Tokyo Disneyland Resort Expansion

Timothy_Q

Well-Known Member
We'll see how this compares years from now... but best I can gather based on everything we've seen.


View attachment 375298


The Red by Arabian coast is basically where the new fountains concept art takes place.

All the purple are the guest pathways, I didn't both putting in all the water features, but they occupy a huge chunk of blank space in front of the hotel.

I assume we'll get a Snuggly duckling tucked back in there I labeled Food and Beverage. The Pan restaurant looks like it occupies the lake, whereas the Tinkerbelle flat is closer to the hotel.

Also note the sheer size of space for show buildings relative to the new Beauty and the Beast attraction or Sindbad.
And it would be relatively easy to one day transform Toontown into a Fantasyland expansion that connects Fantasyland, the BatB area, and Fantasy Springs. It's right in the middle of the three. It would also better hide the BatB show building from that angle.

Sleeping Beauty and Brave (like someone else mentioned earlier) don't have any representation yet, and would work great next to each other.

This would become one giant Fantasy area, representing almost every Disney fairy tale, and connecting both parks together

TDS Springs.jpg
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
This would become one giant Fantasy area, representing almost every Disney fairy tale, and connecting both parks together

I like this idea in part because park hopping is kind of a pain in Tokyo. Like an idiot I actually walked between the two entrances of TDS and TDL and it's a hike and hardly pretty to look at. Taking the monorail requires buying a pass and its two stops either way.

There are currently 12 official "Princesses" in the brand*, and the following all have lands or major features at the Tokyo parks:

- Belle
- Ariel
- Rapunzel
- Cinderella
- Jasmine (Arabian Coast)

Of the remaining 7, I don't think Tiana makes sense because TDL already has a New Orleans Square-type area. Pocahontas is limited with what you can do, and I don't think Mulan would be a big hit with a Japanese audience. Brave's underwhelming Japanese box office was also already mentioned.

Moana is a no-brainer for DisneySea. If there's any expansion space left in the park, it would be well suited for her. That leaves Snow White and Sleeping Beauty as major contenders for the space you've shown, and I think they would work given what Disney has done with them in the parks to far, and how that could be built further. I'd nominate a longer, better version of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster, and a Maleficent attraction that puts the "dark" in dark ride.

Once again, it gives Disney the excuse to remove Snow White's Adventure and Peter Pan's Flight to build a major new ride in that space. Possibly some other Mickey Mouse experience to compensate for Toontown's closing (though hopefully not another copy of Runaway Railway).

*Frozen is not an official Princess movie, because that way Disney can charge twice for licensing.
 
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ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
As much as I want to see a giant linked Fantasy World, I have doubts that Toontown will ever be completely removed. Mickey is by far the most popular character in the resort right now, and the Mickey's House M&G often has one of the longest queues in the park. Roger Rabbit will probably go at some point though. It's not pulling in the crowds, and the IP doesn't really resonate in Japan. If I had to guess, some variant of MMRR will take its place in the future.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
I don't think we'll ever see a linked resort. OLC actively discourages park hopping by not including it in the standard two day ticket. It stresses their infrastructure and makes crowds more unreliable.

Would it be a ticketed gate to cross into DisneySea? There are financial disincentives to merge two gates into one.


HOWEVER the one nice part of this expansion is that it makes the full breadth of monorail stops relevant. I don't know if regular guests will be able to enter the park at Bayside station, but I assume there will be an exit.

As I've mentioned the Monorail in particular is a bit of a useful transit tool for DisneySea now. Especially if one is heading from Frozen to TSMM.

I like this idea in part because park hopping is kind of a pain in Tokyo. Like an idiot I actually walked between the two entrances of TDS and TDL and it's a hike and hardly pretty to look at. Taking the monorail requires buying a pass and its two stops either way.

Ouch, yes you definitely aren't supposed to walk. I didn't even know one could walk between the gates.
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
I don't think we'll ever see a linked resort. OLC actively discourages park hopping by not including it in the standard two day ticket. It stresses their infrastructure and makes crowds more unreliable.

Would it be a ticketed gate to cross into DisneySea? There are financial disincentives to merge two gates into one.


HOWEVER the one nice part of this expansion is that it makes the full breadth of monorail stops relevant. I don't know if regular guests will be able to enter the park at Bayside station, but I assume there will be an exit.

