Disney Issues Warning to Resort Guests Amid Potentially Catastrophic Earthquake

If you’re planning a trip to this Disney resort in the near future, you may want to take heed of a new government warning.

The magic of Disney is capable of many things, but controlling the elements, sadly, is not one of them. Every Disney resort worldwide has had to grapple with poor weather or natural disasters at some point, with some facing scarier circumstances than others.

Walt Disney World Resort, for example, is located in an area prone to hurricanes. Orlando has buckled in for its fair share of storms over the years, with Disney even closing Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom for the likes of Hurricane Nicole, Hurricane Ian, and Hurricane Irma in the past.

Even Disneyland Resort has weathered multiple storms, with Disney’s Southern California theme parks closing early due to a hurricane for the first time ever due to Hurricane Hilary in August 2023.

However, earthquakes are more likely to have caused the closure of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Situated in an earthquake-prone region, Anaheim has had a few ‘quakes over the years – including yesterday, when a 4.6 magnitude earthquake shook the Los Angeles area around 12:20 p.m. PT.

While many guests didn’t feel the tremors, Disney temporarily closed multiple rides (although it’s currently unknown whether this was due to the earthquake).

But Disneyland Resort isn’t the only Disney resort that is earthquake-prone. Further afield, Tokyo Disney Resort has been hit by several notable earthquakes during its time. Most famously, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea were forced to close for over a month after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which cost the resort over $400 million in profits.

While no guests or Disney cast members were harmed during the earthquake itself, an estimated 20,000 guests spent the night in the resort after public transportation was temporarily closed.

Since then, several other earthquakes have been caught on camera – including an incident in January 2024 in which Eeyore was filmed trying to keep guests calm and instructing them to stay down.

On Saturday, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Japan off the coast of Hokkaido. This followed a 7.1-magnitude quake on Thursday that injured eight people in the south of Japan. Now, the Japanese government is warning that an even bigger earthquake could be on the way.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued its first-ever “megaquake alert” after Thursday’s earthquake struck near a seafloor depression called the Nankai Trough. This sits above a large fault zone where the “possibility of a large-scale earthquake is considered to be relatively higher than under normal conditions,” according to the JMA. This fault zone produces “megathrust quakes” with a magnitude of 8 or 9 every 100 to 200 years.

According to seismologist Naoshi Hirata of the University of Tokyo, the chance of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 or 9 magnitude occurring in the Nankai Trough in the next 30 years is 70 to 80%. JMA warned that “if a major earthquake were to occur in the future, strong shaking and large tsunamis would be generated,” while estimates from 2012 suggested that a worst-case scenario could lead to up to 323,000 fatalities.

While Urayasu (the area where Tokyo Disney Resort is located) is outside the high-risk zone, it is included in the advisory for tsunami waves, which currently stretches from Okinawa, in the southwest of Japan, up to Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo.

Before you panic or start reconsidering your next trip to Tokyo Disney Resort, several experts have downplayed this warning and insisted that “pre-quakes” are extremely rare. As per The Japan Times, Robert Geller, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, has noted that any earthquake prediction is a waste of time. However, thousands of tourists have still reportedly canceled trips to Japan in light of the warning.

Japan has seen a huge uptick in tourists in recent months, largely due to the current weakness of the yen. In June, it fell to a 38-year low against the U.S. dollar. Unsurprisingly, Tokyo Disney Resort has also seen an influx of American visitors, with many rushing to visit Tokyo DisneySea’s newest land, Fantasy Springs, which features areas inspired by Peter Pan (1953), Tangled (2010), and Frozen (2013).

Gaining access to the land is notoriously tough right now, with guests required to either acquire a Standby Pass (which is free but limited, with some guests arriving in the early hours of the morning to boost their chances) or purchase Premier Access (which is also limited) to one of its four rides to enter. Alternatively, guests can enter Fantasy Springs by purchasing a Fantasy Springs Magic 1-day Passport, which is only accessible to those staying at the newly-opened Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel (which is attached to the land).

Do you plan on visiting Tokyo Disney Resort any time soon?