Will Disneyland get an Avatar land? It's likely. Here's what may be in store
With the city of Anaheim unanimously voting to pass DisneylandForward, the Disneyland Resort will be forever changed.
Twice in the last 69 years, Disneyland has been significantly transformed. Four years after the park opened in 1959, Disneyland added its monorail, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and a submarine ride and expanded Autopia. It was a message that would begin to fulfill Walt Disney's promise that Disneyland would never be completed.
More than that, however, it revealed that Disneyland would continue to look to the future. Disneyland in 1959 showed its guests possibilities — a transportation system in the monorail that could remake urban communities, a tease of the freeway system that would reshape travel and a glimpse at the sort of deep-sea excursions only a lucky few could witness. The Matterhorn, while inspired by the film “Third
Man on the Mountain,” also was meant to be a transportive experience, to not only bring to Disneyland a new kind of thrill ride but give visitors a taste of international adventure.
Disneyland's second reimagining came much later. In 2001 the Walt Disney Co. would open Disney California Adventure, the Grand Californian hotel and the Downtown Disney District. These additions would attempt to make Disneyland, the company's original park, one that could, in theory, rival Florida's Walt
Disney World by becoming a resort that could demand multiday stays.
This expansion succeeded as well, but not overnight.
The original vision of Disney California Adventure proved to be lackluster, relying heavily on onthe-shelf rides and lacking emotion-driven experiences that take visitors out of their daily life. While the Grand Californian is a Craftsmaninspired triumph, Downtown Disney is in the midst of a transformation and is still attempting to outgrow its reputation as a home for chains and midtier eateries.
And now we're entering a new era of possibilities, one that likely will look much different from the prior two. Modern Disney is centered on intellectual property — or IP, in corporate speak — rather than Waltera idealism, and the most tantalizing prospects of DisneylandForward center on building around existing structures rather than erecting a new park.
With DisneylandForward, the company won the flexibility to redesign the resort. Zoning rules will be amended so that Disney can add new attractions alongside hotels on the west side of Disneyland Drive. These will, if they come to fruition, likely be extensions of Disneyland or Disney California Adventure rather than a third park. Additionally, a new shopping, dining and entertainment district can be created to the southeast on what is currently the Toy Story parking lot at Katella Avenue and Harbor Boulevard.