The Reopening of Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland reopened on Friday, five weeks after an earthquake and power shortages had forced it to shut down. Here are several video reports about the reopening:
Mickey Mouse greeted and hugged many of the 10,000 visitors who had queued up, some of them all night, outside the giant theme park, which had been shut despite suffering only minor damage in the tectonic disaster of March 11.
“I’m delighted that the park is open again,” said Hiroko Ichimura, 35, visiting with her husband and daughter. “We made reservations six months ago to celebrate our daughter’s birthday here but we had almost given up on the plan.”
“We have been waiting impatiently for the park to reopen,” said another Disney fan and parent, Kazuhiro Sugiyama, 34. “My little daughter is overjoyed and just keeps saying: ‘Mickey, Mickey!’”
Many guest were visibly relieved to revel in Disney’s fantasy world amid the grim realities of an ongoing nuclear crisis and scores of recent strong aftershocks from the massive seabed quake that have badly strained nerves.
To celebrate its reopening, the park put on a colourful musical parade of floats featuring Disney characters at the facility located on reclaimed land on the outskirts of Tokyo at Urayasu in Chiba prefecture.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
