Tokyo DisneySea

Plans for a second Disney park in Tokyo were first conceived in 1987, the same period when the "Law for the Development of Comprehensive Resort Areas" was passed. Initially, these plans included a park similar to Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios), to be called Disney Hollywood Studio Theme Park at Tokyo Disneyland. This idea was later reconsidered in 1991 because of the economic collapse caused by Japanese asset price bubble. During the creation of the park, the Walt Disney Company and the Oriental Land Company had to compromise on certain design elements of the park due to cultural differences, such as the park's entrance focal point. The idea for what eventually became DisneySea was traced to a proposal to build a second theme park in Southern California called "Port Disney" in Long Beach, California, with the RMS Queen Mary as the main attraction. The idea was scrapped after Disney endured financial trouble with the Euro Disney project. Later the idea was passed on to the Oriental Land Company to expand their resort. Ground for DisneySea was broken on 22 October 1998 and the park opened on 4 September 2001. Upon opening, Tokyo DisneySea became the ninth park of the twelve worldwide Disney theme parks to open. In 2002, Tokyo DisneySea won a Thea Award from the Themed Entertainment Association for the concept, design, and construction of the theme park. The award was presented at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. In October 2019, both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea were temporarily closed due to the threat of Typhoon Hagibis. On 28 February 2020, Oriental Land announced a temporary closure of Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea from 29 February to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure, originally slated to expire in mid-March, was later extended twice, with the latest extension being until 1 July 2020. ==Park layout and attractions==

The park has an overall nautical exploration motif, and originally opened with seven themed lands or "ports of call", although Disney characters and themed rides have since been added. The entrance to the park is Mediterranean Harbor, which opens up to six more nautically themed ports: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island. An eighth port of call known as Fantasy Springs opened on 6 June 2024. File:Tokyo DisneySea.jpg|Mediterranean Harbor File:Tokyo DisneySea Mysterious Island View 201306.jpg|Mysterious Island(Mount Prometheus) File:Tokyo DisneySea Mermaid Lagoon Exterior 20130607.jpg|Mermaid Lagoon(Exterior of the building that houses much of the land) File:Tokyo DisneySea Arabian Coast 201306.jpg|Arabian Coast(Viewed from Mermaid Lagoon) File:Tokyo DisneySea Lost River Delta View2 201306.jpg|Lost River Delta(Walkway by Raging Spirits) File:Tokyo DisneySea Port Discovery 201306.jpg|Port Discovery(Aquatopia) File:Tokyo DisneySea American Waterfront View 201306.jpg|American Waterfront(New York Harbor) File:Fantasy_Springs_-_Frozen_Kingdom.jpg|Fantasy Springs(The Frozen Kingdom area of Fantasy Springs) Mediterranean Harbor Mediterranean Harbor is the entrance "port-of-call" and themed as an Italian port city, with Venetian Gondolas that guests can board and ride. Mediterranean Harbor's layout differs from the entry "lands" of other Disney parks as it is a large "V" shape rather than a main street that leads to a hub (as found in Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A. or Disney's Hollywood Studios' Hollywood Boulevard). To the right, the path leads to Mysterious Island, and to the left, the path leads to the American Waterfront. Built into the architecture of the port is Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta; the hotel serves as a full-scale reproduction of the various buildings of Portofino and Venice's ports and serves as the southern berm (or border) of the park. The design choice of combining a real hotel within the themed park areas helps to further the illusion that (as either a park or hotel guest) you are in an actual city; since the hotel is a functional building (rather than a 'set facade' -- the general standard in theme park designs) the effect of onlooking hotel guests, that may observe the park from hotel's rooms, balconies, and terraces serve in adding a level of kinetic authenticity in passing for an authentic Italian villa for park visitors, while the hotel guest enjoys the harborside views and novelty of location. Mediterranean Harbor also features Soaring: Fantastic Flight, a flying simulator, and Fortress Explorations, a large-scale interactive play area for guests that features exploration-themed activities and attractions. Mysterious Island Mysterious Island is a "port-of-call" within Mount Prometheus, the giant volcano that serves as the park's centerpiece and most prominent feature. It relies heavily on the storytelling of Jules Verne and, specifically, the mythology of the volcano fortress mentioned several times in the books called "Vulcania". The Mount Prometheus ride, Journey to the Center of the Earth, employs technology similar to Epcot's Test Track. American Waterfront This "port of call" represents the northeastern seaboard of the United States in the early 20th century. It features two themed areas, an "Old Cape Cod" section, and a "New York Harbor" section. The land is dominated by a large passenger ship, SS Columbia, which is usually the site for various shows and events. Guests have the option of riding the area's "Big City Vehicles" which roam the streets of the area. It also features the gauge DisneySea Electric Railway, which takes passengers from The American Waterfront to nearby Port Discovery. The port has a Broadway-themed theater which plays the show "Big Band Beat", which features 1940s-style swing jazz performed by a 12-piece band, as well as 20 singers/dancers. It is inspired by Disney Pixar's Toy Story. The attraction opened on 9 July 2012. Guests wear 3-D glasses while riding spinning vehicles that travel through virtual environments based on classic carnival games. There are shooters on the vehicles to let guests to shoot targets in those 3-D games like "egg toss" and "balloon pop". There are a total of four new attractions, three restaurants, and a new luxury hotel situated in the park itself. The entire area is connected to the existing park through a pathway between the ports of Lost River Delta and Arabian Coast. The Frozen area features an attraction where guests can join Elsa and Anna on a journey through Arendelle on a boat ride. In the tangled zone, visitors can try the Rapunzel's Lantern Festival, a boat ride through the annual lantern festival where Rapunzel falls in love with Flynn Rider. The Peter Pan area offers a new 3D immersive experience and Fairy Tinker Bell's Buggies, a slow ride to help Tinker Bell deliver parcels and packages to various locations in Pixie Hollow. The Fantasy Springs Hotel offers two types of accommodations: Grand Chateau and Fantasy Chateau. There are six restaurants in the zone – Fantasy Springs Restaurant, La Libellule, Oaken's OK Foods, Small Snack Shop, Lookout Cookout and Snuggly Duckling. == Attendance ==

Tokyo DisneySea reached the milestone of 10 million guests in 307 days since its grand opening, which is a record among theme parks worldwide. The previous record-holder was Universal Studios Japan, 338 days after its opening. ==See also==