It's been 12 years since Disneyland closed....

[TwilightZone]

Defunctland has a good video on dreamland

It's a very interesting watch and even has some before closure footage

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It's been 57 years...and I can still smell the fresh paint. The toilets had never been used. The teacups had never been spun. Nara was called the park of dreams. And it was. It really was.

 

[Nonsuch]

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

My first exposure to Nara Dreamland was at the home of original Dreamfinder, Ron Schneider. We worked together at Magic Mountain in 1977 (he also introduced me to the book The Princess Bride). He had a notebook of 8x10 b&w photos of Dreamland when it first opened. The train station and castle looked eerily similar, but with lots of Japanese people in 1960s attire (yes, with cameras on black straps around their necks). The pics had a "Twilight Zone meets 60s Japanese horror film vibe about them. Ron was one of the greatest characters I have ever met and it was a tremendous mistake on my part not to maintain our friendship.

Nara Dreamland definitely paved the way for Tokyo Disneyland. It even had a similar backstory.

 

[Phroobar]

Shijingshan Amusement Park

They even rip off Universal Studio's Jaws.

 

[Phroobar]

 

[Phroobar]

It was a sad day when they started demoing Sleeping Beauty's castle.

 

[Phroobar]

There is a picture I wish I could find of an asian park that ripped DCA's Orange Stinger and a few other DCA structures.

 

[TwilightZone]

It was a sad day when they started demoing Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Don't you mean dreaming pretty's castle?
In all seriousness, yeah that is a pretty sad sight.

 

[westie]

Wow I wish this would have been state side. I betcha one of those tea cups would have fit perfectly into the back of my truck.

 

[TROR]

It was a sad day when they started demoing Sleeping Beauty's castle.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Sometimes I wish I could build my own theme park, but ultimately I come to the conclusion it'd look as ugly as this and would receive the same fate.

I've had a similar thought. If my RollerCoaster Tycoon career is any indication, armchair imagineering is far easier than the real thing.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

There is a picture I wish I could find of an asian park that ripped DCA's Orange Stinger and a few other DCA structures.

They say imitation it the highest form of flattery. I think that place was sending the wrong message.