As I've mentioned the Monorail in particular is a bit of a useful transit tool for DisneySea now. Especially if one is heading from Frozen to TSMM.



Ouch, yes you definitely aren't supposed to walk. I didn't even know one could walk between the gates.

It’s a long road that goes behind the Ambassador hotel and Jungle Cruise. You can look it up on Google maps.

It’s safe, but not a short walk. For reference:

375706
 
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PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
Haha I think I’d rather take that walk than pay for the monorail.
It's really not that expensive. A single ride is about $2.50 and they have day and multi-day passes that offer progressively better deals. Not to mention they accept the IC cards you use to take the trains and subways throughout Japan anyway so you could just use any leftover balance on those cards.

They're required to charge for the monorail because of Japanese transit laws. It's the same reason the railroad only has one stop; if it had any more, it would be classified as public transportation and would also have to charge fees.

The monorails are also significantly nicer than any that are operating in the US resorts. They work, they're reliable, they're clean, they're on time, I could go on. Much preferable to walking IMO.

And, of course, the ticket prices for the Tokyo parks are about half those of the US parks, so you could go nuts on monorail passes and still come out WAY ahead of the resorts with "free" monorails.
 

The_Mesh_Hatter

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
They're required to charge for the monorail because of Japanese transit laws. It's the same reason the railroad only has one stop; if it had any more, it would be classified as public transportation and would also have to charge fees.

I’ve wondered about this. Why does that apply to neither the Steamer Boats nor the Electric Railway?
 

ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
But we're not done yet, as things gets even more complicated because Disney is currently trying to decide where to build first the next Star Wars land in Asia ...as Tokyo Disneyland was supposed to get it ( it would be built behind Tomorrowland on part of the remaining parking lot ) but Oriental Land - who still have to pay for the Beauty and the Beast land and TDS Fantasy Springs - would apparently prefer to wait for a better Japanese economy...

Bob Iger and Philippe Gas were not only in Tokyo for Fantasy Springs groundbreaking ceremony but also for talks and eventually convince Oriental Land executives to bring a Star Wars land at Tokyo Disneyland. As for what decision went out of the discussions, sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait for an official announcement.

Some interesting tidbits regarding Tokyo Disneyland from Alain's recent article on disneyandmore. Seeing as Japan is the only Asian market where Star Wars is still popular, I can see why Disney wants to bring Galaxy's Edge over there.
 

dennis-in-ct

Well-Known Member
Some interesting tidbits regarding Tokyo Disneyland from Alain's recent article on disneyandmore. Seeing as Japan is the only Asian market where Star Wars is still popular, I can see why Disney wants to bring Galaxy's Edge over there.

The TDR audience seems to be all about the "cute" and I am not convinced the Star Wars universe is Kawaii enough for Japan.

Isn't this the reason why the self-proclaimed "adult" DisneySeas never reaches the same attendance as TDL?
 

ThemeParkTraveller

Well-Known Member
The TDR audience seems to be all about the "cute" and I am not convinced the Star Wars universe is Kawaii enough for Japan.

Isn't this the reason why the self-proclaimed "adult" DisneySeas never reaches the same attendance as TDL?

Star Wars is still popular in Japan, even if not on the same scale as the U.S. or parts of Europe. Outside of Harry Potter, Star Wars is the highest grossing live-action Hollywood franchise in Japan.

With regards to TDS attendance, it's a result of not having as many attractions as TDL and also being less family-friendly (most of the major attractions are thrill rides with height restrictions). Although to be fair, TDS currently attracts more guests per year than TDL did from 2002-2011. With the opening of Fantasy Springs, TDS could finally catch up to TDL in the present (or be reasonably close at least).
 
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dennis-in-ct

Well-Known Member
Star Wars is still popular in Japan, even if not on the same scale as the U.S. or parts of Europe. Outside of Harry Potter, Star Wars is the highest grossing live-action Hollywood franchise in Japan.

With regards to TDS attendance, it's a result of not having as many attractions as TDL and also being less family-friendly (most of the major attractions are thrill rides with height restrictions). Although to be fair, TDS currently attracts more guests per year than TDL did from 2002-2011. With the opening of Fantasy Springs, TDS could finally catch up to TDL in the present (or be reasonably close at least).

I agree - the TDS fantasy springs will give the Japanese audience what they want. Cute fantasy environments to absorb.
 

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