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Tokyo Disneyland moves toward re-opening

Update: Ikspiari re-opened today. That’s a mall area that’s essentially the Tokyo Disney Downtown Disney equivalent.

There’s still no date announced yet, but Tokyo Disney Resort has started moving toward a re-opening date for its resort hotels and theme parks. Their website still says a decision will be made soon, but many of the international cast that were sent home have been asked to return and restart rehearsals.

Even as the performers head back to Tokyo, more stories of what it was like to experience the quake are making into the news. Eva, a parade performer, was in the rehearsal hall when it struck, while Bethany was at home in her apartment.

While no official date for re-opening has been announced, April 1st was rumored to see at least one of the parks open. At this point that seems unlikely, but who knows. Many of the furloughed employees are receiving 60% of their pay while the park is closed.

Also, below the cut is another video showing some scary moments during the quake inside Tokyo DisneySea.

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Tokyo Disneyland – New Video of Damage to Neighborhood, Performer

New video has just been uploaded that shows recent footage of damage to the neighborhood near Tokyo Disney Resort. This car is driving right by the resort, see the Cirque Du Soliel building go by on the right early in the clip. Then look to the side of the road and cracks in the road. Sometimes the ground has shifted by a couple of feet. That whole area will need new paving, new power lines, new street lights, bus stops, etc.

This, of course, is nothing compared to what the Tsunami ravaged sections of Japan have experienced. But it does shed some light on how soon we might expect any of the Tokyo Disney hotels or Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea to reopen.

There’s still quite a lot of clean up to do.

Here’s video of a local news station interviewing a Tokyo Disney performer upon her return to the US. There’s also a few shots of the damage done to her apartment and neighorhood:

Below the jump is new video from inside Tokyo Disney Sea taken just before and after the quake:

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Disney resumes some activity in Japan

The Walt Disney Company announced that it will be returning some operations to Japan for administrative and Disney Store roles. This is seen as the first move to resume film, themepark, and store operations. No word on when the Disney Stores themselves will re-open, and… Read More »Disney resumes some activity in Japan

Yokai at EPCOT’s Japan Pavilion

One of the great things about the Japan pavilion is the little exhibit space where Americans are exposed to some of Japan’s cultural artifacts. For a long time there was an excellent Tin Toy exhibit with a fun video from John Lasseter. Sadly toward the… Read More »Yokai at EPCOT’s Japan Pavilion

Disney suspends all operations in Tokyo

The Walt Disney Company just announced that they have suspended all administrative and Disney store related operations in Tokyo, Japan. “Our top priority is the well-being of our employees and their families during this challenging time and we will continue to closely monitor the situation… Read More »Disney suspends all operations in Tokyo

Nausicaa & EarthSea – Two Studio Ghibli DVDs are more timely than ever

I had posted on Facebook a few days ago how watching (or re-watching as the case may be) movies from Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki was helping me stay grounded while watching the wall to wall disaster porn that cable news channels had been serving… Read More »Nausicaa & EarthSea – Two Studio Ghibli DVDs are more timely than ever

When Should Tokyo Disneyland Reopen?

Events in Japan continue to teeter on the edge of disaster. Whether you’re a villager in Northeastern Japan whose every day is a fight for the basic necessities of survival in a post-tsunami zone or a resident of Fukushima or nearby cities (including Tokyo) where… Read More »When Should Tokyo Disneyland Reopen?

Tokyo Disneyland Update: Entertainment Cast Can Go Home

As I fell asleep last night, word from Japan was that the nuclear power plant had experienced further problems with possibility of a larger leak of radiation. To make it worse, winds were shifting driving any radio active particles in the air back toward land. This morning I awoke to news that radiation levels in Tokyo were 10 times higher than normal, which is still a ‘safe’ level but not good obviously, and the situation at the nuclear plant was now ‘catastrophic’. That’s definitely not good.

The Tokyo Disneyland entertainment cast members I’ve been following online were concerned and with good cause. Some to the point of panic ready to break their contracts and buy a $2500 air ticket on their own.

So I’m happy to hear that Disney and OLC management has stepped up to the plate and offered to send any international cast member back home, if they want, with the promise that their job would be available when the situation returns to normal. OLC is even picking up the cost of air travel. Very nice to see them step up to the plate like that. But so far Disney Cast Members have been nothing but professional and amazing, so it was almost expected that they would do this now.

Tokyo Disneyland is contributing in a different way to relief efforts. Water from pools and ponds around the town has been claimed for use as shower and toilet water (but not for drinking please). That now includes water from Tokyo DisneySea’s Mediterranean bay area (and I assume hotel pools, although this article doesn’t mention that).

Below the jump is a video taken from the monorail that shows the condition of the parks.

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