東京ディズニーランド – Tokyo Disney Land

15th April – 卯月

On 15th April in 1983, Tokyo Disney Land was opened in Chiba prefecture, next to Tokyo!

Nowadays, Tokyo Disney Land is ranked 3rd most visited theme park in the world (The first and second are both in USA Disney parks) and even the another park next to Disney Land, called Tokyo Disney Sea, ranked 4th. It is understandable that the Disney Parks in the USA is the highest as it is the original parks built by Walt Disney. However, how come the theme parks which is not directly run by Disney (It is run by Oriental Land Company), locating very small area is one of the top 2 parks most visited in the world?

There are several reasons of course!

Many Tokyo Disney fans have annual pass which costs about US$1,000, and some go more than 100 days per year. Even it is very interesting that Tokyo Disney has wide range of visitors aged from young to elderly compare to the other Disney Resorts. It is very common that adult go to Tokyo Disney without children but couples, coworkers and school friends.

One of the strong reasons why Tokyo Disney is loved by many people is the workers there. People who works in Tokyo Disney are called as ‘Cast’ as it is considered that inside the park is entirely on stage, so all the workers are treated as the actors / actresses. They create the Disney atmosphere which is away from the real life. Plus they work with joy. Although about 90% of casts are part time workers, they are proud of working there. They always smile to the customers, ask to help before they are asked, enjoying creating the stage all together. Casts treat all customers as VIP, this is why people want to come back again to the Magical Dream World. One of the popular job there is cleaning! Tokyo Disney have very strict rules about cleanliness – they clean up the park every 15 minutes. No one little dust is allowed to be there! The cleaners on the street even perform various things, like drawing on the road using the water, acting funny show by themselves on the streets etc.

Another reason can be the structure of the theme park. When you come into the park, you won’t see the outside area – not at all. In order to separate the reality and complete Fantasy world, Tokyo Disney cut whole the outside view out. Moreover, each section of parks have different BGMs, therefore, this makes visitors feel they come to the different countries. As the park has different themed area, it is pretty impossible to go through all the attractions for a day (with waiting for long hours to ride one attraction…). The park with different attractions in the wide parks, can make visitors think to come back again.

Have you ever found hidden Mickey Mouses in the park? There are various hidden Mickey logos in surprising places! Such as on the road, on the wall, during the attractions… more and more! Finding those hidden Mickey Mouse is fun and feel special.Tokyo Disney puts many gimmicks in the park. Furthermore, one of the negative points, that because it is too famous we have to line up in a very long queue, even have some strategies to make people less stressed. While waiting on the line, people go through the themed area where have many fun items based on each stories. Plus the queue goes winding, never be straight so that people see different views and feel less long to wait. Tokyo Disney even shows the waiting time on the board a little bit longer so when visitors get to go on board to the attraction, they will feel lucky that they could get in earlier than it was expected.

Plus, there are few mirrors inside the park -probably only in the bathroom. People generally come to oneself when they see themselves in the mirror – In the park, everybody should forget the reality and become the part of the fantasy world, so there are less mirrors as possible.

Tokyo Disney has its own merchandise only sold in the land and those goods attract visitors as well. There are foods which are shaped Mickey Mouse and other characters, cute headbands with animal ears… and more! Sometimes there are limited merchandise only sold in certain season, so every time you visit there, new variety of goods make you surprise and create more joy:)

Now Tokyo Disney is temporary closed due to the new virus spreading in the world. Hopefully this catastrophe will end soon so we all can visit the Magical Dream World!