Peter Pan, Frozen & Tangled Ride Names & Details Revealed for Fantasy Springs
Oriental Land Company has released new restaurant & ride names and details for Fantasy Springs, the eighth port themed to Frozen, Tangled, and Peter Pan at Tokyo DisneySea. This shares a sneak peek at the upcoming blockbuster additions, and updates on the progress to this expansion.
Previously scheduled to open this year, Oriental Land Company (which owns and operates Tokyo Disney Resort) previously announced that there will be changes regarding the opening date and investment amount for the expansion. We offer full details and commentary in Everything You Need to Know About Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea.
In a nutshell, the new scheduled opening date for Fantasy Springs is Spring 2024, and will occur sometime within OLC’s first quarter of fiscal year 2024. Narrowing that down, Fantasy Springs will open sometime between April 1, 2024 and June 30, 2024. If this expansion were in Tokyo Disneyland, the date would be a no-brainer–Fantasy Springs would open on April 15, 2024. That’s still the most plausible date, but we wouldn’t rule out earlier previews or a later debut. Like recent Walt Disney World additions, Fantasy Springs is likely to open when it’s most advantageous and makes the most strategic sense, rather than when construction is completed.
Previously, OLC also announced that the budget of Fantasy Springs would increase to 320 billion yen from 250 billion yen. This was due to rising costs associated with materials and personnel, requirements for further elaboration in planning, design, and procedures, declining value of Japanese yen, and prolonger construction period.
Originally, the dollar-cost of the 250 billion yen Fantasy Springs was just above $2.3 billion. When converted to dollars, the current cost of the 320 billion yen Fantasy Springs is just shy of $2.2 billion. That should really underscore both the weakness of the yen and strength of the dollar. (Of course, principal construction costs are in yen, so the exchange rate is only relevant in part. The budget has increased significantly, not decreased.)
The overarching inspiration for Fantasy Springs is a magical spring leading to a world of Disney fantasy. It’s basically a Fantasyland-style port that brings Frozen, Tangled, and Peter Pan to Tokyo DisneySea, with separate mini-areas for each in a single land that’s tied together via magical springs. For fans of boat rides, Fantasy Springs truly will be a fantasy come true!
The latest update on Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea comes with the big Destination D23 event only a couple weeks away. This is the first time that OLC has shared anything major about Fantasy Springs in a while, with minimal news since last October, even as significant progress on the nearly-finished mountain ranges has been visible from the monorail for months…
Against that backdrop, let’s take a new look at each of these ports, covering the new details about the Frozen, Tangled, and Peter Pan areas of the port!
Frozen Kingdom – Set after the events of the Disney Animation film Frozen, Frozen Kingdom is full of happiness now that Queen Elsa has embraced her powers to create ice and snow.
The Kingdom of Arendelle has been returned to its former glory and guests can visit while immersing themselves in a festive mood. At the far end of the village are towering snow capped mountains with several cascading waterfalls. In the distance, near the summit of North Mountain, Elsa’s ice palace glistens proudly, covered in snow.
In the Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey attraction (#1 in the concept art above), which follows the story of the film, guests board a boat and enjoy an epic and heartwarming tale of two sisters that discover only true love can thaw a frozen heart. The attraction also features the film’s well-known songs.
OLC describes Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey as a “water ride” that’s approximately 6.5 minutes longer. That should mean that Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey is slightly longer than Frozen Ever After, to which it’s likely to be comparable (with a number of updates, since it has an OLC budget and isn’t a retrofit like Frozen Ever After).
Additionally, guests can dine at the Royal Banquet of Arendelle restaurant located in Arendelle Castle (#2), which has both an indoor dining area and a covered outdoor dining area with views of the fjord cliffs and mountains in the distance. Guests can also stop by Oaken’s OK Foods (#3), run by Oaken, the owner of the trading post and sauna that is featured in the film.
