PORT DISCOVERY
TOKYO Disney RESORT
東京ディズニーリゾート
Attraction Design
The Oriental Land Company's (OLC) 2035 Long Term Management Strategy presentation was the source of several nuggets of information, from the more concrete plans for Tomorrowland to the more abstract future plans for Adventureland and Port Discovery.
While we don't have too much to go on, we were treated to a fairly significant piece of concept art that gives some interesting clues as to what OLC/Disney might have planned for Port Discovery. We'll get to that in a minute, but first a quick review of what is currently there.
Port Discovery Today
Port Discovery is one of the smaller "ports of call" at DisneySea, measuring around 5.4 acres, or 22,000 sqm. It's worth noting that while this makes it small by DisneySea standards, this still considerably larger than many lands in the US parks. This is very close in size, for example, to Disneyland's Pixar Pier (5.3 acres) or Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square (5.7 acres), both of which include fairly large attractions (Incredicoaster and Haunted Mansion respectively).
Aquatopia
Nemo & Friends SeaRider
Electric Railway Tracks
Electric
Railway
Food and Beverage
Waterway for Transit Steamer
Port Discovery, of course, has its own large attraction in Aquatopia, and it's probably this large footprint which has sealed the fate of this port of call as next in line for update. Aquatopia is a pretty fun, innovative attraction that brings some energy to this side of the park, and looks particularly great at night. It's use of a trackless ride system to operate a water ride was ground breaking, and the theming fits well with the Jules Verne inspired aesthetic that bleeds into Port Discovery from Mysterious Island. Imagineers have dipped into that particular creative well several times, whether it be Disneyland Paris' Discoveryland (good!) or Disneyland's Tomorrowland '98 (not so good!) and this version probably falls in the middle. All of these lands arguably have roots in Tony Baxter's Discovery Bay, one of the frequently cited examples of great attractions/lands that never were, with the linked history from ParkLore being well worth your time.
Nemo & Friends SeaRider is the other (non-transportation) attraction in this land, which replaced the opening day StormRide back in 2017. The land also has two forms of transportation running through it - the DisneySea Electric Railway and Transit Steamer Line - which will be important below when discussing what this land can become.
The scale and ambition of Baxter's old plan, together with some of the best elements we saw delivered in Paris, does make one feel that this area could be more than it is, and with the park desperate for ride capacity, this does feel like a natural place for expansion and renewal. Combined, Aquatopia and SeaRider have an hourly capacity of around 3,000 guests (1,700 for SeaRider and 1,300 for Aquatopia) which is fine but doesn't maximize this space as well as it could.
The Future of Port Discovery
OLC provided a single piece of concept art in their 2035 Long Term Management Strategy presentation, which gives us clues (but not necessarily answers) as to what might come next to this port of call:
4
5
1
2
3
#1 and #2 How Does This Impact the Transit Steamers
The most notable part of this picture is of course the giant show building taking the place of Aquatopia (#4 above) so, naturally, let's first look at what could be hiding in those clouds and what this artwork isn't showing us.
Labels #1 and #2 come together to tell a story about how this change might impact the flow of transportation through this port of call. First, let's remind ourselves how this area looks right now from a similar viewpoint as the concept art:
1
2
The #1 and #2 labels are in approximately the same positions as in the concept art above, with the notable thing being the large channel of water running along the edge of the park which allows the Transit Steamer boats to pass through (but not stop in) Port Discovery on their way around the park. It is possible that if the Imagineers wants to maximize the new show building then they could reclaim that land and build all the way to the park boundary and then have boats turnaround in this port rather than circumnavigate the whole park. Adding weight to this thought is the circular structure at point #2 in the concept art which could potentially be a turnaround point for boats arriving from the Lost River Delta.
I'm not totally convinced by this idea for a couple of reasons:
-
If the show building really needed to be larger, it seems that it could encroach on the water area between it and the SeaRider building rather than needing to expand all the way to the park boundary.
