Disney Announces Ninth Ship to be Based in Tokyo

[Royal Consort]

Seems they are bullish on the cruise market and intent on expanding to different cultures and audiences. Like Singapore, this is likely to be Magic At Sea cruises to nowhere; regardless the Japanese market won't care and are there for the characters:

URAYASU, Japan (Reuters) -Walt Disney unveiled plans on Tuesday to launch a new cruise ship that will set sail from Tokyo starting in fiscal 2028, adding a ninth vessel to the brand's growing fleet.

The new ship, to be modelled after the Wish that is the largest vessel in the group, is a partnership with Oriental Land Company (OLC), the operator of Tokyo Disneyland. It is part of a 10-year, $60 billion expansion of Disney's theme parks and cruise business.

Disney currently has five cruise ships in operation. In addition to the Tokyo-based vessel, it has plans for three others, including one that will set sail from Singapore in 2025.

The ship, whose name was not revealed, will have a maximum capacity of 4,000 passengers and is expected to bring in about 100 billion yen ($621.77 million) in annual sales within several years of launch, OLC said.

"To set sail from Japan will make Disney vacations at sea more accessible to Japanese guests, who we know are some of our biggest fans," Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences, told reporters.

The cruise line expansion comes as the industry is enjoying a rebound from a global shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cruise Lines International Association expects the number of passengers to reach 34.7 million this year, up 17% from 2019.

Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, told Reuters in a recent interview that the ships provide the opportunity to bring themed entertainment to places that are not close to the company's theme parks, such as Melbourne or Vancouver.

 

[Flossbolna]

Will be built by Meyer Werft. They have the press release out as well. https://www.meyerwerft.de/en/press/...oriental_land_company_to_operate_in_japan.jsp

 

[mousefan73]

curious what the itineraries will be from Japan but sounds very interesting
best Duffy will be the main character lol

 

[imbelle]

It would be interesting to see if DCL would offer a Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Seas/DCL cruise package trip with airfare from the US. That might be a big motivator for Disney park fans who have always wanted to visit the Tokyo Parks but thought the planning was too far out of their comfort zone.

 

[kuwithn]

curious what the itineraries will be from Japan but sounds very interesting
best Duffy will be the main character lol

Mainly short sailings around Tokyo

 

[randumb0]

Smart move by Disney

 

[Royal Consort]

It would be interesting to see if DCL would offer a Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Seas/DCL cruise package trip with airfare from the US. That might be a big motivator for Disney park fans who have always wanted to visit the Tokyo Parks but thought the planning was too far out of their comfort zone.

Highly doubtful. This will be run and operated by the Oriental Land Company under license who will act as a local operator for the Japanese culture and language. This will be a non-English speaking ship predominantly.

I think there will be a Land/Sea package but it will be marketed for Japanese guests almost exclusively. Just like vacation packages at Tokyo Disney Resort operate now with a second rate English portal that offers a fraction of the Japanese offerings. OLC do not go out of their way to accommodate international guests booking.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

Really wondering if they will implement some of the tdr rules like one characterphoto per party, lottery for access and seating at shows, more unanounced pop up meets than anounced ones and everything in Japanese with full Japanese staffing

 

[Royal Consort]

Disney Parks Blog have now indicated the following:

A new Disney cruise ship, to be registered and based in Japan year-round, will be constructed at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with imaginative designs created by Walt Disney Imagineering. A sister ship to the popular Disney Wish, it will feature many guest-favorite venues and experiences from that ship with select modifications specially designed with Japanese guests in mind.

I am interpreting from this statement that the new ship is likely to replicate much of the internal design from the Wish as opposed to a retheme (?)

 

[tvguy]

Disney Parks Blog have now indicated the following:

A new Disney cruise ship, to be registered and based in Japan year-round, will be constructed at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with imaginative designs created by Walt Disney Imagineering. A sister ship to the popular Disney Wish, it will feature many guest-favorite venues and experiences from that ship with select modifications specially designed with Japanese guests in mind.

I am interpreting from this statement that the new ship is likely to replicate much of the internal design from the Wish as opposed to a retheme (?)

I wonder if one of the "modifications" will be a casino? If not, it certainly will be a test of the assumption that ships servicing this part of the world HAVE to have a casino.

 

[Darren1969]

I don't see a casino on board. Japanese won't use it.
The ship will be like Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySEA. Themed within an inch.

 

[Agent 86]

Wow. A Disney ship with OLC involvement - that bodes very well!

I look forward to reading about all the developments. We’re not the target (local) market, but will be very excited to do one of these cruises (even if they’re starting with Magic at Sea cruises).

 

[OKW Lover]

It would be interesting to see if DCL would offer a Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Seas/DCL cruise package trip with airfare from the US. That might be a big motivator for Disney park fans who have always wanted to visit the Tokyo Parks but thought the planning was too far out of their comfort zone.

I seriously doubt they will do that. If so, it would be a major change in direction by the OLC. It's very hard for somebody in the US to actually book a Disney vacation in Japan. They seem to have restrictions about dealing with foreigners.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-add-ship-tokyo-expanding-070840220.html

Disney to add new ship in Tokyo to expanding cruise business

Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine and Rocky Swift
Tue, Jul 9, 2024, 3:08 AM EDT

URAYASU, Japan (Reuters) -Walt Disney unveiled plans on Tuesday to launch a new cruise ship that will set sail from Tokyo starting in fiscal 2028, adding a ninth vessel to the brand's growing fleet.

The new ship, to be modelled after the Wish that is the largest vessel in the group, is a partnership with Oriental Land Company (OLC), the operator of Tokyo Disneyland. It is part of a 10-year, $60 billion expansion of Disney's theme parks and cruise business.

