Five years after the major project that added Beauty and the Beast mini-land and ride, plus Fantasyland, Toontown, and Tomorrowland expansions, the Oriental Land Company (OLC) has unveiled brand-new concept art for future expansions in both parks. This breaks down the redevelopment of Adventureland, with Up, Incredibles, and Moana replacements for Jungle Cruise and more.
Let’s start with background, which is mostly the same ground previously covered in Port Discovery Expansion & Aquatopia Replacement Revealed for Tokyo DisneySea. If you’ve already read that, scroll down to the new concept art for Adventureland that shows what’s being replaced and added.
This reveal comes via OLC’s 2035 Long-Term Management Strategy, released to investors on April 28, 2025. Along with this, OLC reported record results for the most recent fiscal year, likely fueling the desire for further expansion beyond that Wreck-It Ralph and new Space Mountain attractions currently under construction in Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland.
This 10-year plan for Tokyo Disney Resort reveals that the goal is to “provide moving experiences and surprises that cannot be found anywhere else in the world through development unique to Tokyo Disney Resort.” This will be accomplished via the “dynamic restructuring of our theme park sites including possible large-scale development such as area-wide redesign.”
OLC further states that the goal is to “constantly enhance the appeal of our theme parks by redesigning attractions and entertainment programs, offering time-limited special versions, and utilizing previously unused intellectual property and new technologies.”
To accomplish this, they plan to create new facilities and experiences, while also revamping existing venues and expanding services in pursuit of comfort and convenience to respond to changes in guests’ behavior and needs within the parks.
Nothing here is stop-the-presses news. OLC began offering vague summations of its medium and long-term plans in this report from 2016 when first announcing the Fantasyland/Tomorrowland expansion (Beauty and the Beast and Baymax) for Tokyo Disneyland and Soaring: Fantastic Flight for Tokyo DisneySea. This 10-year plan is pretty close to what they presented as their long-term vision almost a decade ago.
In that 2016 document, OLC indicates that the long-term plan for Tokyo Disneyland is “area-based development for each themed land, to take place in stages, is intended to leave a lasting impact.” While I’m not going to comb through every OLC report over the last decade, the vibe we’ve gotten from all of them has been a mix of place-making and replacing/revitalizing existing attractions, not outright expansion.
Even back then, Oriental Land Company indicated that leaning more heavily on tourists is only one of its medium-term goals (as of 2017), and not the main one. Rather, the top priority is to “foster medium to long-term fans (repeat guests),” which OLC ties directly to the aging population and declining birthrate.
That was in the lead-up to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, which were to be instrumental in helping Japan achieve a new record number of inbound tourists. That did not happen in 2020 for reasons that should be obviously. That year and 2021 set record lows, with international tourism only starting to recover in late 2022.
However, Japan did set a new record for inbound visitors last year, and the data I’ve seen thus far in 2025 suggests the country will be breaking that record. Cumulative visitor numbers for 2025 reached 10.5 million in the quarter through March, up 23.1 percent, marking the fastest pace on record to surpass 10 million, according to the government-affiliated Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).
The JNTO has incredibly aggressive long-term goals for inbound visitors that, frankly, I’m not sure are even remotely sustainable given the current strain in some locales. But that’s a bit beyond the scope of this post. The point here is that OLC wants a bigger slice of this international tourism pie, as these guests are far and away the highest spenders.
Enter the redevelopment and expansion proposal for Adventureland:
One of the goals of the aforementioned redevelopment projects has been to make Tokyo Disneyland unique.
When the park was originally built, it was done checklist-style with clones of areas and rides from Magic Kingdom or Disneyland. That’s quite literal, and how the park today has become a ‘bizarro’ version of those castle parks, with vestiges of the past that are long-extinct in the domestic parks.
This is precisely why OLC redeveloped Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, replacing legacy attractions with the Beauty and the Beast area, Happy Ride with Baymax, and more. It’s also part of the motivation for the Wreck-It Ralph ride and new Space Mountain–and probably more to come in Tomorrowland.
It’s thus unsurprising that OLC is now turning its attention to the other side of the park. We’ve been expecting some degree of redevelopment in Adventureland and Westernland for a while.
As part of the 10-year plan presentation, Oriental Land Company shared concept art for a wholesale reimagining of Adventureland at Tokyo Disneyland. This proposal appears to show the removal of Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Western River Railroad, and Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents “Aloha E Komo Mai!”
If this concept art were to come to fruition, it would probably also mean the removal of Theater Orleans, Country Bear Jamboree and more in Westernland. Both of the stage show venues are on the periphery of the plans, but Theater Orleans is vacant (and absent from the concept art) and Country Bear Jamboree is right behind the Tiki Room. So it makes sense to lose all of that–and everything in between–as part of this development if the space is needed.
Attractions and areas that appear to be safe are Pirates of the Caribbean and its adjacent mini-New Orleans Square streets (minus Theater Orleans), Crystal Palace, and the Coral Landing sub-land of Adventureland.
Coral Landing was one of the first areas added to Tokyo Disneyland in the early 1990s. Its strikingly similar to Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World, which is because some Imagineers worked on both projects. Anyway, I mention Coral Landing because it’s the original example of OLC wanting unique areas for Tokyo Disneyland–the initiative dates all the way back to then.
Not pictured in the concept art is anything in Westernland or the Rivers of America. However, these two lands are interconnected–so it’s difficult to visualize how removing Jungle Cruise happens without a domino effect that has major ramifications for this whole side of the park.
From this concept art, it looks like Adventureland will add an Incredibles roller coaster, Paradise Falls Up-themed attraction, and Moana boats in the middle.
