Monsters In The Parking Lot!

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On April 13, 2009, two days before Tokyo Disneyland's new Monsters Inc. attraction opened, Mike's face appeared in their parking lot...outlined in parking cones. This was best viewed from an elevated position either while riding the Tokyo Disney Resort Monorail, or from one of the Disney "Good Neighbor" hotels situated behind the park.

One day later, Sulley's face appeared right next to Mike's.
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These faces were both gone by the third day, the actual grand opening day of the attraction.

Okay, this is my last "Monsters Inc." related post for a while...I swear!

Miscellaneous Monsters

May is turning out to be "Monsters Month" here at Meet The World. Today, we present some miscellaneous items related to Tokyo Disneyland's new Monsters Inc. attraction.
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Above, is the official attraction poster for "Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek!"

As mentioned in an earlier post, Tokyo Disneyland celebrated their 26th Anniversary last month. Both of the Disney parks in Tokyo celebrate their anniversaries EVERY year. A new logo is designed and then featured on merchandise throughout the park. (Here in the U.S., we only seem to get that every five years when the anniversary ends in "0" or "5." ) The postcard below shows the 26th anniversary logo, which was used on pins, key chains, shirts, hats, etc. This year's logo also ties in with the opening of the new Monsters Inc. attraction. Mickey is wearing the cast member's security guard costume for the attraction.
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Below, we have some more items sold in the Monsters Inc. Company Store. This first item is a miniature attraction vehicle with Sulley riding inside. Compare it with the real attraction vehicle here.
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Here is a menu from Harryhausen's. It doubles as a folder for holding papers/schoolwork. A couple of these menus can be seen on the floor of the sushi restaurant in the scene where Celia has fallen into the pool of water (Link). I believe a large version of this same menu hangs in the queue of the California Adventure Monster's Inc. attraction, "Mike & Sulley To The Rescue!".
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Next, we have a key chain that includes a miniature version of the menu along with a piece of "eyeball sushi roll."
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These postcards are replicas of posters that can be found throughout the queue for the attraction.

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Mike and Sulley balloons can be found in the World Bazaar (along with Stitch.)
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Not to beat a dead horse, but in a post from last November, I expressed how I don't like the exterior color of the attraction building and that I don't think it fits in with the rest of Tomorrowland's color scheme.....

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Well, here is a photo of the building at night. Blue spotlights drown out most of the yellowish-beige color making it look more appealing....at least to me. Too bad they did not use this color scheme when it came to choosing the paint.

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Only the top half of the building is lit in blue however, so it looks great from a distance or when it is viewed from outside the park....but if you are right if front of the attraction, the color choices are even more confusing.
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And finally, we have a photo of the model of the attraction. Personally, I think it even looks better in all white. Notice the lettering in front says "We Scare Because We Care" instead of "It's Laughter We're After" I wonder at what point that was changed and if originally the ride was going to have the Monsters collecting "screams" instead of "laughter" (as in the original plot of the movie.)
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Monsters In Tomorrowland! - Part 2

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We continue today with Tokyo Disneyland's new Monsters Inc. attraction (for Part 1 of this series, click here.) After waiting 9 hours (8 hours and 45 minutes to be exact), our Fastpass time is now up and we can go get in line! At least the Standby line is only two and a half hours now (3 hours less than it was when we got our Fastpass!)

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Two murals appear on the inside of the dome over the queue. Note the continents are all made up of individual doors.

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This second mural kind of reminds me of some of the Public Works artwork from the 1930's.

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Clocks on the wall show the times for major cities around the world.
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A workstation has been left unattended.
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Posters on the wall inform us of a Monsters Inc. "Special Event."

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Below, are the Monsters Inc. "Security Trams." Each ride vehicle is equipped with two flashlights. The blue portion of the vehicle rotates around 360 degrees on the base. These vehicles reminded me a little of Tokyo's Pooh attraction. Even though these vehicles are on a track (unlike Pooh), they whisk the riders into a scene and stop while the action unfolds and then they scurry away into the next scene. They also reminded me a bit of Toy Story Midway Mania because the top part of the vehicles (the blue portion) rotates around 360 degrees on their bases, so sometimes you are going forwards, backwards and even sideways through the attraction. These vehicles also enter the attraction 3 at a time, just as they do with Pooh's Hunny Hunt.
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The attraction's soundtrack is almost entirely in Japanese. Rather than give my own description of the attraction, which I usually do, I'm including part of a description from Wikipedia. I've made some changes where I found the description of a scene to be wrong or incomplete.

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Oh, and by the way.....most of the audio-animatronic figures in this attraction are VERY animated. They blink, roll their eyes, and move their lips while they are talking. It's quite an improvement over Disney's California Adventure's Monsters Inc. Mike and Sulley To The Rescue! attraction.

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Now we can board the security tram......

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Scene 1 - Sulley has brought Boo back to Monstropolis in hopes that she will join in the flashlight tag festivities. Although it seems as if Boo is interested, she giggles naughtily, intending to go exploring rather than playing. Sulley warns her not to go off to far, but Boo simply responds by giggling. Turning a corner, guests find that Randall has returned from the human world intending to capture Boo in his butterfly net.

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Sulley warns Boo. She's hiding just behind the yellow tanks used to hold screams/laughter.

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Scene 2 - The vehicles then enter the power supply room, facing a window overlooking all of Monstropolis at night. Mike stands nearby at the switch of a power generator that supposedly supplies power to all of Monstropolis. Mike turns off the generator, causing the entire factory and the city to go dark, thereby kicking off the game of flashlight tag.

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Before the power gets shut off.

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After the power is shut off.

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Scene 3 - Entering the boy's locker room, the flashlights turn on, allowing guests to point them at various objects, setting off different actions. Several tiny monsters pop out of the lockers, while other objects simply pop out from underneath floor tiles and benches. Turning into the bathroom, Sulley can be seen searching for Boo with his flashlight.

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Sorry, I don't have any photos of the inside of the locker room, but above is a photo of the bathroom. Boo pops up from the laundry cart on the far right, giggling with towels on her head. Next, Randall pops up from inside the cart on the far left. Note the monster peeking over the top of the bathroom stall on the right.
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Scene 4 - Pulling into the laugh floor, guests find several of Monsters Inc.'s top comedians joining in on the game, Sulley is seen searching for Boo underneath tables. Mike can be found with both hands stuck in a hanging door and swinging back and forth as another monster tugs on his leg. Leaving the laugh floor behind, guests pass Randall again, hiding behind a door.

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The arms of the monster on the right wave around wildly.

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Scene 5 - Leaving the factory and entering the streets of Monstropolis, various monsters can be found searching the streets with flashlights, many hiding in objects such as mail boxes, windows and television sets. Boo is seen standing on a manhole cover and suddenly Randall appears behind her with a net. Luckily, Sulley pops out from the manhole beneath Boo, hoisting her into the air.
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Scene 6 - Entering Harryhausen's sushi restaurant, guests find the octopus-like chef searching for Boo, who can be found popping in and out of several different take-out boxes. Several monsters can be found throughout the restaurant, which also react to the flashlights.
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A scream and a "splash" are heard coming from behind the vehicles, they then rotate around to reveal that Mike's girlfriend Celia, has fallen off of her seat and into a nearby pool of water.

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Scene 7 - The vehicles then head back into the streets of the city. More monsters appear here including one that is about two stories tall. Mike is seen being electrocuted by a large power source continuously, the veins in his eye illuminating with each shock.
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Scene 8 - Entering the factory again, we see Sulley near the waste disposal system. Worried that he has lost Boo again, he calls her name out in fright.
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We then see Boo playing near some trash cans outside of a garbage compactor, unaware that Randall is directly behind her, raising his butterfly net. Randall is muttering to himself about his success, when suddenly Mike emerges from a box on the floor and shouts "GAME OVER", knocking Randall backwards into the garbage compactor.
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Following the trail of the garbage compactor, guests witness Randall roll down a treadmill, being crushed by a spike-lined wheel, pressed repeatedly by large iron poles, spun across another large wheel while changing skin colors, being chopped up by a large wall-like contraption, and emerge from the compactor in the shape of a cube, much like several other compacted cubes of garbage around him. Randall's eyes roll dizzily as he groans in pain.