OLC lists both Royal Banquet of Arendelle and Oaken’s OK Foods as counter service restaurants. Separately, Oaken’s OK Foods is considered a small snack spot. Our expectation is that the latter is a quick-service window with a limited menu, whereas the former is a large-scale counter service restaurant on par with Be Our Guest Restaurant at Magic Kingdom.
Rapunzel’s Forest – Rapunzel’s Forest brings to life the world of the Walt Disney Animated Film Tangled. In the valley rises the tower where the long haired princess Rapunzel has lived since she was a child.
At night, the entire forest is bathed in warm light emanating from Rapunzel’s tower, lamps lining the paths, a glowing restaurant, boathouse windows, and lanterns hanging from the boats.
In Rapunzel’s Forest, guests can enjoy the Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival ride (#1), and experience the eponymous character’s “best day ever” as she falls in love with Flynn Rider on a romantic boat ride to the annual Lantern Festival.
Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival is a 5-minute long boat ride.
Over at The Snuggly Duckling restaurant (#2), where the local rough-and tumble crowd gathers, guests can enjoy a meal in a variety of atmospheric dining areas.
The Snuggly Duckling is a counter service restaurant with a variety of atmospheric dining areas.
Peter Pan’s Never Land – Inside Peter Pan’s Never Land, guests become members of the Lost Kids, a group of fun-loving, adventurous, and energetic children.
In Peter Pan’s Never Land, guests can explore a pirate ship, dine in a secret hideaway, or go on a great adventure with their friends as they encounter pirates.
In the attraction Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure (#1), guests join the Lost Kids, a group of fun-loving and adventurous children, and explore Never Land with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell to rescue John from Captain Hook and his band of pirates.
By boarding a boat and wearing goggles, guests will be able to enjoy Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure in 3D. For safety reasons, this attraction has a minimum height requirement of 102 cm (~40 inches).
Additionally, guests can enjoy dining at Lookout Cookout (#2), a restaurant created by the Lost Kids from parts of a shipwreck that had washed ashore, with spectacular views of Never Land.
Lookout Cookout is yet another counter service restaurant coming to Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea.
Pixie Hollow, the fairy valley where Tinker Bell lives, can also be found in Peter Pan’s Never Land.
Here, guests can experience the Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies attraction (#3), and help Tinker Bell as she starts her new delivery service in Pixie Hollow, while visiting four seasonal locations to deliver various packages and parcels to the fairies. Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies is approximately 2 minutes long, and is the “kiddie ride” in Fantasy Springs.
Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel – The sixth Disney hotel built in Japan, the Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel will be situated near the magical spring in Fantasy Springs. Paintings depicting Disney Princesses as well as floral motifs can be seen throughout the interior of the hotel, allowing the world of Fantasy Springs to continue from the Park to the hotel.
Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel is comprised of 419 “deluxe-type” rooms. In addition, there are 56 “luxury-type” rooms, offering guests the finest accommodation experience at Tokyo Disney Resort.
On the first floor of Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel is Fantasy Springs Gifts (#6), a merchandise shop accessible only from within the Park. The new Fantasy Springs hotel is comprised of two buildings: the Fantasy Chateau (#1) and the Grand Chateau (#2).
The Fantasy Chateau offers “deluxe-type” rooms adorned with motifs of the flora and fauna of Fantasy Springs, while the Grand Chateau offers “luxury-type” rooms which provide guests with the finest accommodation experience at Tokyo Disney Resort.
Additionally, the hotel has three dining facilities all facing inside Tokyo DisneySea. At Fantasy Springs Restaurant (#3), guests can dine buffet-style while gazing upon paintings inspired by the Disney Animation films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Tangled and Sleeping Beauty.
Guests can also enjoy Grand Paradis Lounge (#4), a lobby lounge with large, open windows. Finally, there’s La Libellule (#5), which is a restaurant exclusively for guests staying in the Grand Chateau; La Libellule offers views of Fantasy Springs from the sublime dining hall with French cuisine for a blissful experience only a Disney hotel can offer.
To give guests a sneak peek into the progression of Fantasy Springs, Tokyo Disney Resort released a video.
This features a mixture of previously-released concept art and flyover model shots, plus new footage from within the land showing progress on each of the three areas. Previously, TDR shared drone footage of construction progress; this time, it looks like an effort was made to show mostly the finished product rather than construction.
Ultimately, Fantasy Springs looks to be the defining addition of the decade, and is yet another reason to consider visiting Tokyo Disney Resort. With that said, it’s certainly not the only reason. Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland have been among the top 3 parks on our Worldwide Disney Parks Rankings for ages thanks to their superlative themed design, ambitious attractions, spectacular seasonal events, excellent entertainment, incredible Cast Members, and so much more. If you’re wondering how to recapture the Disney magic, the answer is easy: visit Japan.
In What’s New & Next in 2023-2024 at Tokyo Disney Resort, we cover when we recommend visiting Japan and why. While we would love to follow that advice and return ourselves this fall, we (happily) had to cancel that trip. Instead, our tentative plan is to make Baby Megatron’s first trip to Japan in March/April 2024. We cannot wait to step foot in Fantasy Springs after watching construction on it progress over the course of the last several years.
If you have yet to book your 2024 vacation, we would strongly recommend considering Japan. It’ll almost certainly be cheaper than you expect–and quite possibly less expensive than a trip to Walt Disney World. (See Cheap Prices at Disney’s Two Best Parks for the low prices we paid for everything during our most recent trip.) Moreover, there’s nothing major on the horizon for next year in the domestic parks, so it’s the perfect time for a year off from those to visit the two best Disney theme parks in the world!
Planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort? For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea Trip Planning Guide! For more specifics, our TDR Hotel Rankings & Reviews page covers accommodations. Our Restaurant Reviews detail where to dine & snack. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money post. Our What to Pack for Disney post takes a unique look at clever items to take. Venturing elsewhere in Japan? Consult our Ultimate Guide to Kyoto, Japan and City Guide to Tokyo, Japan.
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Peter Pan’s Never Land, Rapunzel’s Forest, and Frozen Kingdom? Excited for this blockbuster addition to Tokyo DisneySea, or do you not care? Wish the domestic parks would build lands and attractions like this? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
“guests can enjoy dining at Lookout Cookout (#2), a restaurant created by the Lost Kids from parts of a shipwreck that had washed ashore, with spectacular views of Never Land.”
Come on, that just sounds awesome even if it isn’t an elevated treehouse.
It would be really nice to see some park expansions like this at Disney World. I feel like we are not seeing this level of creativity and imagination in Florida, not since Pandora which is at its best after dark when the park is usually closed. Guardians and Tron are both fun, but they are single rides. Moana’s Way of Water looks like it will be a beautiful walk through, but I would love to explore a new land with well themed ride-on attractions a little closer to home.
It’s all about the money. Imagineers are as creative as ever – they are the same group doing this expansion at Tokyo. They just aren’t given the budgets to go crazy like this in the other parks. OLC have always been big spenders. That’s why Tokyo gets the best stuff.
Holding out hope that the Frozen ride uses the Pirates Shanghai ride system. It sounds like this is a completely original attraction not based on Frozen Ever After, since it takes place during the film and not after, and previous releases have included “surprising thrills” in the description, though that could just be a small drop. Plus, the model of the boat released at D23 features the same number of rows and, most notably, identical lap bars to the Pirates Shanghai boats (though only 4 seats across rather than 5). Frozen Ever After does not feature any restraints. The show building is also much, much larger than Frozen Ever After’s.
Peter Pan is clearly a new ride system entirely, with a boat ride somehow turning into a 3D experience along the way. This is going to be a pretty big game-changer and the ultimate draw of Fantasy Springs. If the Frozen ride is also an E-ticket on the level of Pirates Shanghai, you’re looking at maybe 2 of the 3 or 4 best Disney attractions on the planet opening simultaneously in the same land! And that’s in addition to two other rides, a hotel, and more. Amazing.
