DisneyForward Expansion Project

[JungleSkip]

Has its own gate, doesn't have to fit Disneyland/DCA themes and cost money to enter

...did you even look at the plan?

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

...did you even look at the plan?

www.disneylandforward.com

EDIT: Looking at the website, they specifically mention experiences like Fantasy Springs and Zootopia coming to the parks. Which either means they're leading with their best material to help make this expansion a reality, or they intend to bring these lands over for the expansions. I'm not sure how I feel if they just intend to use these expansion plots for clones of popular lands, but the generic concept art they showed doesn't really look like anything being built at either Shanghai or Tokyo.

EDIT 2: Actually, they specifically indicate that Fantasy Springs could act as an expansion to Disneyland and California Adventure's expansions could be.....ugh.....Toy Story Land, Tron, and Zootopia. This is on the Project page of the website.

 

[JungleSkip]

www.disneylandforward.com

EDIT: Looking at the website, they specifically mention experiences like Fantasy Springs and Zootopia coming to the parks. Which either means they're leading with their best material to help make this expansion a reality, or they intend to bring these lands over for the expansions. I'm not sure how I feel if they just intend to use these expansion plots for clones of popular lands, but the generic concept art they showed doesn't really look like anything being built at either Shanghai or Tokyo.

Again, they mention multiple times that everything in the plan is a *possibility*, not what is 100% planned for whatever happens on this land. Don’t read into the examples they give too much

 

[belloq87]

I know the Disneyland resort doesn't have much space to work with, but that's one of the weirder proposed "expansions" I've ever seen. "Here, use this narrow walkway to leave Disneyland proper and access a shared expansion with California Adventure!"

Weird concept. A separately-ticketed boutique theme park, disconnected from either existing park, would make a lot more sense.

Still, I'm glad they envision a future for domestic theme park spending on a large scale. I hope that carries over to WDW.

 

[JungleSkip]

I know the Disneyland resort doesn't have much space to work with, but that's one of the weirder proposed "expansions" I've ever seen. "Here, use this narrow walkway to leave Disneyland proper and access a shared expansion with California Adventure!"

Weird concept. A separately-ticketed boutique theme park, disconnected from either existing park, would make a lot more sense.

Still, I'm glad they envision a future for domestic theme park spending on a large scale. I hope that carries over to WDW.

The expansion isn’t shared between the parks. There are gates leading to a plaza by DL Hotel that has dining and entertainment not in either of the parks

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Again, they mention multiple times that everything in the plan is a *possibility*, not what is 100% planned for whatever happens on this land. Don’t read into the examples they give too much

I know, but still, exciting to hear they're at least maybe considering Tokyo-caliber rides to Disneyland, kind of strange they're leading with Toy Story Land and Tron for California Adventure. Just as a marketing tool for the Anaheim board, it's just odd they would choose those attractions for California Adventure. But I guess they can't exactly announce what new rides they might be considering for DCA, like, ya know, a Coco ride.

EDIT: I agree with your general premise though, that those lands were just thrown as placeholders to get the public excited and incentivize Anaheim to rezone those areas for theme park use. I just am puzzled by the use of what I consider to be unexciting and subpar placeholders for DCA, at least in my opinion.

 

[JungleSkip]

I know, but still, exciting to hear they're at least maybe considering Tokyo-caliber rides to Disneyland, kind of strange they're leading with Toy Story Land and Tron for California Adventure. Just as a marketing tool for the Anaheim board, it's just odd they would choose those attractions for California Adventure. But I guess they can't exactly announce what new rides they might be considering for DCA, like, ya know, a Coco ride.

I mean, we still need to see what the Tokyo rides are. Pretty sure the Frozen ride is just the Epcot ride tho

 

[Jerroddragon]

Disney for sure is telling us now to drum up support and see how many want this (spoiler everyone but some of the locals)

But this will make the city sooooo much more money, the construction alone is going to be insane for making jobs and taxes. Then afterwards the city gets even more money from taxes along with more hotels which is another tax they get.

Basically if they don't help push this along vs the parking lot idea they are throwing away billions, it will finally make the property into a resort as well where you can't do EVERYTHING you want in one day...now you can but not with this.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I mean, we still need to see what the Tokyo rides are. Pretty sure the Frozen ride is just the Epcot ride tho

I think the Hong Kong and Paris versions are the same as Epcot but the Tokyo version is unique.

Remember there was that one Attractions Magazine article where they wrote about the Frozen expansions?

