Tag: Tokyo Disneyland

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The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room: The Full Feathered Fabled Behind Walt Disney’s Tropical Serenade

“Aawwahhhh! My siestas are getting ‘chorter and ‘chorter!”

…But if we at Park Lore are going to keep up with our ongoing dream to tell the in-depth and complete histories behind the best (and worst) attractions on the planet, there’s no time to waste. And today, our Modern Marvels series gains a new tropical tale: the story of a genuine Walt Disney original and fan-favorite for more than five decades, the venerated and beloved Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.

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The Best Walkthrough Attractions at Theme Parks Around the Globe

From gliding through the skies to churning beneath the waves; off-roading troop transports to effortless Doom Buggies; spinning SCOOPS to flying benches… we celebrated the most spectacular ride systems ever developed in our special Seven Modern Wonders of the Theme Park World feature… 

But in all the decades of innovation that have created new ways to whisk guests away into haunted mansions, ancient temples, comic book cityscapes, and underwater caves, there are still spectacular attractions scattered around Disney and Universal parks using a much simpler mode of transportation: your own two feet.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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Off The Rails: 13 Totally Trackless Dark Rides from Worst to Best

For the better part of a century, designers have been racing toward the next best thing in ride system technology… From simple carts powered by electric bus-bars, to high-capacity boat-based dark rides; from the continuously-moving Omnimover to the debut of Disney’s Enhanced Motion Vehicle (EMV) in 1995 that makes guests the center of the action… At each step of the way, evolutions in ride system technology have changed the ways that designers can tell stories.

But when we looked at the Seven Modern Wonders of the Theme Park World, one cutting edge technology stands out as the way of the future: rides untethered by tracks entirely. A new generation of trackless rides allow vehicles to do what once seemed impossible: to make choices; to diverge down new paths; to spin and dance around one another in precisely-calibrated near-collisions; to become alive.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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STAR TOURS – The Intergalactic E-Ticket Simulator That Changed Disney Parks Forever

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Once in a while, an attraction comes around and the entire industry seems to pivot. Landmark rides shift the consciousness at Imagineering and its peers, enabling parks to see new technologies, new storytelling techniques, and new direction firsthand. Groundbreaking, beloved, and known by generations, these sensational headliners start as must-sees and become legends… or in this case, a Lost Legend.

Image: Disney

A long time ago indeed, one such ride reshaped Disney Parks from the ground up. STAR TOURS was more than just a cutting edge E-Ticket thrill ride sending guests on a wayward trip to Endor, it was a reinvention of the formula; an intentional test to experiment with a new way of doing things at Disney Parks; the debut of a never-before-seen ride system that would redefine thrill rides. While you probably already know the ending, you won’t believe the story that gets us there…

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

Star Tours announces the boarding of the Endor Express, non-stop Starspeeder service to the moon of Endor. All passengers please prepare for immediate boarding.

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ICONS: The 12 Centerpiece Structures of Disney and Universal Parks

They’re iconic for a reason. They inspire breathless wonder. They’re orienting navigational centers. They’re feats of engineering. Though they come in all shapes and sizes, park icons all have one thing in common: they come to represent a park’s stories, settings, and style in our hearts and minds. The road to icon status isn’t always easy, as you might have read in our complementary list of Demoted and Demolished Lost Disney Parks icons.

Below, we’ve collected eleven of the most memorable, photogenic, and widely recognized theme park icons on Earth (in order of their introduction). Which have you seen? Which strike the greatest emotional and adventurous chord in you? Tell us in the comments.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


Log In or Join Now
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PARKSTROLOGY 101: A Park Lore Primer on Disney Parks, the Zodiac, and the “Magic in the Stars”

Is there magic in the stars?

Whether or not you lend any credence to astrology – the practice of divining information about human matters from the patterns and movements of celestial objects – there’s one compelling connection none of us can deny: Twelve Disney Parks. Twelve signs of the Zodiac. With that idea in mind, I reached out to my longtime friend (and personal Dr. Facilier) with a penchant for the supernatural. A self-described mystic, craft artist, and witch, Desdemona Lotte also happens to be a lifelong friend and personal Dr. Facilier.

 If you’ve been around Park Lore long, you know that my goal is to see theme parks differently. Through unexpected views of what a park’s pathways tells us about its history and personality, the first cohesive collection of hand-drawn ride layouts, unexpected diagrams of Disney Parks offerings, and other theme park-y creations, I’ve tried to come up with some unusual lenses for seeing the parks we love with brand new eyes.

So it made sense for me to sit down with Desi for a really-for-real lesson on Astrology 101, determined to rise above “What kind of noodle are you based on your Zodiac sign” Buzzfeed quizzes to decide which Disney theme park best complements each of the twelve signs.

Much to our surprise, pairing parks with the stars worked out pretty effortlessly! Somehow, each Disney Park’s “personality” seemed to slot intuitively into a corresponding sign… (Keep in mind, direct from Ethan, that the signs we typically associate with ourselves are our “sun signs” – technically, they show us not who we are, but who we are on the way to becoming…) 

Is this clear complementary relationship a product of divine intervention? We’ll let you decide… But trust us when we say that – whether you “believe” or not – looking at the parks through this lens may change the way you see their personalities, quirks, and relationships to one another… 

Continue reading “PARKSTROLOGY 101: A Park Lore Primer on Disney Parks, the Zodiac, and the “Magic in the Stars””
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