If this is NARA, I must be in DREAMLAND (1990)

[@that1person695]

For those wondering, this isnt a Disney knock off. It was made with the actual assistant from Walt Disney himself. Only to have Disney pull out at the last minute. It was suppose to be Nara Disneyland. But they had to change it to Nara Dreamland.

[@stripeyy_]

AnimeL0v3r AndPotatos so many people are misinformed about Nara Dreamland and it’s ill fate, I’m glad to see some people understand it wasn’t an illegal knockoff it was a strange collaboration

[@earlysda]

No it wasn't supposed to be Disneyland. この無償のノウハウ提供と技術者派遣は日本にディズニーランドを作る目的ではなく、あくまでも日本人が日本に独自の遊園地を作ることに協力するという目的であった

[@TjSamson]

No crowds? I can ride that roller coaster again and again. Although it's really hard to believe that this park survived for another 16 years.

[@Fredster_Real25]

Honestly this is the best footage of dreamland in 1990s i honestly wish this park wasnt closed and demolished. And i regret myself for not exploring before its demolition.

[@joe88john]

Thank you to Defuntland for bringing me here. It is super sad and I would love to just go back in time and visit this place when it was alive and vibrant. Theme parks are so sad when they're abandoned. I wish things like this were preserved.

[@officialcentrificproductio7594]

Yes they are sad...

[@soinelle85]

To be the only person on the Jungle Cruise and the performer doing his bit. I would have felt bad for the guy who had to do his lines for only one person when it was meant for a multi audience experience. A piece of this parks history preserved in video format. Wonder what it was like back in the 60's.

[@jamieaiken919]

Defunctland brought me here. What an amazing piece of history. It’s such a shame that there was so little effort put into maintaining what was once such a beautiful and vibrant place. (I do think you should reword your description a bit though- the Park was originally made with Walt Disney’s guidance. It was only when licensing agreements couldn’t be reached towards the end of the park’s construction that it switched from Disneyland to Dreamland)

[@andinbriwel1092]

This is awesome! I have VHS recordings of DW from 1990, and I haven't looked at them in ages. I can't believe we carried those huge cameras on rides! I'll have to pull them out and get them digitized now. That safari ride, tho!!!!

[@ColumineMiette]

If you ever do, I'd love to see those!

[@empress561vt]

You can't get mad at the man for making his dream a reality, he tried really hard! It seemed he wanted to bring a piece of the U.S.A to Japan. It was a great dream that didn't last long, sad to say for him 😞. Thank you for sharing! May Nara Dreamland Rest In Peace.... Lol

[@KimAPedersen]

Nicely said Vanessa! I would have loved to visit the park when it was in its heyday, I'm sure it was much nicer.

[@cesarhernandez7064]

WhiteWolf_Loba212 you can make a replica of dreamland without the permission of Disneyland, China did it a knockoff?

[@rei3951]

That dream was so short that it lasted for almost 50 years

[@earlysda]

@@CanHSoccer1827 Hman, that is false. この無償のノウハウ提供と技術者派遣は日本にディズニーランドを作る目的ではなく、あくまでも日本人が日本に独自の遊園地を作ることに協力するという目的であった

[@AlwaysSunnyInCali77]

How sad that in 1990 that this theme park didn’t have a lot of people visiting and it pretty much looked dead :/ like yay no wait times but it’s so eerie and sad that the visitor count declined. Like others said, crazy how it was still operating until 2006 😔

[@chompythebeast]

"Everyone turn around and wave goodbye to civilization." *Pans across completely empty boat*

[@MondoJohnny]

Man I reeeeeeeeally wish I could go back in time and go here! What? No, not in its hayday! In 1990! The eerie disembodied carousel music echoing through the empy park... the surreal experience of being the only one on the jungle cruise tour... plenty of room to stretch... I'd have gone every weekend if I coulda! To heck with that other more popular one... Who even likes mice anyway??

[@ExploringWithJosh]

This is amazing !!!

[@JeeMeeVee]

Hey Josh love your vids! Freaking cool and dope! 😎😎😎

[@RedSoxfan95]

This is an amazing video, thank you so much for posting this. You rarely see a video of the park while its still open. Very eerie too even though it was taken 16 years before closing.