-
Rather than being an either/or choice, I would have thought it was possible for the new show building to partially push back into that relatively wide channel and just leave a narrower pathway for the (relatively small) transit steamers, or, the building could push back to the wall but only on the first level, leaving a tunnel at ground level for the boats to pass though.
If the water channel was to be blocked off, then the Transit Steamers would need to run as an out-and-back route, forming a backwards "C" shape with turnarounds in Port Discovery and the American Waterfront. That does seem like a material loss to me, both in terms of the operational simplicity and guest accessibility of having a simple, clockwise route, although they do already run different routes now so this isn't perhaps a deal breaker. The presence of the Electric Railway also helps, as this connects Port Discovery to the American Waterfront (close to Mediterranean Harbor) which sort of completes the circle and allows guests to get to different corners of the park:
Electric
Railway
Possible New Transit Steamer Route
#3 No Extension of the Electric Railway to the Expansion Pad
Following the addition of Fantasy Springs, the only remaining expansion pad of material size at DisneySea is this plot of land next to the Indiana Jones attraction and across the river from Port Discovery.
Port Discovery
Indiana Jones
Attraction
Hangar Stage
Expansion Pad
Electric Railway
One prior possibility for this area of land would have been to extend the Electric Railway across the river to this new land, but this doesn't seem to be the plan as the concept art has no evidence of such a change. Of course, this doesn't preclude any changes in the future, but if this is to be major overhaul of this land, then it would then seem somewhat unlikely for OLC to come back in a couple of years and make a further significant change.
#4 Aquatopia Replacement
The replacement of Aquatopia is the main headline here but we needed to set that context before discussing what the footprint of this attraction could be. As discussed, we are looking at two scenarios, one where the attraction leaves the water channel as it is now, and one where we reclaim that land and extend the show building all the way to the park boundary:
70,000 sqft
(6,300 sqm)
115,000 sqft
(10,700 sqm)
There's no indication so far that this new attraction is going to be water based, but given that we have the show building measurements for a number of boat attractions to hand (from the Coco attraction preview), let's see how they compare:
-
Pirates of the Caribbean (Shanghai Disneyland): 130,000sqft (12,500 sqm)
-
Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey: 93,000 sqft (8,600 sqm)
-
Pirates of the Caribbean (Magic Kingdom): 91,000 sqft (8,500 sqm )
-
Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland) - includes Blue Bayou: 75,000 sqft (7,000 sqm)
-
it's a small world (Disneyland): 59,000 sqft (5,500 sqm)
-
Rapunzel's Lantern Festival: 38,000 sqft (3,500 sqm)
And here's a few select dark ride show buildings:
-
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind 177,000 sqft (16,500 sqm)
-
Peter Pan's Never Land: 84,000 sqft (7,800 sqm)
-
Flight of Passage, including exterior queue (Animal Kingdom): 84,000 sqft (7,800 sqm)
-
Indiana Jones (Disneyland): 72,000 sqft (6,700 sqm)
-
Soaring: Fantastic Flight: 40,000 sqft (3,600 sqm)
We can see that with the smaller footprint - which doesn't require closing the water channel - we still have room for a pretty significant attraction. Now, this space potentially also needs to accommodate back of house operations, or food and beverage locations so might not all be available for a single attraction, but that should still work for most attractions other than very large water rides or rollercoasters.
#5 Nemo & Friends SeaRider Replacement
The single piece of concept art we have doesn't give any clues as to what might happen with SeaRider, though I don't think a lack of obvious alteration to the building facade is necessarily an indication either way that this attraction will or won't be altered. Other than the large Nemo mural and a change in color scheme, this show building didn't go through many changes when it changed from StormRider to SeaRider:
StormRider
SeaRider
The issue here is that this is a small, and uniquely designed building layout which is going to make it difficult to put anything drastically different in here. Given that the concept art seems to confirm they aren't tearing this show building down, I don't think it is 100% certain that even get a new attraction here, though if I was betting I would still guess that we do.
