It's billed as "the happiest place on
Earth." And Friday, Disneyland's Tokyo theme park reopened in hopes of
bringing some of that missing happiness back to the Japanese people.
The park has been closed since the March 11 earthquake
that devastated northern Japan and the electricity shortage that followed.
Disney fans lined up as early as 6:30 a.m., an hour and a half before Friday's
reopening, hoping to be the first into the park.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and a host of other
Disney characters surprised visitors as the gates opened at 8 a.m. A sort of
Disney hysteria swept over the crowd as Mickey danced in front of visitors
minutes before the official opening of the park.
"We were so excited, we were almost crying,"
Tokyo Disneyland visitor Mika Hasegawa said.
The re-opening comes at a critical time for Japan, as
the country struggles to regain some semblance of normalcy after the earthquake
and tsunami that killed 13,500 people in the country's northeast.
Many Tokyo residents have refrained from excessive
celebrations and parties out of respect for the victims. But Disneyland visitor
Minako Ootsuka said that while Japanese people should be mindful of the
disaster, it's also important to have a good time and release stress.
Hiroshi Suzuki, public relations manager for Oriental
Land Co. -- the company that owns Tokyo Disneyland -- agreed. He said visitors
were so elated when they saw Mickey and the other characters, he wished he
could bring that kind of happiness to all people in Japan.
Other visitors to the park said they thought it was
important to start getting out and spending money to get the economy running
again. Erika Kanehira said she planned on visiting Tokyo Disneyland as often as
she could and would also purchase merchandise to help the disaster area
recover.
For every guest admitted to the park through May 14,
Tokyo Disneyland will donate 300 yen (about $4) to the Japanese Red Cross. The
park will also be operating under shortened business hours in order to save
power.
Suzuki says the company hopes to get the park up and
running on usual business hours as soon as possible. But most visitors are
happy to have the park back at all.
Tomomi Takehashi said Disneyland was a place where
people can come to laugh and smile -- and that may be exactly what the Japanese
public needs right now.
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