[@KimAPedersen]

+Andrew Thanks for taking the time to share your kind comments! I shot this before hi-def and before KZbin, little did I know what would would happen to it. I wish I could have visited the park in its heyday back in the early 1960s.

[@GabyGeorge1996]

I can't believe it shut down in 2006, when it was clearly not doing very well 16 years prior

[@rico4101]

Even sadder is now it's completely gone like everything is demolished. I was hoping one day I would be able to go to Japan to explore it like Exploring with Josh but now I'll never have a chance anymore

[@atsmithson]

Gaby George because of tokyo disneyland's popularity

[@SmaMan]

I think he means it’s a wonder it stayed open for 16 full years after this video was taken, showing it in a decrepit, all but abandoned state.

[@TackyFlamingo]

Adam Smithson I didn't think I would see you here

[@slipamo4309]

It's a miracle this place lasted til 2006. I mean, this is 1990 and it's practically abandoned lol

[@clhatcher1]

The owner was probably rich enough to keep his dream alive for a long time(or he died)

[@TackyFlamingo]

clhatcher1 I believe he died in 1984, just a year after TDL opened so he never saw it in its declining state

[@imjustanotherjess]

I keep thinking that, what was it that enabled it to keep going?

[@robinlagelius]

First time I saw a walk-around the park while it was still operational, having watched many sneak arounds after abandonment I honestly can't tell which is more harrowing! I lived in Kyoto 2017-2018 and just missed it by the time they demolished everything.

[@don7777s]

Everything? They could have built houses into the rides and sold em for millions. Maybe.

[@lost_places_global9008]

There are some nights when I dream about Nara Dreamland and how it was full of people in its glory days and now is nothing left of it

[@johnhancock2678]

If it was dead in 1990 I'm surprise that it lasted another 16 years..

[@StepSoftlyGhost]

I'm 37 years old, wiping tears from my eyes whilst watching footage of a Japanese theme park from decades ago. What's going on? I can't come close to describing why this makes me feel like it does. A strange mixture of grief for the park, gratitude for the footage, nostalgia, mono no aware, and a little bit of envy i think. Thank you.

[@marcelokunze7711]

I went there yesterday. Crazy to watch this video and see how it was when it was working compared to today all abandoned. I walked on the monorail track. There is something poetic about this huge abandoned amusement park when you're the only living soul walking there. Nice video!

[@oldpcgamemusic]

3:15 I think it's funny that unlike Disneyland's Main Street, which plays music from the early 20th century to enhance the setting, Dreamland's Main Street is playing contemporary music lol

[@TackyFlamingo]

No Put on your Sunday Clothes or Kansas City???? NOOO!!!!!

[@MichaelDunn-vd4vx]

You're right but at the year 2000 they started playing bedjo music and then in 2001 to 2006 they played music like Disneyland's Main Street USA

[@Jen-cj2br]

Thank you so much for posting this bit of history. Please never delete it! The world needs more awesome people like you!

[@RJV15]

This is like time travel! Now all you can see is the abandoned rides.

[@mefault]

There is another video here on KZbin where 3 guys took a trip to Japan in 2005 & Nara Dreamland was one of their stops. One of the guys commented that being at the park was an unsettling, eerie experience & they didn't realize just how close it was to closing down. Yes it is hard to believe they survived another 16 years after this. There's only a handful of people here it seems :/

[@justina1909]

Well you have to remember this is during a weekday in October not quite the peak season.

[@rafenblood123]

Great video. Thanks for sharing! It's hard to believe this place survived another 16 years after your visit.

[@KimAPedersen]

You're right, it is hard to believe!

[@FBRUT]

I am in tears, the sweet memories.. Thank you for filming and uploading this.

