A big announcement on long term plans was shared by Disneyland on March 25, 2021! A new “multiyear public planning effort with the City of Anaheim” called Disneyland Forward will see expansions to Disneyland. Think new rides, shopping, and entertainment!  

Disneyland Forward will see a focus on reimagining the Disneyland Resort over several years (possibly even decades!). The project’s site shares: “Without updates, new Disney experiences and placemaking, created from our beloved stories, will likely never find their way to the Disneyland Resort as they have to other parks throughout the world. With Disneyland Forward and more flexibility within our existing properties, new lands and adventures like those underway at Tokyo DisneySea and Shanghai Disneyland could inspire new experiences here.”

So what exactly does Disneyland Forward mean for us fans? We’ve pulled together some of the highlights that were shared online and from the presentation.

Taking Inspo from Tokyo DisneySea + Shanghai Disneyland

Disneyland Forward is pulling a lot of inspiration from what’s happening over at Tokyo DisneySea and Shanghai Disneyland. The lands that are serving as inspiration for this new project including the Frozen, Tangled, and Peter Pan areas that are coming to DisneySea.

The hope for Disney California Adventure is that it “could be home to some of Disney’s most technologically advanced, immersive and cutting-edge entertainment” as it takes cue from the lands and attractions like:

• Zootopia – Shanghai Disneyland

• Toy Story Land – Hollywood Studios

• TRON – Shanghai Disneyland (TRON coaster!)

In the presentation, Jeannette Lomboy, the Disneyland portfolio executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, shared, “We’re not announcing anything specific today as part of Disneyland Forward. These kinds of projects should give you a flavor of the types of industry-defining integrated experiences and story-rich lands that we want to bring to Anaheim.”

The Possibilities to Come

The DCA expansion is exciting, but there’s still more! A rendering for what the Downtown Disney future expansions could look like was also shared. Included in the legend are layouts for:

• An area for “a new kind of Disney entertainment” that might include a theme park, hotel, dining, retail, and other entertainment.

• Possible new parking.

Downtown Disney refresh incoming? The area that might become a “new kind of Disney entertainment” is pulling inspiration from Disney Springs at Walt Disney World. The rendering shared definitely captures major Disney Spring vibes! 

Additional parking is included in the projected plans. Disney’s focus on “future development over the next few decades” will see a pretty hard focus on transportation and transit being part of Disneyland Forward; including working with local businesses in the area to encourage the use of public transport.

Since acquiring land to expand the resort in Anaheim is off the table, Disneyland Forward will have a focus on creating new experiences for guests and will stay within Disneyland’s already existing property. 

What are you most interested to see come to Disneyland in the next few years?