Disneyland has finally received approval from the Anaheim City Council to go ahead with a major expansion plan.
A plan to rezone the land owned by Disney, allowing it to build attractions where it could previously only develop hotels and parking lots, was approved by the council on Tuesday with a unanimous vote.
Disney's Anaheim-based resort currently sits at approximately 550 acres but over the next decade, the park plans to spend $2 billion developing the property for a project called DisneylandForward. This includes buying streets from the city of Anaheim for $40 million.
"We've worked closely with city staff, neighbors, and our local community over the past three years to make sure DisneylandForward is a win for everyone—I'm grateful the city council agrees and voted to work with us on this legacy project that will set up Disneyland Resort and the City of Anaheim for an incredibly bright future," Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock wrote on the Disney Parks blog.
While no specific designs have been shared yet, Disney has released concept art, as well as a map of the proposed new Disneyland, on the DisneylandForward website.
Newsweek emailed Disneyland California for comment Wednesday.
According to the map, there is the potential for an immersive new theme park to be built, which could include a new hotel, shops, restaurants, and entertainment. A Disney California Adventure Park expansion and parking and transport expansion could also be included. It has also been suggested that a variety of pedestrian bridges could be built.
The project will allow for more flexibility within Disney's existing properties. The California park could also take inspiration from new lands that are being constructed at Tokyo DisneySea and Shanghai Disneyland. This could include Tangled, a land inspired by the movie about Rapunzel, and Peter Pan, a Neverland area that features two exciting attractions.
Disney has also identified Zootopia and Toy Story Land as inspirations for the theme park.
Thanks to these updated approvals, Disney hopes the resort will become home to more technologically advanced entertainment.
"With DisneylandForward and more flexibility within our existing properties, new lands and adventures like those underway at Tokyo DisneySea and Shanghai Disneyland could inspire new experiences here," it stated on the DisneylandForward website.
During a shareholders' meeting in April, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the project could result in a new Avatar-themed area being built.
"We're thrilled about many potential new stories that our guests could experience in Walt's original theme park, including the opportunity to embark on all-new Avatar adventures with a visit to the world of Pandora," he said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Billie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. She reports on film and TV, trending ... Read more
