While the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks have been closed for over a year, we’re headed towards better days. In an article from Inside the Magic, Disneyland is planning a major expansion called DisneylandForward.
As COVID-19 was beginning in the US last March, Disneyland, California Adventure, and other theme parks shut their gates for the foreseeable future. Parks like Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando have been open since last summer. Meanwhile, theme parks such as Disneyland Paris, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland reopened last year but fluctuated between closing and reopening following COVID-19 surges in their countries. Now that it’s been a year since the pandemic struck the world, places like Disneyland are gearing up to reopen.
Related Link: A Disneyland Lover’s Guide to Recreating The Theme Park Experience in Video Games
Over at Inside the Magic, we receive new details on DisneylandForward, an expansion to that will expand across retail and the theme park among other things. Over the next several weeks and months, Disney will be working with Anaheim on updating the area with a mix of more dining, retail, hotels, and theme park locations. This new initiative is a way to increase Anaheim’s economy following the COVID-19 pandemic. You can check out concept art of what the expansion will look like below.
“Because of the current rigid district structure, we just need more flexibility,” said Jeanette Lombay, Disneyland’s Portfolio Executive for Walt Disney Imagineering. “We’re excited about the possibilities and ready to dream. Believe me, we have no shortage of ideas, content or stories to tell or build.”
Currently, there’s no start date for construction of the expansion. While it’ll still be in the 500 acres that Disneyland resides in, DisneylandForward will expand what guests can do while on Disney property. In another image, we see a possible theme park expansion which is described as a “new kind of Disney Entertainment Destination.” It also shows how existing parking structures and property would fit with these new plans.
While theme parks can begin opening in California on April 1, Disneyland is set to open on April 30. A portion of Disney’s California Adventure was open for dining and shopping but it recently opened up for A Touch of Disney, a ticketed event where you can walk around the park and experience shopping and dining. In addition to the parks reopening, the Avengers Campus expansion is set to open at California Adventure sometime this year.
