Let’s Talk about the Disneyland Resort Expansion
Last week, Disneyland Resort filed some paperwork that came with a huge surprise.
Disneyland Resort plans to expand dramatically. If all goes well, Disney will win voters’ and the Anaheim City Council’s approval for this improvement.
(Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort)
Let’s talk about the Disneyland expansion plans and what they could mean for The Happiest Place on Earth!
Let’s Talk about What’s Holding Disney Back
Photo: Disneylandforward
Okay, let’s start with the caveats.
According to the DisneylandForward filing, Disneyland Resort will expand dramatically in the coming years.
Photo: LA Times
Before that can happen, Disney must take a proposal to the Anaheim City Council and win a vote of approval.
So, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves about the process.
Photo: Travel and Leisure
We’ve already watched Disneyland Resort plans fall apart due to the Anaheim City Council.
However, Disney has since successfully lobbied for a friendlier set of board members. Also, Disney has befriended California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Photo: ABC
Both statements reflect the fluctuating nature of politics, as Disney famously had a falling out with Newsom during the pandemic.
At one point, Disney was tight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as well, and we all know how that turned out. Everything’s politically fluid here.
Photo: The Wall Street Journal
The next Anaheim City Council election will occur in 2024, and it’s an awkward one due to the allegations that Disney…is part of a shadowy cabal.
If I worked at Disneyland Resort, I’d work hard to gain approval for these plans by the spring. Otherwise, election season begins.
Photo: Jeff Antenore / for Voice of OC)
At that point, council members could face more scrutiny over their Disney ties.
To a certain extent, that’s already happening. Disney critics are fully aware of the company’s influence over the Anaheim City Council.
Photo: OC Register
That’s the primary caveat here. Disney cannot do anything until it wins a vote.
The current authorized plans at Disneyland Resort don’t mesh with what Disney wants to build here. It cannot move forward without council approval.
Photo: Spectrum News
As of now, the Anaheim City Council remains friendly to Disney, providing the company with a brief window to get things done.
The Challenges Disney Faces
Notably, we’ve noticed a difference between the paperwork Disney has filed and what the company has indicated.
Perhaps that’s a misstatement, though. We lack the full knowledge that Disney’s park planners possess.
Photo: Computer Hope
As such, analysts like me are guessing at plans that Disney already knows.
What I described last week as a third gate may not be accurate. From what I can tell, that’s the best way to describe the proposal.
Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort
However, Disney pointedly refers to this area as a theme park expansion rather than a third gate.
Is that a matter of semantics? I honestly don’t know yet. But I want to lower your expectations just in case.
Photo: Disney
Whether Disney calls this an entirely new park or Disneyland’s West Side or whatever, it’ll increase the space on the Disneyland Resort campus.
Specifically, Disney will possess new space to build on an area that’s currently not feasible.
(Mariah Wild, Photographer)
We’re talking about a section of land within the confines of Katella Avenue, Disneyland Drive, Walnut Street, and Magic Way.
Importantly, Disney faces some constraints in building here that supersede any attempts at influencing the Anaheim City Council.
Photos: Voice of OC
Other agreements are already in place that prevent Disney from building tall rides, an issue it faced with The Villas at Disneyland Hotel.
Disney altered plans due to complaints from surrounding neighborhoods that the new hotel would block views.
Photo: Alison Carrigan
Park officials must obey such requests involving aesthetics due to Anaheim ordinances and also because it’s the neighborly thing to do.
As such, Disney cannot build anything tall within 200-300 feet of various neighborhoods in this area.
Photo: Yesterland
Those constraints rule out drop tower rides, big artificial structures, and (most importantly) roller coasters.
There’s a reason why Disney has never tried to build here before. It’s not an ideal scenario.
What Disney Plans
Photo: Disney
Disney’s modern terminology drops the premise of the themed land in favor of the neighborhood.
Currently, Disney California Adventure hosts eight themed lands, half of which are really neighborhoods.
(Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort)
Meanwhile, Disneyland operates nine themed lands, while EPCOT now includes four and Magic Kingdom six.
This Disneyland Resort expansion could include up to six themed lands, indicating that it’s a new theme park in all but name anyway.
Photo: Also D23
Perhaps the best comparison at the moment is the current expansion unfolding at Tokyo DisneySea.
The park calls this construction Fantasy Springs, but it’s really a combination of Peter Pan, Frozen, and Tangled.
Photo: Disney
Disney has added three other tantalizing possibilities into the discussion as well. Those are Tron, Toy Story, and Zootopia.
Notably, Disney could build attractions based on existing properties around the world.
The one exception here would be Tron, presuming that Disney really can’t build a roller coaster.
Of course, Disney could surprise us with something or locate its Tron expansion elsewhere.
We’re very early on this and have no idea which plans would go where.
What we do know is that four of the lands already exist elsewhere or at least will when Fantasy Springs opens in spring 2024.
Then, we have Toy Story Land, which comes in four different flavors elsewhere. At this point, Tokyo’s the only other Disney park without one.
Obviously, Disney would possess a ton of options about what it could build in this themed land.
Then, we have the three stories Disney will tell at Fantasy Springs.
MickeyBlog has tracked this themed land since the beginning, and we recently learned the names of the new attractions.
All of them are in play for Disneyland’s expansion. After all, Disney already possesses the blueprints for how to build them!
What Comes Next
Photo:mynews13/com/Getty
Again, Disney will ask the Anaheim City Council to vote on the updated DisneylandForward suggestions at some point in 2024.
However, park officials sound confident that Disney can expand at Disneyland Resort.
Photo: Washington Post
Otherwise, Disney wouldn’t have just announced its intent to spend $60 billion on Disney Parks, Experiences and Products over the next decade.
Chairman Josh D’Amaro also spoke about the possibilities of places like Wakanda and the world of Coco at the parks.
NEW: During today's Disney Parks investor summit in Orlando, Josh D’Amaro said Frozen "could have a presence at the Disneyland Resort." He continued: "Wakanda has yet to be brought to life. The world of Coco is just waiting to be explored." pic.twitter.com/M2ddiIGy6q
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) September 19, 2023
Disney has changed its tenor here. Executives are now talking as if these projects are a foregone conclusion.
Photo: @michael.e.moriarty via Instagram
At Disneyland Resort, Imagineers fully expect to expand with new attractions beyond King Thanos and Avatar.
Park officials want attractions like the Tron roller coaster as part of this expansion. The paperwork actually shows pictures of Tron Lightcycle / Run.
Photo: Disney
So, if they’re worried about violating housing ordinances, they’re hiding it well.
Part of that behavior probably stems from the fact that Disney has reportedly used less than half the space it already has approved in Anaheim.
Photo: CNtraveler.com
The other part is that Disney swings around a lot of political weight in Southern California right now, and its leadership team understands this.
Anaheim desperately missed the tax revenue when Disneyland Resort remained closed during the pandemic.
Photo: DIsneyland
Politicians no longer take The Happiest Place on Earth for granted the way that they had in 2018.
Disney fully intends to strike when the iron is hot, and that’s why it’s pushing this dramatic expansion.
Image: Disney
No matter what Disney calls the changes, the addition of six (or more) themed lands is the equivalent of an entirely new theme park.
This move legitimately will change Disneyland’s identity for the next quarter-century or more.
Fellow Disney fans, I’m pretty sure this is happening as long as Disney gets the votes next year.
Photo: MickeyBlog
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