New details I learned during my visit to Walt Disney Imagineering

We recently had the privilege to take a visit to Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, Calif., where we learned some new facts about upcoming attractions.

attractionsmagazine.com

Which erroneously stated that the Hong Kong ride would be significantly different from Frozen Ever After? Which we know isn't the case, since we know Frozen at Hong Kong is a clone of FEA.

This is what posters on WDWMagic said about the error when the article came out.



And we can already see from the leaked blueprints on themeparx.com of the building from aerial photos that the ride will be different somehow. It's likely that the story might not change however.

 

[JungleSkip]

I think the Hong Kong and Paris versions are the same as Epcot but the Tokyo version is unique.

Remember there was that one Attractions Magazine article where they wrote about the Frozen expansions?

New details I learned during my visit to Walt Disney Imagineering

We recently had the privilege to take a visit to Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, Calif., where we learned some new facts about upcoming attractions.

attractionsmagazine.com

Which erroneously stated that the Hong Kong ride would be significantly different from Frozen Ever After? Which we know isn't the case, since we know Frozen at Hong Kong is a clone of FEA.

This is what posters on WDWMagic said about the error when the article came out.

View attachment 14268

And we can already see from the leaked blueprints on themeparx.com of the building from aerial photos that the ride will be different somehow. It's likely that the story might not change however.

We’ll see. I hope it’s significantly different, but I’m not expecting much more than what’s going to show up everywhere else

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

A lot of people have already pointed this out, but I imagine this specific wording on the website is deliberate:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I feel these plans are sorta like when car companies test out a new body design but disguise it with all those crazy patterns. I think the big take away is they want to move around some zoning for new attractions.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I feel these plans are sorta like when car companies test out a new body design but disguise it with all those crazy patterns. I think the big take away is they want to move around some zoning for new attractions.

So if it's just a zoning issue, and they aren't seeking tax breaks or public funding, then what issues would they be running into besides noise complaints, which could likely be rectified with sound barriers and placing show building parallel to the suburban areas?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

So if it's just a zoning issue, and they aren't seeking tax breaks or public funding, then what issues would they be running into besides noise complaints, which could likely be rectified with sound barriers and placing show building parallel to the suburban areas?

From the FAQ:

We are at the very beginning stages of the process. While the project will be refined over time, we hope to explore the creation of integrated experiences featuring new theme park attractions, dining, retail, hotel, and more. Right now, we don’t have any specific projects planned for the future. To be clear, Disney is not seeking any public funding for DisneylandForward, nor are we seeking additional square footage or hotel rooms beyond what is currently approved and allowed. Rather, we are simply asking to update our existing approvals to allow for integrated development to be located and built on Disney properties.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

From the FAQ:

Yes exactly, like I already said, they aren't seeking any public funding. So what I'm asking is what issues besides just getting approval to change the zoning, which doesn't seem like that much of a hassle, what other issues would they run into.'

EDIT: I guess what I'm trying to say is that the ambitious public campaign for this expansion has certain implications. It suggests that changing the zoning for land that Disney already has the right to develop on is more politically complicated than it might initially appear.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

The same reason every company ever releases the “this could be us but you taxing us too much” plan: to strongarm the local government

Bingo. This is Disney forcing Anaheim's hands by going public. Disney likes to be in control of anything they do, and for the past few years they feel the city has held them back by not providing tax incentives, etc.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Disney Tourist Blog with a good breakdown as always:

DisneylandForward Theme Park Expansion Plans

Disneyland has announced a proposal for new theme park, retail, and parking expansion in California as Disney plans to work with Anaheim to reimagine the resort district over the next two decades. In this post,

www.disneytouristblog.com

 

[Tristan]

Okay but my question is why is there that esplanade/hub for the expansion plots?

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Okay but my question is why is there that esplanade/hub for the expansion plots?

Crowd flow. With just the current entrances, there would be bottlenecks getting in and out of the new lands over the connection bridges. It's also just good design to create connection points between adjacent areas, as opposed to backtracking through the entire park to get to areas that were only a couple hundred feet away.

EDIT: Also, yeah if this goes through, so many implications for crowd patterns in the parks.

 

[Evan]

Okay but my question is why is there that esplanade/hub for the expansion plots?

Gives hotel guests a quick and easy way into either Disneyland or DCA, so that also adds value to the hotels.

Don’t have to walk all the way to the main entrances.

Very interesting if this pans out, can add considerable expansion space for both parks. Would really change the dynamic and feel of the resort I think, especially if you have new entrances in as well.

Would be odd entering Disneyland not from Main Street though.

ETA:

This gif is helpful: