Tokyo Disneyland to Lower Attendance Cap

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 22, 2021

 

The roller coaster ride continues for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, as COVID-19 numbers in Japan evolve once more.

  
After only raising the attendance cap on April 1, Oriental Land Co., the operator of the Tokyo Disney parks, said Monday that it will “lower the cap of the daily number of visitors to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea each from 20,000 to 5,000.” 

Courtesy of the Disney Parks Blog

The decreased capacities will remain in effect through May 11. Tokyo DisneySea will also close one hour earlier at 8 p.m. through May 11.

 

According to The Japan Times, the government of Japan is considering “quasi-emergency measures” due to COVID-19 in Urayasu, where Disneyland is located, as well as in four other cities in Chiba Prefecture, and Kyodo News reports that “the Japanese government plans to impose a fresh coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo as well as Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures on Friday.”

 

It has not been smooth sailing for the Japanese parks since their COVID-19 re-openings. Tokyo Disneyland was one of the earlier Disney parks to reopen on July 1 after their February 28, 2020 COVID closures. In September 2020, Tokyo Disneyland unveiled the largest expansion in the park’s history, a three-year-long undertaking that had already been delayed earlier in the year by COVID shutdowns. Then came January, and Tokyo Disneyland had to temporarily suspend ticket sales until February, permitting only previously ticketed guests to visit the parks in the face of fluctuating COVID numbers.  Now they are once more adjusting their guest attendance levels. 

 

Tokyo is also the location of this year’s Olympics, set to begin July 23, but postponed from last summer because of coronavirus. Foreign spectators are not permitted in the stadiums for this year’s games.  

 

In fact, there have also been calls for the Olympic games to be postponed yet again because of Japan’s changing COVID-19 numbers. CBS Sports reports that a recent Kyodo News poll found that the majority of Japanese residents, 72%, are in favor of postponing or cancelling the games in the face of a fourth wave of coronavirus.

 

According to the Kyodo News poll report, “Amid lingering concern over a fourth coronavirus wave and the slow progress of vaccination, the poll found 39.2 percent believe the postponed Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled, while 32.8 percent think they should be rescheduled. Only 24.5 percent responded that the games should be held as scheduled.”

 

As the availability of ticket sales and attendance numbers continues to change at Tokyo Disneyland, and the Japanese government initiates additional restrictions, Disneyland’s plans may need to adjust yet again. Head to the Tokyo Disneyland website for current information.

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

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Could Tokyo Olympics Turn Into the “Disney” Olympics?

 by Ray Keating

Analysis/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 30, 2021

 

The Tokyo Summer Olympics Games were supposed to happen in 2020. But COVID-19 had different ideas. Now, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are scheduled to open on July 23, 2021. But questions swirl as to whether or not Tokyo will be able to pull it off, and whether or not the Japanese people actually want it to happen. 

 

That, in turn, has led to speculation in certain circles that the Olympics could find their way to Orlando. Could the Tokyo Olympics become the “Disney” Olympics? That’s highly – and I mean highly – unlikely.

Concerns and speculation about the Games have flourished due to a combination of a spike in COVID-19; emergence of new virus strains; a slow rollout of vaccines; and polls earlier this month pointing to significant opposition or doubts about the Games among the Japanese. As AP reported, “More than 80% of people in Japan who were surveyed in two polls in the last few days say the Tokyo Olympics should be canceled or postponed, or say they believe the Olympics will not take place.”

 

The Tokyo Games would mean the arrival of some 15,000 athletes and thousands more related personnel and media. That makes lots of people uneasy, to say the least, during this pandemic.

 

Of course, when there’s trouble, you can usually count on politicians stepping in to either make matters worse, or to take advantage of the circumstances somehow. Hence, we have Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis ginning up attention by offering Orlando as an option for the Summer Games. After all, there was the NBA bubble, so why not the Olympics? And lots of people come to the area, so why not the Olympics – and on very short notice without any money or planning? Make sense? Not really. But what the heck, this is politics, right?

 

For good measure, as noted by The Wall Street Journal, the Japanese and the Olympics are looking to the U.S., including President Biden, to give assurance that the U.S. Olympic team, and therefore, NBC Olympics television money, will be supporting and attending the Games. And given that Japan is a key U.S. ally, it’s highly unlikely that the president would pull the rug out from under Tokyo hosting the Olympics, in particular, by warming up to the Olympics being moved to Orlando.

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) apparently isn’t prepared with an alternative plan for putting on the Games this summer. So, the options seem to be to hold the Games in July, or perhaps a slight delay, in Tokyo; officially cancel the 2020 Games; or push them to the other side of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

 

So, while a Disney Olympics in 2020 seem more about political grandstanding than being a serious option, the IOC faces some serious challenges and decisions. 

 

Oh, yeah, and by the way, the 2022 Winter Games are scheduled for a year from now in Beijing, China. That’s right, China. Human rights abuses already are raising questions about those games. Also, I’m pretty sure that Orlando isn’t equipped to host the Winter Games.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the  Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Keating’s new book Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. 

 

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