The approval of the re-planning means that Disneyland in Anaheim, California will usher in a large-scale expansion. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images CNN【div】【/div】& mdash； On Tuesday night, Anaheim City Council unanimously agreed to rezone most areas of Disneyland, which cleared a major obstacle for Disney to start a large-scale expansion of Disneyland. Disney's original resort in California includes a shopping area, a parking lot and two theme parks, covering an area of about 550 acres, less than 2% of the Walter Disney world in Florida.
But with the newly approved "multi-purpose" zoning, Disney can now expand its theme park in Anaheim without obtaining any new land, and build attractions where the company could only build hotels or parking lots before. This paved the way for a decades-long project to expand its two theme parks there: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park.
"In the past 70 years, Disneyland Resort has had a unique and irreplaceable influence on hundreds of millions of tourists from all over the world. Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort, said in a statement on Tuesday night: "How exciting it is to know that our best days are still ahead-I can't wait to show you what is coming."
The project is called "Disneyland Moving Forward" and does not require any public funds. Although the specific design scheme has not been announced, Disney has released the expansion concept map of the surrounding areas of Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Plaza Hotel.
Re-zoning means providing more space for theme land and scenic spots. Courtesy to Disney "This is something that should have happened long ago-it should have happened for decades. In my opinion, this is the biggest thing Disney has done since its opening in 1955. " Dennis Spigel, owner and founder of International Theme Park Services, a global consultancy for theme park projects, said. Spigel didn't participate in Disney's plan. He said that this project will increase the number of visitors to Disneyland from about 25 million to 40 million in the next 20 years.
"You are changing from a two-room house to a five-room house," Spigel said, adding that tourists will feel much more comfortable in the expanded space and increase their per capita expenditure by staying longer to experience more scenic spots.
On September 30, 2022, tourists walked on the main street of Walter Disney World magic kingdom in Orlando, Florida. Brian R Smith/AFP/Getty Images related articles Disney revealed more news about the huge expansion of magic kingdom, which is part of the billion investment. What will the new area look like?
Robert a.iger, CEO of Disney, said at the shareholders' meeting in April that the potential new projects of Disneyland may include "the opportunity to visit Pandora's world and start a new adventure of Avatar".
It may be that the concept art of Avatar shows a space similar to Pandora, the animal kingdom of Disney in Florida, but tourists are on a boat in the middle of an open lake, which reminds people of the second film in the series, The Way of Water.
In a video released by Disney in January this year, Rachel Alde, senior vice president of global development of Disney Experience Company, said that an agreement reached with Anaheim in the 1990s allowed Disney to build 6.8 million square feet of theme park space, but due to space and zoning restrictions, the company only built 46% of it.
"Imagine what we can do with this space. Now, it is a ground parking lot. But what if we can become the first land based on tile Kanda in Panther franchise? A land based on Zootopia, which makes full use of the works you saw in Shanghai Disney Resort before. The creation of arundel in Frozen is similar to the scenes you saw in our three international parks. There is even a chance to celebrate Dia de los Muertos on a cocoa-themed land, which resonates with the diverse communities in Southern California. "
A rendering of the land that may be Avatar shows tourists taking a boat trip on the open lake. Disney' Disneyland will never be completed' Writer and historian Don Ballard wrote a book about the historic Disneyland Hotel. He said that the company's original resort "has been developing". I mean, you know, technology has changed and people's tastes have changed. "
Ballard quoted a famous saying of Walter Disney: "Disneyland will never be completed. As long as there is imagination in the world, it will continue to grow. "
Todd James Pierce, a professor at the California Institute of Technology in San Luis Obispo, wrote a book about the construction of Disneyland, Three Years in Wonderland. He said, "When Walter was alive, there was a new attraction almost every year, if not many new attractions. The only rest time is near the World Expo, because he is busy doing other things. But it gave the Disneyland Resort land to really expand in that way ... So if people are fans, something new will appear every year and every few years in the near future. "
A possible land theme in the new area is freezing, similar to the design of three international Disney parks. Disney Pierce said that the interesting thing about the concept art they chose was that "these things are not independent attractions. They are all 8 to 12 acres of themed environments, usually around one or related [story], "like a whole frozen land. Both Ballard and Pierce believe that besides creating something imaginative, this new project is also practical in easing the crowds in this compact resort.
Ballard proposed to his wife at Disneyland. He joked, "It's just me and 80,000 closest friends. I proposed to her in front of the castle, and the four girls behind her agreed. "
Pierce said that by opening up new land, Disney can also easily close existing attractions for redevelopment, because tourists can be dispersed and will not be forced to crowd together.
How to keep it in a "bubble"
Disney theme parks around the world are famous for creating an immersive atmosphere, and visitors can leave the "real" world to experience fantastic things. To do this, we need a "Disney bubble", which fans call a "bubble", in which people are isolated from the outside world.
But this project will face a challenge, because some of the land that may be redeveloped is separated from the main park of Disneyland Resort. Disney showed a piece of land on the east side in the concept art, which is currently the ground parking lot of Toy Story and can be transformed into a mixed use of hotels, restaurants and shopping areas similar to Disney Springs in Florida.
Pierce said that from the main theme park to this shopping area, you need to cross the city streets with 7-eleven convenience stores and CVS pharmacies.
Pierce said that the challenge "is not to do what they are really good at, that is, to build a theme environment, but to figure out how to connect these patchwork properties they now control." "things like elevated walkways, passenger transport systems or aerial cable car systems (elevated gondolas) may be necessary, otherwise the holiday experience will become fragmented."
According to Mike Lester, chief communication officer of Anaheim, the Disneyland project includes the approval of footbridges on city streets, but any other project needs the approval of a separate city.
Another problem is to ensure that there are enough parking spaces. Because it is possible to build theme park land on the basis of existing parking lots, Disney needs to build new parking facilities in other places around the resort. Disney said it envisions building a new parking place on the east side of the resort, including one or three footbridges, to provide upgraded entrance barrier-free environment for hotels and enterprises along Harbour Avenue.
40 years of commitment
Tuesday's rezoning approval will take effect in 30 days. Next, Disney and Anaheim will try to finalize a development agreement valid until 2064.
"This is a milestone for the city. "We are looking for a unique opportunity, not only for Anaheim, but also for the whole state of California," said Ashleigh aitken, mayor of Anaheim.
The proposed agreement includes Disney's commitment to invest .9 billion in the project in the first 10 years, pay million to take over the two streets currently owned by the city, pay million to improve traffic, invest million to build a city park, and invest million to build affordable housing.
Spigel said that he believed that the company would exceed its initial investment commitment and spend more than billion.
The company has previously announced that it will invest 60 billion dollars in parks and cruise ships around the world in the next 10 years.
Aitken said that more than 50% of Anaheim's general fund comes from dollars generated by tourism. Therefore, the project will not only change the experience of tourists, but also bring significant investment to the city.
She also said that she has been one of the "fiercest critics" of the expansion of the resort, opposing urban subsidies and ensuring that the project is supported by the construction and hotel trade unions.
"I am very happy that the Disney team has answered many such questions."
Aitken said that the resulting proposal was well thought out and was a "win-win" for everyone.