Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland

Like the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Cinderella Castle is the icon of Tokyo Disneyland.
Location	Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Coordinates
Operated by	The Oriental Land Company
Opened	15 April 1983
Area	115 acres (47 ha)
Website	Tokyo Disney Resort Homepage

Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド, Tōkyō Dizunīrando) is a 115-acre (47 ha) theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States, and it opened on 15 April 1983. The park was constructed by Walt Disney Imagineering in the same style as Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks not wholly or partially owned by the Walt Disney Company.

The park has seven themed areas: the World Bazaar; the four classic Disney lands: Adventureland, Westernland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland; and two mini-lands: Critter Country and Mickey's Toontown. Many of the games and rides in these areas mirror those in the original Disneyland as they are based on American Disney films and fantasies. Fantasyland includes Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Dumbo the Flying Elephant and more based on classic Disney films and characters. The park is noted for its extensive open spaces, to accommodate the large crowds that visit the park. In 2013, Tokyo Disneyland hosted 17.2 million visitors, making it the world's second-most visited theme park behind the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.

Dedication

To all of you who come to this happy place, welcome. Here you will discover enchanted lands of Fantasy and Adventure, Yesterday and Tomorrow. May Tokyo Disneyland be an eternal source of joy, laughter, inspiration, and imagination to the people of the world. And may this magical kingdom be an enduring symbol of the spirit of cooperation and friendship between the great nations of Japan and the United States of America.

— E. Cardon Walker, April 15, 1983

History

In April 1979, the first basic contract for the construction of Disneyland in Tokyo was signed. Japanese engineers and architects flocked to California to tour Disneyland and prepare to construct the new operating. Tokyo Disney." Just one year later, construction of the park began and was covered by hundreds of media reporters as an indication of the high expectations for the park in the future. Though successful in the building process, the final cost of Disneyland Tokyo almost doubled the estimated budget costing 180 billion yen rather than the projected 100 billion yen. Despite this discrepancy, Disneyland Tokyo has been a constant source of pride since opening day over 30 years ago.

Themed areas

With only a few exceptions, Tokyo Disneyland features the same attractions found in Disneyland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

World Bazaar

File:StitchEntranceTokyoDisneyland.jpg

A floral arrangement depicting Stitch as part of a celebration.

Main article: Main Street, U.S.A.

World Bazaar is the main entry corridor and primary shopping area of Tokyo Disneyland. Despite the use of the word "World" in its name, the general look and theme of World Bazaar is that of early 20th-century America, matching the "Main Street, U.S.A." areas of other Magic Kingdom-style parks. World Bazaar consists of two intersecting "streets": Main Street (the primary corridor running from the main entrance toward Cinderella Castle), and Center Street, which forms a perpendicular line with Main Street and leads to Adventureland in one direction and Tomorrowland in the other. A unique feature of World Bazaar is a permanent canopy covering the Main Street and Center Street areas, designed to protect guests from the elements. A secondary feature unique to World Bazaar is the under canopy buildings' scale. In all other Magic Kingdom style Disney parks, the buildings on Main Street USA feature a scaling technique called 'forced perspective'. The buildings are made to appear larger than they actually are by reducing the scale of each storey respectively. In World Bazaar, unlike other parks, the first floor of the buildings are open and accessible to park guests and thus built to actual scale.

Adventureland

Western River Railroad.

Main article: Adventureland (Disney)

Adventureland consists of two distinct yet complementary areas: A New Orleans-themed area and a "jungle"-themed area. It is roughly a combination of the New Orleans Square and Adventureland areas found in Disneyland Park in the United States. Major attractions include Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, The Enchanted Tiki Room, and the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Western River Railroad.

Westernland

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Main article: Frontierland

Westernland is an "old west" themed area, the counterpart of Frontierland in other Magic Kingdom-style parks. Like its counterparts, the landscape of Westernland is dominated by the Rivers of America, a man-made waterway that is home to the Mark Twain Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island, and numerous live and Audio-Animatronic animals. Major attractions also include Big Thunder Mountain and the Country Bear Theater.

