1/21: A Different Kind of Marathon

[Al Lutz]

Join the discussion of Kevin Yee's latest article.

[Monorail Man]

Wow, Nara Dreamland, is THAT creepy.

[pjdonnell]

I really love Strong Bad and Homestar Runner. It's a great site full of stupid humor!

[MickeyMania]

There's another way to visit the park other than from dawn to dusk?

Nice to see someone acknowledge the tourist outlook once. And keep on fighting the good fight re: FastPass!

[Slaakker]

I went to the other site to view some of the videos. I watched the Tokyo DL and man, do they have a nice park! The journey to the center of the earth looked awesome.

[Dustysage]

I love that photo of Everest. Looks HUGE.

And I'm with Monorail Man - Nara Dreamland looks creepy. The Bizzaro Disneyland.

[MiceMan]

That River Safari Movie is so awesome, but I usually enjoy myself on the jungle cruise ... can't wait to go back with them with the guns though Oh, and I really think Expedition Everest looks awesome!

[angryrubberduck]

I agree that visiting with out of towners always gives a different perspective. As someone who works there or visits often, you can start missing and taking for granted the basics that really hit first time guests. Taking different people can help you see the magic in some of the places you have forgotten.

After awhile, we start to see the park in paint chips, nonworking AA's or castmember mistakes..perhaps getting a new perspective helps to bring just a bit more of that magic back for us. (But it will not prevent us from going to city hall and reminding them of what is not working!)

Thanks for the article!

Duck!

[figment1986]

he has an image of it topped off... YES.. i was wating all day to see it Toped off with the flag up top!!!!!

Thank you....

[meanmice]

i love going with people that haven't been there or that haven't been as often as i have. it's kinda cool to see their reaction. Nara Dreamland is a little strange lookin, but forgive me, what is that?

[MickeyMania]

See this thread for more of Nara Dreamland with links to a bunch of pictures and impressions.

[Barbossa]

Wow, Nara Dreamland, is THAT creepy.

I'm surprised that park hasn't had the Disney Lawyers come knocking on their doors just like in that one episode of The Simpsons where the Lawyers went to the fair at Springfield Elementary for using the slogan "Happiest Place on Earth"

[Monorail Man]

See this thread for more of Nara Dreamland with links to a bunch of pictures and impressions.

Thought the same thing, but that is Dream LAND. And Dream Land is in Thailand, not Japan.

[MickeyMania]

We actually had a quite a Nara Dreamland discussion in that thread as the discussion of knockoff parks continued. There's a bunch of links included. My favorite is the LP board post from the guy who went there and was begging people to not do the same.

I get Dreamland (Japan) and Dream World (Thailand) confused. They should seperate the identities of the two and call the Thailand one "Walt Dream World."

[dizneedoll]

I'm surprised that park hasn't had the Disney Lawyers come knocking on their doors just like in that one episode of The Simpsons where the Lawyers went to the fair at Springfield Elementary for using the slogan "Happiest Place on Earth"

I thought of that too and I thought maybe the copyright (or whatever) type laws can't hold up in Thailand? Interesting though. And it certainly is a creepy looking place.

[jsmith157]

I thought of that too and I thought maybe the copyright (or whatever) type laws can't hold up in Thailand? Interesting though. And it certainly is a creepy looking place.

My guess was also that it was a copyright issue. I'm sure that's why we have Tokyo Disneyland and are now getting a Hong Kong Disneyland, since it sounds like building an official park is the only way to counter these rip-offs. Really, who wants a cheap imitation when you can have the real deal?

[mistryl]

Gosh, Kevin, it's like you're reading my mind about the whole "visiting the parks as a tourist" thing. (Can't imagine why that would be. )

Everest is huge. I really like going there every few weeks to check on its progress. Luckily, I think DAK is my 2-year-old's favorite park. Oh, and speaking of Everest, in case anyone wanted to know, Everest was topped off on Jan 20. (I know Kevin's picture says it was taken that day, but he failed to mention that it had only been there for a few hours when that shot was taken). It was hanging from a crane when I pulled into the parking lot (around 10:30?), and I saw that it had the flag on it, but for whatever reason, I didn't think that was the top piece. Silly me. When I walked by Asia later in the day, there it was! I felt really dumb for not watching them put it up, but I was busy showing family around, so I probably didn't have time to do it anyway. Still, I can say I was there the day it was put up, at least.