A Main Street By Another Name

Originally to be themed as a smaller World Showcase, Tokyo Disneyland’s World Bazaar is a unique land in itself, and only is located in the Tokyo theme park. While planning the park in the late 1970s, around the same time as planning for EPCOT Center’s World Showcase, Imagineers wanted to change up this entrance land to their first 'international park’.

 

With ideas of a mini World Showcase, the Imagineers for Tokyo Disneyland were denied by the Oriental Land Company (OLC), the OLC wanted the same, classic Turn-Of-The-Century area from Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, they wanted the best of the best. The Oriental Land Company like the name, World Bazaar, so they allowed the name to stay.  

Overall, the Tokyo Disneyland entrance land, World Bazaar, was the same as Disneyland’s and Magic Kingdom’s, but had two distinct differences. The first difference is that the street was covered with a glass and steel beam roof. A roof is needed over World Bazaar because of the challenging weather during Tokyo’s winter, which includes a cold and snowy winter. The other difference that the World Bazaar features Center Street, a street that intersects the main ‘World Bazaar’ street that you can enter the respective lands of Adventureland and Tomorrowland, instead of going ‘around’, its more of a convenience for the heavy crowds that pop up. Tokyo Disney Resort is also known for it’s wide-open spaces which allow a more comfortable feel.

The one ‘downside’ of World Bazaar is that the daily parade can not go down the ‘Main Street’ of the park, like in other Disney theme parks, because of the glass roof. Instead, the hub of the park is larger, with wider spaces so the main area of the parade goes around the hub and castle.

World Bazaar features the most eateries out of the "Main Streets", with 3 table service restaurants (4 including Club 33). This is also the only "Main Street" that does not have a train station. World Bazaar is also home to Tokyo Disneyland's Club 33. There is also three attractions, including a Penny Arcade, The Disney Gallery, where guests can pay to take animation lessons (similar to the Animation Academy at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Hong Kong Disneyland), and also features the Omnibus at the hub of the park.

  

       

       

Pictures and Information from Tokyo Disney Resort and PinPics