Land of the Rising Mickey
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(c) Disney
Then there are school groups... May/June is the traditional time for school field trips. I was there just before it hit, and then during it's height. It went from busy to nuts - They were everywhere! And the Annual Passport holders... My AP cost $365 (it's now closer to $400). There's only one level. It allows admission to Tokyo Disneyland every day of the year, with the exception of New Year's Eve, which is a hard ticket event. It features NO discounts of any kind. Yet over 20% of Tokyo Disneyland's guests on any given day are AP holders. And, of course, there are the families... Over 80% of them are return visitors.
Tokyo Disneyland continues to break it's own attendance records most years and it's guests spend more per capita than at any other park, all despite a deep recession that has plagued Japan for over five years.
In only 17 years Tokyo Disneyland has become nearly as much of an institution to the Japanese people as rice or Mt. Fuji. Consequently, other Japanese companies are well aware of the financial benefits of a relationship with Tokyo Disneyland and happily pay billions of yen for long term sponsorships. A much higher percentage of Tokyo Disneyland's attraction and restaurants have outside sponsorship when compared to the American Disney parks.
In 1995 Oriental Land Co. had budgeted "only" $1 billion for their new resort, which included the cost of DisneySea... A year later the projected budget had more than tripled.
In order to help finance the now massive cost of DisneySea, on December 2, 1996 Oriental Land Co., until then owned primarily by Mitsui Fudosan (a real estate development co.) and Keisei Electric Railway, went public. Selling 11.5 million shares, they raised in excess of $1 billion. Oriental Land Co. was only the second company (the first being Mitsubishi Motors) to avoid listing on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, skipping straight into its highest level.
Through all of this the Japanese media and financial analysts didn't bat an eye. It's widely accepted that, due to Tokyo Disneyland's exceptionally loyal customer base, there's virtually no risk involved for Oriental Land Co. No matter how much is spent they WILL recoup their investment and quickly turn a sizable profit.
In this country it's not such a sure thing - Will the new park just drain guests from the existing park or parks? That is the fear (which came true at Walt Disney World upon the opening of Animal Kingdom). Will Disney's California Adventure just draw people from Disneyland? The Company doesn't think so (I don't think so), but no one can be sure. When it comes to Disney, American consumers tend to be much more fickle and unpredictable than their counterparts in Japan.
Related Links
- DL Traveler's Tokyo DisneySea Preview (the author's site)
- Official Tokyo DisneySea website
- Joe's Tokyo Resort Photo Site
- Tokyo Disneyland websites (from our LaughingPlace.com's Website Directory)
- Guide to Disney's California Adventure (from LaughingPlace.com)
-- Marc Borrelli
The author Marc Borrelli is a long-time Disneyland fan who's watched Disney's California Adventure grow in Disneyland's old parking lot. Recently he returned from an extended trip to Tokyo where he had the opportunity to visit Tokyo Disneyland, view Tokyo DisneySea construction and see first-hand the influence Disney has had in Japan.
Marc's column is posted on the first Monday of each month. This edition was originally a Guest Column and therefore it didn't follow the normal schedule.
The opinions expressed by Marc Borrelli, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
© Marc Borrelli and LaughingPlace.com. All rights reserved
-- Posted August 22, 2000