Walt Disney Attractions Japan is a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, one of four sectors of the American entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. [1]
Founded in 1982, a year before the opening of the Tokyo Disneyland theme park in Chiba, Japan, its purpose was to liaise with The Oriental Land Company - the financial owners of Tokyo Disneyland - in all aspects of running and maintaining the theme park.
Walt Disney Attractions Japan played a major part in the expansion of 2001 from the Tokyo Disneyland theme park to the Tokyo Disney Resort which included a second theme park, Tokyo DisneySea, two Disney-branded hotels and a shopping, eating and entertainment district, Ikspiari.
Walt Disney Attractions Japan took its name from the former name of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Attractions. It was headed by Philippe Gas, who also heads International Development at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, for example scouting for further locations for Disney resorts. Gas left the Walt Disney Company to become the chief executive officer of the Qiddiya Investment Company. [2] Gas reported to Michael Colglazier, President and Managing Director, Disney Parks International, and to a certain extent, Toshio Kagami, chairman & CEO of the Oriental Land Company and by default the Tokyo Disney Resort.
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly 25,000 acres, of which half has been used. The resort comprises four theme parks, two water parks, 31 themed resort hotels, nine non-Disney hotels, several golf courses, a camping resort, and other entertainment venues, including the outdoor shopping center Disney Springs.
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, 32 km (20 mi) east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the original theme park of the complex, opening in 1992. A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened in 2002. Disneyland Paris celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017, by then 320 million people had visited, making it the most visited theme park in Europe. It is the second Disney park outside the United States, following the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort in 1983, and the largest.
The Tokyo Disney Resort is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a license from The Walt Disney Company, who constructed and designed the resort and its various attractions.
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. The 72-acre (29 ha) park is themed after the history and culture of California, which celebrates the adventure of the state through the use of various Disney, Pixar and Marvel Studios properties. The park opened on February 8, 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park and is the second of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort complex, after Disneyland Park.
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels, and a shopping, dining, and entertainment district known as Downtown Disney.
Hong Kong Disneyland is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Kong International Theme Parks. It is the largest theme park in Hong Kong, followed by Ocean Park Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland was opened to visitors on Monday, 12 September 2005 at 13:00 HKT. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by incorporating Chinese culture, customs and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of feng shui. Notably, a bend was put in a walkway near the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort entrance so good qi energy would not flow into the South China Sea.
Tokyo Disneyland is a 115-acre (47 ha) theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States and it opened on April 15, 1983. The park was constructed by WED Enterprises in the same style as Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland in California. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks not wholly or partly owned by The Walt Disney Company.
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, which opened on 16 March 2002. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. It is dedicated to show business, movie themes, production, and behind-the-scenes. Though this was the original vision, in the 2010s, in a similar manner to its sister park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, the park began to distance itself from the original studio backlot intention and entered a new direction of immersive theming and attraction development inspired by iconic Disney stories. In 2019, the park hosted approximately 5.2 million guests. The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower similar to one that was installed at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California.
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. The company also manages The Walt Disney Company's properties, from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to New Amsterdam Theatre and Times Square Studios Ltd. in New York City. Founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland, it was originally known as Walt Disney, Inc. then WED Enterprises, from the initials meaning "Walter Elias Disney", the company co-founder's full name. Headquartered in Glendale, California, Imagineering is composed of "Imagineers", who are illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers.
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, just outside of Orlando.
The Oriental Land Company, Limited, also known as Oriental Land TYO: 4661 is a Japanese leisure and tourism corporation headquartered in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan where it also owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Resort. The company operates in three segments, divided as theme parks, hotels, and other business.
Mickey's Toontown is a themed land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, two theme parks operated by Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and The Oriental Land Company respectively. At Tokyo Disneyland, this land is named Toontown. A similar land existed at the Magic Kingdom until 2011 and was named Mickey's Toontown Fair. Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris has a related land called Toon Studio. The land in Disneyland is currently under refurbishment and will reopen in 2023.
WestCOT was a planned second theme park for the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was essentially a replica of EPCOT Center at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and was dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely technological innovation and international culture. The park was represented by SpaceStation Earth, a larger version of the geodesic sphere Spaceship Earth featured at EPCOT Center.
Edward Arthur Grier is the dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business. Before coming to VCU, he was an executive at The Walt Disney Company.
Philippe Gas was the president of Euro Disney S.A.S., the management company of Euro Disney S.C.A. and Euro Disney Associés S.C.A., the operator of Disneyland Paris, from 2008 until September 2014. From 2014 to 2020, Gas was the head of Shanghai Disneyland Resort, overseeing its debut and supervising Disney's theme park operations in Asia. In 2020, he became CEO of the Qiddiya Investment Company, an organization seeking to build an entertainment district outside of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Shanghai Disney Resort is a themed resort in Pudong, Shanghai, China. The resort opened to the public on June 16, 2016. It is the first Disneyland in mainland China. It is also the sixth Disney resort worldwide, after Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses Disney characters and themes from The Walt Disney Company. With a size of 176-acre (71.22 ha), Tokyo DisneySea attracted nearly fifteen million visitors in 2018, making it the fourth-most-visited theme park in the world.
Rail transport can be found in every theme park resort property owned or licensed by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, one of the four business segments of the Walt Disney Company. The origins of Disney theme park rail transport can be traced back to Walt Disney himself and his personal fondness for railroads, who insisted that they be included in the first Disney park, the original Disneyland in California in the United States, which opened on July 17, 1955. The Disney tradition of including transport by rail in, and adjacent to, its parks has since been extended to other Disney properties with the opening of Walt Disney World in Florida in the United States, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Disneyland Paris in France, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in China, and Shanghai Disney Resort in China. The Disney theme park chain is the largest on the planet by annual attendance with over 155 million visitors in 2019, and the rail systems located inside its properties play key roles as modes of transportation and as attractions for its visitors.
Arendelle: World of Frozen is an upcoming themed area based on Frozen. This land is currently being developed by Walt Disney Imagineering at Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, and Walt Disney Studios Park under the name of Kingdom of Arendelle.
Robert Alan Chapek is an American media executive and businessman who is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company. Before becoming CEO on February 25, 2020, he had a 26-year career with the Walt Disney Company, beginning in the Home Entertainment division, and eventually rising to become the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.