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Credit: DisneyFor years, the Walt Disney Company has had two primary California theme parks: the Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure. However, an ambitious new program from the iconic media company seems to be signaling that it is finally looking to expand and, likely, even open a third Park.
In 2021, Disney announced an expansive new campaign called “DisneylandForward,” which it describes as “a long-term planning effort among Disney and the city in which the community will have multiple opportunities to participate in the public review and approval process.” However, the actual intentions of the project appear to be convincing the city of Anaheim to finally let Disney actually open another Park.
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In the 1990s, Anaheim and the Walt Disney Company made a series of complex legal bargains that, among other things, limited Disneyland from expanding without explicit permission from the city; over the years, this has forced the company to continuously revamp, refurbish, and replace attractions like Splash Mountain, the Skyway to Tomorrowland, and Billy Hill and the Hillbillies with newer ones themed around Star Wars and newer movies like The Princess and the Frog (2009).
It appears that the purpose of DisneylandForward is to convince Anaheim to loosen its restrictions on its growth and essentially let it zone itself to its own ends; reportedly, the California city will review Disney’s initial proposals in early 2024.
While Disney has been relatively quiet with its plans to move forward with Anaheim, it has released concept art for DisneylandForward that clearly indicates plans to expand into a third Park.
It can even be speculated that Disneyland is looking to convince the city to give it even more special considerations than it currently does, much like its sister park Disney World formerly had with the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Central Florida Tourism Oversight District).
The cozy relationship between Disneyland and Anaheim has often been accused of bordering on back-alley dealing and improper influencing, which makes the company’s presumed attempts to give itself even more latitude to build what it wants where it wants a little more suspicious.
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However, it is undeniable that Disneyland is the largest employer in the Anaheim area and a massive commercial force for the entire state of California. Even as the company looks to develop new high-tech parks around the world (and possibly even develop on a new continent), Anaheim has to consider how much it wants to keep Disneyland on its home turf.
If Disney is looking to open a third California Park, it could be a huge financial boon for the city and potentially create thousands of jobs. We’ll just have to see what Anaheim says about it.
What could a third Disney Park in California look like? Let us know in the comments below!