Critter Country

Main article: Critter Country

Critter Country is a small area of the park and is dominated by a single major attraction, Splash Mountain. The landscape and theming of the area, including its shops and restaurants, are a direct extension of that attraction.

Fantasyland

It's A Small World.

Main article: Fantasyland

Like other Magic Kingdom theme parks, Fantasyland's central entryway is a castle, in this case Cinderella Castle, a near exact copy of the one in Florida's Magic Kingdom. Lacking any "thrill rides," Fantasyland's attractions are generally dark rides that take visitors through scenes from classic Disney movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio. Fantasyland is also home to two iconic Disney theme park attractions, the Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World. Another major attraction is Pooh's Hunny Hunt; presented in a "trackless" format unique to Tokyo Disneyland, Pooh's Hunny Hunt is one of the park's most popular attractions.

Toontown

Main article: Mickey's Toontown

Like its counterparts in other Disney theme parks, Toontown (called "Mickey's Toontown" at other Disney parks) is heavily inspired by the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Appropriately, the major attraction here is Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. There are several smaller attractions, including the popular Mickey's House and Meet Mickey, which often has some of the longest wait times in the park.

Tomorrowland

Main article: Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland has a more urban look and appears more like a community than a showcase of future technology. Rides include Space Mountain and Star Tours–The Adventures Continue. The entrance of Tomorrowland resembles the one originally designed for Walt Disney World in every way except the lack of the PeopleMover track, before its remodeling in the early 1990s. The area around Space Mountain more resembles Disneyland's Tomorrowland and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

Fireworks

Starting from 1983 when the resort opened, fireworks shows were presented at Tokyo Disneyland. There are many fireworks shows which were presented along the years. When Tokyo Disney Sea opened, fireworks shows were also presented in that park. Nowadays, fireworks were presented among the entire Tokyo Disney Resort. Unlike the other American Disney Parks,each fireworks show only lasts for 4–5 minutes every night(except Once Upon A Time). The winds at Tokyo during summer are very strong, so fireworks were not presented during summer, except for Once Upon A Time, a castle projection show which includes only few fireworks. Show cancellations may occur due to inclement weather conditions or strong winds.

When the park opened Fantasy in the Sky was presented, based on the show in Disneyland. It was first replaced by Starlight Fantasy, the 5th anniversary fireworks in 1988. Then, it returned in 1996 and ran until 1998 until it was replaced by Millennium Symphony in the Sky. In 2002, it returned again as a placeholder until the 20th anniversary fireworks, Disney Magic in the Sky replaced it.

Over the years there have been various shows including: Starlight Fantasy (1988-1993), Magic in the Sky (1993-1994), Starlight Magic (1998-1999), Starlight Magic 2000, Millennium Symphony in the Sky (farewell the 20th Century), New Century in the Sky (2000-2002), Disney Magic in the Sky (2003-2012), and Dreams the 25th anniversary fireworks (During 2008–2009).

Happiness On High is the current-running and the 30th anniversary fireworks show at the Tokyo Disney Resort. It was mentioned that it would only run until 2014, which Disney Magic in the Sky would continue after the 30th anniversary happiness celebration is over. In early 2014, Tokyo Disney Resort announced that this fireworks show would run open-ended as the regular fireworks until the 35th anniversary fireworks is announced.

Holiday Fireworks

In the past, some regular fireworks received holiday overlays, including Fantasy in the Sky changed to Christmas Fantasy in the Sky, Stardust Fantasy changed to Stardust Christmas. Starting from 1998, there are no more holiday takeovers in the regular fireworks. They were divided into Christmas and regular fireworks, including Christmas Magic, Dreams, Wishes in the Sky fireworks shows.

Starbright Christmas is the current-running Christmas fireworks at the Tokyo Disney Resort, hosted by Santa Claus.

