Tokyo Disney Resort Discussion Thread

^Fun and COLD!!

Here was a picture of me not amused as it started to snow while we were riding Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disney back in 05-06 Winter!

^LOL! I would have been covered head to toe in a poncho.

And suddenly I see a winter trip to Tokyo on the horizon for me.

Snow looks good on Tokyo Disney Resort.

^Fun and COLD!!

 

Here was a picture of me not amused as it started to snow while we were riding Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disney back in 05-06 Winter!

 

Did the water jets shoot dangerous, spear-like icicles?

Very cool pictures, the very last one of the castle at nighttime is just beautiful!

Elissa, is Splash Mountain at TDS a clone of the one in Orlando?

^ I know the layout is a mirror image, the first drop is inside...there's probably other differences too.

When I rode it back in 2011, I found the only outdoor portion of Splash Mountain was the drop itself. It didn't have the logs meandering around the mountain, like they do in DL. And the drop didn't go under anything. It stayed within a surrounding briar patch (like behind Elissa in that shot?) and then went back into the show building for more scenes.

The load and unload stations and queues (and Single Riders Line, yes!) were all deep inside the show building, not having any outside view like at DL.

And for a first in this attraction - which later WDW used for theirs - the log vehicles seated guests 'side-by-side', instead of one behind the other, like at DLs. The Japanese were very insistent about this change in the vehicle seating, as Japanese decorum (at the time) didn't really like that sort of seating arrangement. So, the 'side-by-side' log was born. At TDL.

(EDIT to add: Also the counter service restaurant attached to SM, "Granny's Kitchen" (I think is it's name), is AWESOME! I went there more than once and enjoyed a few meals there. Good price and great selection, IMhO.)

^ Not sure what you mean by the only outdoor section is the drop...the turn around the drop, the meandering after the second lift, and the turn from after the big drop are all outside. See TPR's POV:

It also drops and runs out under the briar patch and under a big walkway and train tracks...

^ Hmmm. My bad.

Not sure what I was thinking of.

Should've checked the video.

I hope I don't get my Single Rider

Line privileges taken away from me.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/04/13/business/tokyo-disneyland-now-30-still-casts-spell/#.UaJUH5WXKfF

Tokyo Disney Resort, comprising Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, celebrates its 30th anniversary Monday with no signs that its magic spell has worn off, as figures show the wildly popular venue lured a record 27.5 million visitors in fiscal 2012, which ended in March.

 

While some theme parks built over the past 30 years, including Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki Prefecture, have struggled to make a profit, Disney operator Oriental Land Co. has dominated the industry and aims to attract even more visitors this year.

 

Industry observers attribute the Disney success to instilling in visitors a sense that they are in dreamland — a place they will seek to return to again and again.

 

“Oriental Land has everything required to allow the company to successfully run a theme park,” said Mia Nagasaka, an analyst at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities.

 

The necessary factors, according to Nagasaka, are theme and concept, location, a steady cash flow allowing it to invest in new attractions, and marketing strategies to appeal to targeted segments.

 

The Chiba Prefecture-based company’s strategy of touting Tokyo Disney Resort as a special place has been especially effective, she said.

 

You can see the branding efforts wherever you look, Nagasaka said, in its efforts to make the resort look like a fantasy land. Examples include logos on garbage cans, benches, on the monorail that takes visitors between the various hotels and JR Maihama Station, even in the lavatories. The venue is meanwhile super clean, with staff constantly policing the grounds.

 

The firm has also invested billions of yen every year to provide new attractions to ensure repeat visitors.

 

“A massive amount of investment has contributed to keeping the theme park fresh,” said Shun Tanaka, an analyst at SMBC Friend Research Center.

 

Oriental Land has said it will spend ¥200 billion between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2020 just on its theme park business.

 

Due to these factors, about 80 percent of Tokyo Disney Resort’s visitors are repeat customers.

 

Saori Nishiyama, 22, from nearby Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, is one such patron.

 

Nishiyama, who came to the park Thursday to shop, has a yearly pass and visits four or five times a month. She said she especially likes watching the shows and parades.

 

“Even when the same show is performed, it has small differences each time, like characters’ movements,” so they are always fun, she said.

 

Located in Urayasu, western Chiba, just 15 minutes or so by train from Tokyo Station, the resort is accessible to a market of 30 million metropolitan residents. Data show that about 70 percent of visitors are from the Kanto region.

 

Industry figures show the resort dominates the amusement park business. According to a government white paper on leisure activities, the industry in 2010 saw sales of ¥599 billion, with Tokyo Disney Resort accounting for about 45 percent.

