What's Going On With the Disneyland Expansion Project Now?

Earlier this year, Disneyland shocked us all when they announced a project known as DisneylandForward. This announcement perhaps left us with more questions than answers, and since that time, there haven’t really been any updates!

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Today, we thought we’d check in with all things DisneylandForward, including a recap on what exactly this project is (and isn’t, at least not yet!), and where it currently stands.

What is DisneylandForward?

If you missed Disney’s mega-announcement from earlier this year, let’s catch up on what exactly DisneylandForward is. In short, the project as it currently stands is a proposal to the city of Anaheim, California to update the existing plans which determine Disney’s districts, areas, and zones, which are currently limiting from the company’s point of view. Disneyland Forward is essentially a push for more flexibility with its districting and zoning plans.

©Disney

These existing plans were a result of an approval from Anaheim in the 1990s which was meant to “guide the growth” of the Disneyland Resort as well as other businesses in the area. Disney, however, believes that “Disneyland Resort is facing planning restrictions that limit its ability to bring new experiences to the Anaheim Resort.”

More about DisneylandForward ©Disney

So if an area on Disneyland property is zoned to be a hotel, the company is currently unable to be flexible in those plans if they, say, want to expand their theme parks — because that area is zoned as hotel space, not theme park space. Disney is seeking the flexibility to do with those districts a wider variety of things, such as add more hotel rooms, expand their parks, add more shopping and dining, etc.

What DisneylandForward is NOT is any sort of “third gate” or “theme park expansion” announcement — at least not yet. Disney’s first massive hurdle before they can announce any sort of expansion is to get approval from the city of Anaheim to “provide flexibility as to the location for permitted uses within The Disneyland Resort.”

DisneylandForward concept art ©Disney

Taking a look at the concept art, DisneylandForward could come with some exciting changes if approved. Disney shared an interesting list of potential ideas that could be explored if they are granted flexible and mixed-use zoning, such as lands themed after Tangled, Peter Pan, and Frozen (already coming to Tokyo Disney Resort), as well as Zootopia (currently coming to Shanghai Disneyland).

Exciting announcements may indeed be coming down the road, but not until this first crucial step is achieved, which is updating their existing plans and adopting more flexible, mixed-use planning.

Click here to read more about what exactly DisneylandForward is!

Where Does the Project Currently Stand?

According to the company, DisneylandForward is “at the very beginning stages of the process.” Disney is very clear that the project will take a long time before any guests see the tangible results of DisneylandForward; in fact, Disney has stated that they “would implement the Project in multiple phases over the next 30 years or more.”

Concept Art ©Disney

Disney is currently “focused on meeting with the community to explain DisneylandForward and working with the City of Anaheim to review and ultimately approve the project. These updated approvals are necessary as they will allow us to explore new integrated and immersive experiences that could include adding new theme park attractions without having to remove and replace treasured rides and attractions.”

Where We’ve Been, Where We’re At, and Where We’re Going ©Disney

The most recent update was a Notice of Implementation with the City of Anaheim’s Planning Department, which was filed in October of 2021. The notice was in large part an Environmental Analysis which addressed any and all potential impacts that DisneylandForward would create in the city. This back-and-forth planning process about these things could last a few years before any of these initial decisions are finalized.

Click here to read about some of the potential changes we could see if DisneylandForward is approved!

DisneylandForward is very much in its earliest stages, and it will still likely take some time for Anaheim to approve of the project. Even once it’s approved, it will likely take several more years before we see any actual results of this approval, like a theme park, new hotel, new dining, etc. We will of course be keeping a close watch on any updates from the Disneyland Resort in the coming months and years as the project moves through its approval stages, and hopefully turns into an exciting period of growth for Disneyland!