[@seanshepherd8144]

That is SO sweet! THANKS for posting, man! I spent 6 months in Okinawa while I served and fell in love with Japan and its people. They're crazy but in the most beautifully awesome way. They are the most polite, clean, friendly, honorable and disciplined people I have ever known, and this is coming from an former Leaterneck who use to "piss napalm and eat Concertina wire for breakfast", as one of my favorite actors likes to describe life in the Suck. I had no idea this park even existed lol! I would've *loved* to visit. Damn. First Marine Land (RIP) and now Nara land? Sheesh! I'd love to visit the Nara period if I could time travel, too, although I'd prefer the Heian or Sengoku lol! Anyway, thanks for the post. It's awesome! And I love monorails, btw x) I'm one of those kids who collected train sets and the Monorail is my favorite "ride" at Disneyland (I live in L.A., but it's funny how infrequently I go to theme parks or the beach haha!). P.S. This is actually pretty damn good production work imho, especially for the '80s/'90s! I remember how messed up most of the video was then lol! Remember VHS? People are so spoiled nowadays with their 4K this and HD that hehe!

[@lost_places_global9008]

Seän Shepherd lol Japanese people tear everything down that has a role in history(besides of their "all holy" temples that also get rebuild all the time when something happens.... Sad reality parks should be threatened the same way)

[@luzperez4759]

Omg!!!! This person sure is lucky to have this video. Thank you! Beautiful park!

[@whitneyg9150]

It's so sad to watch this video and knowing that it didn't close for another 16 years. Also very sad to see some people still enjoying the park and the rides despite the state the park is in. When I originally saw some footage of this video, I honestly thought it was closer to when the park closed. If they would have been able to continue to to operate and update the park, it may not have met such a sad fate.

[@theMrRook]

You were smart to record this, good job!

[@KimAPedersen]

Thank you Spencer!

[@zacharylunsford2]

+Kim A Pedersen what day when you going to Nara dreamland?

[@KimAPedersen]

My journal says Wednesday, Sept. 26, 1990.

[@zacharylunsford2]

+Kim A Pedersen why the Walt Disney doesn't want to build this park?

[@Jen-cj2br]

The creator and Walt couldn't agree on licensing so Disney pulled support and then Disney built their own parks with their own rules and blew Nara Dreamland out of the water.

[@christiangaitan2267]

This is depressing 😔

[@luckyxcat]

it looks like a GHOST TOWN in 1990. How did it stay open til 2006???? is that real??

[@SirZeck]

My thought exactly

[@toxickisses7422]

Wow... it's sad to see a park so empty even if it's cool not to have to stand in line.

[@MondoJohnny]

I would have gone like everyday if I lived there! Just mosey on over to the tall grass and have a picnic with the wild animals... maybe find the lonesome ghost of the park owner making his regular rounds, and have a chat about the good old days! Who needs some fancy pants corporate Disney Land! I'll take the bizarrely ill fated Nara any day... with its haunting amusement park music echoing through its empty fields. Festive, yet serene! I guess the really sick part of this is that nothing I just wrote is sarcastic in the slightest...

[@crazysingingchick]

I LOVE how the jungle cruise comes complete with the groan-worthy comic tour guide!! Lol... "My mother in law..." Awesome!! They did a great job for being a knockoff, in my opinion! :)

[@Arcadora]

Amazing to see it before it was abandoned thanks so much for this video!

[@SuperDalite]

It's been said before in other comments, but this is by far a great video as Dreamland is now an urban explorer "jewel" expedition. I appreciate the commentary as its exactly what everyone else was thinking. Thanks for posting this video.

[@KimAPedersen]

Thanks Steve!

[@aidanmaurice6464]

That makes me kinda sad to see nobody on the boat but you and the guy still talks like he's in front of a bunch of people.

[@imjustanotherjess]

This was so chilling to watch. It’s tragic what happened to Nara Dreamland, but I’m glad that it gave lots of people joy in its 45 year run. As for the video itself, it’s so reminiscent of travel vlogs on KZbin nowadays! I’m sure your husband would start his documentation of theme parks on here if it was around in 1990!

[@bedtimeted]

Its called dreamland for a reason. Its as wonderful as a happy dream. But dreqms dont last

[@JeeMeeVee]

I’m so amazed that this filmed in 1990 at Nara Dreamland. How did they operated for more than 16 years before it was closed down in 2006.

[@ukickmeikicku]

3:55 i spit out my drink!!! Waltersaki Disneyku

[@kneamo]

ukickmeikicku HAHA

[@hermanpesina6328]

Who knows this could be Disney world in 100 years

[@ClearwaterMK2]

Or Universal Nara Studios...

