Every few months, the same pattern repeats itself. Some Disney writer or influencer visits Tokyo Disneyland for the first time. Then, they spend the next few months lamenting the state of American Disney parks compared to that place. Rather than join the crowd, I’d like to do something a bit different. I’d like to suggest a few ways that Disney can do better merely by studying its business partner. Here are five things Disney can learn from the Oriental Land Company.
Improved Rides
Image: The Oriental Land CompanyHere’s the oddity of the situation between The Walt Disney Company and The Oriental Land Company. Back in the late 1970s, the two parties negotiated the licensing of Disney characters and attractions in Japan. It was the culmination of negotiations that had taken place all the way back in 1960, and the belief is that Disney agreed because they were cash-poor as the opening of Epcot approached.
Unlike in all other places that have Disney theme parks, Disney owns no part of Tokyo Disneyland. It’s 100 percent licensed to The Oriental Land Company, along with one critical caveat. Disney has the right of refusal on anything with its brand in the event that these products don’t reach the proper threshold for quality. If Disney has ever exercised this right, no one is aware of it.
The truth is that the two parties have formed one of the most reliable business partnerships on the planet. The Oriental Land Company is dutiful in honoring their side of the agreement to the point that they’ve unintentionally shamed Disney. Tokyo Disneyland is a mecca for theme park tourists. It’s the choice of many critics as the best theme park resort AND the best single theme park (Tokyo DisneySea) in the world.
Image: The Oriental Land CompanyThe first reason why Tokyo Disneyland stakes this claim is its ride quality. While the overwhelming majority of its attractions are the same ones that you’d find at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, they still look better. The Oriental Land Company is much more demanding about aesthetics, cleanliness, and functionality. These three aspects happen to comprise three fundamentals of doing the same thing better than someone else.
When you ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom, you’ll see outdated backdrops, lighting effects that don’t always work, and ride cart controllers that are regularly broken/breaking. Tokyo Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters features better paint, better and more effective lighting, and controllers that feel more stable and accurate.
The general rule of thumb is that Tokyo Disneyland claims the best adaptations of many multi-park Disney attractions. Even when American Disney parks adapt Japanese rides, the results are disappointing.
Image: The Oriental Land Company
The Disneyland version of Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! is a far cry in quality from Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek!. At Magic Kingdom, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an adorable attraction. Even so, no sane person would argue that it’s on a par with Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, which opened the following year.
Tokyo Disneyland has built several exclusives that are “best in the world” class as well. Journey to the Center of the Earth employs the same technology as Test Track and Radiator Springs Racers, but it’s vastly superior in terms of immersive theming. Aquatopia is a brilliant water ride that persuades guests that they’re hovering above the sea. And the entire Mermaid Lagoon hangout area/themed land is one of the most popular spots in *all* of Tokyo. You’ll frequently run into locals who spend their Saturdays here.
Maintenance
Image: The Oriental Land Company
This concept goes hand-in-hand with the discussion of rides. Maintenance at American Disney parks has fallen by the wayside in recent years. One of our cohorts in theme park analysis, WDWNT, actually keeps a running tally of broken parts on various Disney attractions. Their entire reader base chips in because the sheer volume of failed ride mechanics is too large for any one person or group to track.
The same organization returned from a trip to Tokyo Disneyland and reported exactly one malfunctioning item across two parks. That statement is telling about how much more The Oriental Land Company prioritizes the maintenance phase.
Disney is currently spread thin as they navigate the creation of multiple themed lands, new attractions, and other developments. Even so, they wouldn’t have to spend a great deal of resources to fix what’s broken. They simply choose not to do, and it’s gotten to the point where many loyal Disney fans are now trying to shame the company to do its job.
Employee Morale
Image: The Oriental Land Company
Forbes has listed The Oriental Land Company as having some of the highest job satisfaction marks in the corporate world. They’re in the top 100 on the planet in terms of workers loving their jobs. Contrast that with The Walt Disney Company, which just went to war with its employees.
Disney has gotten so cheap with its cast members that Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, has written an op-ed piece begging the company to do more. She is outraged by the imbalanced split between executive pay and regular employee salaries. The latter group just had to revolt in order to guarantee $15 per hour pay. Meanwhile, CEO Robert Iger personally earned $65.6 million in 2018.
I won’t lie and pretend like Japan doesn’t have any pay inequalities of its own. The gender gap income disparity there is frustrating, to say the least. But The Oriental Land Company has done a remarkable job of keeping its employees feeling valued through their respectable salaries. American Disney parks simply must follow their lead.
Urban Planning
Image: The Oriental Land Company
Since the beginning (and 20 years before that), Tokyo Disneyland’s owners have obsessed on the company’s footprint on the greater Tokyo area. To be fair, they have to do it due to the scarcity of available land in this region. One of the dirty secrets of the park is that it was once a landfill, and a couple of its major expansions were landfills as well. All Tokyo space eventually gets used for something beneficial to the citizenry.
Park officials do their homework in planning for the future of Tokyo Disneyland. They spend years evaluating options before they proceed. The famed Beauty and the Beast expansion that will open in 2020 was first plotted in 2015. Contrast that to Walt Disney World, where Disney has space for whatever they want but haven’t built a new theme park since 1998. Alternately, compare it to Disneyland, where people have literally run for Anaheim City Council AND WON based on a platform to force Disney to do its fair share for the city. To many locals, Disney’s become a bad neighbor, while The Oriental Land Company is championed as a respected tenant in Tokyo.
Re-investment
Disney’s admittedly been better about this issue in recent months and years, but they simply cannot match Tokyo Disneyland in terms of sustained commitment to improvement. In Tokyo, you’ll find two of the most immersive theme parks ever built, and the company’s respect is so strong locally that people assumed for years that they’d add a third gate one day soon.
Due to the surveying and urban planning that they did, The Oriental Land Company chose to go a different way. They’re adding to Tokyo DisneySea rather than constructing a new gate. This project isn’t a minor one like Toy Story Land, though. The company committed $4.5 billion to renovations from 2014 through 2024. Yes, they promised to add $450 million in new stuff on an annual basis for a decade!
That’s not even the most impressive part. During 2018, they committed to an eighth Tokyo DisneySea port by 2022. It will feature rides based on Frozen, Tangled, and Peter Pan. Also, a much-needed official Disney resort will be a part of this plan, an imperative since the current hotels operate near capacity on a daily basis. This expansion alone will cost $2.3 billion.
Image: The Oriental Land Company
The Oriental Land Company’s splashing around cash like a theme park tourist on a Disney vacation. While Disney has reciprocated in recent years with upgrades at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney California Adventure, and with Star Wars Land, the harsh reality is that they’ve fallen way behind their peers in terms of park re-investment.
Even now, promised updates for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World like a new theater building and parade have either been canceled or on life support. Disney needs to commit to a better theme park experience in future years. Otherwise, this perception will remain that The Oriental Land Company beats The Walt Disney Company at its own game.
Image: The Oriental Land Company
