With Tokyo Disneyland experiencing its off-season right now, there’s a surprising amount happing around the park! From construction to refurbishments, the park is in its most intense state of transition ever. Seems like the perfect opportunity to explore the latest developments, right? Without further ado, let’s get going!

Outside the Park

A new digital map and information board appeared this week outside of JR Maihama Station’s South Exit. The map features weather, bus information, and an interactive map of the Maihama area.

The map is available in Japanese, English, Mandarin, and Korean. We set it to English to take some pictures, but it resets to Japanese after a few minutes.

Merchandise carts featuring a few impulse purchases were on display outside Bon Voyage. Just in case you need a quick hat or pass case on the way to Tokyo Disneyland!

It was so clear today that you could see a snow-capped Mt. Fuji in the distance! This is a rare treat, often only happening in winter because the air is so clean.

Mickey is proud to  welcome us all to Tokyo Disneyland!

Signs are still up near entrances at both parks, urging Guests to take precautions in the wake of the 2019-COVID outbreak.

There’s not a whole lot of places where the name “Oriental Land Company” is visible at the parks. OLC tends to remain largely low-key about the fact that they, not Disney, own and operate these parks. Safety signs like these are one of the very few.

The other day, we broke the news that vending machines are on their way to Tokyo DisneySea. This isn’t particularly new, since similar machines have been within Tokyo Disneyland and outside both parks for years. These outside the park aren’t really themed, but still serve a useful function!

Inside the Park

Very Very Minnie is still on at Tokyo Disneyland, and the adorable Minnie planter looks so verdant and bright in the sunny weather today!

We only have to deal with this view for another two months or so before our beloved castle is back! I can’t believe it’ll have been six months by the time it’s all done.

Since we won’t be doing a conventional look at merchandise this week, per se, I figured we should still say hi to the Emporium on our way in.

Fun fact, Tokyo Disneyland’s Partners was one of the later additions, installed for Tokyo Disneyland’s 15th anniversary on April 15th, 1998.

The plaques featuring dedication speeches from both Card Walker and Masatomo Takahashi are at the foot of the statue. I’m actually not sure if this is the original installation location from 1983, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Every 5 years from 1998 to 2013, the Walt Disney Company gifted a statue to Tokyo Disney Resort in celebration of anniversaries. In order, these statues are Partners, a statue behind Cinderella Castle depicting Mickey in Fantasia, Sharing the Magic (Roy & Minnie, like in Town Square at the Magic Kingdom), located on the left-hand side of the entrance at Tokyo Disneyland, and Storytellers (young Walt and Mickey, like at Shanghai Disneyland and Disney California Adventure), located towards the back of AquaSphere Plaza at Tokyo DisneySea.

Over across from Plaza Pavilion, the former Super Duper Jumpin’ Time stage, currently the home of the Nick Wilde & Judy Hoops Meet-and-Greet, had some minor scaffolding up for what was likely routine maintenance.

On February 3rd, the new banners for phase two of Very Very Minnie were installed. I love the art for all of these! This one represents Mysterious Masquerade, the Halloween show at Tokyo DisneySea from 2009-2010.

The long-running and popular Minnie, Oh! Minnie features here. She enchanted us with incredible Latin rhythms from 2004-2018.

Minnie’s showing off her Broadway style in Mickey’s Dream Company, part of Tokyo DisneySea’s grand finale to the Tokyo Disney Resort 25th Anniversary in 2009.

A short (but memorable) parade, Disney Dreams on Parade “Moving On” ran from 2006-2008, featuring Minnie in this adorable outfit.

A bit of a throwback here, Feel the Magic ran after the original One Man’s Dream, from 1995-1999.

And of course, D-Pop Magic was the winter event in 2002, and one of my personal favorites! Many of these shows you can find links to in our original announcement post regarding Very Very Minnie.

I don’t know why, but I love this statue of a Native American in Westernland with a cigar box. Maybe it reminds me of the the era when cigar store Native Americans could be seen at the actual Disneyland? I never experienced that time, of course, but it’s definitely representative of a different era.

For some reason, people are pretty eager to take a plunge down Splash Mountain, even in the cold of February! Granted, it’s been unseasonably warm the past week or so, but that just means 50s and 60s. Still not cold enough, in my eyes.

Something oft-overlooked in Westernland is the Tittertwill Bird, an audio-animatronic tucked deep in Camp Woodchuck. If you want to meet this adorable little specimen, head to the Donald and Daisy Meet-and-Greet behind Camp Woodchuck Kitchen. Better keep your eyes out, though! He’s pretty easy to miss.

Know what’s not easy to miss in Westernland, though? The smell of curry popcorn. Seriously, the stench of this stuff permeates half the land. I’m not entirely sure why barbecue popcorn isn’t here instead. Maybe because of Hungry Bear Restaurant’s proximity?

Peter Pan’s back to soaring over Neverland this week! Just think of a wonderful thought during your half-hour wait and you’ll be straight on to Neverland in no time!

Meanwhile, the Castle Carrousel is currently down through March 19th. They’re so serious, there’s actual walls up rather than planters!

It may be a world of laughter and tears, but the happiest cruise that ever sailed is currently in dry dock. Through the end of this week, it’s a small world is undergoing its first refurbishment since the major renewal in April 2018.

And over in Toontown, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin is also down for a bit longer. So many closures at the same time! I’d be pretty upset if I was just here for the day, I think.

Ah, Showbase. At least this still isn’t closed yet. We got a fairly unique vantage point from the Space Mountain standby queue.

Merchandise

Since Valentine’s Day was last week, I figured we could take a look at the edible side of merchandise. Japanese people typically bring back small souvenirs or edible gifts to give to friends and family upon their return, called omiyage. The gift is meant as an apology for one’s absence during travel. These Storybook Chocolates, each with designs from a different Disney franchise (and corresponding amount of chocolate and/or flavor) all went for ¥750 ($6.83)

The “Disney Sweets Love” line of chocolates featured several different arrangements and collections, perfect for your significant other! From left to right, these were ¥1100 ($10.01), ¥1500 ($13.65), and ¥750 ($6.83) respectively.

From left to right, ¥1250 ($11.38) ,¥1200 ($10.92), and ¥1100 ($10.01).

And left to right, ¥1900 ($17.29), ¥2300 ($20.93), and ¥1300 ($11.83).

If your sweetheart is more of a cakes person, this set of Very Very Minnie cakes (with an adorable heart-shaped container) goes for ¥1600 ($14.56)

Or if you’re looking for something more traditionally Japanese, this box of assorted senbei is only ¥1050! For those who don’t know, senbei are essentially soy sauce-marinated rice crackers. Very much a savory, rather than sweet, treat.

And that’s everything from Tokyo Disneyland this week! It’s a bit hectic as all of the refurbishments and construction projects continue, but we’re still making the best of it nonetheless. What was your favorite sight this week? Let us know below or on Twitter!

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