The new Fantasy Springs theme area at Tokyo DisneySea opened on Thursday, offering visitors the chance to experience the world of films including "Frozen."
The new area, also based on "Peter Pan" and "Tangled," is the eighth themed port in DisneySea, adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland, and has four rides, three restaurants and a hotel.
The area was opened at 8 a.m. after a ceremony in front of its entrance attended by around 100 people chosen by lottery from the park's fan club and others. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse also showed up.
"A fantasy world that no one has ever experienced welcomes you. We can say this is one of the world's greatest masterpieces," Yumiko Takano, chief executive of the park's operator Oriental Land Co., said at the opening ceremony.
In the ride named Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey, visitors board a boat that moves back and forth, guiding them through the story of the film "Frozen."
Peter Pan's Never Land Adventure features a boat ride with an immersive 3D experience of the world of pirates.
"I felt like I was flying in the sky," said 10-year-old Rino Nishimura, who visited the park in costume with her parents from the western Japan city of Yamaguchi.
The new area has multiple fountains decorated with rocks engraved with various Disney characters.
It has restaurants designed like castles and other locations from popular films, as well as a 475-room hotel themed on Disney classics like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Bambi."
Visitors to the new area are required to buy a Disney Premier Access pass or obtain a free standby pass, in addition to an entrance ticket to Tokyo DisneySea.
Oriental Land invested about 320 billion yen ($2 billion) to build the new area, covering approximately 140,000 square meters. Tokyo DisneySea, opened in 2001, expanded by around 20 percent through the addition of the new area.
Under the initial plan announced in 2018, the operator aimed to open the section in fiscal 2022 but postponed it due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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