“Tokyo Disney Resort is at full capacity, and if it doesn’t expand, it won’t be able to attract more users,” Shun Tanaka, an analyst with SMBC Friend Research Center, recently told Bloomberg. “Customer satisfaction is starting to drop, and it needs to expand to alleviate that.”
And expanding it is. A few short weeks ago, the Oriental Land Company – which owns and maintains Tokyo Disney – made the move official, detailing the ten-year, $4.5 billion project with much fanfare. It’s easily the biggest development at the Japanese properties since the single-park Tokyo Disneyland was transformed into the full-fledged Tokyo Disney Resort 13 years ago, and it may be enough to overshadow competitor Universal Studios Japan’s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter (which may be part of the reason behind the suddenly-shrinking consumer satisfaction scores).
(All of this long-term expansion talk is, of course, after the resort’s previous announcement of short-term parade/live entertainment additions. Obviously, Oriental Land is hopeful that the two will work together to create a one-two punch that’ll be hard for Universal – or anyone else in Asia, for that matter – to beat.)
Just what will all this new construction net one of the world’s busiest theme park destinations? Quite a bit, it turns out – and that’s not even getting into the change in Oriental Land’s underlying mentality that the move may very well signal.
1. New Fantasyland
It seems that Disneyland will be receiving a significant portion of the new construction frenzy, and it’ll center on Fantasyland, which will be nearly doubled in size once everything is said and done. The Oriental Land Company has announced that all existing attractions in the land will be receiving a renovation, while several “major” new rides, stores, and restaurants are on the drawing board for inclusion in the newly developed areas.
Just where will all this new land come from? Screamscape has laid out the apparent plan that Oriental Land is mulling over: a large section of Tomorrowland will be repurposed for the new Fantasyland, including where Star Jets, Grand Circuit Raceway, and part of the Tomorrowland Terrace counter-service restaurant (luckily, it’s the park’s biggest eatery, with seating for roughly 1,500 – a fact which no doubt played a role in the company’s decision) currently reside.
Additionally, it seems as if It’s a Small World will be moved from its present location to a brand-new spot, perhaps in the soon-to-be-former Tomorrowland territory.
The biggest question in all this, of course, is: will Tokyo Disneyland’s new Fantasyland be the New Fantasyland that Magic Kingdom just finished rolling out this year? The concept art that accompanied the announcement would seem to suggest a tentative yes.
Tucked off in the distance is a series of cottages that look suspiciously similar to Orlando’s much-ballyhooed Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, while another building just may be the next-generation Be Our Guest table-service restaurant.
Then again, as with Universal Studios Beijing’s recent concept art, this may also be a case of the theme park operators issuing artwork that is intentionally vague, using pre-existent attractions from other locations to be evocative rather than illustrative.
2. Is Frozen coming to DisneySea?
This is where we start to move from (comparatively) definite details to the slippery slope of mere possibility.
Included in Oriental Land’s press release is the statement that doing a similar expansion for Tokyo DisneySea is currently “under consideration,” with the slot of land south of Lost River Delta being eyed for the new construction (and with an overall size estimated to be roughly equivalent to that of Arabian Coast).
Although only the vague statement of “this eighth themed port will include major new attractions, restaurants, and shops” was officially issued, Screamscape again has a rather shrewd educated guess as to what this all means: the new area will be none other than Arendelle, the mythical kingdom from Frozen.
“While not listed in the press release itself,” the site notes, “it was mentioned elsewhere that [the Oriental Land Company] would be adding a Frozen area, and since Arendelle is a ‘port’ kingdom, it would only make sense to put it in Tokyo DisneySea, as well.”
Given the sheer amount of supposition that is involved here, there is, of course, no specifics of any kind as to just what Oriental Land/Disney would bring to bear in a possible Arendelle – although the presence of the film’s castle would, of course, be a must, for several different reasons.
Beyond the possibility of tying Disney’s biggest hit of the past 15 years into the Tokyo parks, there is another, hugely crucial element to this development: the little fact that the Oriental Land Company has, of late, been supremely hesitant to pick up any of the recent additions to any of the Disney-owned resorts, most likely due to Oriental’s desire to keep its properties insulated from what it sees as the more short-sighted actions of American Disney. This has included its turning down several high-profile expansion possibilities within the last five years, including California Adventure’s Cars Land and, ironically enough, Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland.
If these reports turn out to be true, then the abrupt about-face would seem to be instigated by the falling levels of customer satisfaction and attendance, and it leaves the door wide open for future such Western imports.
Speaking of which…
3. Resort-wide improvements
Beyond the thrills of announced (or just possible) expansions, the main bulk of the recent Tokyo Disney press release was actually dedicated to resort-wide improvements and refurbishments.
Chief among these will be increased capacity and easing of congestion at both parks, but there’s also the strengthening of the resort’s backstage area and operational base, along with the somewhat-vague-sounding-but-nonetheless-exciting creation of new “hardware” and weather-protection measures to enhance the guest experience. And not to be forgotten, the cast members themselves will be undergoing improved hospitality training in a direct effort to get the resort’s customer service scores back up.
There’s one last component to this, however, and it just may be the most telling, especially in conjunction with the New Fantasyland and Frozen rumors: new, special viewing areas for parades and shows will be introduced at both parks. If such a move sounds suspiciously close to Walt Disney World Resort’s recent MyMagic+ additions, which include the ability to make FastPass+ reservations at such live entertainment performances, that’s because it is.
Disney had always intended to first roll out and then perfect the technology in Orlando before implementing it at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim – could this be Oriental Land attempting to piggyback off of its American counterpart’s long and arduous testing phase in an effort to keep its guests on-site for as long as possible (which is, after all, the stated goal of the program)?
If so, the effort may end up being a double-edged sword for the company: MyMagic+ has already led to greater food and merchandise sales at Disney World, but its standing within popular opinion has been tentative, at best.
In either case, should Tokyo Disney end up receiving even part of the Disney Company’s new initiative, it would unquestionably signal that it’s a brand-new era for the resort, in more ways than one.
