Tokyo Disneyland details its 35th anniversary celebration events

September 21, 2017, 10:30 AM · The Tokyo Disney Resort today detailed the parade, shows and attraction refurbishment that it will debut next year to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Disney's first theme park outside the United States.

Tokyo Disneyland opened on April 15, 1983 and today remains Asia's most-visited theme park and the third-most visited theme park in the world, behind Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The Tokyo resort will mark its anniversary with the theme, "Happiest Celebration!"

A new daytime parade, Dreaming Up!, will debut on April 15, 2018, replacing Happiness is Here, which ends its run on April 9 next year. The parade will include floats based upon a variety of Disney films, including Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, and Peter Pan, and also will include a Baymax-themed float.

On the same day, Tokyo Disneyland will reopen It's a Small World ride, which returns after a rebuild and now will feature characters from selected Disney films, much like at the original in Anaheim. (Except that Tokyo is getting Elsa, Ana and Olaf from the ubiquitous Frozen, too.)

Next summer will see additional entertainment offerings at the resort. Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland — a new nighttime spectacular featuring projections on Cinderella's Castle — will debut on July 10, 2018. New stage shows in Adventureland and in the New York area of the American Waterfront in Tokyo DisneySea will open on the same day.

Finally, Tokyo Disney will wrap up the Happiest Celebration with a "Grand Finale" season that runs from January 11, 2019 until the anniversary's conclusion on March 25, 2019.

In 2020 — when Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics — Tokyo Disneyland will open several new attractions as part of its expansion project, which broke ground earlier this year.

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Replies (3)

September 21, 2017 at 11:05 AM · Frozen characters in Small World? That's worse than Frozen in Norway. Yes, Disney characters in Small World isn't new, but I think Anna and Elsa belong in their own ride. They're just too popular right now to be dropped into an existing attraction, let alone one that there's no reason for them to be put there. I thought the Oriental Land Company was better than this.
September 21, 2017 at 6:56 PM · Why can't they be in both? I will never understand the objection some fans have to including IP characters in "original" park attractions. How does it make it's a small world any less fun or enjoyable to have Anna and Elsa in it? If anything, it will get more kids on the ride you so dearly treasure, meaning more people will see it and enjoy it!

I do understand the objection a bit more when it comes to World Showcase, since there's at least a portion of that meant to be educational about the countries at hand, but even then, I only see it driving up interest and visibility. It helps that Frozen Ever After is darn great, too.

September 23, 2017 at 4:33 AM · I don't mind Ana and Elsa in Small World. A lot of the other Disney characters featured in Small World still have their own popular attractions. And like Evan said, it'll make the ride more appealing for the little ones.

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