Tokyo Disneyland Resort Expansion

[Brer Oswald]

I don’t know a TON about the Japanese Disney crowd so let me ask this: do they generally react well to change, at least compared to US park fans? Or has that not ever really been tested on this scale?

It’s hard to say. If we’re talking about the online fans (cause idk what else to compare) they’re even more dedicated to particular attractions than we are. I found one Japanese fan that said they’d never go to the park again if they closed the Western River Railroad.

On the other hand, I haven’t seen many that are diehards of Pirates, Mansion, Jungle Cruise, etc. They seem to gravitate more towards the rides and shows with cute animals and characters like that.

 

[britain]

It’s hard to say. If we’re talking about the online fans (cause idk what else to compare) they’re even more dedicated to particular attractions than we are. I found one Japanese fan that said they’d never go to the park again if they closed the Western River Railroad.

On the other hand, I haven’t seen many that are diehards of Pirates, Mansion, Jungle Cruise, etc. They seem to gravitate more towards the rides and shows with cute animals and characters like that.

Jungle Cruise in particular seems like something that - in America - started out impressive, became inadvertently corny, then became deliberately corny. It’s got 70-55 years of good will and nostalgia to keep it afloat. I don’t know if the Japanese consider it old but not charming, corny but not deliberately so.

And depending on your skipper it can quickly swerve from cool to cringe. I’d be very interested in learning how that ride is perceived in Japan.

 

[Kevin_W]

Jungle Cruise in particular seems like something that - in America - started out impressive, became inadvertently corny, then became deliberately corny. It’s got 70-55 years of good will and nostalgia to keep it afloat. I don’t know if the Japanese consider it old but not charming, corny but not deliberately so.

And depending on your skipper it can quickly swerve from cool to cringe. I’d be very interested in learning how that ride is perceived in Japan.

I'd say that's a good description of the US Jungle Cruise. Though the Dinsey+ series implied that the corniness was there from the start.

The Japanese version didn't do much for me... but I don't speak Japanese. As real-time translators have gotten much better through headphones, smart glasses, etc. I would love to go back again and experience the attractions with Japanese narration t o better understand them. (Sadly, learning Japanese is probably out of the range of possibility. I've been working on French for years and still cannot do better than a couple sentences.)

 

[DarkMetroid567]

I would also say in regards to the train, they are not novel in Japan. A lot of US parks other than Disney have train rides because it is a country that doesn’t use trains much anymore. Japan still very much uses trains as a major means of travel, as does most of Asia. I could see why guests there maybe aren’t very enamored with a fake railroad in the same way US guests may be.

I think this is a lil off-base because the Disney park railroads are more of a more heritage service, which is appealing to a lot of Japanese train enthusiasts or even commuters who tire of the packed everyday monotony. Taking the Chuo-Sobu or the Saikyo is packed and boring. But a spectator-focused steam train is totally different!

 

[PiratesMansion]

I don’t know a TON about the Japanese Disney crowd so let me ask this: do they generally react well to change, at least compared to US park fans? Or has that not ever really been tested on this scale?

I would say that their parks fandom is just as passionate as ours among their audience, if not more so, but not necessarily in the same ways.

I would say that the removal of the Jungle Cruise and/or complete re-imagining of Adventureland would be unprecedented territory for TDL in terms of scale of removal, but that's not necessarily the same as saying that the Japanese audiences would be as up in arms as the US audience would if JC was to be axed.

Kawaii/cuteness culture is huge in Japan generally and certainly a significant factor in TDR fandom as well and, well, neither Jungle Cruise nor many of the classic attractions really scratch that itch at all. And perhaps because the stereotypical TDR fan is basically a middle-aged office lady, the more male and/or thrill ride-skewing attractions tend to be underappreciated relative to those elsewhere.

As for reaction to change: TDR was the last Disney resort to have the old character heads/costumes. The waits for those characters in the last weeks and months hit seven hours at least a few times.

And apart from entertainment (which cycles through quickly compared to other Disney resorts but not nearly as quickly as it use to at TDR), there hasn't necessarily been a ton of change at TDL. Many of the park originals are still around, and until relatively recently the idea of plussing attractions out there was relatively uncommon.

That said, they DID remove Buzz Lightyear relatively recently, which surprised me because their version was always insanely popular. If they can remove Buzz, which seemed to be many times more demonstrably popular than anything in Adventureland, why would Adventureland be safe?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Here's another consideration. In the 80's, TDL demanded only versions of existing rides. If it wasn't in a US park, it didn’t go in the Tokyo one. This to establish itself as the real, genuine product. As opposed to cheap copycat parks.

Since about the 2010s however, TDL demands only originals. No copies, everything exclusive to Tokyo.

Their own Space Mountain and ToT. Exclusive Peter Pan, Tangled, BatB, Monsters rides.

In that light, the Speedway, Jungle Cruise, Tiki (albeit already a unique version), Railroad don't fit the current park positioning.

 

[tanc]

Honey Hunt itself was originally supposed to be a Winnie the Pooh area (probably called the 100 acre woods I would imagine). It would have been the cutest land ever and it's such a shame it never went through.

