From José María Sandoval on December 31, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Great report!

From Mike Gallagher on December 31, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Mmmmm..Strawberry Quik. Haven't had THAT in many years, but it was a lunchtime staple all through grade school...okay, high school too.

From 71.129.38.166 on December 31, 2011 at 1:47 PM
I am enjoying reading your series on the Japanese theme parks. As wonderful as a Southern California version of Disney Sea would have been, would Disney really have built a dedicated monorail between Anaheim and Long Beach? Public transit projects in the Los Angeles area are notoriously hard to find funding for and to build. Although I assume it would have been a private monorail, the rights-of-way would have required local municipal cooperation.

Also, I wondered how the narration on the Electric Railway was in English and so knowledgable. Then I figured it out the narration wasn't live on the ride. ;)

From Robert Niles on December 31, 2011 at 4:17 PM
I think the connection between Anaheim and Long Beach might have been the biggest factor in killing Long Beach DisneySea. (I waffle between whether that or the fact that Disney didn't own the land was number one.) Ultimately, you want all your properties close together for maximum synergy. Long Beach didn't bring that to the table - Anaheim did.

So, in that respect, Tokyo was a better home for this park, as much as I would love to be able to visit in in Southern California.

From 98.183.35.195 on January 2, 2012 at 1:59 AM
StormRider would be a great fit in either of the stateside Tomorrowlands or Epcot. It is a great D-ticket level ride.

From 74.202.61.242 on January 2, 2012 at 3:00 PM
From the plans I've read about for Long Beach, I don't recall monorail access from Anaheim as being a critical element for the development.

I've often heard mention that among the biggest deal-killers for Long Beach was the fact that much of the land for Disneysea DIDN'T EVEN EXIST. The plan as presented relied on 250 acres of landfill that would have not only been expensive but a huge nightmare getting blessed by government agencies, environmental groups, etc. Considering the company's experience with Mineral King and the PR debacle that surrounded Disney's America, I don't see how the Mouse ever could have pulled that thing off.

A lot of people believe that the Long Beach plan was just a ruse to secure better concessions in Anaheim. I have no idea if that's true, but Anaheim was obviously motivated enough to invent an entire beautification plan around the Anaheim Resort area and sink big bucks in road improvements and other infrastructure.