Tokyo Disney expansion plans thrill investors, shares jump

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Shares of Oriental Land Co Ltd jumped on Thursday after local media reported the theme park operator's plans to spend more than 300 billion yen or 2.7 billion US dollars on a major expansion of its Tokyo Disney Resort theme park featuring an attraction based on hit film “Frozen."

The investment would be the biggest since spending about 340 billion yen to open Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Shares of Oriental Land rose three percent in morning trade, outperforming a 0.2 percent decline in the broader TOPIX.

The company has started talks with US entertainment firm Walt Disney Co on the expansion plan, the Nikkei reported, without citing sources.

The company will also consider adding an attraction to the expansion based on the Disney animated film "Frozen," the Nikkei said.

In a statement, Oriental Land said it has been planning a major development from its financial year beginning April 2021 and later but that nothing specific has been decided.

Oriental Land is the Japanese operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort, which started with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in 1983 in Urayasu on the outskirts of Tokyo.

The amusement park, featuring attractions such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Splash Mountain," draws in about 30 million visitors annually.

Oriental Land plans to expand the resort’s 100-hectare site by about 30 percent and open new attractions around 2023, the newspaper said. The expansion plan is designed to alleviate the amusement park’s chronic congestion, it said.

Source(s): Reuters