DisneyForward Expansion Project

[TheUniC6]

This layout right? (in red) View attachment 25665

Below is a layout I was referring to from WDWMagic. This one involves the monorail being moved which from what I heard over there, is a necessity for the EGW bridge

I probably should have removed that since it was Blue Sky. Wouldn't be surprised to see DLR executives monitoring the success of Villains at DHS to start early development of their Villains land.

Those Superstar Limo Monsters, Inc. figures will look very good when flying by them at 40 mph.

If DCA gets rebranded into a cinematic adventure park, you could probably put a modified Villains land in the first phase of the Simba lot.

Yeah the park desperately needs to keep a theater. The park really lost a masterpiece in (what I would consider a top 3 attraction at the park, possibly resort) in Aladdin. I wish they could have "given" Aladdin to WDW or another resort.

I think the reason for the diminishing theater shows at DLR are the labor costs coupled with the fact they seemingly get stale for the AP's who frequent Disneyland.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Yeah the park desperately needs to keep a theater. The park really lost a masterpiece in (what I would consider a top 3 attraction at the park, possibly resort) in Aladdin. I wish they could have "given" Aladdin to WDW or another resort.

Aladdin was great. The silver lining of most of the post 90s parks being underbuilt was that we got some great shows to alleviate each park's capacity issues. Disneyland seems to manage fine without a stage show, but even now, DCA would really benefit from a stage show especially when one of its E-tickets is down.

 

[DrStarlander]

I grafted the tightest Monorail turning radii from the spaghetti bowl to see about how quickly a realigned route could clear the Hollywood Backlot/drop off expansion area, then paralleling the other track on into Tomorrowland.

 

[Jake S]

I’d love to see some data on Aladdin attendance in the years before its closure. We had APs at the time and it certainly felt like it was packed every time we went. Of course, this was a long time ago when I was Still Young. So, trust my memory at your peril.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I’d love to see some data on Aladdin attendance in the years before its closure. We had APs at the time and it certainly felt like it was packed every time we went. Of course, this was a long time ago when I was Still Young. So, trust my memory at your peril.

I think it was Len at TP (I can be very wrong here, might have been Robert from TPI when we was credible) that said Aladdin was in the top 5 of Disneyland resort experiences in guest ratings.

 

[belloq87]

Where does the bus drop-off/pick-up go if Avatar ends up pushing out there?

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Where does the bus drop-off/pick-up go if Avatar ends up pushing out there?

Eastern Gateway will have a massive bus pickup area.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Eastern Gateway will have a massive bus pickup area.
View attachment 25686

They gotta get on that imo

 

[belloq87]

That will make it take a lot longer for people arriving by bus to get to the entrance.

One of the big perks I found when staying along Harbor during my 2023 trip was how close to the esplanade you got dropped off.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

That will make it take a lot longer for people arriving by bus to get to the entrance.

One of the big perks I found when staying along Harbor during my 2023 trip was how close to the esplanade you got dropped off.

Nearly the same walking distance as Esplanade to the Disneyland Hotel or IOA to the parking garage.

Bad, but not terrible.

 

[DrStarlander]

That potential new area replacing the bus drop-off at DLR is tricky. There are lots of things happening -- and will likely still need to happen there, including:

• A bridge from the EG parking
• Pedestrian access from sidewalks
• Escalators and elevators to get to grade
• Required green (trees) buffer for aesthetics
• A service road that connects Disneyland and DCA backstage, that likely will go below grade (as it does now) but wider as it's reportedly too narrow
• Realigned Monorail track
• A pleasing first-impression experience of Disneyland Resort (e.g., all the functional issues can be solved but shouldn't create a bad guest experience)

Here is a concept, with caveat I'm not sure the main walkway to the Security Plaza is wide enough, so consider that width and scale of theme park expansion adjustable.

Given that walkway is sandwiched in an alley between backstage buildings, it may be good if it's done as a tunnel with skylights and pre-park hype vibe (music, murals, topiary, whatever) so the environment can be fully controlled/immersive in terms of creating a great impression.

 

[belloq87]

I wonder if it might not be better to have the primary security area over on the other side of Harbor where the new parking/bus area would be, with a smaller one on the Disneyland side of the road to handle sidewalk/walking traffic.

You'd just have to make sure those two routes to get to the Esplanade don't mix until the walking contingent has gotten through their security point.

 

[DrStarlander]

I wonder if it might not be better to have the primary security area over on the other side of Harbor where the new parking/bus area would be, with a smaller one on the Disneyland side of the road to handle sidewalk/walking traffic.

You'd just have to make sure those two routes to get to the Esplanade don't mix until the walking contingent has gotten though their security point.

As far as I recall, Disney originally wanted the security over on the garage side but got backlash from the local hotels. As you describe, maybe they can do a hybrid (smaller security for sidewalk pedestrians) and keep the traffic separate.

 

[TheUniC6]

When you go to the RunDisney home page this notification comes up:

The DLR Run Disney event is from Jan 29th-February 1st 2026. Once that is over it should be full steam ahead on EGW construction. Then once the 70th wraps they should (hopefully) break ground on Avatar.