[5] At that time, both MID and MCA were owned by Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (MEI),[6] which has been rebranded to Panasonic since 2008.

The park was built using American specialty vendors and Japanese construction companies, and opened in July 1994.

With a footprint of 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares), Porto Europa consists of three themed areas: a French, an Italian and a Spanish town.

The smaller attractions at opening included a jazz club, disco, cinema, laser tag, and virtual reality installation.

The load platform and splashdown pool are located outdoors, below the castle, with an observation deck/splash zone overhead.

The ride vehicles ascend into the building, through an automated guillotine door, and into a spiraling fog vortex.

[14] The Seafari simulator ride is in the French-themed village, and occupies the majority of the space in the main building.

It features an extensive preshow, including a moon pool with a 29-foot submarine hanging over it, as if it has been launched and recovered from the deep below.

[15] The ride film is a 3.5 minute Computer-generated imagery (CGI) short, in color, produced by Rhythm & Hues.

The Italian village, located between the French and Spanish buildings, contains the bulk of the retail, an Italian restaurant, Virtuality, a virtual reality gaming space, Monte Carlo, an arcade, Club Coyote, a western-themed discothèque, and Blue Tone, a live jazz venue.

The Spanish castle, with two major attractions, houses only an American casual restaurant on the deck above High Dive.

This area features iron rides, including two coasters, merry-go-rounds, water slides, and a Ferris wheel.

The facility at Marina City (sometimes referred to as Kishu Kuroshio Onsen) is a large stand-alone attraction which can be used independent of the island's hotel and theme park.

The usual marina facilities are available, along with amenities including water, fuel, waste disposal and a powered boat lift.