OLC partnership has paid off- great, tasteful WDI engineering combined with tons of OLC-fronted cash.

Disney would never pay so much of their own money to build this park, but at the same time, OLC could never design a park of this calibur on their own. It is said that hybrids are the strongest of the species, and Tokyo DisneySea stands as a great example of this.

Yeah and don't we all just love those scraggly mongrels?:) So if Eisner had no sayso at TDS then its appropriate to assume if the same had happed (no Eisner at ALL) that DCA would be called something else, no ABC/ESPN no Fox, and no Go.com, what would Disney have available to spend? I think its over $20 billion ($19 B-ABC, $1B Go.com, $5B FOX Family, with that kind of money I would think 5000 people would still have their jobs and we would have a totally different style at DL/WDW.

>>I'd be very curious to learn how much creative time Michael put into Tokyo Disney Seas VS. California Adventure.<<

>>I believe the answer to that question is ZERO. <<

As I suspected, when the Six Billion Dollar Man and his accountaneers STAY AWAY from a project it turns out spectacular! Go figure.

Add that up, Stockholders... Maybe you can give an executive bonus for him to stay home.;)

Anti Disney: The evil being long foretold that speaks of magic and
creativity while cutting costs and increasing efficiency, and speaks of cutting cost and increasing efficiency while firing artists.

I would pay to hear Eisners comment or see his reaction if and when the media ask him why wasn't DCA enjoying the popularity that TDS has.......right now before TDS has even opened. Or better yet why DCA wasn't built to the standards of what OLC has done. Even now Eisner is trying to gather up $7.5 Billion and what for? It certainly isn't a new theme park.

The continuing series of pictures of TDS amazes me. Speechless almost every day I visit MP. Thanks to Tokyo Insider, Al and Lani for all the work. And there was finally a DL/DCA update today too. Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Michael Eisner and Roy Disney arrive here in Tokyo within a few days for the Grand Opening festivities. It should be interesting to hear what Michael has to say about the park, but the inside word is that you will need to understand Japanese in order to hear his thoughts: he will be speaking to the Japanese media only.

On top of that, the Japanese media groups sent to events of this sort are notorious for avoiding conflict and 'tough questions' for their interviewees.

To add to that mix, the Japanese media is clueless about the Disney parks in America, and also doesn't give a flying tortilla about them. All of these elements together make for probably one of the easiest grand openings Michael will ever have to preside over.

The most difficult questions Michael will probably have to field are, "So- Disney does not operate Tokyo DisneySea? Who does?" Or, "How is Tokyo DisneySea different from Tokyo Disneyland?" Yes- the entertainment reporters who get sent to these kind of events are really that clueless around here.