 

[WaltWiz1901]

Honey Hunt itself was originally supposed to be a Winnie the Pooh area (probably called the 100 acre woods I would imagine). It would have been the cutest land ever and it's such a shame it never went through.

concept sketch for Pooh Corner (as it was called) here.

while it looks cool (and I'd love to see what it would've looked like fully colored as it ought to have been), this is one of the very rare examples where what was built in reality is every bit as cool as (if not exceeds) what was drawn. dialing back the facade to further undersell the ride inside was unquestionably the better, cleverer move

 

[The Empress Lilly]

There's a whole sliding scale ranging from 'rough blue sky atmosperic sketch' to 'fully approved, funded and cancelled just before spades in the ground'.

 

[britain]

Here's another consideration. In the 80's, TDL demanded only versions of existing rides. If it wasn't in a US park, it didn’t go in the Tokyo one. This to establish itself as the real, genuine product. As opposed to cheap copycat parks.

Since about the 2010s however, TDL demands only originals. No copies, everything exclusive to Tokyo.

Their own Space Mountain and ToT. Exclusive Peter Pan, Tangled, BatB, Monsters rides.

In that light, the Speedway, Jungle Cruise, Tiki (albeit already a unique version), Railroad don't fit the current park positioning.

Well, Splash Mountain fits that positioning now!

 

[Nickm2022]

yk one point ive always found interesting is everyone talks about the question of a third park at tokyo but one time saw someone say that we already know where the 3rd park is and its themed, its called Tokyo Disneyland 2.0, with Tokyo Disneyland probably being unrecognizable in 5 years, but that's not nessicarly a bad thing as long as they continue they're high bar quality, scale, originality, and boldness which I hope they do and believe they will

 

[FlashyLongNose]

yk one point ive always found interesting is everyone talks about the question of a third park at tokyo but one time saw someone say that we already know where the 3rd park is and its themed, its called Tokyo Disneyland 2.0, with Tokyo Disneyland probably being unrecognizable in 5 years, but that's not nessicarly a bad thing as long as they continue they're high bar quality, scale, originality, and boldness which I hope they do and believe they will

If they do make a 3rd park someday DisneySky would be cool.

 

[DLR92]

I don’t see the resort will have a third park. I could see OLC consider another standalone park destination in Japan.

 

[Nirya]

My thing with a TDR expansion into a third park is that I have no idea where they would put it. TDR isn't like the domestic US parks or even a Shanghai or DLP where there is clear space for a new park, and for them to fit a third gate into their resort they would need to either completely reconfigure/buy up enough developed plots on the existing land or reclaim more land from Tokyo Bay to the south (which, let me be fair, would make it extremely funny to completely enclose DisneySea and cut it off from, you know, the water).

 

[FlashyLongNose]

My thing with a TDR expansion into a third park is that I have no idea where they would put it. TDR isn't like the domestic US parks or even a Shanghai or DLP where there is clear space for a new park, and for them to fit a third gate into their resort they would need to either completely reconfigure/buy up enough developed plots on the existing land or reclaim more land from Tokyo Bay to the south (which, let me be fair, would make it extremely funny to completely enclose DisneySea and cut it off from, you know, the water).

If they did they would either buy more land around the resort, or build it somewhere else in Japan entirely.

 

[DCBaker]

Indiana Jones is also closing for refurbishment next month but has no set re-opening date at the moment. Could just be routine maintenance or something a little more extensive.

The reopening date has been announced:

Tokyo Disney Resort® announced that the Indiana Jones Adventure®: Temple of the Crystal Skull attraction at Tokyo DisneySea® Park will resume operations on November 30, 2026. Upon completion of the latest major refurbishment, the attraction will reopen with a new cinematic soundtrack and projection effects to provide even more excitement for guests.

 

[PiratesMansion]

The reopening date has been announced:

Tokyo Disney Resort® announced that the Indiana Jones Adventure®: Temple of the Crystal Skull attraction at Tokyo DisneySea® Park will resume operations on November 30, 2026. Upon completion of the latest major refurbishment, the attraction will reopen with a new cinematic soundtrack and projection effects to provide even more excitement for guests.

While "new cinematic soundtrack" sounds great, I wonder if they might just be shifting to the Disneyland soundtrack.

It's the ONE area I would give the California ride the clear win over the TDS version.

 

[WaluigiTime]

While "new cinematic soundtrack" sounds great, I wonder if they might just be shifting to the Disneyland soundtrack.

It's the ONE area I would give the California ride the clear win over the TDS version.

Isn't it the same soundtrack?

 

[denyuntilcaught]

I think the TDS soundtrack uses the same cues in a reordered fashion, which if you're used to DLRs version makes TDS sound completely out of sync.

 

[cjkeating]

While "new cinematic soundtrack" sounds great, I wonder if they might just be shifting to the Disneyland soundtrack.

It's the ONE area I would give the California ride the clear win over the TDS version.

I think the TDS soundtrack uses the same cues in a reordered fashion, which if you're used to DLRs version makes TDS sound completely out of sync.

I'm probably in the minority - but as someone who was very familiar with Dinosaur and didn't like Indy at Disneyland when I rode it - I felt completely different about the one at DisneySea and it wasn't until I rewatched both rides after my visit did I realise it was (mainly) because of the soundtrack at DisneySea. I personally found the DisneySea soundtrack much more immersive and engaging whilst I found the Disneyland soundtrack too distracting like you were listening to a John Williams concert and not on a jeep going around a temple.