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Scene 9 - Turning away from the garbage compactor, we see Mike, Sulley, and Boo outside of Boo's door, saying goodbye.
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A great effect here (that was not captured in my photo) is that as the vehicles approach this scene from an angle, riders can see around Boo's door and there is nothing behind it except for a wall, but as they pass directly in front of the open door, her bedroom is visible on the other side.

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Scene 10 Leaving them behind, the vehicles pass a very small monster named Rocky who says "bye-bye" in a VERY DEEP voice (as mentioned in the previous post, he was created just for this attraction.), Boo then pops up beneath him raising him into the air as she also says "bye-bye." to guests. Turning yet another corner, guests enter a filing room and pass an interactive audio-animatronic Roz. This Roz figure interacts with guests much like she does in "Mike and Sulley to the Rescue" at Disney's California Adventure.
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Riders then exit their vehicles and leave through the Monsters Inc. Company Store.

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Before entering the store, riders are handed a free copy of the "Monsters Eye."

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Personally, I really enjoyed this attraction. As mentioned before, the audio-animatronic figures are definitely an improvement over the Monsters Inc. attraction at California Adventure. The rotating vehicles also add an extra level to the attraction. I think it is every bit as entertaining as Tokyo's Pooh attraction. I said in an earlier post (back in November) that if Tokyo's Monsters Inc. "blows the California version out of the water," then I could forgive them for sticking it in Tomorrowland and also for painting the exterior that hideous color when every other building in Tomorrowland is gray, white, silver or blue. Sooooo.....I forgive them! It would be nice though, when the attraction goes down for it's first major rehab, if they were to paint it a color that fit in with it's neighboring Tomorrowland buildings....just a suggestion!

Monsters in Tomorrowland! - Part 1

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On April 15th, 2009, Tokyo Disneyland celebrated their 26th Anniversary with the opening of their new Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek! attraction. This Tomorrowland attraction sits in the same spot as the former carousel theater attraction, "Meet The World." For information and a photo of that attraction building as well as construction photos of the new attraction, ( click here).

The new Monsters Inc. attraction was unveiled after a short dedication ceremony that was open to invited guests only. This ceremony was held on the east side of World Bazaar's Center St. which serves as one of several entrances into Tomorrowland.
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At park opening however, the general public was directed past this Tomorrowland entrance and into the Plaza where the Fastpass line began. Just fifteen minutes after park opening and the end of this line was already in front of Adventureland.....just for a Fastpass!

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We can't even see the attraction's building from this point.

After moving forward a few steps, we can now see the building way off in the distance. It's the yellowish-beige (ugh!) building to the left of the domed building.

Cast members are posted along the way to answer questions. Check out the cast member costume.

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We are getting closer. At least now we are in Tomorrowland.

We're there!
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The sign shows the wait in the "Standby" line to be five and a half hours! I really don't know who would get into a line that was five and a half hours long, but people were.

All of the Fastpass machines at the Tokyo parks have "catchers" so the passes don't ever fall on the ground. This attraction's catcher is shaped like a tongue and the machine actually makes giggling sounds when you insert your park ticket. (They have changed the plot of the movie for the attraction....the monsters are now collecting laughter instead of screams. The front of the building reads "It's Laughter We're After.")

Well, we finally have a Fastpass and it's telling us to come back in nine hours!
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Let's take a look around the area while we wait.......for nine hours! This car is parked outside the Monsters Inc. Company Store in a parking spot reserved for "Employee of the Month", Mike Wozowski.

We'll go inside the Company Store and have a look around. These door pulls are featured throughout the building.

This logo is also on the floor, just inside the store's entrance.

An employee safety poster hangs on the wall.

Also on display, are examples of employee grooming standards.

Below are examples of the "humorous odorants" mentioned on the sign above.

This little guy's name is Rocky. He's a Monsters Inc. character that was developed specifically for this attraction. He's small, but he has a VERY deep voice. He appears on a lot of the merchandise, but I really only remember spotting him once in the attraction.

Speaking of merchandise....there was a lot. I've only included a pin and a postcard from the large array of buttons, key chains, flashlights, clothing, plush, toys, etc., that was available.
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The company store has an in-house television system.

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Rocky's body is the shape of his helmet.

Monsters Inc. employees can receive various discounts.......

More info about job safety......

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I hope everyone enjoyed Part 1 of my Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek! series. Please click here for Part 2!