he magic has not dimmed here where Mickey and friends are marking 25 years with fans as loyal as ever. Tokyo Disneyland opened in the suburbs of the Japanese capital on April 15, 1983 as the company's first theme park outside the United States.
Built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay dubbed "Maihama" -- a Japanese take on Miami Beach near Florida's Disney World -- the resort has sprawled out to include hotels, a shopping mall, an aqua park and soon a permanent Cirque du Soleil.
"The moment I arrive at Maihama Station, my heart starts singing with its legs doing dance steps," said Toshiko Sugano. "I turn 58 next month, so I'll have to come back to celebrate."
She was spending the day at Disneyland with her 31-year-old daughter and 54-year-old sister, all still enchanted since they first came a quarter century ago.
"It's a totally different world here, away from real everyday life," the elder Sugano said.
Her daughter, Izumi, a Disney maniac who has visited the park more than 100 times, teased her mother over how much she has warmed to the characters.
"She was initially taken aback when Mickey put his arm around her shoulder. Now she springs towards Mickey if she finds him," Izumi said.
As Japan's birth rate sinks to one of the world's lowest, Tokyo Disneyland has already set its sights on people like the Suganos, the generation who grew up admiring Disney cartoons on television and took their children to the park at the opening.
Oriental Land Co. Ltd., the Japanese company that runs the park under a license contract with the Walt Disney group, in March launched a cut-rate pass for visitors aged 60 or older.
Sugano is determined to get one.
