Tokyo Disneyland is set to expand with new attractions based on realms from classic Disney animated films. Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen will all be represented in the expansion, set to be complete after fiscal year 2017.
The news was released today by the Oriental Land Company, Tokyo Disney Resort’s operating company, after the project was teased last fall. Details that emerged today include:
- At Tokyo Disneyland, Fantasyland will receive a major overhaul to nearly double its size. The new Fantasyland will include areas with Alice in Wonderland and Beauty and the Beast themes. Concept art indicates guests will physically walk through Wonderland and will have the opportunity to explore Beast’s castle.
- Next door, at Tokyo DisneySea, a new port – Scandinavia – will open in a space south of and adjacent to Lost River Delta. A section of the port will resemble Arendelle from Frozen, complete with Elsa’s castle and an attraction thats details are yet to be announced.
Further information is sparse at the moment, but the expansion resembles other existing excitements that were either just completed or are currently being worked on by Walt Disney Imagineering in Florida. 2012’s New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom also doubled that park’s version of Fantasyland and included a Beauty and the Beast area, complete with a restaurant inside Beast’s castle and a storytelling experience, Enchanted Tales with Belle. At one point, Alice in Wonderland was slated to be part of New Fantasyland, though plans for that area were scrapped. Perhaps the same ideas will be resurrected in Tokyo Disneyland.
Likewise, a Frozen attraction is currently under construction in Epcot’s Norway, slated for an early 2016 opening. There is no word on whether Tokyo’s plans are a duplicate of this project or if they are something different. In any case, regardless of whatever is planned, Imagineers assigned to the new experiences will surely build off and improve upon its similar predecessors. (Here’s hoping for a realistically sized castle for the Beast and not something that belongs in a model village!)
Have you visited Tokyo Disneyland? Are you excited for these projects? What details do you think they will include?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