As we'll get into next, Finding Nemo was a very popular movie when released, and it's a franchise that continues to have legs around the world, with Nemo attractions found elsewhere in Disneyland, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom. If this port leans back towards a "discovery" theme then Nemo might need to depart. If however, the port just becomes a couple of separate attractions in loosely themed buildings, then there it's certainly possible that Nemo and friends will be around for a while.
Possible use of IP
Some Disney parks fans can get frustrated by the idea that new attractions must include characters from existing Disney movies, and sometimes pine for the days of wholly original storylines like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, or more recently Mystic Manor. Tokyo DisneySea can sometimes be held up as an antidote to this, boasting attractions like Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Sindbad's Adventure, and Aquatopia, which have no ties to Disney properties. However, while there certainly are a lot of unique attractions here, it's not necessarily the case that they aren't tied to Disney movies. This is particularly true if we zero in on the attractions added since opening day:
By my count, every attraction added to Tokyo DisneySea since opening day is either a replica (or close replica) of an attraction found at a different park, or is directly tied to a popular Disney movie. Tower of Terror is arguably the exception here as that attraction has little in common with the other Tower of Terror attractions, but even if we count that one, it's just one from eleven. The most recent addition, Fantasy Springs, is the most IP heavy area of the park, which could be an exception, or could point to the future development of DisneySea.
This blog post talks about the movies which did best at the box office in Japan, with most of the top franchises currently represented in the park (Frozen, Big Hero 6, Monsters Inc). Other relatively popular movies like Zootopia and the Incredibles don't currently have representation in parks, and could be looking for a home, though only if the fit was right.
The architectural aesthetic of the buildings in the concept don't give any immediate clues as to any potential movie links. The style looks almost Victorian, and reminiscent of the Crystal Palace / Great Exhibition / 19th century world's fair designs, which Disney have utilized in the past. This makes a lot of architectural sense - tying this port is with the adjacent Mysterious Island - but it represents a bit of a challenge as to how that then links to a Disney property.
A few possible ideas:
Baymax
Big Hero 6 was a very successful release in Japan, ranking as the third highest grossing original release. It's origins in comic books and influence from manga/Hayao Miyazaki films are well documented, and the story's narrative of innovating for the better of the world is somewhat aligned with some of the themes of Jules Verne's stories. A replica of San Fransokyo (like wouldn't fit in this area, but this area could be an innovation exhibition which happens to be housed in a Victorian era building which are still found in many of the world's great cities.
Baymax doesn't really work if this is going to be a boat ride, but while this park does still need capacity, with Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey and Rapunzel's Lantern Festival recently added, I'm not sure another boat ride is needed. A "book report" style dark ride also feels a little underwhelming though, especially for a show building of this size. An "exhibition" style pavilion could potentially have space for an attraction like Flight of Passage or Soarin' where we virtually travel through the world of Big Hero 6, and still hold space for some side attractions that could echo EPCOT's Innoventions. This perhaps starts to get into the issues that have plagued Tommorowland (the future becomes the present and then the past astonishingly quickly), but being tied to a fictitious world allows that "future" to be so far advanced (healthcare companions, flying robots, nanobots etc) that it doesn't become obsolete in a matter of years. Adding some of these side attractions to a larger e-ticket ride could further help this park's capacity issues.
Another thrill ride for this park would also be great, and if we had the option of pushing the building right back to the park boundary, then one should be able to fit. The role technology plays in this movie could be used to inspire a wide range of attraction storylines and ride vehicles, like Go Go Tomago's hyper-cycle or Baymax's flying suit:
Duffy and Friends
Another option which isn't tied to a movie at all, would be to simply hand a portion of Discovery Bay over to Duffy and his friends, who currently live in the Cape Code portion of the American Waterfront, but don't currently have their own attraction. Duffy is said to generate an astonishing $500 million in annual retail sales, and the enthusiasm which greets new meet-and-greet experiences suggests that an attraction would attract massive crowds (and importantly for management, Premier Access sales).
