Last Friday, on August 27, it was announced that the Tokyo Disney Parks have drawn 500 million people since they first opened in 1983.� The 500 millionth visitor, a housewife from Gunma prefecture named Soma (38), was granted an exclusive admission to the theme park (both Tokyo Disneyland and Sea) valid for five years. Soma was just visiting Tokyo Disneyland with her husband and two children when she won the ticket.� It was her children's first time visiting the said park.

As the nation�s most popular theme park, Tokyo Disneyland receives up 9.9 million visitors annually. Its sister park, Tokyo DisneySea, which opened in 2001, received a record of 25 million visitors during its first years.