Night High Halloween is the Halloween fireworks presented at the Tokyo Disney Resort. It features various Disney villains songs and Grim Grinning Ghosts from Haunted Mansion. The soundtrack of the fireworks does not copy HalloWishes or Halloween Screams from the American Disney parks.

Attendance

2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	Worldwide rank
14,293,000	13,646,000	14,452,000	13,996,000	14,847,000	17,214,000.	17,300,000	2

Future

Since the park opened in 1983, Tokyo Disneyland Resort has regularly been the most profitable Disney Resort. By 1994, over 140 million people had entered through the gates of Tokyo Disneyland (the population of Japan is only 127.6 million) and its popularity has only increased. Just two years later, it employed 12,390 people, marking Tokyo Disneyland the biggest workplace in Japan’s diversionary outings. Though the attendance is similar to that of other Japanese theme parks, the revenue produced by Tokyo Disneyland is larger than all other national theme parks combined, thus greatly profiting the Japanese economy. Many speculate that Tokyo Disneyland is such an economic success due to timing and location; the theme park lies in a metropolitan area with a population of 30 million and opened at the height of a booming economy where hard-working citizens desired an escape from reality.

One of the main goals of Tokyo Disneyland is to ever improve the park and grow away from the restrictions of the Domestic Disney Parks. Recently Tokyo Disneyland has been adding their national identity within the parks by adding attractions with distinctly Japanese qualities. Cinderella Castle displays the classic Disney character and story plot yet presents the story through the eyes of the Japanese. Meet the World, located in World Bazaar, shows true national identity and pride as it embodies Japanese history; instead of classic Disney characters, Meet the World characters wear the traditional Japanese kimono. Once nominated by Disney Legends, Masatomo Takahashi, the former president of The Oriental Land Company, states this growth and development as one as their primary goals: "We must not just repeat what we receive from Disney. I am convinced that we must contribute to the cultural exchange between Japan and U.S.A."

Ticket price

Ticket prices vary. Standard one- and two-day tickets do not allow park hopping to Tokyo DisneySea, must be used on consecutive days, and are date-specific. Users must state upon purchase the dates they wish to visit each park. Three- and Four-day tickets allow park hopping on the third and fourth days, but again must be used consecutively. Annual passes are available for either just one or both parks, although they require a large number of visits to achieve significant savings as compared with regular day tickets. A night pass is also available for a discounted price during the night hours only. Consumption tax is included in the prices as listed below.

Price list

Ticket Type	Adult (Ages 18 & over)	Junior (Ages 12–17)	Child (Ages 4–11)
1-Day Passport	¥6,900	¥6,000	¥4,500
Senior Passport (Ages 60 & over)	¥6,200	-	-
2-Day Passport	¥11,000	¥9,800	¥7,600
3-Day Magic Passport	¥14,200	¥12,700	¥9,800
4-Day Magic Passport	¥16,500	¥14,800	¥11,500
Starlight Passport	¥5,000	¥4,400	¥3,500
After 6 Passport	¥3,900	¥3,900	¥3,700
Group Passport	¥5,800	¥4,900	¥3,800

Annual pass

Ticket Type	Adult (Ages 18 & over) Junior (Ages 12–17)	Child (Ages 4–11)	Senior (Ages 60 & over)
2-Park Annual Passport	¥82,000	¥55,000	¥61,000
Tokyo DisneySea Annual Passport	¥53,000	¥37,000	¥41,000
Tokyo Disneyland Annual Passport	¥53,000	¥37,000	¥41,000

Incidents

Main article: Incidents at Tokyo Disney Resort

In popular culture

The theme park is featured in the 1993 Toho film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II where Rodan flies over it.

See also

• List of Tokyo Disneyland attractions
• Rail transport in Disney Parks
• Tokyo DisneySea

External links

• Tokyo Disney Resort web site in Japanese and English
• Resort Maps in Japanese and English
• Google Maps (satellite image) (Latitude: 35.633 Longitude: 139.882)
• Tokyo Disneyland Opening [1]