Monday, June 4, 2007

Journey to the Center of the Earth, DisneySea


Journey to the Center of the Earth, at Tokyo DisneySea, is one of the coolest looking rides that I've yet to experience.

One of the reasons I'm so drawn to it is the animatronic "lava monster" seen in the picture above. The ride, which uses a Test Track-ish ride system, takes passengers deep into inner earth and provides them with an encounter with many odd creatures, including Mr. lava monster.

The lava monster is surrounded by fire balls and flowing, molten lava, and does not seem happy that riders have entered it's lair. The animatronic is 20+ feet tall, and moves with amazing fluidity for its size.

Hopper from Bug's Life will always be my favorite animatronic, but this baby looks like it would make it a close race.

Mouse Planet features this awesome photo during a review of the ride:

© MousePlanet

When you really think about, the lava monster looks like it could be a pretty close relative to the Alien Encounter alien:
And yes, I do have the toy, thank you very much.

Anyway, here's a really high quality video of Journey to the Center of the Earth via You Tube user TBDave716:



LaughingPlace also has a nice video of the lava monster in action. You can get that video from their site, just click here.

How much does it cost to fly to Japan?


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it cost, I am sure where you are at. about 600-800 bucks.
to fly here.


I rode this ride like about over 100 times now. That monster is serious THE MOST fluid thing I have ever seen.

It is bigger in real life than what you see in the video.

Becuase its size i feel is more fluid then Bugs life, or my personal favorite Imhotep from Revenge of the Mummy ride.

NewsPlusNotes said...

I always forget about Imhotep when thinking of good animatronics. The only thing I don't like about him is how when he walks he's floating like jesus on water or something.

Granted, on the ride that's very hard to notice, but it irks me.

One of the reasons I love Hopper is cause I always sit as close to him as possible and you have extended time to stare and watch him - unlike on a ride when you fly by.