Disneyland Announces Plans for Future Expansions of the Resort!

By: Alana DeRose

Disneyland has exposed plans for a theme park expansion, as well as adding some new retail, hotel, and parking projects.

This is all a part of Disney's "DisneylandForward" effort to work with the city of Anaheim in order to grow the Disneyland resort post-pandemic. This includes Disney asking the city for their approval of plans to expand the theme park, and create a new hotel, retail, dining and entertainment area, on the eastern and western edges of the already existing resort.

"In the 1990s, the City of Anaheim approved specific plans that would guide the growth of the Disneyland Resort and businesses in the newly formed Anaheim Resort area.", Disneyland News Today stated. And while those plans resulted in major improvements to the entire Anaheim Resort, their “traditional” district/zone approach does not allow for the diverse, integrated experiences theme park visitors now seek, severely limiting Disney’s ability to continue investing in Anaheim. Today hotel, theme park, retail and dining are all part of one immersive experience. Guests expect that the future of entertainment will seamlessly weave all uses together in ways that were hard to imagine 25 years ago when the city created these specific plans."

Disney envisions on the west side of the area an expansion of the theme park on the Downtown Disney and Lilo and Stitch parking lots, "situated between the existing Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel", according to DLNT.

"Originally, there was some confusion amongst news outlets at today's announcement if this was a new park, but it appears they are actually large expansions of both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure."

DisneylandForward.com states that the new expansion could include Frozen, Peter Pan, Tangled, Zootopia, Toy Story Land and TRON Lightcycle/Run. Also, the already existing Toy Story parking lot on Harbor Blvd and across the street from the Anaheim convention center, will be turned into a new shopping and dining district, similar to that of Disney Springs at Disney World or Disney Town at Shanghai Disney.

Disneyland's concept for the east side of the property features a lagoon surrounded by shops and a small hotel, making this the retail area.

"To support future development over the next few decades, Disney plans to significantly invest in transportation, parking, transit and pedestrian safety measures to improve mobility throughout The Anaheim Resort.", according to DLNT. "In the future, Disney envisions creating a new parking destination on the east side of The Anaheim Resort, which would include a pedestrian bridge with upgraded entrance accessibility for hotels and businesses located along Harbor Boulevard. In addition, Disney will continue to work with area businesses and the city to invest in and encourage the use of public transit and ride-sharing for our cast and guests."

However details aren't finalized yet as Disney still need approval from the city to even build all of this stuff.

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Resources:

Disneyland News Today

WDW News Today