The Paradise Falls rockwork could conceal a large show building, and there’s the space for that with the removal of Jungle Cruise and Western River Railroad. The roller coaster is more or less in the place of the Tiki Room (and connected facilities), while also winding through Adventureland and under walkways, a la Slinky Dog Dash at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The Moana boat ride would replace Swiss Family Treehouse, which has yet to reopen post-COVID closure. This attraction actually looks a lot like Aquatopia (which is being replaced at Tokyo DisneySea), making me wonder whether any of the ride system could be salvaged for this project. On the far side, there are a bunch of new buildings, which I assume is restaurants and retail. Tokyo Disneyland needs more of that in both parks.
Unlike the Port Discovery proposal, I’m hesitant to read too much into this Adventureland concept art. This reminds me more of the original blue sky daydreaming session for Dinoland that, ironically enough, revealed a Moana boat ride and Zootopia expansion.
Perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part, but I suspect this more impressionistic artwork is more about showing investors what is possible with an Adventureland redevelopment, as opposed to being concrete plans for what will happen.
My expectation is that expansion at Tokyo DisneySea will happen first. The Port Discovery project is lower hanging fruit, and Fantasy Springs has exposed just how badly more capacity is needed in the second gate. Not only that, but the Tomorrowland projects are currently in progress, so Tokyo Disneyland will get a boost in 2026-2028 as a result of those. There’s also the 50th Anniversary on the horizon, and that will be a huge driver of attendance in the back half of this decade.
Accordingly, all signs point to Tokyo DisneySea expansion being the medium-term project in the late 2020s. Adventureland expansion is more likely in the 2030s.
With that said, large scale redevelopments of Adventureland and Westernland are absolutely on the table, and have been for a while.
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but Cars Land replacing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island was first pitched as a project for Tokyo Disneyland. My understanding is that Imagineering was rebuffed and it went nowhere, but that was over a decade ago. A lot has changed since.
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be surprised if OLC goes with a project that somehow retains the Western River Railroad. Going with a plan that removes that would explode the scale and scope of this, and means that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Rivers of America are also in play. Maybe even Splash Mountain (unlike other fans, I remain skeptical that there’s any sense of urgency to remove this on OLC’s part–it’s incredibly popular and directly monetized with paid line-skipping).
Long-term, I do think the writing is on the wall not just for Adventureland, but for most of Westernland.
Unlike Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland is space-constrained. The Rivers of America is a huge piece of underutilized real estate. I really don’t want to lose it for the exact same reasons I don’t want to lose the area at Magic Kingdom, but it does feel like an inevitability.
However, it does not feel like an inevitability between now and 2035. Redeveloping both Adventureland and Westernland simultaneously would take too much of Tokyo Disneyland out of commission, and that park badly needs capacity. The attendance dynamics as a result of having two attractions down in Tomorrowland have already been suboptimal, so it’s hard to imagine OLC going for the all-at-once approach with Westernland and Adventureland.
This is especially true since construction would occur during Tokyo Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary. That will be a blockbuster event, and even right now it’s safe to predict that Tokyo Disney Resort will set new attendance records in 2033. They simply need the capacity, and this is the type of ambitious multi-land project that cannot be completed in the timeframe between the opening of Space Mountain and that milestone.
It’s also not as if Imagineering couldn’t build Paradise Falls around the Western River Railroad. They’ve already done exactly that in the past on multiple occasions, most recently with TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom. Before that, the same happened with the original Splash Mountain. It’d be trickier here, though, because the sole station is directly above the entrance to Jungle Cruise.
I don’t know how that works out. There are a couple of options, the first of which is going smaller-scale and being done by 2033. The second is going big, but not starting work until 2034 or 2035. I’d hazard a guess that OLC will choose the smaller, fragmented approach–that’s the smart move.
Ultimately, the jury is out for me on redevelopment plans for Adventureland and/or Westernland at Tokyo Disneyland. Whereas I think Imagineering probably has great plans for Port Discovery on the shelf that they can dust-off, and OLC will provide the budget to ensure that’s a massive improvement, I’m less optimistic about developing Adventureland.
My potentially controversial opinion is that I’m perfectly fine losing Jungle Cruise. I think one version of that ride should exist somewhere in the world for posterity, but I’m fine losing it just about everywhere else. That’s especially true at Tokyo Disneyland, where there isn’t room for expansion and the ride has a large footprint.
I’m far less comfortable losing the railroad and, with that, Big Thunder Mountain and the Rivers of America. That almost assuredly will happen in my lifetime, but I’d like them to stick around for as long as possible. I’d happily sacrifice Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, and the Swiss Family Treehouse if it meant saving the railroad and rivers–they’re simply too valuable from a placemaking perspective, especially since Tokyo Disneyland is already a concrete jungle as compared to Tokyo DisneySea.
As for the proposed replacement attractions, it seems too early to offer comprehensive commentary because, like so many other floated Tokyo Disneyland expansion proposals of the last ~15 years, a lot will probably change. What I will say is that Up and the Incredibles are popular franchises with Tokyo Disneyland guests, but I’d probably bet on dark rides as opposed to thrill rides (unless BTMRR is on the chopping block). Guest demographics differ at Tokyo Disneyland; the most popular attractions in Fantasy Springs are slow moving boat rides. It’ll be interesting to see how this concept continues to evolve.
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 Adventureland expansion and redevelopment proposal? Disappointed to be losing Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Western River Railroad, Enchanted Tiki Room w/ Stitch, Theater Orleans, or Country Bear Jamboree? Or do you view all of this as underutilized capacity in a space-constrained park? What do you think of anything else covered here? 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!