[@kychororo]

this is disney after quarantine

[@WickedWitchOfOz1]

I mean... Disney has already abandoned sections of their park for decades before deciding to do anything with it (River Country) sooo, one day this really could be Disney! Especially with the crap show movies they're producing these days... nobody asked for shitty live action remakes of EVERY movie they've ever made and shitty sequels to franchises they bought. They're running out of ideas...

[@shaider1982]

Defuncfland brought me here. Cool video👍

[@arsinowey66]

me too !!!

[@davidm3maniac201]

Thanks for posting. Best video on youtube of this place and was still open. So sad it was demolished Great quality video as well for the year.

[@MrSpacelyy]

Made in 1990 much better than many newer youtube content.

[@chey6380]

Bright Sun films referenced this video in their video on this place and it brought me here. Subscribed now.😊

[@KimAPedersen]

Thank you Cheyenne!

[@phillanes6974]

As well as Defunctland

[@bombora69WA]

Thanks for this . Dreamland was actually Authorised by Disney but they weren't allowed to use Disney characters.

[@KimAPedersen]

With all due respect... bologna.

[@bombora69WA]

I will try to find the article which described the history of the park in detail.

[@zacharylunsford2]

Kim A Pedersen I wish Nara dreamland would stayed opened.

[@misha2197]

This was so cool, I'm glad you taped this and shared this, it's sad to see it abandoned now. And petting that poor little stray was very sweet. Thank you . :)

[@thomashoang6789]

I can't believe the park was this empty in 1990. It operated for another 16 years!

[@RM209]

The fact that you’re one of like 10 people in the whole part is really eerie

[@Itstephaniie]

Personally I'm always amazed with the videos people post of this park. I remember seeing one during its earlier years, and I've also seen it in its last few years and beyond. It's fascinating to see it in between the two, I mean it looked decrepit years prior to its closing but at least I got to see remnants of the park. Thanks for sharing!

[@ivyabsin]

Dreamland back when it was still alive.. sad

[@smophie6260]

Ivy Karizze dreamland was far from that even then

[@mavohq]

it was so beautiful

[@JeeMeeVee]

Even that I never gotten into this Nara Dreamland, I feel so nostalgic about this closed, abandoned and demolished theme park. It just really sad and heartbreaking what happened in this place, it was indeed one of the most beautiful and amazing parks that ever created in Japan. Seeing videos where it still open and operated, it seems very wonderful and colorful. Those happy and fun-filled unforgettable memories of the people who went there, spending their family time with friends and loved ones must be so magical and really worthwile. Looking the stores of this park, there was an minnie mouse plush toy wait isn’t that a Disney Character? yes it is. Nara Dreamland is supposed to be a first ever Disneyland Park in Japan, the owner said to Walt Disney that he wanted to brought Disneyland in Japan, so that how it started it all. But when the park is almost built, Walt Disney Company had been refused to the licensing of the park, I really feel bad for the owner, but in the bright side he continued to open the park instead of ‘Nara Disneyland’ it turned into ‘Nara Dreamland’ from 1961 that ended and closed to 2006, is a really good thing with fonded so much memories. And yet been abandoned for 10 years, fully demolished after a year. Hey there Nara Dreamland, even if I just saw you in videos, still you did a really great job to make people happy. So long one of the greatest theme parks in Japan. You are now a dream that faded away but full of unforgettable memories.

[@raptorgator]

It's sad that it shut down. I wonder why it didn't do well and no one visited ?

[@ClaudiaSelv]

from what i've read, it did really well while it was open because it was easier & less costly for a lot of people to go there instead of the real disneyland. but then they opened a disneyland in tokyo, & a universal studios 40km from dreamland so you can probably imagine what happened to the park

[@somber_salvatore]

ayyy Disney Tokyo opened and so did Universal

[@neferazure]

People had no reason to visit there anymore once an actual Disneyland opened. It was like "why go here when I can go to the real authentic thing?" So attendance declined as a result. The decline started in the 80s when Tokyo Disneyland opened up. And then, in 2001 Tokyo Universal Studios opened up and that pretty much put the nail in the coffin.

