SANTA ANA, California – Visitors to Disney parks in California could one day walk through the snow-covered village of Arendelle from “Frozen” or the bustling, creature-filled metropolis of “Zootopia” under a park expansion plan approved by the Anaheim City Council .
Disney would spend at least $1.9 billion over the next decade to transform its 490-acre (488-hectare) campus in densely populated Southern California. It would be the biggest expansion of Disney’s Southern California theme parks in decades, with the goal of creating more immersive experiences for guests. Disney would also be required to spend tens of millions of dollars on street improvements, affordable housing and other infrastructure in the city.
The council unanimously approved the project at the end of an eight-hour meeting that began Tuesday night, the Orange County Register reported. A second board vote for final approval of Disney’s plan will be needed in May.
The plan would not expand Disney’s presence in tourism-dependent Anaheim, but it would help add rides and entertainment by allowing the company to move parking to a new multi-story structure and redevelop the massive lot, as well as make other changes to the shape. How to use. its properties.
Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and the Downtown Disney shopping area are surrounded by highways and residential areas in the city 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, so the company sees the plan as vital to being able to continue creating sizable new attractions. . .
A significant portion of the public testimony to the city council centered on Disney’s plans to purchase a public street near the theme park and turn it into a pedestrian walkway, as well as its intention to add a crosswalk to another neighboring street.
Scott Martindale, who lives nearby, said the crosswalk would improve safety.
“No change or project is perfect. But in this case, I believe that donations exceed income,” he said. Martindale added that Disney has conducted community outreach about its expansion plans for three years.
Another neighbor, Cassandra Taylor, said she is looking forward to the new attractions the expansion will bring. But she is concerned about Disney’s plans to privatize a city street, adding that she first heard about the idea last month in a newspaper article, despite having attended two Disney informational presentations.
“They may have a pedestrian walkway planned now, but once it is theirs they could easily remove it,” Taylor said. “It will be theirs and entirely theirs. Voters will have no say in its future use.”
Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort, said at the meeting, “We are ready to bring the next level of immersive entertainment here to Anaheim.” Over the past two decades, Disney investments have included Cars Land, Pixar Pier, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and Avengers Campus.
Disney has not committed to the stories it plans to present, as new development will take years.
It’s the first time Disney has sought a major change at its California theme parks since the 1990s, when the company won approvals to transform Disneyland, its original theme park dubbed “the happiest place on Earth” and built in 1955, in a resort center. It later built the Disney California Adventure theme park and the Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment area.
Disneyland was the second most visited theme park in the world in 2022, with 16.8 million people passing through the gates, according to a report from the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.
Anaheim is the most populous city in Orange County and is home to 345,000 people, as well as a major league baseball team and a national league hockey team. Hotel revenue typically makes up about half of the city’s revenue and is expected to rise to $236 million this year, according to city estimates.
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