Sindbad's Storybook Voyage
| Sindbad's Storybook Voyage | |
|---|---|
| Park | Tokyo DisneySea |
| Land / area | Arabian Coast |
| Type | Boat dark ride |
| Opened | September 4, 2001 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering
|
| Status | Operating |
Sindbad's Storybook Voyage is a musical boat dark ride in Arabian Coast at Tokyo DisneySea in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan. Inspired by the tales of Sindbad the Sailor from the Arabian Nights tradition, it follows the young sailor Sindbad and his tiger cub companion, Chandu, on a voyage whose real treasure, the ride insists, is friendship. The attraction opened with the park on September 4, 2001, as Sindbad's Seven Voyages, and in its present form dates from March 29, 2007, when a thorough reworking replaced a dark and frightening original with one of the gentlest and most warmly regarded rides in the park.[1][2]
History
Sindbad's Seven Voyages was an opening-day attraction, but it found few admirers in its first form. This Sindbad was an older, bearded sailor who narrated his adventures in a conventional way as guests passed through them, and the telling was dark in both lighting and tone: mermaids tried to lure him to his death, monkeys threatened the boats, and several scenes played as genuine peril. The version was reported to frighten younger children, exactly the audience a slow boat ride in Arabian Coast needed most, and it became one of the least popular major attractions in the new park.[1]
The Oriental Land Company closed the ride on September 29, 2006, and Walt Disney Imagineering rebuilt its story rather than simply softening it.[1] Sindbad was redesigned as a younger, clean-shaven hero, and he was given a sidekick: Chandu, a small tiger cub who stowed away aboard his ship and now appears alongside him in scene after scene, frequently stealing them. Threats became friendships throughout — the mermaids now guide Sindbad with their music, the monkeys celebrate as he introduces them to it, and even the whale and the giant end the voyage as his benefactors. The treasure-hunting plot was reframed so that what Sindbad collects on his travels is music and friends, with the finale stating the point outright: the greatest treasure of all is friendship.[1]
The reworking was built around a new song, "Compass of Your Heart", with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, which is reprised in variation through almost every scene in the manner of "it's a small world". On the ride it is sung in Japanese, with Sindbad voiced by Kenji Sakamoto. The original version's score did not entirely disappear; it can still be heard as background music in Arabian Coast. The new Sindbad's Storybook Voyage opened on March 29, 2007, and the transformation in reputation was striking — a ride once avoided became a favourite frequently cited by fans as the park's most underrated attraction.[1][3]
Experience
Boats carrying up to 24 guests leave the harbour fortress that houses the attraction and pass Sindbad's home village, where the townspeople give him and Chandu a banner-waving send-off on their voyage. Wise men warn the travellers of the dangers ahead and advise them to follow the compass of their hearts — advice the song returns to for the rest of the ride, which lasts about ten minutes.[1][2]
Sindbad sings his way through a storm with the help of the mermaids, then reaches Rukh Island, where pirates who tried to steal the eggs of the giant Roc bird receive their comeuppance from the bird itself. In a later scene Sindbad rescues a giant who has been imprisoned by those same pirates; the grateful giant joins the singing on a stringed instrument and loads Sindbad's boat with treasure in thanks. At a sultan's palace, Sindbad gathers musical instruments collected on his travels; among the monkeys, he shares music rather than fighting his way past. The closing encounters belong to the Living Straits, where a huge whale playfully spouts water and lifts Sindbad's boat in its mouth, carrying it on its way.[1]
The boats return to the village to a homecoming celebration as Sindbad unloads his gifts and delivers the moral of the voyage, then bids guests farewell and sends them off to follow the compass of their own hearts. The ride is notable throughout for the sheer number and quality of its Audio-Animatronics figures — Sindbad and Chandu appear again and again, joined by dozens of villagers, creatures and giants, all performing to the Menken score. There is no height restriction.[3]