[@trevorrandom]

Great footage thanks for posting ☺

[@syugo]

I love videos like this. Thanks!

[@dredstonemilestone8518]

it's such a shame that the park end as abandoned...it would have been better if the Japanese took care of it as a historical sight or a land mark or something..it a treasure of the past that an ASIAN to be proud of...it is also a nice tourist spot..man they just left it behind..such a waste..its so sad it end it this way..

[@HD-fd7tn]

I’m surprised it was able to stay open for 16 more years

[@officialcentrificproductio7594]

Almost 50 years

[@maddieadams3413]

seeing this only makes me want to urban explore it more..

[@brianonthego]

*Bet this place was a blast in its hayday*

[@KnottsBear-yTalesPreserved]

Waltersaki Disniku sounds like a multiverse variant of Walt Disney. I cannot wait for that part of the ever confusing Multiverse Saga.

[@col5491]

It still looks empty even when it was open...

[@lost_places_global9008]

Colin Williams this hurts.... To see the last moments of Nara Dreamland before it got shut down because most people went to Tokyo Disneyland

[@papasmurfsmurfy6360]

Lost_Places _Global These aren’t the last moments, by that point the park was falling apart. the park lasted 16 more years

[@ColumineMiette]

How cool. What a treasure! Not only Dreamland, but older vintage Japan!

[@Coffee_is_ready]

So sad to see only a few people, I would prefer this, not standing in line. It already looked so abandoned.

[@discontiunedchannel8856]

I gonna make plushies from the charathers of Nara dreamland. The robot and the boy and that girl.

[@Fredster_Real25]

They actually have official plushies that were made, but its very hard to find them mainly its best to find them on buyee or mercari (Just a suggestion)

[@scholartheterminator94]

Please Do

[@bluedragon9925]

I always thought this park looked like a real life version of those cheesey fictional theme parks that are meant to *parody* Disneyland that you often see on cartoons. ("Fun World" in Bebe's Kids, "Happy World Land" in Tiny Toon Adventures, "Itchy & Scratchy Land" and "Duff Gardens" in the Simpsons, etc.)

[@dirbjag654]

This looks pretty new to be recorded in 1990

[@Daren_PNW]

Great footage & wonderful narration by the boss man, himself. =)

[@johnnyalexendercade7507]

I would of love seeing this place back in those days

[@99mintaltezza2]

Rip dreamland always

[@seanmiland]

i laughed out loud so so many times great!

[@BlizzardFanatic]

Basically Walt started having imagineers draw up plans and started construction on Nara Disneyland and then Walt and Kunizo Matsuo had a falling out over the character licenses so construction was completed and they just removed all the Disney IP’s and replaced them with new ones, it’s insane to think it was the first Disneyland in Japan in a sense

[@francoisedevivie210]

merci pour c'est magnifique image

[@MoK86]

wow dude thanks for sharing this video i just now barely heard of this park because of a youtuber who posted a current abandoned park series video. and i was blown away so i wanted to see what the place looked like and this is the only i can find that shows what i wanted to see. THANK YOU. but why did you bleep out the words DISNEY?

[@KimAPedersen]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. The bleeping was just for fun, implying Disney would be 'upset' over being associated with an imitation park.

[@Pizzacam-xf9hz]

Ran-Chan: Hey! I remember this place! Dori-Chan: Yeah. Me too!

[@MichaelDunn-vd4vx]

Lol

[@andrese017]

Incredible :) Thanks for ths video!

[@TheInflicted]

1990... who/what was this video produced for? Some kind of monorail club? Very interesting document, btw. I'm really glad this was filmed when it was.

[@KimAPedersen]

It was strictly a home video produced by me for me, it was never intended for public release. Some of my theme park fan friends really liked it, so I put it out on video for a while. Yes, the monorail sequence is long, as I am a monorailist (see my site monorails.org). Now that the park is closed, my home video is known for capturing the park in its declining years. Thanks for watching!

[@TheInflicted]

***** Awesome. Thanks for sharing, then!

[@MeKeLe22]

I've just watched a video of how this place look now, all abandoned and forgotten. Its nice to see it in "all its glory?" not much difference haha. Great video sir.

[@KimAPedersen]

Thank you Mekele, kind words.

