Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Ok, I have a couple of questions, actually. Talking about the Haunted Mansion looking out of place in another topic got me thinking about the land as a whole. When Tokyo Disneyland was in the planning stages, so was "New Fantasyland" at Disneyland. So, why then, did the only thing TDL ended up with from that project was Pinocchio's Daring Journey? I mean, if they had built both at the same time, wouldn't that have saved on cost? I know that's why the company currently likes to install attractions at multiple resorts at the same time because the cost goes down when you design and build all at once. So, what's the deal with TDL's Fantasyland? Does anybody know why they chose to stick with the older WDW version of the facades, yet put in Pinocchio? Also, another question. What did the facade to It's a Small World used to look like? Was it white & gold like Disneylands? I ask because for a while it's been the pastel colors like DLP. I thought DLP was the first to use pastels, and then DL and TDL followed, but is that the case? Are there old pictures of TDL's version before the pastels? Silly questions, but I was wondering, especially about the design choice to stick with the "old" Fantasyland.
Originally Posted By TDR_Fan As far as I know, it's a small world has not been changed since opening.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Well, after doing some searching for images, I could only find one old one, and it does look like it's changed since opening. The picture I found shows that originally it was mostly white, but there were pastel accents (mostly pinks & blues). Plus all of the gold accents. So, it seems like it was sort of in between the way the Disneyland original looked, and the pastel Disneyland Paris/current TDL version looks. Oh, and in doing my research I found out that "Small World Restaurant" which is now "Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall" was originally named "Four Corners Food Faire" and changed in 1987...boy the things you find out on the internet!
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi "it's a small world" also had a stage area for the "Kids of the Kingdom" show. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By Mr X Good questions, gurgi. I really don't know why, but it would've made sense huh? Maybe because the "new" FL in Anaheim was "untested"? I just wonder, because all the stories I've heard from the opening of the park were that OLC was very nervous about how the park was going to work out and very conservative...not wanting to make any changes or try anything that hadn't already been done in America. That's the reason WorldBazaar ended up being Main St. U.S.A. instead of the new concept the imagineers had come up with. Just a guess. About the Small World Restaurant, just a small clarification. It did close when Queen of Hearts opened, but it's not the same restaurant. Queen of Hearts is located to the left of Small World, the Small World restaurant was INSIDE Small World off to the right (I think). IIRC anyway...Nezumi? Never did eat there. Was it any good?
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Mr. X, you may have a point. Since "New Fantasyland" was not done yet for OLC to see, maybe they didn't want to do anything experimental. Although that doesn't explain Pinocchio, since that was not availible for them to see at the time. From stories that I've heard, it's funny how OLC went to both US parks and cherry picked what they wanted for TDL. As for the "Small World Restaurant", that does make sense that it was inside the attraction, because there is a similar situation at WDW, and there are big glass windows overlooking the loading/unloading area on the right-hand side too. So, if that's the case at TDL, what happened to that space? Oh, and what was where "Queen of Hearts" is now?
Originally Posted By Mr X Oh god, you're killing me! I was there (when they built the place!), but I really don't recall. I think they moved the teacups over some if memory serves...so I don't think anything was "there" where Queen of Hearts is now... So I hope Nezumi comes in and clears it up! As for the restaurant in Small World, I don't know if there were windows or anything because I never went in...just walked by (a million times...smelled good! lol). The way it was positioned, I could imagine there were windows because that's where the restaurant was located (just above and to the left of the loading zone). As far as why the "new" fantasyland wasn't used, it was just a guess based on what people told me about how they dealt with OLC at the time. Don't know why they went with Pinnochio though.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I have definately seen pictures of the teacups being relocated, so that happened at some point. I believe they used to be pretty close to the Skyway station, and when they were building Pooh, they moved them closer to the center (front to back at least, I'm not sure about side to side positioning) of the land. I'm really not very familiar with TDL history that much, so I don't know when it was, but the picture seemed to be from the late 90's/early 00's. As for the positioning of the Small World restuarant, if it was in the building, what's there now? I would assume they covered up the windows, since it would look a little strange without anything on the other side of the glass (like the creepy second floor of the Starcade at DL that can be seen from the Space Mountain queue). I would assume something (probably storage) moved into the space after the restuarant moved out, since land is so valuable there, but I really don't know what it would be.
Originally Posted By TDRboy38 Where the current Queen of Heart stands was a small window service cafe called Alpine Gardens. Next to the Small World Restaurant was the Skyway to Tomorrowland entrance/exit. Next to that was the Tea Cups. Then when they started to get ready to develop the Pooh attraction, Skyway closed, and the Teacups were re-done and re-located next to the carousel. SW restaurant closed and they opened QoHBH to help with the large flow of guests that Alpine Gardens could not provide. Small World Stage was taken out in 95 or 96 and the colors changed at that time from the white and gold to the current pastel pallet. Hope this helps = )
Originally Posted By TDRboy38 One last tidbit. So the entire area that once was SW restaurant, Skyway, and Tea Cups became the Pooh attraction and gift shop. QoHBH took over the space where Alpine Gardens once stood as well as the original overflow queue for IASW.
Originally Posted By Mr X Thanks TDR..good info! That sounds vaguely familiar now that you describe it (don't really remember Alpine Gardens though...what did they serve?).
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>As for the "Small World Restaurant", that does make sense that it was inside the attraction, because there is a similar situation at WDW, and there are big glass windows overlooking the loading/unloading area on the right-hand side too.<< The Small World restaurant was NOT inside the attraction and it did NOT have a window overlooking into the loading area similar to what the Pinocchio Haus/IASW situation at WDW is. Trust me on it... as I ate there a few times. It was a buffeteria style restaurant. The restaurant's area was attached next to the IASW building and designed to be an extention of the ride in look. However, that building was torn down to make room for Hunny Hunt and the Pooh gift store. Skyways station and the tea cups were also removed, but the Teacups, as mentioned before, were relocated. TDRboy38 provided very good info on this.
Originally Posted By TDRboy38 Wish I was still 38, soon to be 41 =( boy at heart Yes, no windows into the attraction.
Originally Posted By aracuanbird Hey...while you're discussing TDL's Small World, does anyone know who did the design for the murals in the load area? They are definitely in the style of Mary Blair but I'm assuming someone aped her technique. I have been fascinated by the space age designs in there for some time. Also...anyone have any pics of the old TDL Skyway?
Originally Posted By Malin Chris's Tokyo Disney Resort fan site has a page dedicated to the TDL Skyway. <a href="http://www.tdrfan.com/additional_features/a_tribute_to_the_skyway/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.tdrfan.com/addition al_features/a_tribute_to_the_skyway/index.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Bob Paris For a good view from the old TDL Skyway check out this link. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJuN4rqEU0o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =yJuN4rqEU0o</a> Interestingly, the person videoing the trip also managed to be there filming when TDS was being built. All you can see in the distance are multiple numbers of cranes, giving you a good idea of the sheer scope of building this park.
Originally Posted By Mr X Cool video Bob... Wow, what a short ride huh? Can you believe that was a "D" ticket!? Kinda puts all the "what's an e-ticket and what's not" argument into perspective! lol.
