Extinct Attractions - Sail Away
Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I took a look back at a show that opened along with Tokyo DisneySea.
Last Thursday, Disneyland officially celebrated its 70th anniversary, though the festivities had begun all the way back in May. The highlight of the day was the introduction of the first ever Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney, making its home in the Opera House as part of Walt Disney - A Magical Life.
Without the park that started it all, we wouldn’t have any of the parks that we have today, which would be a real shame, especially when it comes to international parks like Shanghai Disneyland and the crown jewel, Tokyo DisneySea.
When Tokyo DisneySea opened on September 4, 2001, one of the featured lands was American Waterfront. Portraying America at the turn of the century, American Waterfront esposed many of the ideals that Walt Disney held dear and really encapsulated the American spirit of those days. To help the land feel even more immersive, a show called Sail Away opened on the opening day itself and did a great job capturing the spirit of the land.
I don’t know how the person who posted this video did it, but it’s pretty amazing quality and has angles of the show that one couldn’t get without working for Disney. With that in mind, it was a great resource to give you the rundown of this very fun show.
Via HMV
Set in front of the S.S. Columbia, Sail Away leaned into the old-timey nature of the land, with costumes of the early 20th century as well as music designed to sound that way. While the show was in Japanese, I was able to gauge that the crew and ship goers were prepping for the maiden voyage of the ship. With a huge cast of 25+ people, there were a lot of excellent dancers and a huge amount of energy amongst everyone there.
After the initial song, a cool thing happened where all of the signage around the stage changed, showcasing the tropical theme that accompanied the next part of the show. In the tropics, it was time for some characters to appear, with Donald starting the fun by appearing on a lifeboat high up on the ship that descended down to the stage. In a nice touch, the sailors' outfits were all designed to look like his. But the really fun outfits were the next batch of dancers to appear as a group of ladies had some swimwear on with giant beach balls in tow, while some of the male dancers had gigantic body builder outfits with some funny-looking giant muscles.
Via eBay
Donald didn’t get to be the only character on stage, though, with Goofy appearing next in some great snorkeling gear. Dressed like that, he needed to hop in the water, with some dancers bringing some fake water onto the stage for Goofy to “swim." He just needed to look out for sharks in the water, but luckily it was just a dancer playing a prank on him.
Minnie joined the party next, somehow turned into a mermaid. And you knew it was serious because they sang an entire song about it, with a banjo player even popping out for a great little solo.
Via YouTube
With his friends there, Mickey was next on the docket, and hoo boy did he make his presence known. As the captain of the ship, there was some true pomp and circumstance to his arrival, with some kids waving flags behind him as he made his way down the gangway. He saluted everyone and truly milked the moment and can you blame him? He’s the main mouse himself, to the point that there were even a group of flutists playing him on. It was as extra as you could get and just so much fun.
With such a grand entrance, Minnie and Goofy (though not Donald) had time for a costume change, getting into their formal attire for some old-timey dancing. As the dancers were getting ready, some gigantic champagne bottles were rolled out around the stage, with Minnie eventually working her way to center stage to pop the champagne and christen the boat (complete with some fireworks), ending the show on a literal bang.
One cool aspect of Sail Away is that one could see it from behind, with viewing points inside of the ship. But doing so would honestly be a bit of a bummer because then you’d miss out on the high-level production value. From the costumes to the sets, they thought of it all and the entire show was just so well put together and a lot of fun. It’s hard to believe that it was there from opening day at Tokyo DisneySea, but that’s just how they roll.
Sail Away stuck around until 2006, when it was replaced by a show called Over the Waves. Sail Away was a perfect fit for Tokyo DisneySea, but the park likes to keep it fresh, so I can’t blame them too much for the show going the way of the dodo. I haven’t seen Over the Waves, but I’m sure it was a worthy successor.
Via Thunder Dungeon
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!