 

Back before ground was broken for the resort three decades ago, skeptics doubted it would be an enduring success.

 

An Urayasu official who was involved in the planning for Tokyo Disneyland said he visited a Disney theme park in the U.S. around 1977 and remembers seeing adults enjoying themselves alongside their children.

 

“At that time in Japan, I thought it wasn’t really common for adults to enjoy amusement parks,” said the official who wished to remain anonymous. Adults just waited around while the kids enjoyed themselves because they felt theme parks were for kids.

 

He just wasn’t sure whether adults in Japan would embrace the concept of also enjoying being in a theme park.

 

He also recalled that while Urayasu, which aimed for further development after its landfill program was completed, welcomed the arrival of Disneyland on part of that man-made land, it had concerns about potential problems if millions of visitors descended onto the city.

 

Oriental Land aimed to attract 10 million visitors during Disneyland’s inaugural year. Such a huge number would bring heavy traffic congestion and massive amounts of trash, disrupting the lives of local residents, he said.

 

Disneyland ended up attracting more than 10 million visitors during that first year, and the city eventually learned how to handle the increased traffic volumes by providing resort-bound cars and buses with a dedicated route. Oriental Land meanwhile created its own garbage-disposal facility.

 

As for the future, there is always the question of whether the resort will continue to be a success and keep growing.

 

Nagasaka of Morgan Stanley MUFG believes the loyal fan base will play a key role in the resort’s continued growth.

 

This is borne out by the strong visitor numbers even after the resort has raised admission prices several times, indicating they will still come if more cost hikes ensue.

 

Tanaka of SMBC Friend Research Center noted that although the core fans are big assets, to drastically boost visitors, for instance to more than 30 million, the resort will need to expand and cook up new ideas.

 

With the 30th anniversary, the resort expects a record number of visitors as well as a sharp boost in sales and profit, but after the hoopla subsides the venue will have to get more creative, Tanaka said, noting this may be difficult because the resort’s capacity is “reaching its limit.”

 

There isn’t enough space to create a third theme park unless Oriental Land acquires new land, but the resort could expand more by, for instance, changing its current flat parking lots to multistory ones, he said.

 

The firm can also try to woo more foreign tourists, experts say.

 

In recent years, about 3 to 4 percent of the resort’s patrons were foreigners, many from other parts of Asia, and this ratio could go up, as the government is desperately seeking to boost the number of foreign visitors coming to Japan, and more international low-cost carriers have been coming to Narita airport, which is about an hour away by train.

1.95 billion U.S. dollars in expansion in 9 years? Tokyo Disney is going to be even more ridiculously awesome! Can't wait to see what they have in store!

1.9 Billion / 9 years

1.95 billion U.S. dollars in expansion in 9 years? Tokyo Disney is going to be even more ridiculously awesome! Can't wait to see what they have in store!

That will be amazing to see.

I mean honestly. Is my math fairly correct when I say

200 million dollars every year for 9-10 years?

So what has already been built with that money?

Star Tours

Toy Story Mania

Fantasmic

Probably a ton of little upgrades, transportation stuff, Earthquake repairs...

And there is definite space for something new in the top left corner of Disney Sea.

Right beside the Lost River Delta area. (A new version of ExpEverest, perhaps?)

And I wonder if they could ever pull off maybe a Marvel Land "cross over land"

- literally from Disney Sea to Disneyland and so on.

Now that would be a challenge to the imagineers, if they wanted to trump Universal Orlando.

EDIT to add that there IS some parking lot behind Tomorrowland itself that could be used for Marvel.

But a crossover land, park-to-park would truly be unique AND a First, of it's kind, for Disney.

This is the space, rumors have put a possible future Marvel Land in, at TDR. All speculation of course. But still.

Can't wait to see what will be done with that amount of money at the park.

Just another reason to look forward to a future visit

Isn't there rumors that CarsLand is going to replace Rivers of America?

^I've been hearing that one as well.

If true, it'll be a bit strange hearing Mater talking in Japanese.

^ Not to mention Luigi and Guido selling tires in Japanese.

Or Flo making the language all the more.....mmmm fine, lol.

I could totally see them building a car garage and utilizing the parking lots. I'm really excited to see what amazing things they have next!

If true, it'll be a bit strange hearing Mater talking in Japanese.

They did go to Tokyo in the 2nd movie, so maybe this will be a unique Carsland based on the 2nd movie...

Whatever the case, I'm sure it will best the already impressive CA version.

^I'd forgotten about the big Tokyo race in Cars 2 (well, I've blanked out on most of that movie, truth be told). Hmm--this would be a great opportunity to do a "Cars Meets Speed Racer" type of ride.