Despite fans' visions of Islands of Adventure Japan, USJ Co. eventually clarified that the second gate would not be a Universal-themed park. One thing led to another, and eventually NBCUniversal owner Comcast announced that it was buying a controlling stake in USJ Co., giving Universal ownership and control of its Japanese park and its management.
Well, now the mayor of the city in Okinawa is turning to another theme park owner to develop a park in that city — Oriental Land Company, the owner of the Tokyo Disney Resort.
One of the top sites that follows Tokyo Disney in Japan and I tweeted about the report:
@tdrexplorer Should we assume from this that USJ Co.'s plan to build a non-Universal park there is now officially dead?
— Theme Park Insider (@ThemePark) December 9, 2015@tdrexplorer I thought the NBCU takeover of USJ Co. would doom the second-park plans, so Okinawa turning to OLC doesn't surprise me.
— Theme Park Insider (@ThemePark) December 9, 2015Does this mean fans will be seeing a third Disney park in Japan? Don't hold your breath. Even if Oriental Land were to sign on to the project, OLC - like USJ Co. before it- could choose to develop a park without branding from its American partner.
The land in question is supposed to come available following the relocation of a US Marine Corps Air Station. But that move has become a political issue itself in Japan, further complicating any potential plans for redevelopment, especially for something as capital-intensive as a theme park.
An Oriental Land spokesperson told the South China Morning Post that the company "will take time in studying" the Okinawa proposal.
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Maybe Disney wouldn't, but they don't run TDR, do they? So who knows? Maybe OLC might be interested in a non-IP-based park. I couldn't answer that though since I don't know much about the company other than that they're some Japan-based corporation that owns TDR but still has to pay Disney for licensing fees.
That said, I believe that OLC has said in public statements before that it is open to developing a non-Disney park. (Don't have a link handy - just going on memory here.) So perhaps that is what Okinawa is hoping. But Elsa herself couldn't have put any more frost on OLC's reply.
Okinawa wants a theme park to boost its tourism industry, but they probably will have to look beyond Universal or Disney to find a willing partner/investor.
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