Anticipation is building after city officials in Anaheim, California last month approved the Disneyland Forward plan, which would see the company invest at least $1.9 billion in theme parks and lodging over 10 years. The new development plan, approved despite some local controversy, gives Disney flexibility to build more attractions, restaurants, retail and hotel space in areas of the property that were previously off-limits.
The Central Florida Tourism Supervisory District Board of Directors He was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican). gave final approval The company signed a development agreement Wednesday night that could see it pump $17 billion into Walt Disney World Resort over the next 10 to 20 years.
Disney executives said in September that they plan to nearly double capital spending on the division, which includes theme parks and cruise ships, to $60 billion over the next decade. Disney parks have more than 1,000 acres of land available for future expansion, the company said last year.
Having watched Disney parks around the world announce major new expansions — Zootopia in Shanghai, The World of Frozen in Hong Kong and Frozen, Tangled and three Peter Pan attractions in Tokyo — fans in the United States are eager to see details about the company’s growth at home. They’re scouring speeches, public comments, earnings calls and Instagram accounts for any bit of information they can get.
“As fans, we’re always listening and looking for any and all tidbits and tidbits,” said Jessica Sanders, a writer at Happiest Blog on Earth.
More news is expected to be announced at the D23 convention in August, billed as the “ultimate Disney fan event.”
“Deep down, my little fanboy heart is hoping for some unprecedented, unexpected announcements from Disney,” WDW Radio podcast host Lou Mongello told The Washington Post.
Disney’s investment comes as rival Universal prepares to open its highly anticipated theme park in Orlando next year called Epic Universe, which will feature worlds based on Harry Potter, Super Nintendo and the How to Train Your Dragon series.
“As someone who looks at the industry as a whole, this is a very exciting time to be a theme park fan,” said Carissa Baker, an assistant professor of theme park and attractions management at the University of Central Florida.
Over the past few years, Disney has announced some plans, hinted at others, and hinted at possibilities.
Avatar Adventures at Disneyland
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Chief Executive Bob Iger has been talking about the possibility of offering an experience based on the Avatar films in California since last year, revealing “the creative inspiration for this potential new destination” at the company’s shareholder meeting in April. Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida already features an area modeled after Pandora, the world depicted in the franchise, with mountains that appear to float, rides that simulate flight and a serene boat ride.
“We’re excited about the many new story possibilities our guests will experience at Walt’s original theme park, including the opportunity to visit the world of Pandora and embark on an all-new Avatar adventure,” Iger said. “We’ve talked about our plans to bring Avatar to Disneyland for some time, and our Imagineers have been hard at work dreaming up what our guests can expect.”
Disneyland hasn’t said what else the expanded parks will bring beyond Avatar, but a “Potential” section on the project’s website notes that the resort will “take inspiration from exciting lands and attractions around the world,” specifically citing Frozen in Hong Kong, Zootopia in Shanghai, Toy Story Land in Florida, and the Tron roller coasters in Shanghai and Florida. It also notes that Tokyo’s new Tangled and Peter Pan areas “could be the perfect inspiration for the future of Disneyland Resort.”
“Tokyo just opened their Frozen area, so we’re excited,” said Sanders, who lives in Utah and visits Disneyland once a month. “When are we going to get a Frozen or Tangled area?”
Florida’s Latin American Makeover
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The company announced last year that it would reimagine the dinosaur-themed area at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as one inspired by parts of South and Central America, an area the company calls “Tropical Americas.”
The new area is expected to include an Indiana Jones-themed experience and attractions inspired by the film “Encanto,” with concept drawings of the area showing the magical “casita” from the film as part of the land.
A team of ride and experience designers, known as “Imagineers,” posted a video on Instagram in April showing their journey to the Yucatan Peninsula as part of their research for the project.
The existing dinosaur ride there shares many ride mechanics with Disneyland’s Indiana Jones ride, Len Testa, president of planning site Touring Plans and co-author of “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and Disneyland,” said in an email. He described this particular update as more of a “retheme” than an entirely new ride.
New ride coming to Magic Kingdom?
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Disney has floated plans to expand one of its most popular theme parks in recent years, referring to a wooded area beyond the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster.
The company has acknowledged the project is moving forward without giving details, with an executive calling it “probably the biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom history” during a media event in April, CNN reported. Early concepts have included the films “Coco” and “Encanto,” or even areas built around Disney villains, but these early ideas are no guarantee of the final product.
Baker said the project will take time to develop: “Basically the trees are there. They’ll need to move dirt, they’ll need to set up a building site.”
Testa said the fan community wants to see new attractions that pay homage to beloved properties or expand the canon of existing titles.
“But it would have to be a big new vehicle,” he said.
Disney World’s fifth park?
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The new development deal would give Disney the go-ahead to build a fifth theme park (or “gate,” in industry jargon) after the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, but experts are divided on whether it will happen.
“Disney needs to continue to demonstrate its superiority, but it can’t do it through rides or attractions or park areas alone,” said Dennis Spiegel, founder of the consulting firm International Theme Park Services. “It’s time to build a new park.”
It won’t be cheap: He estimated it would cost between $8 billion and $9 billion over a period of at least seven years.
Baker, a former operations executive at Disney and Universal, doesn’t think that will happen because of the infrastructure that would need to be added and the staffing gaps that would need to be filled.
“We need to add capacity,” she said, but added that it would probably be more beneficial to add attractions to existing parks rather than building new parks.
Testa said that while everyone wants to know if Disney will build a fifth park, he believes they should “get the third and fourth done,” meaning that the two parks — Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom — have yet to reach their full potential.
At a media event in April, Mongello said he would like to see more hotel rooms and expansions to the existing theme parks, including a revamped Tomorrowland and more attractions at Animal Kingdom, but he also believes Disney needs to “wow people” in August, as company executives insist they are “accelerating” investment in the parks.
“I think the focus is not just on expanding the theme parks, but also on reinvigorating some of the fan passion that has waned a little bit over the last few years,” he said.