I wish we could get something like this in the US parks! This looks incredible!
There is a new large park entrance to the right of the Fantasy Springs hotel. It’s much larger than would be required just for the number of that hotel’s guests to enter. But it also doesn’t look as large as the main front gate, so it’s a question as to who is going to be able to use this entrance, which is directly behind Bayside Station on the monorail. I’m guessing that it’s going to be reserved for the folks staying at the Disney hotels. But it’s a damn long walk from Fantasy Springs all the way to the front of the park. It would have made sense to created a gate directly into Tokyo Disneyland IF they allowed park hopping.
So… a boat ride, another boat ride, and a simulator ride disguised as a boat.
And a kiddie darkride.
I have faith that they’ll pull out all the stops on the dark ride front, (There’s also another excellent boat ride – Sinbad – in this park lol) and I’m guessing the Peter Pan ride will be a similar ride system to Transformers/Spider-Man at the Universal Parks from the look of the vehicle. Interested to see how the experience is on these rides for sure. The lineup on paper looks pretty similar, but we also know nothing about the actual rides, just systems and vehicles for now. I enjoy cool lands, but the land is only as good as the rides in it for me. Here’s to hoping these are knock-your-socks off level good rides.
Japan’s population is old now, and getting older. Most of those folks don’t want thrill rides.
I’m so excited for this!!!! I’m a little disappointed to wait until 2025 to go but as I’ve never been to Japan before and I’m dying to see the cherry blossoms, waiting until spring 2025 made the most sense to me, rather than risk missing them or Fantasy Springs because of a slightly delayed opening. If it was at all feasible for us to go two years in a row we would!
Also, if it doesn’t fall into the category of things you’re not comfortable sharing, I would love to see a post next year about your experiences traveling internationally with a small child.
While we’re not going to commit to anything definitively one way or the other, our expectation is that falls squarely into what we are comfortable sharing. Info and tips that are not necessarily about Megatron, but rather, based what we learn from our family’s experiences should be fair game.
It’s going to be a tough needle to thread and I’m sure we’ll learn and adjust as we go–so I don’t want to make any promises or proclamations one way or the other–but I’d imagine that a lot of future posts look and sound like current ones, except from a family POV. (Yesterday’s report about Magic Kingdom, for example, didn’t include any photos of me–partly because it was 100 degrees and I looked like death–but was clearly from my perspective.)
FWIW, my daughter’s first trip abroad was to Finland at age 4-5 and she did great. (Probably better than we did on the long flight!) I’m sure there will be some in your life that will tell you that you shouldn’t travel with a young child, but I think it’s great.
We are at TDR this week at the Sheraton overlooking the Fantasy Springs site, and even from outside the park, it looks incredible. Neverland cloud-wrapped mountains, Pixie Hollow flowers, Rapunzel’s tower, and snow-covered Arendelle peaks. I am already looking at dates for our return trip to see this amazing looking new land!
Very jealous–hope you’re having a great trip!
Thanks for the update! Seeing this take shape is exciting; we haven’t planned a return trip to Tokyo but definitely will some time after this is completed. I’m a bit surprised all 3 restaurants in the port are CS, but I suppose there is a TS buffet in the hotel. Speaking of the hotel, do you think guests from partner hotels will be able to enter the park through the Fantasy Springs Hotel? This would be super convenient (and would save ~$3.50 per person in monorail fares).
“Speaking of the hotel, do you think guests from partner hotels will be able to enter the park through the Fantasy Springs Hotel?”
No.
They won’t want their brand-new luxury hotel being overcrowded with guests from third party hotels using it as a shortcut. As someone who usually stays at the Hilton or Sheraton, this disappoints me, but I also totally get it.
I get it too. But I could see some kind of bypass/extra gate that didn’t cause 7 hotel’s worth of guest going right through the Fantasy Springs hotel (or half the guests – monorail/walking would still be for TDR). But I could also se them wanting to keep the monorail fare, too.