Groot and more Marvel characters coming to Tokyo Disneyland’s Small World for limited time

_{Updated Aug. 28, 2024; originally published March 27, 2024.}

The Marvel Cinematic Universe might seem anything but small, but in 2025 Groot’s going to show us it really is a small (Marvel) world after all.

It’s a Small World with Groot, a new, limited-time edition of the classic Fantasyland attraction, will operate Jan. 15 – June 30, 2025 at Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. To prepare for the overlay, It’s a Small World will be closed Sept. 17, 2024 – Jan. 14, 2025.

Marvel super heroes on vacation at Small World

Disney’s official logline for the Marvel overlay It’s a Small World with Groot reads:

Groot from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” film trilogy and his friends from Marvel Studios films are visiting Earth for vacation. Groot encounters his friends in various locations on Earth and experiences their regional cultures and music with them, as well as with children from all over the world.

Tokyo Disney Resort

The overlay will be temporary. Disney has not announced if it intends It’s a Small World with Groot to be a recurring, annual event or a one-time offering.

Like Disneyland Park in California, Tokyo Disneyland’s Small World features characters from Disney animated movies throughout the ride. These friends will remain in place during the Groot overlay.

Groot appears in various forms throughout the Marvel films, from a baby sapling to an angsty teenager to a kindly grandfather-like figure. It’s a Small World with Groot will feature the version of the character commonly known as “baby Groot,” as he appears in 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”

List of Marvel characters on It’s a Small World with Groot

In the attraction’s concept image, Groot carries a suitcase with a sticker depicting an anthropomorphic planet Earth hugging a pink heart, communicating the message, “I love Earth.”

The concept artwork features the following Marvel characters along for the adventure:

• Groot
• Groot’s fellow Guardians of the Galaxy: Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, and Mantis
• Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers
• The Wasp/Hope van Dyne
• Ant-Man/Scott Lang
• Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan
• Black Panther/Shuri
• Smart Hulk/Bruce Banner
• Goose
• The Mighty Thor/Dr. Jane Foster
• Captain America/Sam Wilson
• Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange
• Sorcerer Supreme Wong

Disney shared a behind-the-scenes video and YouTube short of Imagineers preparing the character figures and costumes for the attraction on Aug. 28, 2024.

Disney vs. Universal, an age-old Marvel saga

It’s a Small World with Groot will mark the first appearance of Marvel characters in a Tokyo Disney Resort ride. Tokyo Disney is the last remaining Disney theme park destination to integrate Marvel stories; attractions starring Marvel super heroes are already present at Disney parks in California, Florida, Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Why hasn’t Tokyo Disney infused Marvel into its parks until now? Like many conversations before it, the tension boils down to legalities between Disney and Universal.

The Marvel ensemble’s arrival at Tokyo Disneyland follows the January 2024 closure of The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. With Universal’s Marvel contract in Japan expired, the park closed its Spider-Man ride, at which point theme park rights to Marvel characters in Japan effectively transferred to Disney, as reported by Theme Park Insider.

Some Marvel characters will also be featured in a new nighttime spectacular (alongside Disney and Pixar characters) debuting at Tokyo Disneyland on Sept. 20, 2024.

More Groot in Disney parks

The Marvel overlay of It’s a Small World is hardly Groot’s first appearance in Disney theme parks. Upon the 2017 release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” guests could meet baby Groot and Star-Lord inside Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream (now Walt Disney Presents) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Groot also appears live and in-person at Disney California Adventure Park, and just this year received his own topiary at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival (pictured below).

The beloved Marvel character also, of course, co-stars with his fellow comrades in Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission – Breakout! at California Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot.