Tokyo Disneyland

As the Japanese economy continues its roller-coaster ride, many cash-strapped citizens have decided it's a small world, after all. They're skipping the expensive overseas vacations and going to Disneyland -- Japanese style. Gliding down the waterways of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, Reika Monden and Haruka Akiyama, both 22, shrieked when they spotted a mannequin of Johnny Depp wearing a red headband, flanked by two headless women. "Look, there he is!" Monden said. "He's soooo cute!"

The tandem theme parks of the Tokyo Disney resort were scheduled to return to full operation Thursday for the first time since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11. Photos : Tokyo Disneyland reopens after the quake The Tokyo DisneySea theme park is expected to reopen at 9 a.m. Tokyo time Thursday, 47 days after being shut after the disasters, which also triggered a nuclear crisis....

The massive earthquake that struck Japan on Friday reportedly stranded 69,000 people at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea after damaged roads and transportation interruptions forced visitors to camp overnight in 30-degree temperatures. While the theme parks experienced some quake damage, there were no reports of any injuries. Disney employees provided blankets, heaters and raincoats to visitors who were required to shelter in place and prohibited from leaving the park because of safety concerns.

The massive earthquake that struck Japan on Friday reportedly stranded 69,000 people at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea after damaged roads and transportation interruptions forced visitors to camp overnight in 30-degree temperatures. While the theme parks experienced some quake damage, there were no reports of any injuries. Disney employees provided blankets, heaters and raincoats to visitors who were required to shelter in place and prohibited from leaving the park because of safety concerns.

"IN covering the recent Tokyo Motor Show, we didn't want to stay in Tokyo because of an almost 90-minute train ride to the convention center. Hotel Green Tower Chiba, walking distance, turned out to be a winner. All front-desk employees speak English; it is a $6 cab ride from Chiba's train station. The hotel is closer to Tokyo Disneyland than many Tokyo hotels." Double rooms from $197. Hotel Green Tower Chiba, 1-45 Tonya-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Japan; 011-81-43-296-1122.

After 10 years, a little of the magic dust may be wearing off Tokyo Disneyland. The theme park, with its blue castle spires rising from a landfill by Tokyo Bay, is beginning to feel the pinch of Japan's recession. But by any measure, it has been a success of wish-upon-a-star dimensions. Since opening on April 15, 1983, the park has drawn almost 125 million visitors--a number equal to the population of Japan.

Oriental Land Co., the Japanese owner and operator of Tokyo Disneyland, sold $200 million of bonds to help insure the company against the risk that an earthquake could damage its theme park. The sale is the first catastrophe-related bond by a company outside the insurance industry, investors and analysts said. Other companies may seek to sell similar bonds to reduce their exposure to losses from earthquakes or industrial accidents such as oil spills.

The Magic Kingdom is having trouble in Europe, but more than 10 years after Mickey Mouse and his gang opened the gates to free-spending Japanese, the Tokyo Disneyland thrives. "I love it here," said Takamasa Mochizuki, 7, giggling at a mock-up of Native Americans burning a settler's cabin. "It makes me afraid and then it makes me happy." The Tokyo theme park proved naysayers wrong from the start.

The tandem theme parks of the Tokyo Disney resort were scheduled to return to full operation Thursday for the first time since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11. Photos : Tokyo Disneyland reopens after the quake The Tokyo DisneySea theme park is expected to reopen at 9 a.m. Tokyo time Thursday, 47 days after being shut after the disasters, which also triggered a nuclear crisis....

Building on the success of Tokyo Disneyland, Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it has entered into a licensing agreement for a new ocean-theme park on Tokyo Bay. The $2.6-billion Tokyo DisneySea--to be built on 167 acres of bay landfill adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland--is expected to open in 2001 and draw more than 10 million people a year, Disney said. The park will be built, fully owned and operated by Oriental Land Co., the owner and operator of Tokyo Disneyland.

As the Japanese economy continues its roller-coaster ride, many cash-strapped citizens have decided it's a small world, after all. They're skipping the expensive overseas vacations and going to Disneyland -- Japanese style. Gliding down the waterways of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, Reika Monden and Haruka Akiyama, both 22, shrieked when they spotted a mannequin of Johnny Depp wearing a red headband, flanked by two headless women. "Look, there he is!" Monden said. "He's soooo cute!"

Japanese police arrested a 19-year-old man who they said made a threat on the Internet to go on a stabbing spree at Tokyo Disneyland. The June 15 message came a week after a man posted similar warnings before killing seven people in a downtown Tokyo rampage. Since the attack, police have arrested several people who allegedly made Internet threats. Investigators have found no evidence that the suspect, a minor under Japanese law, was preparing to carry out an assault.

"IN covering the recent Tokyo Motor Show, we didn't want to stay in Tokyo because of an almost 90-minute train ride to the convention center. Hotel Green Tower Chiba, walking distance, turned out to be a winner. All front-desk employees speak English; it is a $6 cab ride from Chiba's train station. The hotel is closer to Tokyo Disneyland than many Tokyo hotels." Double rooms from $197. Hotel Green Tower Chiba, 1-45 Tonya-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Japan; 011-81-43-296-1122.

A man identifying himself as the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was caught this week trying to enter Japan illegally using a forged Dominican Republic passport. He told authorities that he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. A senior South Korean official in Seoul said Thursday that the man detained was in fact the North Korean leader's son, although Japan stopped short of positively identifying him--a move that analysts said could be intended to avoid embarrassing North Korea.

There was no dearth of doubters when Oriental Land, a Japanese development company, gambled in 1979 on a multibillion-dollar plan to bring Disneyland to the suburbs of Tokyo. Some 250 million visitors have pretty effectively put those doubts to rest. But now there's a new set of doubts as one of the world's most popular amusement parks is in the midst of its biggest expansion, one expected to cost several billion dollars more.

When the $17-million gamble called Disneyland opened July 17, 1955, Walt Disney was too busy rehearsing and broadcasting a live special from the park to realize the day had become a debacle he would later call "Black Sunday." The news also escaped Walt's brother, Roy, who had borrowed against real estate, movies and life insurance to finance the park.

There is a spirit living, much like a fungus, among certain travelers that, when they venture abroad, forces them to go where the natives go. If this organism lives within you, it might take you to such tacky joints as Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London or the red-light district in Amsterdam.

Japanese police arrested a 19-year-old man who they said made a threat on the Internet to go on a stabbing spree at Tokyo Disneyland. The June 15 message came a week after a man posted similar warnings before killing seven people in a downtown Tokyo rampage. Since the attack, police have arrested several people who allegedly made Internet threats. Investigators have found no evidence that the suspect, a minor under Japanese law, was preparing to carry out an assault.

Oriental Land Co., the Japanese owner and operator of Tokyo Disneyland, sold $200 million of bonds to help insure the company against the risk that an earthquake could damage its theme park. The sale is the first catastrophe-related bond by a company outside the insurance industry, investors and analysts said. Other companies may seek to sell similar bonds to reduce their exposure to losses from earthquakes or industrial accidents such as oil spills.

Building on the success of Tokyo Disneyland, Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it has entered into a licensing agreement for a new ocean-theme park on Tokyo Bay. The $2.6-billion Tokyo DisneySea--to be built on 167 acres of bay landfill adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland--is expected to open in 2001 and draw more than 10 million people a year, Disney said. The park will be built, fully owned and operated by Oriental Land Co., the owner and operator of Tokyo Disneyland.