PHOTO REPORT: Tokyo Disneyland 1/13/21 (Characters Everywhere, Record Low Crowds, New Year’s Decorations, & More!)

Spencer Lloyd

Updated on:

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PHOTO REPORT: Tokyo Disneyland 1/13/21 (Characters Everywhere, Record Low Crowds, New Year’s Decorations, & More!)

Happy new year! Or as we say in Japan, akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Since the calendar has turned to 2021, we thought it might be nice to visit Tokyo Disneyland and see what’s going on these days. So without further ado, let’s check in on the Kingdom of Dreams and Magic!

Around the Park

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It was such a quiet morning that only the security checks under Tokyo Disneyland station were operational, with the checks closest to JR Maihama Station out of service for the day.

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Arriving about 30 minutes before opening at 9am, we found the entrance plaza to be almost desolate. This is a strange scene even compared to just three weeks ago, where usually the line would be about where this picture was taken. Much further back if this were normal times.

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The Mickey floral has sadly shed his Santa overlay in favor of a mostly green arrangement.

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Flanking the entrance to World Bazaar are two kadomatsu, which are traditional New Years decorations in Japan. Kadomatsu in cultural tradition serve as temporary homes for ancestral spirits and gods during the New Year period.

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The difference here is that there’s special fans with Mickey and Minnie in traditional kimono to celebrate the new year!

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The sheer level of emptiness cannot be overstated, with only a handful of people along Main Street in World Bazaar for most of the day.

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Even the hub was a ghost town most of the day.

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Over in Tomorrowland, we came so close to The Happy Fair with Baymax starting today that the Tomorrowland Hall lottery area was already repainted and ready to serve as the Baymax Meet & Greet area. Now, the event has been postponed until further notice due to the State of Emergency in Tokyo.

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Because the park is so empty, there’s several locations designated for extended queues, complete with social distancing tape on the ground, going entirely unused.

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Although The Happy Ride with Baymax has only been open just over three months, it seems the floor of the attraction is already taking some noticeable wear and tear. This seems to be common with every version of this ride system around the world.

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Over at the Penny Arcade, the Souvenir Medallion machines (in lieu of pressed pennies) have new 2021-specific designs that will be available all year long.

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Also, two of the claw machine-type games have been reinstituted to the Penny Arcade, neither of which were present on our last visit.

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Sadly the lower capacity also means a number of restaurants have re-closed, including The Diamond Horseshoe.

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Another recent change is that back in October, Table Service restaurants at Tokyo Disneyland began serving alcohol. Now it appears this has expanded to Counter Service restaurants like La Taverne de Gaston, which is serving hot red wine.

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Also in New Fantasyland, the Village Shops have finally started stocking items. When the stores opened in September, Guests could only look at the merchandise and order via the Tokyo Disney Resort App. Check out our full tour on our YouTube channel!

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Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek is sadly closed for its annual refurbishment. Seems this year is a big one, as the attraction is closed all the way through April 11th!

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One of the decorative features for The Happy Fair with Baymax is this window next to Cosmic Encounter, featuring the personal healthcare companion himself alongside a mix of neon (including Mochi the cat!) and cutouts of Space Mountain, The Happy Ride with Baymax, and of course Cinderella Castle.

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Wait times were at rock bottom all day, with the highest posted wait for an attraction being Haunted Mansion by default at 13 minutes (as that’s the lowest the attraction ever posts). Even popular attractions like Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Pooh’s Hunny Hunt which normally command overly long extended queues all day were walk-ons with 5 minute wait times almost all day.

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The Entry Request lottery system was turned off all day for character greetings, including Minnie’s Style Studio. The wait time fluctuated between 25 and 45 minutes most of the day.

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In fact, it was so quiet that the Entry Request lottery was turned off for both The Happy Ride with Baymax and The Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast after around 1:00pm for the rest of the day, allowing Guests to walk up and ride. Waits typically hovered around 5-10 minutes most of the day.

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Also, the Omnibus has returned to suspension until further notice.

Characters

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Characters were all over the place at Tokyo Disneyland today! Our very first sighting was Meeko, the precocious and silly raccoon from Pocahontas!

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Right next to him were Thumper and Miss Bunny from Bambi!

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The characters from Pinocchio took up residence in front of the Haunted Mansion for some reason. But they were a welcome sight nonetheless! Jiminy Cricket and Gideon were just having a grand old time together.

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Honest John decided to go solo today in search of Guests to recruit for Pleasure Island. No worries, we steered clear after a quick photo op.

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And of course, you can’t forget about Geppetto and Pinocchio themselves! They seemed rather interested in the ominous house behind them as well…

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Across the way, Tweedledee and Tweedledum were just goofing around and shaking their bellies back and forth. We couldn’t miss a chance to say hello!

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And the White Rabbit wasn’t even running late today, so he was very happy to stop for a moment and take a picture.

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Near Cinderella Castle, Perla and Suzy struck quite the pose.

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In Tomorrowland, Stitch and Angel greeted Guests from an appropriate social distance by standing in the unused FastPass queue and waving to passersby below.

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And in Toontown, Clarice and Scrooge McDuck had the kindness to say hello to everyone on their way to meet Minnie Mouse!

That’s all from Tokyo Disneyland this time around, be sure to leave a comment here or on social media with your favorite part about today’s visit! And stay tuned to WDWNT for the latest news from Tokyo Disney Resort and the other Disney Parks worldwide.