Over the last few months we’ve gone through Disney Parks, wondering what could be added to augment their current state. We are nearing a conclusion with the series as we’ve already gone through five different American Parks. With Epcot in a constant state of flux, it seems like an opportune time to jump across the Pacific and talk about Tokyo Disneyland. Even during the pandemic of the last year, Tokyo Disneyland opened one of their biggest expansions ever that includes a giant Beauty and the Beast attraction as well as a few other additions. With that over, there aren’t any big projects on the horizon for the park. In this post, we’ll discuss five additions Tokyo Disneyland could, and maybe should, make going forward.

Writing posts about Tokyo Disneyland can be a little tricky. General knowledge about the resort is obviously much lower than the parks stateside. Many view Tokyo Disney Resort as a dream destination or fantasy, despite it being a little cheaper than you might expect. Most who have visited the resort love it, including me. In short, TDR is home to two of the most well thought out theme parks ever created. That includes Tokyo Disneyland, which is a beautiful castle park.

I’ve described Tokyo Disneyland as a greatest hits album with a few odd and wonderful original tracks. The best versions of certain attractions are replicated in TDL. They also have unique attractions like the aforementioned Beauty and the Beast ride, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt and Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek. To go along with those, some bizarre moments occur relative to the American Parks, where the paths are wider or there is more access to areas of the park. All in all, it’s an extraordinary place that doesn’t have many holes.

Naturally, that makes this post a little bit harder to write! Similar to Disneyland, TDL isn’t hurting for attractions and there aren’t many places where the park could improve. It’s a finished product that doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. Thankfully, there is still some room for expansion. With so few weak spots, I’ll try to add a few interesting options along the way. Let’s get to it!

Tokyo Disneyland’s Own Nighttime Spectacular

Tokyo Disneyland has the two best parades I’ve ever seen, one during the day and one nighttime electrical parade. Those are not to be missed. Where the park lacks is in a firework show. There is Disney Light the Night, which is a firework show that is in between the resort’s two parks. It’s not all that exciting though and very impersonal. The park also had Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland, which was a firework and projection show, for their 35th anniversary. Now that Celebrate! is gone there’s a hole to fill.

Honestly, just bringing back that show would be enough for me as it celebrated the park nicely. I’m guessing that the show was quite pricey to run, hence it not existing anymore. I’m not asking for anything too grandiose, just an average firework show to pair with the best nighttime parade around. On the other hand, Tokyo Disney Resort doesn’t do much that isn’t grandiose. I’d take that too!

Make Toontown More Interesting!

Tokyo Disneyland has the distinct and unusual honor of having the best Toontown. Unfortunately, even the best of a mediocre thing is still mediocre. That’s true here. The problem with this version isn’t so much in style as it is substance. Outside of Roger Rabbit there isn’t much worthwhile for everyone to do. Of course, that’s relative to the rest of the park. I went pretty vague with this one because I think either an interesting table-service restaurant or a new attraction could bolster the land. Knowing the audience for the park and their love of all things cute, Toontown could certainly work here better than any other park but there needs to be something that people want to do. Maybe that comes in the form of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway or an original ride.

A Unique Thrill Ride

Tokyo Disneyland’s big original rides are all dark rides. I absolutely adore dark rides, they are my favorite attraction system. That said, I would love to see Tokyo Disneyland add more original rides and getting outside of that comfort zone with a thrill ride. The Oriental Land Company, which runs Tokyo Disney Resort, is not out of their realm here as DisneySea is home to the excellent Journey to the Center of the Earth. As for some blue sky ideas, I’d love to see a Moana roller coaster in Adventureland or perhaps a river ride in Westernland. Brushing off old Imagineering plans would be a fun way to go but I’m also happy to see what they could do with a fresh slate.

A New Castle Stage Show

Tokyo Disneyland is no stranger to excellent stage shows over the years. Even now, there’s a stage show in 4 different lands. While all of them aren’t worth seeing, there’s an impressive amount of quality for such a broad amount of quantity. Well, let’s spread that quality around even more! Putting on a show in front of the castle would be a good amount of fun and, again, add to the cuteness factor. The typical Tokyo crowd loves characters so adding Mickey in front of the castle a couple of times a day would be a boon for the park.

Let Tomorrowland in on the Fun

As Tomorrowland’s around the world are adding a Tron Coaster, this seems like the one area where Tokyo Disneyland is falling behind. I mean, it’s falling behind only slightly because it does boast an excellent Monsters Inc. dark ride. I would be just fine with adding Tron by Space Mountain but the park could, again, go with something original to make sure that Tomorrowland stays fresh!

As you can tell, Tokyo Disneyland is already an excellent park that is hard to find holes to fill. I do think these five things could help the park but I don’t see any of them coming in the very near future. No matter what comes, I do think Tokyo Disneyland is well worth visiting!

What would you like to see added to Tokyo Disneyland? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below. Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? Check out our planning guide here to help you get started! Thank you for reading Wandering in Disney! If you enjoy the blog then please subscribe via email or WordPress and like our social media accounts. You can do all of those things on the right side of this page.