However, the concept art doesn't suggest that this building is an extension of the Cape Code area and it does seem odd that they wouldn't simply extend that to this area rather than using this more generic Victorian style building if they wanted to bring Duffy here. This would also significantly undermine the concept of Port Discovery, which would only have whatever goes in the SeaRider space and some food and retail, if this attraction was to be pulled into Duffy's sphere. I suppose they could retheme the entire port to Duffy, but again, the aesthetic of the concept really doesn't suggest that to be the case.
The only way this really makes sense to me is if they were to split this port in half and combine the lower half with Cape Cod to make a "Duffy Land" and then combine the SeaRider portion with either the expansion pad across the river and next to Lost River Delta or merge with the existing attractions in Mysterious Island.
With the Saludos Amigos! greeting trails already in place on the left border of Lost River Delta, it seems that a Duffy themed land would fit better into that expansion pad on its own.
Society of Explorers and Adventurers
The Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A.) is a fictional organization created by Disney to give back story and lore to some of the characters and attractions found in the parks. The Society originated at Tokyo DisneySea within Fortress Explorations but really began to take hold with Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor making ties between its owner, Lord Henry Mystic, and Harrison Hightower (from DisneySea's Tower of Terror). The organization would soon expand to include Barnabas T Bullion (from Big Thunder Mountain), Camellia Falcon (Soarin') and Albert Falls (Jungle Cruise).
What does this mean for Port Discovery? We noted earlier that the the majority of recent additions to DisneySea have been IP related, but I do think OLC maintain a strong commitment to ensuring this park isn't just Disneyland 2.0, and choosing to add to the S.E.A. lore makes some sense here.
First, while concept art isn't binding, the Imagineers have chosen to show the public (including OLC shareholders) this image and so the stylistic choices mean something. Where as we are twisting ourselves in knots above to make other IP work in this space, an original attraction related to the S.E.A. is thematically and period perfect. The mid-19th century architectural style we see is aligned with when a lot of the S.E.A. lore occurs (see this nice summary at Sea Lanterns) as well as tying into the aesthetic of the Jules Verne inspired attractions in the adjacent Mysterious Island.
With DisneySea being as busy as ever, and limited space to too many high capacity attractions, there would be a lot of value in adding smaller diversions to the park that can occupy guests when the lines are very long. Adding a S.E.A. related attraction here could allow Imagineers to boost guest's interest in the whole S.E.A. story, which might draw them to the underutilized Fortress Explorations, and even allow for them to add scavenger hunt elements to the park, as guests follow the links between attractions, akin to the Pirate's Adventure interactive game in the Magic Kingdom. Adding Barnabas Bullion, Albert Falls, and even Lord Mystic to Tokyo Disneyland could make it a multi-park, multi-day adventure via your own device.
Timeline
The OLC presentation doesn't give any concrete dates for this expansion but seems to suggest that this change - and the renewal of Adventureland - are penciled in for 2031+. A couple of factors suggest that this change to Port Discovery is likely to come before changes at Adventureland:
First, OLC make reference to the upcoming anniversaries at the Tokyo Disney Resort, which fall in 2031 for DisneySea (30th anniversary) and then 2033 for Disneyland (50th anniversary). As discussed in the Tomorrowland update, OLC have launched some attractions and lands to coincide with anniversaries (although this hasn't been a hard and fast rule).
Second, and more importantly, we already have a closing date for Aquatopia, which is set to spin its last ride vehicle on September 14, 2026. Although this attraction isn't a huge crowd eater, taking much-needed capacity offline is a big deal, and a decision that OLC wouldn't likely take earlier than they need to. I would expect work to begin clearing this area soon after the Aquatopia closure which then makes 2031 seem like the more likely date, and even then, I wouldn't be shocked to see something come online here even earlier than that.