Walt Disney famously said, “Disneyland will never be completed.” He was right.
Wednesday’s vote by the Anaheim City Council to approve a $1.9 billion expansion plan for the Disneyland Resort, a 100-acre facility known among fans as the “Happiest Place on Earth,” was followed by a media giant. It is the latest in several huge investments.
Once upon a time, Disneyland was just a concept born from Disney’s visit to Griffith Park in Los Angeles. And so on July 17, 1955, the gates of the then $17.5 million resort opened all at once. Things were never the same for the city of Anaheim.
Ticket prices on opening day were $1 for adults and 50 cents for children, with each attraction having an additional fee of 10 cents to 35 cents at each location.
Over the decades, new attractions have been added to the resort and entire worlds have been created around new franchises acquired by Disney. Bear Country he opened in 1972 and made way for Critter Country in 1988 in anticipation of the construction of Splash Mountain, but he ultimately closed it in May 2023. Splash Mountain will reopen later this summer as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” inspired by the Disney film “The Princess and the Frog.” . ”
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In February 2001, Disneyland opened the doors to its 55-acre California Adventure. At the time, the $1.4 billion addition received poor reviews, leading some visitors to refer to the park as “Six Flags California Adventure,” a harsh comparison to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Over the years, the park has added his $1.1 billion renovated Cars Land, Pixar Pier, and other locations reminiscent of California’s days when red trolleys owned the streets.
In 2019, Disneyland opened the 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It is a $1 billion expansion that will feature two rides, shops and retail stores themed to the Star Wars movie franchise. Jedi and Stormtroopers roam an intergalactic city, encouraging role-playing with a staff of characters.
Imagineer Scott Trowbridge said: “If you just want to sit back and watch the world go by, that’s fine too, but one thing we know about our guests is that they will “They want to lean more and more into that story,” says Imagineer Scott Trowbridge. Disney CEO Bob Iger described him as the “creator” of Galaxy’s Edge on social media.
The Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run ride requires riders to take on different roles: two gunners, an engineer, and two pilots.
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Disneyland aims to transport guests to the world of Marvel movies at Avengers Campus by June 2021. Construction on Avengers Campus, built on the bones of Bug’s Land, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has finally opened to great fanfare within California’s Adventure. The Orange County Business Journal estimates the site will cost $500 million to build, but the House of Mouse is silent on official costs.
Avengers Campus boasts a Spider-Man stunt show in which the robotic web-slinger flies from tower to tower, flying 85 feet in the air. The character reappears as a costumed human and scales down the wall of the building to take photos with park users on the ground.
Times staff writers Todd Martin and Hugo Martin contributed to this report.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
