On June 6th this year, Tokyo Disney Resort held the grand opening of Fantasy Springs. To promote tourism to this brand-new theme park, the resort’s owner, Oriental Land, has begun operating a special poster-wrapped train called the “Magical Journey Shinkansen” on the Tohoku Shinkansen in cooperation with JR East.
Let me start with a quick look at Fantasy Springs. This new area consists of three themed lands—Frozen Kingdom, Peter Pan’s Never Land, and Rapunzel’s Forest. For instance, visitors to Frozen Kingdom are welcomed into the kingdom of Arendelle from the film Frozen. Needless to say, Frozen was a major hit in 2013. The film received widespread acclaim from both critics and audiences, and went on to win two Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, among many other accolades.
Characters from Fantasy Springs appear on the side bodies of the Magical Journey Shinkansen. They include Elsa and Anna from Frozen, Peter Pan, and others.
You may remember when I previously introduced the “Magical Dream Shinkansen" which was Set J69 of JR East’s E2-J series EMU. In contrast, the new “Magical Journey Shinkansen” is Set U6 of the JR East E5 series. The E5 series is currently the fastest train in Japan, operating at a maximum speed of 320 km/h (198.8 mph). Thanks to its advanced body-tilting technology, it can maintain high speeds even on tight curves. JR Hokkaido's H5 series is a sister train to the E5.
