News came out today that the Oriental Land Co. and Disney have come to an agreement to bring Disney Cruise Line to Japan. OLC owns and operates Tokyo Disney Resort and now will expand their reach. In this post, we’ll share the news and offer a little bit of commentary.

Today, Disney and Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC) announced a new agreement that will bring year-round Disney cruise vacations to Japan. Under a recently signed agreement, OLC will build and operate a Disney-branded cruise business in Japan, expected to commence by early 2029.

This is the latest evolution in an over 40-year relationship between Disney and OLC, which owns and operates Tokyo Disney Resort. The addition of a locally based Disney cruise ship will offer fun and relaxation for Japanese Disney fans and visitors during magical voyages filled with the incredible entertainment, world-class dining and exceptional guest service that set Disney cruises apart.

“Disney Cruise Line has ambitious plans to bring family vacations and Disney storytelling to more guests around the world than ever before,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman, Disney Experiences. “We are thrilled to continue the success of this expansion as we collaborate with Oriental Land Co. to introduce another distinctly Disney vacation experience to families and fans in Japan.”

“I am sincerely proud that Disney and Oriental Land will be able to work together to create a world-class cruise business in Japan,” said Yumiko Takano, representative director, chairperson and CEO, Oriental Land. “Oriental Land will use their knowhow from the theme park business to continue pushing boundaries and provide family entertainment cruise experiences filled with inspiration and surprise.”

OLC will operate a new Disney cruise ship to be registered and based in Japan year-round. The ship will be constructed at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with imaginative designs created by Walt Disney Imagineering. A sister ship to the popular Disney Wish, it will feature many guest-favorite venues and experiences from that ship with select modifications specially designed with Japanese guests in mind. It is expected to be approximately 140,000 gross tons and powered by liquefied natural gas, with about 1,250 staterooms.

More details about the maiden voyage, itineraries and onboard experiences will be announced at a later date.

Commentary

I’m a little out of my realm here as I don’t typically cover Disney Cruise news so I’ll keep this on the shorter side. I’m of two minds about this news. We’ll get the tepid response out of the way first.

Oriental Land Co. has been focused on theme parks for a long time. There are no streaming services or box office numbers to worry about! That has helped the company in recent years and has made Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea two of the best parks in the whole world. I have continuously praised OLC for the work they’ve done, including their recent Fantasy Springs expansion.

Having another business endeavor to dive into could mean less investment into Tokyo Disney Resort. Spending 2 billion on a cruise ship is going to take away from some funds that could have gone elsewhere. There is a Space Mountain and Tomorrowland expansion already in the works at Tokyo Disneyland but after that there are plenty of other ways for the parks to grow. If adding cruises to the docket decreases investment from the parks then that is disappointing, at least to me personally.

On the other hand, having Disney Cruises coming to Japan is exciting! There are beautiful places to explore and this will offer a different way to experience them. I think the success of the theme parks will lead to a high interest in a Disney Cruise Line. In the end, that should make Oriental Land Company more money and then can lead to investment in both the land and sea. Insert DisneySea joke.

Me being worried about this hurting Tokyo Disney Resort investments is mostly conjecture. OLC isn’t going to forget what got them to this point. Still, it’s something to monitor as the parks only have one major project going on and are ripe for another announcement. For now, we’ll take today’s news with some cautious excitement and dream about visiting some port cities in Japan.

Are you excited by Disney Cruises in Japan? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below. If you are planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort, check out our Trip Planning Guide. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!