[@NintendoTV64]

What a great video! Nara Dreamland has been abandoned ever since 2006.

[@lost_places_global9008]

It's so sad... The creator of a park had a dream of becoming successful as Disney and now....

[@nickyoung630]

It actually was built by the *squeak *ney company

[@sonnydacuse7622]

Fond memories

[@haster47]

wow was a magnificent trip, but I wanted to see the terrifying house 😔is great your video✌🏻😁

[@melaniekoscielny1143]

Thank you for sharing. The place look nearly abandoned during your visit. Did you know it was going to shut down? Its hard to believe they operated for another 16 years before closing. This was very interesting to watch, because i love looking at the abandoned photos as well.

[@KimAPedersen]

Thanks Melanie. I did not know it was going to close, but I believe I guessed it would before long.

[@brianonthego]

*Jungle cruise was off the hook* 17:35

[@JonRailVideos2011-1]

Great video! Don't see much footage of this place. Were people able to ride the train?

[@thisrealgamer6803]

Gracias Karol Kim ahora ya se como era antes.

[@BAKU2K2]

The park is already being demolished now.

[@RandolphAgarn1]

If this was still open i'd love to go.

[@zacharylunsford2]

It closed in 2006.

[@KimAPedersen]

as mentioned in the video description. :-)

[@snarkus63]

I'm not surprised to see the place so empty...with an actual Disneyland nearby,who'd want to pay to visit an imitation,and a poor one at that? Good footage of the "Jungle Cruise" ride!

[@gadget2272]

it opened before there was a japanese disneyland

[@snarkus63]

Llama_ _Overlord I know...but if this was shot in 1990,then Tokyo Disneyland was open.

[@vc7415]

This was supposed to be an actual Disneyland. They just bailed on this prior to completion and the owner had to make changes.

[@mohammadhaikalumarghifari2818]

Wow, the monorail is 29 years old (at the time of making the video) and still in service. While Yokohama Dreamland is barely over a year in service.

[@jordanw0121]

It's ashame It closed down I would have loved to visit :(

[@diegobras]

Wow! Too bad things don't last forever, I wish it were still open, I'd love to visit such an amazing theme park clone!

[@yuikomory947]

i love so much this parck but now is abandoned :((((((

[@discontiunedchannel8856]

Now its demolished 😭

[@yuikomory947]

Esmaila Norbert Productions WHAT !? noooo , why 😧😧😧😧😩😩😩😩😩

[@TackyFlamingo]

Yui Komory well what else are you supposed to do

[@jeriellejamescanasa6808]

Ran chan: hey I think I remembered Disneyland dori chan: maybe ran this is Disneyland ran chan: oh really dori chan: yea

[@carlhartwell7978]

Very interesting if sad video, though it's a bit reductive to say it was an _imitation_ of Disneyland. It was originally intended to be the first iteration of an oversees Disneyland, but after Disney pulled out of licensing negotiations and with the park essentially already completed, the owners had little else to do but try to remove any overt references to Disney/Disneyland, change the name, and open anyway. So to say it's an imitation is a little disingenuous in my estimation. As I found out from Defunctland kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4aZeHalqNeShK8

[@theworldwidehistoryofhisto2868]

I agree. The park was meant to bring the magic of Disneyland to Japan at a time when there was no other park like it in the world. It was founded by Kunizo Matsuo. I made a website that preserves the history of the park. Check it out if you want. sites.google.com/view/nara-dreamland-tribute/rides-and-attractions

[@earlysda]

False. この無償のノウハウ提供と技術者派遣は日本にディズニーランドを作る目的ではなく、あくまでも日本人が日本に独自の遊園地を作ることに協力するという目的であった

[@donniekirk5808]

A bit of sarcasm.... How did Kim ever get through all those huge crowds of people pushing and shoving, to get on those rides, while Kim and all the other imaginary riders were trying to get off? Was Kim the only person in the park? Oh that's right, we did see about 6-8 guys getting off the Matterhorn ride; but no-one else.

[@ACESN1]

Your Camera used must of been expensive asf for such good quality in 1990 FairPlay dude what did you film with out of curiosity ?

[@KimAPedersen]

My husband filmed this, and I honestly have no clue