Tokyo DisneySea’s Port Discovery Expansion
The Tokyo Disney Resort now has tentative plans for its next major expansions. At Tokyo DisneySea, the Oriental Land Company has announced that they are going to try and expand the Port Discovery area of the park, which they hope to complete within the next 10 years. Despite this ultimately being a great announcement, it comes with a slight caveat: the removal of Aquatopia, a beloved opening-day attraction with a unique place in Tokyo DisneySea’s history. There is no other Disney attraction like Aquatopia, which potentially raises some questions about how the park can preserve its history while continuing to innovate.
The new 2035 long-term management strategy was announced on April 28, 2025 alongside some new concept art for the overhauled land. Port Discovery, which is basically a futuristic marina, will be the main area to be changed up. The concept art shows various new buildings and a different layout than what’s currently at the park. Technically the project is still under consideration, but it would be surprising if this redevelopment wasn’t approved by the government when they built the massive Fantasy Springs expansion in the past few years.
Still, the concept art doesn’t just feature new additions. There’s also a pretty big attraction missing, that being Aquatopia. As previously stated, it was an opening-day attraction, and it’s said to be removed to make way for a new, unspecified attraction. Other existing attractions in the area like the Tokyo DisneySea Electric Railway, Tokyo DisneySea Transit Steamer and the Nemo & Friends SeaRider are all still visible in the concept art, meaning they’ll most likely be retained during the expansion. That said, the artwork looks to show a circular turnaround for the Transit Steamer, which potentially means that they might seal off the waterway that connects it to the American Waterfront area of the park.
Who knows what this new attraction that replaces Aquatopia will be, as there’s no specific details about the theme, tech or anything else going into the ride. There were lots of mixed emotions on social media after the reveal, with some people bummed about the loss of the ride and others excited for what’s to come. This optimistic take makes sense to me, as the Tokyo Disney Resort has been knocking it out of the park when it comes to new additions. Fantasy Spring and the new-ish Beauty and the Beast ride look incredible, and I’m sure the upcoming Space Mountain revamp is going to be of similar quality. I don’t see a huge reason to worry, even though it’s a bit of a bummer we’ll have to lose something as unique and iconic as Aquatopia.
Adventureland Overhaul in Tokyo Disneyland
The Port Discovery expansion is only half the story. At the resort’s original park, Tokyo Disneyland, more concept art was revealed that potentially teases the removal of the fan-favorite Jungle Cruise, as well as the Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, the railroad and more.
The same 2035 deadline is set, and just like the Port Discovery expansion, it hasn’t actually been approved yet and could potentially be temporarily halted or blocked altogether. The early concept art that was released teases the possible removal of all the aforementioned attractions.
It’s anyone’s guess what might replace all these rides, but if you look at the concept art there’s quite a few hints. The artwork looks a bit like the South Americas concept art we’ve received multiple times for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which could lead to some potentially similar attractions. The waterfall towards the back looks a bit like Paradise Falls from Pixar’s Up, and there’s also a few colorful balloons seen throughout, so we could potentially be looking at a ride or area themed to that property.
Tokyo Disneyland’s Adventureland area borders its New Orleans area, and it looks like that area might potentially get expanded further. There’s also quite a few attractions pictured, including some sort of boat ride, a playground, a larger roller coaster, a spinning ride and a sort of swing ride. The roller coaster and spinning ride are actually mainly located in a sub-area that looks a bit like the island from the first Incredibles movie. The spinning ride looks a bit like the spherical robots, and the coaster trains are red, so perhaps that film is actually getting its own area. I’d be pretty excited about that.
Still, it’s a bit shocking to see Adventureland, which is a staple of all Disney parks, lose most of its identity at Tokyo Disneyland. Whereas the Port Discovery expansion seems to mostly keep the former theme, Adventureland will become an entirely different place. The Jungle Cruise has been there since opening day, and losing that combined with their unique Stitch-infested Tiki Room is quite the shock. At least the closure of the Swiss Family Treehouse isn’t much of a shock. That attraction has been closed for years, and it was only a matter of time that it would be torn down. Hopefully the Western River Railroad survives, because despite it being located somewhat in Adventureland, a bulk of it is in Westernland, so they could potentially change up its route. Unlike most of the castle parks, the railroad doesn’t go around the entire park, so it might be a bit easier to flex the layout.
As with all concept art, things are subject to change. We just got that massive Universal Great Britain artwork not too long ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of that isn’t accurate as time goes on. The same goes for this Tokyo Disney artwork. Even if everything I’ve mentioned ends up closing, I’d still expect nothing but the best quality attractions to replace them, as that’s just how Tokyo Disney Resort and the Oriental Land Company operate. I’d love to be able to ride something like Aquatopia before it closes though, so hopefully they put out a closing date that’s at least a couple years out!
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