Tokyo DisneySea’s new Fantasy Springs area is now open. Here’s what awaits visitors
Tokyo DisneySea – the global brand’s only ocean-themed park – has just unveiled its long-awaited expansion to the public.
The new themed land, called Fantasy Springs, combines the worlds of three popular Disney movie franchises – “Peter Pan,” “Frozen” and “Tangled.”
Spanning 140,000 square meters and built at a cost of $2 billion (or 310 billion yen), it’s the eighth “port” in DisneySea and is the park’s largest expansion since opening in 2001. (The resort’s original Tokyo Disneyland park – owned by Oriental Land Co. Ltd. – opened its doors in 1983 and was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States.)
A few Disney firsts
Visitors to the new port first head through a tunnel passage made of rocks shaped like Disney characters from the three film franchises that inspired Fantasy Springs.
Behind the waterfall at the entrance, called Magic Fountain, sits four new rides, a new hotel and eight new dining outlets (including three inside the hotel).
One of the most anticipated additions inside Fantasy Springs is undoubtedly Rapunzel’s Forest, Disney’s first Tangled-inspired themed area.
Visitors can tour the kingdom of Corona, visit the tower where Rapunzel lives and relive the love story between Rapunzel and thief Flynn Rider on a five-minute gondola ride called Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival.
The Snuggly Duckling, a tavern named for and designed like the speakeasy featured in the movie, serves the likes of cheeseburgers and German-style pancake desserts.
Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure
Elsewhere in Fantasy Springs, Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure is a new ride that allows visitors to join “boy who never grows up” alongside Tinker Bell and the Lost Kids on a quest to save John Darling – a main character in the 1953 movie – from Captain Hook and his pirates.
It isn’t the first Peter Pan ride to appear in the Tokyo Disney Resort – Peter Pan’s Flight can be found nearby at Tokyo Disneyland. But Disney promises guests won’t suffer from deja vu; the new six-minute attraction “seamlessly blends ride vehicle motion with show elements and all-new animation, including a groundbreaking projection system.”
The Peter Pan-themed area inside Fantasy Springs also offers a family-friendly buggy ride through Pixie Hollow, the fairy valley where Tinker Bell and her pals live.
Naturally all of those “lost kids” still need to eat. Chicken tenders and Pixi Dust soda can be found at the Lookout Cookout restaurant. Or, for something unusual, try the roast beef-flavored popcorn that’s for sale onsite.
Frozen Kingdom
Frozen Kingdom, meanwhile, uses projection mapping technology to take guests on a journey with the film’s famed sisters, Anna and Elsa.
Throughout the six-and-a-half-minute ride, you’ll have a chance sing along to all those hit songs that have haunted parents Spotify lists for the last decade, such as “Do you want to build a snowman?” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Love is an Open Door” and, of course, “Let it Go.”
Nearby, the Royal Banquet of Arendelle is a restaurant inside a replica of the grand Arendelle Castle and is decorated with books and artwork from the world of Frozen.
A humbly named bakehouse called “Oaken’s OK Foods” serves an array of Scandinavian-inspired baked goods.
For those who need a memory refresh, Oaken is the shopkeeper from Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna and appears in the 2013 Frozen movie.
How to access and stay in the park
A one-day Fantasy Springs Magic passport is currently included for guests buying one of Tokyo Disney’s hotel vacation packages or available for purchase by those staying at the new Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel inside the expansion.
The hotel comprises two types of rooms: the 419-key Fantasy Chateau, and the more luxurious 56-room Grand Chateau.
There are three dining outlets within the establishment, including a lobby lounge, an all-day dining restaurant inspired by all the Disney forests (from “Snow White” to “Sleeping Beauty”) and French restaurant Le Rebellure.
Guests not staying at a Disney hotel can obtain a standby pass or purchase a Disney Premier Access pass to enter Fantasy Springs, however, there is a visitor cap. More info on the various options can be found at the Tokyo Disney Resort website.
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