In 2024, the largest theme park expansion in recent decades came to life in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan. The world’s most beloved theme park for decades had invested over $2B into three new lands, and yet Disney TokyoSea’s Fantasy Springs opened with little fanfare. Just a year later, Universal Studios’ Epic Universe would open with near-inescapable advertising.
To understand why this happened, one must first understand the concept of Fantasy Springs and Epic Universe.
In its marketing materials, Fantasy Springs was billed as Disney TokyoSea’s eighth port of call, consistent with the maritime theming of the resort as a whole. Spanning over 14,000 meters, Fantasy Springs introduced three new areas based on the films Frozen (2013), Tangled (2010), and Peter Pan (1953). It included rides with state-of-the-art animatronics, as well as a highly immersive in-park luxury hotel. This expansion was considered so major that Bob Iger, then-CEO of the Walt Disney Company, and Josh D’Amaro, then-Chairman of the Disney Parks, were both in attendance.
Epic Universe was also Universal Studios’ largest expansion to date, costing just over $7B in construction costs alone. It featured four new lands based on Universal’s Classic Monsters, How to Train Your Dragon, the Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Super Nintendo gaming franchise, and the original intellectual property of Celestial Park. Each land contained at least one ride, with Isle of Berk sporting three, and a mecca of interactive experiences– though primarily in the form of shopping and dining areas.
With 29 million attendees of Fantasy Springs one year since its opening, and 10 million for Epic Universe, it follows that Fantasy Springs would be more broadly known in reality, and the lack of knowledge was primarily due to a Western point of view.
Epic Universe was likely wider received in the West due to perceived language barriers and travel accessibility, as well as US-centric media planning. The park also managed to force Disney to carefully track their success– where all statements from Disney about the competitor were strictly neutral and non-dismissive.
But then, if Fantasy Springs was numerically more successful, it is imperative to examine why exactly that was. In 2015, Fantasy Springs was originally conceived of as a standalone Frozen port following the astronomic success of the 2013 film. However, those plans quickly shifted to the multi-IP plan that was executed. The Frozen port was originally designed due to the film’s incredible Japanese popularity, due to its emphasis on family bonds over overt romantic storytelling. The iconic song “Let It Go” invaded Japanese karaoke bars, TV shows, and more, combined with the wintery aesthetics that were trendy in Japan at the time. Tangled was an easy second choice, as it also has major popularity with Japanese audiences due to its comforting nature over high-intensity storytelling and the cute animal side characters that lend themselves to the mascot culture in Japan.
With these two lands based in the Disney Princess franchise, Peter Pan may feel like an odd choice. However, its inclusion is due to three key factors. Firstly, Neverland was largely a blank canvas, defined by its multimodal terrain. The Imagineers could, essentially, justify any sort of area’s inclusion by billing it as an unexplored part of the island. Secondly, Peter Pan repeatedly utilizes maritime imagery such as pirate ships and oceans, blending well with DisneySea’s aesthetics. Thirdly, and most importantly, is Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell, Peter Pan’s sassy ally in the 50s film, has a major pull with Japanese audiences. As a character, she is heavily merchandised, and popular with younger audiences as well as collectors– justifying a whole Pixie Hollow area inside of the Peter Pan land.
Fantasy Springs has proven its popularity in the world, and as one of the largest expansions in modern theme park history, but this comparison demonstrates the insularity of English-language coverage. However, I believe that as the world is increasingly becoming more interconnected, the insularity will fade over time.
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