Disney currently has five cruise ships in operation. In addition to the Tokyo-based vessel, it has plans for three others, including one that will set sail from Singapore in 2025.

The ship, whose name was not revealed, will have a maximum capacity of 4,000 passengers and is expected to bring in about 100 billion yen ($621.77 million) in annual sales within several years of launch, OLC said.

"To set sail from Japan will make Disney vacations at sea more accessible to Japanese guests, who we know are some of our biggest fans," Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Signature Experiences, told reporters.

The cruise line expansion comes as the industry is enjoying a rebound from a global shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cruise Lines International Association expects the number of passengers to reach 34.7 million this year, up 17% from 2019.

Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, told Reuters in a recent interview that the ships provide the opportunity to bring themed entertainment to places that are not close to the company's theme parks, such as Melbourne or Vancouver.

Disney also reaches a segment of the cruise market that had gone unaddressed - families.

"Forty percent of the people on those ships today will say, 'The only reason I'm on a cruise ship today is because Disney's here,' which means we're creating a market," D'Amaro said.

"When we are in Singapore, with this unbelievable ship that we're building, the same thing is going to happen," he added. "We know there's an insatiable demand for everything Disney."

Disney's experiences business, which includes its domestic and international parks and cruise line, accounted for more than one-third of the company's revenue in the March quarter, and nearly 60% of its operating income.

The company's stock tumbled in May after Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston warned about a "global moderation" in travel in the fiscal third quarter and other impacts, including higher wages and pre-opening expenses related to two of the new cruise ships and the new vacation island, Lookout Cay.

The rising tide for Disney's cruise lines could help offset any softness in the company's domestic theme park business, UBS analyst John Hodulik said. The company said its second quarter booking occupancy is at 97% for all five ships.

The rapid expansion of Disney's cruise capacity "helps de-risk the medium-term outlook" for the parks business, Hodulik said.

Disney's other recent investments include three new areas at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park, recreating the worlds of "Frozen," "Tangled," and "Peter Pan," the opening of a "Frozen" themed land at Hong Kong Disneyland, and a "Zootopia" experience in Shanghai.

The company is expected to announce plans for new attractions at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in central Florida in August, at its D23 fan convention.

A huge leap for Disney cruising. It isn't clear to me if this will be part of the current DCL organization or be entirely separate and run by OLC.

View attachment 874792
Mainly short sailings around Tokyo

Why would this info lead to the conclusion that it will be for short sailings around Tokyo? What would prevent such a ship from sailing from one end of Japan to the other?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Why would this info lead to the conclusion that it will be for short sailings around Tokyo? What would prevent such a ship from sailing from one end of Japan to the other?

It says mainly Tokyo Metro area, so that doesn't sound like going around Japan. But "mainly" doesn't mean "always" so one can hope for occasional longer itineraries.

 

[Flossbolna]

I wonder if one of the "modifications" will be a casino? If not, it certainly will be a test of the assumption that ships servicing this part of the world HAVE to have a casino.

We just were at Tokyo Disney Resort in June and their main audience seem to be women who love anything cute. It was interesting to see the difference between Universal Studios Japan and TDR. There were times when we were standing in line and we only could spot one or two men around us besides my husband. Very often those would be the other foreigners. Also, those small female groups were much more likely to carry something indicating that they had booked one of the very expensive vacation packages. USJ had an audience that looked far more like your typical average theme park audience. I don’t see that gambling would be a great hit with the TDR crowd we observed.

 

[Kwami]

I seriously doubt they will do that. If so, it would be a major change in direction by the OLC. It's very hard for somebody in the US to actually book a Disney vacation in Japan. They seem to have restrictions about dealing with foreigners.

Foreigners books vacations packages at TDR all the time. They have a website in English. They don't offer the same options as they do on the Japanese website, but there are still plenty of options for booking hotels, reserving vacation packages, and buying park tickets. The app works in English, too.

 

[happycamper47]

I think this is the biggest piece of the puzzle.. From Meyer Werft's press release. It's not really Disney.

It is an important signal for Papenburg as a shipbuilding location: the Oriental Land Company (OLC) has commissioned MEYER WERFT to build a Disney Wish-class cruise ship for the Japanese market.

 

[luisov]

This is awesome news! Disney cruises are always a big hit, and it's great to see them expanding to Japan. I remember taking a Disney cruise a few years back, and the character meet-and-greets were a highlight for us. I'm sure the Japanese market will love it, especially since they’re such huge Disney fans. Plus, it's nice to see more vacation options in different parts of the world.

 

[Flossbolna]

Foreigners books vacations packages at TDR all the time. They have a website in English. They don't offer the same options as they do on the Japanese website, but there are still plenty of options for booking hotels, reserving vacation packages, and buying park tickets. The app works in English, too.

I agree with this. There are some issues with credit cards, but that’s not an OLC problem, but a Japan wide issue. It was much worse with USJ and Japanese rail websites than with OLC. You even use your normal Disney account log in for their website and app. And they just added a new version of the vacation package for foreign guest and give more choices this way.

We were at TDR in 2017 and now again in June and the number of foreign guests has multiplied. We constantly overheard groups speaking English.

 

[Kwami]

I wonder if one of the "modifications" will be a casino? If not, it certainly will be a test of the assumption that ships servicing this part of the world HAVE to have a casino.

Casinos aren't really a thing in Japan. They passed a law to allow up to three of them some years ago (before Covid-19), but I don't think that any have opened, yet. So, at best, you'd get some pachinko machines. But even that probably won't happen since it's out of character for Disney and since they'd have to set up a shop somewhere on land where guests could redeem pachinko winnings in order to avoid the laws. It's all just not worth the trouble.