Oriental Land Company., Ltd., which is a Japanese leisure and tourism company, has just marked another major milestone in its expanding partnership with the Disney brand.
Oriental Land Company already operates Disney’s two theme parks in Japan – Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea – and is now leading the charge as Disney Cruise Line expands into the Asian market.
On November 29, 2024, Oriental Land Company., Ltd. signed an agreement with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government that designated the Port of Tokyo as the hub for Disney Cruise Line’s Asian operations and as the homeport of choice for future sailings.
“We would like to inform you that Oriental Land Company, Ltd. has signed a cooperation agreement with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for the aim of developing its Japan-based cruise business, with the Port of Tokyo as its main departure and arrival base and to cooperate on related initiatives,” reads a statement regarding the agreement, which has been unofficially translated from Japanese.
As part of this, Oriental Land Company, Ltd. has established a more concrete plan for building and launching a new Wish-class ship specifically for the Japanese market – which was first announced on July 9, 2024.
Construction will begin in 2025 – with ship delivery taking place in 2028. The ship is then expected to officially debut in 2029.
“In order to develop our cruise business, we will start shipbuilding in fiscal 2025 and aim to launch in fiscal 2028. Based on this agreement, we will work in cooperation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to realize our unique leisure called ‘Family Entertainment Cruise,’” continued the translated statement.
This will be the first ship to sail under the Disney name that is actually owned and operated by an organization other than The Walt Disney Company.
It’s also an entirely separate endeavor than the previously announced Disney Adventure, which was designed with the Asian market in mind but is still owned by Disney. The first of Disney’s Global-class ships will launch in Singapore at the end of 2025.
What We Know About the Next Wish-Class Ship
While it’s still very early in the process, the unnamed new-build will likely share a lot of similarities with Disney Wish and the new Wish-class vessels joining the fleet: Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny.
Disney Treasure will officially enter service on December 21, 2024, with Disney Destiny following in 2025.
The new ship is expected to be about 140,000 gross tons, with a capacity for about 4,000 passengers and 1,500 crew members (also known as cast members) – which makes the new-build around the same size or ever so slightly bigger than the existing Wish-class ships.
While the new vessel will likely offer similar amenities to other ships in her class – such as the AquaMouse water coaster that debuted on Disney Wish – there will likely be new experiences specifically curated for Japanese cruisers.
Read Also: How Much Is a Disney Cruise?
With Disney Adventure heading to Singapore next year, many may also be wondering how the unnamed vessel will compare to Disney’s first ship that was specifically designed for the Asian cruise industry.
While we don’t yet know specifics about amenities onboard the new-build, Disney Adventure will certainly be much larger. In fact, she is the largest ship in Disney’s fleet at 208,000-gross tons with a capacity for approximately 6,000 guests.
She also wasn’t exactly a new-build – whereas Oriental Land Company, Ltd. will be starting from scratch on their ship.
Disney acquired the partially constructed vessel in 2022 from the now bankrupt Genting Cruise Lines.
At the time, the Global-class vessel was known as Global Dream and was in her fourth year of construction at the Wismar shipyard in Germany.
