Japan
THIRTY YEARS OF HAPPINESS
This year marks 30 years for Tokyo Disneyland.
Since its opening in 1983, Tokyo Disney has prided itself on being a magical place where dreams come true and where spreading happiness is a main priority to their guests. Therefore, the theme for this major milestone is happiness, and the year long celebration is aptly named “The Happiness Year”.
Although the celebration started last April during our visit to Tokyo, it’s not too late to join in as it will continue through March 2014.
It’s no secret that I love Disney and will go whenever given the chance, but “The Happiness Year” gave us even more incentive to spend a few days at Tokyo Disney during our trip.
As part of the celebration, a new ride has been opened, as well as many shows, such as the “Happiness is Here” parade. The parade takes place every afternoon and showcases favorite Disney characters dancing to the new “Happiness” theme song.
Unfortunately we were at Disneyland a few days before the official celebration began, so we missed these two new features. Luckily, we were still able to experience the decorations and the new merchandise– including 30th anniversary popcorn buckets!
I loved the decorations! I know the people at Disney often tend to outdo themselves, but some of the displays around the park were really cool. Decorations galore featured Mickey and the gang in their golden celebration costumes alongside “happiness balloons” and the 30th anniversary logo.
Even DisneySea had decorations and happiness balloons, despite the 30th anniversary only applying to Disneyland.
There were lines of people snapping away at these gigantic displays, so of course we took our turn as well.
There were also interactive displays set up throughout the park. Called “Happiness Sharing Spots”, these giant party machines lit up and made sounds based off the interactions they received. Children and adults both seemed to be having a lot of fun with these.
Inside the gift shops they were selling limited edition “Happiness Sharing Pendants”, which further enhanced these interactive experiences. We didn’t purchase one, but we were told something very special would happen if we used our pendant at every location.
At night the displays became illuminated. We then spent a long time retaking photos of all the displays, because they had a whole new look to them from their daytime appearance.
While the electric parade has stayed the same, the nightly fireworks spectacular has changed to a special version just for this year. We also unfortunately missed this because we were simply too exhausted after two full days spent at Disney.
While we were fortunate to experience some of what “The Happiness Year” has to offer guests, we still missed out on a lot.
If you’ve been thinking about visiting Tokyo Disney, definitely make this year the one to do it. We might just see you there!