Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>> (WHY do they hate Paris so much though? I don't get it)<<< There are a number of reasons. For starters, a lot of the European troube makers were deemed to come from France with Paris being the capital (William the Conquerer, as well as a lesser known Norman who conquered sicilly and much of Italy; The Sun King; during the coloniel periods; Napolean; as well as the tensions from the two world wars; the impact of decolonisation in Africa, Vietnam etc.). Plus Germany and France, Spain and France, and the UK and France have had long histories of conflict. Add to the fact that the Parisians are deemed the rudest of city cultures by many in Europe. Just like in California I was always told New Yorkers were the rudest in the US. While I have met many from both cities who are lovely, this is often a common view. Paris is quite dirty however. In Germany, the UK, Holland, local government will often pay for litter picking, they will clean up dog mess etc. In Paris, it is not uncommon for people to use the gutters as a toilet. Then there is a little bit of institutional fear I think too. Remember, the French revolution was a bunch of people executing the monarchy (unlike in the US). There is a nature that man is free and should be able to do what he pleases. This of course was disquieting to many European countries for a few hundred years. I have been in a restaurant where a man was asked to extinguish his cigarette (it has been illegal to smoke in an indoor public place for a few years now). His answer "That is ok, I am French". Smoking is also illegal indoors in France. Now there is much to like about Paris and France in general, but these are some of the issues. Also, it seems like so many Americans and Chinese want to go to Paris, when frankly there are many great cities across Europe with so many treasures. The difference is, Paris was rebuilt with a master plan, so the "Theme" is pretty consistent on a large scale, so that makes it quite unique.
Originally Posted By barboy2 ///a lot of the European troube makers were deemed to come from France with Paris being the capital/// Indeed! There was a saying over the centuries: "Whenever France sneezed the rest of Europe caught a cold". It seemed like Paris was a hotbed or epicenter for most of the continent's unrest and turmoil over the years.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Then again, it must be hard to be in the centre of all the empires with people continually going for land grabs too.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Without saying it, I'm guessing the implication is that their "formal request" was blown off by the Disney folks. >>> Good catch. I missed that subtlety. <<< Anyway, just thought it was a funny way of putting things (I would guess a Western account would leave out the initial, thoroughly rejected offer). lol >>> I think you're right. It's as if they felt the initial blowoff was an important enough piece of history that they felt they had to include it in the piece, but didn't want to be too up-front about it.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I'm just sort of soaking up these awesome pages of history like fine wine at this point...how I wish I'd had the chance to check out TDL in its' early days >>> What I found fascinating is that they report attendance of 10+ million guests every year since the opening. But for the first 5 years, there were no on-site hotels, and no Keiyo Line. So, apart from those that drove, most guests took the subway to Urayasu Station and then bussed it to the resort. Presumably, there were non-stop Disney buses and they didn't just take the municipal bus that runs along that route today. In any event, that had to have been quite a heavy lift operation of buses. And, even after the Keiyo Line started operation, it initially didn't go all the way to Tokyo Station, as it was several more years before the "endless corridor" was installed.
Originally Posted By Mr X I can't recall exactly where I noticed it, but somewhere near Urayasu station there's a weatherbeaten old sign which reads "Tokyo Disneyland bus terminal" with an arrow pointing to nowhere in particular. If I ever come across it again, I'll be sure and take a picture. That's the only evidence I've seen that Urayasu station used to be the gateway to TDL. And yes, I would imagine they must have had special shuttle buses. I can't imagine how else they'd manage it!
Originally Posted By TokyoSea I had read somewhere, perhaps even in an earlier thread here, that when TDL originally opened it was having a hard time with attendance and some other operational issues. Eventually the Walt Disney Company came in and sort of "took things over" for a while and finally got TDL up on its feet. Is this true? I am curious to know what some of the issues were and how they were resolved... p.s. Wouldn't it have been cool if the S.S. Columbia was made into a hotel?
Originally Posted By phruby <<p.s. Wouldn't it have been cool if the S.S. Columbia was made into a hotel?>> Just like we have in Long Beach.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Eventually the Walt Disney Company came in and sort of "took things over" for a while and finally got TDL up on its feet. >> Nope - not true I'm afraid. Walt Disney Attractions Japan (WDAJ) was created to manage the IPR - which meant liaising on merchandise, branding, marketing etc. - but OLC have always run the operations. WDAJ has grown a lot over the past 30 years though - it is a sizable operation.
Originally Posted By leemac <<< ... and it sort of accompanies the fact that the OLC did approach Walt Disney himself somewhat earlier in the game to ask him about building a "Tokyo Disneyland" with the land they had in mind) >>> The first approach was in 1973 - although OLC existed before this date they had no idea what to put on the reclaimed land. Disney didn't even take the first overtures seriously.
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi Around the same time, other waterfront areas around Tokyo Bay (Makuhari, Odaiba, Minato Mirai) were also being worked considered by various bidders. That version of events on the official OLC site is like "Meet the World's" version of Japanese history. -- MagicalNezumi
