Why Everyone’s Paying Attention to a New Disney Garage

Before Walt Disney ever broke ground at Disneyland, he put his dream theme park in a bind.

Had Uncle Walt persuaded a few more bankers or investors, the situation might have been quite different.

What happened instead is that Disneyland Resort never included enough land.

Park officials have been scrambling since day one to account for this oddity. With DisneylandForward, the company may have finally solved its longstanding problem.

Here’s why everyone’s paying attention to a new Disney garage.

Stating the Problem

As Kristin Sabol discussed the other day, Disneyland officials have finally filed the paperwork.

One day soon, construction will begin on the Eastern Gateway Parking Structure.

First, Disney must demolish an existing building that has served its purpose as office space.

Afterward, the true purpose of the DisneylandForward project may begin.

Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote this article about the hidden purpose of the Disney initiative.

Nearly five years ago, I’d expressed bemusement over the mysterious nature of this project.

The applicable quote was, “In an odd way, Disney didn’t announce anything other than a name and hashtag.”

Disney’s lack of specificity about the nature or purpose of DisneylandForward irritated me.

So, I dug deeper and quickly learned that Disney wasn’t doing this to add more attractions or the like.

Well, they were, but that wasn’t the primary short-term reason for DisneylandForward.

In simplest terms, Disney officials sought to correct a mistake from the early 1950s.

That’s the one I referenced at the start of this article. Walt Disney didn’t purchase enough land.

Disney strategists have suffered repeatedly over the past 70 years to that lack of space.

Some attractions, like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones Adventure, adopted unique approaches.

On Pirates of the Caribbean, guests slide underground to maximize the potential space.

With Indiana Jones Adventure, Imagineers literally built a ride outside the official park grounds.

If Uncle Walt had purchased more land, none of these adjustments would have been necessary.

Since he didn’t, Imagineers have been forced to improvise for several generations now.

Who Cares about a Parking Garage, Right?

So, now you’re probably wondering what a parking garage has to do with any of this.

Well, I’ve pored over hundreds of pages of documents regarding DisneylandForward.

Three years ago, I told you about the 16 new attractions we may be getting.

I emphasize “may be getting” because Disney has provided so little transparency.

To date, Disney California Adventure has revealed four rides, two of which will go into Avengers Campus.

The third should start construction this year. It’s the Coco ride Imagineers sound so excited to build.

The other one is the Avatar attraction anchoring the West Coast version of Pandora.

During several public conversations about DisneylandForward, park officials pitched this proposal.

The documentation clearly indicates those 16 attractions, although it doesn’t list details.

Disney’s wording indicates “rides like…” and includes comparisons to existing attractions.

This phrasing only adds to the intrigue, although I’m on record as saying Disney is smart to adopt this approach.

A Zootopia-themed area sounds like a much better idea today than it would have a year ago.

Management never knows for sure which brands will suddenly get hot and must keep its options open.

Of course, before Disney can build anything significant, it needs more land.

And that brings us back to the parking garage that will finally get started soon.

Since the DisneylandForward negotiations proved successful, Disney can build in a new area. That parking garage signifies the first step in a methodical process already underway.

Even though Disney isn’t providing specifics yet, I can assure you a plan is in place.

Why That Parking Garage Matters

During the 1990s, Disneyland officials achieved something of a half-measure.

Management successfully renegotiated the zoning ordinances in surrounding portions of Anaheim.

Within 15 years, everyone realized that the agreement hadn’t achieved its primary goal.

Disneyland remained land-limited in a frustratingly restrictive manner.

Simply stated, Disney couldn’t build much once it completed Disney California Adventure.

Even worse, the first decade of that park proved disappointing. So, Disney hadn’t even used its land well.

That’s no longer an issue, but we’re witnessing part of the problem in plain sight.

For Disney to expand the size of Avengers Campus, Imagineers had to spec out every acre of land.

At some point, someone at Disney grew frustrated and spit-balled new ideas. One of them is DisneylandForward.

This project acquired a new street (and a half) for Disney, among other gains.

Now, Imagineers can rebalance the current tourist patterns at Disneyland Resort.

Part of the behavioral shift involves that parking garage…as well as what comes next. Realtor.com, of all places, has deduced how ambitious Disney’s plans are.

Their agents are anticipating how much property values in Anaheim will be impacted by these changes.

As a quoted theme park expert notes, “this is a well-thought-out plan basically utilizing every square inch of the land they’re expanding onto.”

The expansion will trigger an increase in property values for homes near this new section of Disneyland Resort.

Basically, homeowners will want to live as close as possible to this new garage because of what it represents.

I should say maybe because the plan hinges on one more thing happening.

The Proverbial Third Theme Park

Josh D’Amaro has officially won the CEO succession race, which matters greatly to this discussion.

As Mr. Theme Parks, D’Amaro takes pride in perfecting the parks, and he knows the deal.

Disneyland Resort has been trapped for the past quarter-century.

Disney could build Disney California Adventure, and that was it. The land didn’t allow for more.

Well, that was the thought before DisneylandForward. As of now, the situation has changed.

That parking garage allows Disney to shift traffic patterns in the surrounding area.

In the process, Disney can build new attractions and experiences on this side of the campus.

That Realtor.com article notes three areas Disney can improve. They are “theme park, retail, and parking expansions.”

While the company has scoffed at any notion of a third park coming to Disneyland Resort, nobody has said no.

And insiders are reading between the lines to guess what could possibly be coming next.

The parking garage will add 6,000 more spaces, and a pedestrian bridge is coming soon.

Disney has also confirmed that it’ll host a security gate here, which is another sign.

The company is creating infrastructure to support…something. It could definitely be a theme park expansion.

Pay Attention to That Garage

To a larger point, Disney could reclaim some of the other space at the Toy Story parking lot.

By moving all the pieces on the board, Disneyland Resort absolutely does have space for another theme park.

For that to happen, Disney will need to move around a LOT of dirt, but it’s doable.

And that’s why everyone’s paying attention to the new Disney Garage.

The company may have finally solved the problem that Walt Disney created more than 70 years ago.

DisneylandForward bought Disneyland some breathing room.

Now, we’re all left wondering what D’Amaro and his Imagineers plan to do with it.

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Feature Photo: Disney