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Would you like to experience Splash Mountain one more time? How about other attractions and show elements that are gone from Disneyland Park in California? You can do so without a time machine. You just need to travel to Tokyo. Let’s take a Yesterland tour of Tokyo Disneyland. |
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Our tour begins in a land that no longer exists at Disneyland Park, Critter Country, which is now Bayou Country there. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Entrance to Critter Country |
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In California, Splash Mountain was reimagined as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in 2024. Critter Country became Bayou Country. Tokyo still has Splash Mountain, so the land remains Critter Country. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Splash Mountain sign |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Splash Mountain logs plunging down Chick-A-Pin Hill |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Zip-A-Dee Lady riverboat finale, after the big drop in Splash Mountain |
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Combining a great flume ride with delightful show scenes and catchy music, Splash Mountain immediately became a beloved attraction when it opened at Disneyland Park in California in 1989. That spawned versions in Florida and Tokyo. By transforming Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in California and Florida, Disney addressed two issues: The Princess and the Frog (2009) deserved to be represented in the parks; Splash Mountain, despite having no references to Reconstruction-era plantations or the human characters in Song of the South (1946), was still based on a movie that The Walt Disney Company had locked away due to some problematic content. So far, Oriental Land Company, which owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Resort, has kept its Splash Mountain. In many ways, it’s a perfect ride — and arguably a better attraction than Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Our next stop is an animatronic show. It was in Critter Country in California, but it’s in Westernland in Tokyo. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Country Bear Theater, home of the Country Bear Jamboree |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Liverlips McGrowl |
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Country Bear Playhouse at Disneyland Park closed permanently in 2001. Magic Kingdom Park in Florida has a new (2025) version of the show, with bears covering Disney songs. Tokyo Disneyland still has the original Country Bear Jamboree, presented partially in English and partially in Japanese, in rotation with two seasonal versions. The original version celebrates violence and lust. There’s alcohol, fat shaming, advice to shoot a youngster, and a bear whose name can be considered offensive. Staying in Westernland, our next stop is Tom Sawyer Island. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Stockade on Tom Sawyer Island |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Fort Sam Clemens, the Tokyo version of Fort Wilderness |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Inside the stockade |
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From 1956 to 2007, Tom Sawyer Island in California included Fort Wilderness, a stockade fort for families to explore. It was then demolished and replaced by a more utilitarian facility for Cast Members only. Tom Sawyer Island in Tokyo still has an authentic-looking stockade, Fort Sam Clemens, providing the experiences that guests in California used to enjoy. Staying on Tom Sawyer Island, our next stop is the first of three treehouses in the park. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Tom Sawyer’s Treehouse |
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Tom and Huck’s Tree House was added to California’s Tom Sawyer Island in 1957. Guests climbed up stairs to what was then the highest point in Disneyland. The treehouse is still there, but it’s been off limits to guest since 2013. Unlike its California counterpart, Tom Sawyer’s Treehouse at Tokyo’s Tom Sawyer Island still welcomes guests and still has artificial leaves. At least California and Tokyo both still have a Tom Sawyer Island, unlike Magic Kingdom Park in Florida. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Red rock peak on the Rivers of America, as viewed from Tom Sawyer Island |
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In California, Cascade Peak was an impressive landmark on the Rivers of America from 1960 to 1998. On the Rivers of America in Westernland, Tokyo Disneyland has a red rock peak. It’s not called Cascade Peak, and it doesn’t have as many waterfalls, but it’s impressive. The rock work and color continue the look of Thunder Mountain on the other side of Tom Sawyer Island, as well as rock formations on the island. Our next stop is on a different waterway. It’s Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions, as it’s named at Tokyo’s Adventureland. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Native ambush at the Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Trader Sam at the Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions |
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Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park updated their Jungle Cruise rides in 2021 to add a storyline and to remove culturally insensitive depictions of indigenous people. The indigenous village, native ambush, and Trader Sam are still in place at Tokyo Disneyland. At least Tokyo’s Trader Sam is no longer holding shrunken heads. He resembles Florida’s former “head salesman in the jungle,” not his more physically fit former counterpart in California. Staying in Adventureland, our next stop is another treehouse: Swiss Family Treehouse . |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Sign for Swiss Family Treehouse |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 The huge artificial tree for Swiss Family Treehouse |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Swiss Family Treehouse kitchen in Japanese and English |
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Disneyland Park in California had a Swiss Family Treehouse from 1962 to 1999. It became Tarzan’s Treehouse from 1999 to 2021. It’s been Adventureland Treehouse since 2023. At Tokyo Disneyland, Swiss Family Treehouse opened in 1993, and it’s still there. It never had the major modifications that were made in California. In a way it doesn’t belong in this article because its status has officially been listed as “Temporary Closure of Park Facilities” since April 1, 2022, with no reopening date. Although Swiss Family Treehouse looks as if it could reopen any day, it’s very possible it never will. Oriental Land Company has released early concept art for a thorough reimagining of Adventureland, with much of the current Adventureland wiped away — even Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions — to make way for attractions based on The Incredibles, Up, and Moana. If that happens, Magic Kingdom Park in Florida will still have a Swiss Family Treehouse, as will Disneyland Paris (La Cabane des Robinson). Tokyo’s Adventureland has Pirates of the Caribbean. That’s our next stop. Based on the concept art, it appears to be safe from being wiped away. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland |
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The exterior of Pirates of the Caribbean in Tokyo looks similar to how it looked in California before the bridge, exterior queue, and stairs to the upper floor were added in the 1990s. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2024 Bride auction in Pirates of the Caribbean |
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Do you remember the bride auction scene at Disneyland Park? From 1967 the 2018, the epic scene had it all: objectification of women, subjugation of women, human trafficking, and fat shaming. The auctioneer pirate would ask, “What be I offered for this winsome wench? Stout-hearted and corn-fed she be!” A drunk pirate would respond, “We wants the redhead!” The Disneyland Park ride still has an auction scene, and there’s still a tall woman with red hair, only now she’s a pirate named Redd, auctioning off stolen goods. The same change was made at Disneyland Paris in 2017 and Magic Kingdom Park in 2018. So far, Tokyo Disneyland still has the original bride auction, as well as the original scene of pirates lustfully chasing the town’s women (with the punchline of a woman lustfully chasing a pirate). Our next stop at Tokyo Disneyland is Toontown for our third treehouse. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Chip ’n’ Dale’s Treehouse sign |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Chip ’n’ Dale’s Treehouse at Towntown |
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In California, Chip ’n’ Dale’s Treehouse opened 1993 in Mickey’s Toontown. Originally, it had a slide and an 8,000-acorn ball pit, but these were removed in 1998 for safety and hygiene. The treehouse was demolished in 2022. In Tokyo, Chip and Dale still invite guests into their treehouse in Toontown (not Mickey’s Toontown) to explore acorn-themed rooms and to slide down a chute. Our next stop is a ride in Toontown. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Chris Bales, 2026 Jessica Rabbit in a car trunk in Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin |
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In Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin at Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland Park in California, Jessica Rabbit is now a crime-fighting private eye in a trenchcoat. It’s been that way since 2021. At Tokyo Disneyland, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin in Toontown, Jessica Rabbit is still tied up in the trunk of a car — just as she was at Disneyland Park from 1994 until the ride’s 2021 update. Our tour’s final stop is in World Bazaar, Tokyo Disneyland’s roofed-over version of Main Street U.S.A. |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Penny Arcade at World Bazaar |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Interior of Penny Arcade |
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Photo at Tokyo Disneyland by Werner Weiss, 2026 Example of a vintage game in the Penny Arcade |
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Disneyland Park in California still has a storefront promising a Penny Arcade, but it’s an arcade in name only. The opening day attraction was once an ornate space filled with classic arcade devices. In the 1990s, it became largely a candy store. There are still a couple of Muto-Scopes, a few other devices, a fortune-telling machine, and a coin-operated pipe organ. The Penny Arcade in Tokyo is in a smaller space, but it’s filled with well-maintained arcade devices of yesteryear — and no candy at all. This concludes our visit to the real-life Yesterland on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Ready to buy an airline ticket? |
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© 2026 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated July 3, 2026 |
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