NEWS: Disney’s $1.9 Billion Expansion Plans Get Unanimous Vote to Move Forward

The future is looking bright for Disney!

The Walt Disney Company has shared several times that they plan to expand their parks and experiences sector. This will include an expansion in Magic Kingdom and a re-theming of Dinoland U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom. And now we have even more reason to believe that an expansion will be coming to Disneyland thanks to a very important vote that recently happened in Anaheim, CA.

DisneylandForward is an expansion plan for the Disneyland Resort. It aims to re-zone the land owned by Disney so that they can turn areas only allowed to be parking lots, due to current zoning laws, into experiences for guests.

Disney has shared that a new shopping and dining district similar to Disney Springs could be on the horizon as well as new attractions like an Avatar-themed land that CEO Bob Iger teased at the recent Shareholder meeting.

Regardless of what Disney has in store, the project has had several major hoops to jump through. Prior to going to the Anaheim City Council, the project had to get approval to move forward by the Anaheim Planning Commission. Luckily, on March 11th, it was passed to move on.

Then, on April 16th, Disney brought the proposal to Anaheim City Council for approval. This was one of the last steps for the project to be set in motion, and it PASSED! After an eight-hour-long meeting, the council unanimously approved the proposal for the DisneylandForward project. This was the first of two votes required by the City Council for the project to be a go.

According to the Orange County Register, the meeting included presentations by Disney  arguments for and against the project from many people. Much of the opposition was against the sale of Magic Way and sections of two other roads which would be bought by the company from the city for $40 million if the final vote passes.

Disneyland Resort president, Ken Potrock, stated, “We are thrilled that the City of Anaheim has agreed to work together on this legacy project and excited for the city council’s initial approval of DisneylandForward as we move toward a final vote in May. We look forward to our bright future together!” The final vote for the DisneylandForward project by the City Council will be on May 7th.

We’ll be watching for all updates on this exciting project! Keep following AllEars for more Disney news!

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