DisneySea theme park opens near Tokyo
Associated Press
TOKYO — DisneySea opened its doors yesterday to more than 15,000 waiting customers who braved forecasts of rain and camped out for tickets to The Walt Disney Co.'s newest amusement park in Japan.
Associated Press
The park, with adventure rides and a fire-spouting volcano instead of Disney's trademark castle, is expected to draw as many as 10 million people a year and repeat the success of nearby Tokyo Disneyland.
Fireworks explode and Mount Prometheus erupts over the Mediterranean Harbor, the gateway to DisneySea, a marine theme park in Urayasu, east of Tokyo. DisneySea is next to Tokyo Disneyland.
About 50,000 visitors were expected for the opening day, according to Hiroshi Sayama, spokesman for Oriental Land Co., the Japanese developer that operates both parks in a Tokyo suburb.
In contrast to the United States, where theme parks are slashing prices to attract customers during an economic downturn, theme parks in Japan are riding a wave of popularity — despite the country's struggle through its worst recession in a decade.
Universal Studios, which opened a park pushing "Terminator" and "Jurassic Park" themes in Osaka in March, has been attracting a million visitors a month, well on its way to its target of 8 million visitors a year.
Among DisneySea's attractions are a roller coaster that shoots through a tunnel filled with luminescent creatures and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," a ride over an artificial water terrain of anemone and coral viewed through bubbly glass.
