Last week, news organizations and Disney bloggers learned that the Mouse House had filed building permits with the city of Anaheim related to a parking structure at Disneyland Resort.
That immediately sparked rumors about a third park — a long-held dream of Walt Disney Co. fans who want to see more rides, themed areas and Mickey-related shopping destinations.
But that will remain a dream — at least for the foreseeable future.
Anaheim city officials confirmed as much in an internal email about one of the news articles, noting to City Council members and the mayor that the permits were, in fact, for minor parking lot improvements within the existing Toy Story parking structure off Harbor Boulevard.
The email, which was reviewed by The Times, said the improvements were not related to an already-approved expansion of Disneyland Resort, or “what could ultimately be developed on the property in the future.”
A Disneyland spokesperson told me the permits are related to painting and striping at the Toy Story parking structure. So much for a third theme park.
It’s not the first time there’s been a hullabaloo about an additional park at Disneyland Resort.
In the early 1990s, there were serious talks about a Disneyland expansion called Westcot Center, a West Coast version of Walt Disney World’s Epcot in Florida. The plan at one point was to include three hotels, a public plaza and a number of retail, dining and entertainment options all around a central lake. At one point, both Anaheim and Long Beach were vying to be chosen as the site.
But that all collapsed in the mid-’90s amid financial concerns. Disney later built California Adventure, and briefly teased the idea of a third theme park complex with both a water park and amusement park that could complement the two-park resort. But that but never came to fruition.
The idea came up yet again about 10 years ago at an annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco, when former Chief Executive Bob Iger batted down speculation about a third park.
“We have plans at Disneyland for an expansion that we have not announced but those plans at the present do not include a third gate,” he said at the time.
More on that expansion later, but the truth is Disney simply doesn’t have enough land in Anaheim to build out a third theme park. I spoke with Len Testa, president of theme park travel site TouringPlans.com, who laid out the issues for me.
A third park would probably need a minimum of 80 to 120 acres of land to accommodate big new rides, as well as necessary behind-the-scenes facilities like employee break rooms and other back-of-the-house infrastructure.
“They’re landlocked,” he said. “And to acquire that land now in any way that would keep the campus centralized and avoid the logistics of a far-flung transportation network, that would be prohibitively expensive.”
That’s not to say that Disneyland Resort isn’t expanding on the land it does have.
Two years ago, Anaheim approved expansion plans for a project known as DisneylandForward, which will allow the company to build new attractions alongside shops, restaurants and hotels.
Development plans include a bigger Avengers campus with two new rides, as well as a “Coco” ride and “Avatar”-themed area in California Adventure, as well as a new parking structure.
Although it’s not a park, adding new lands and rides is “mission critical” for Disneyland Resort, Testa told me. After all, to drive attendance, you need to regularly open new attractions.
And these new rides can’t just be any old rides — they have to be “epic, mammoth blockbusters” that no one’s seen before, which takes time, space and money, he said.
Disneyland Paris is a good example. The European tourism resort saw a notable boost in attendance after it opened a World of “Frozen”-themed land in March.
“When you have that type of expansion and you can fill the park, you feel very, very good about that,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said last week at the MoffettNathanson media, internet and communications conference. “When we leverage our [intellectual property] and take that IP and build big new attractions, not little things … it’s these big new things that actually tend to just really bring in the consumers.”
That’s also key when you consider Disney’s growing competition from Universal Studios, which recently opened Epic Universe in Orlando and siphoned off some attendance from Walt Disney World.
And while the company’s TV and film business is vital, its theme parks still throw off most of the cash — new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro recently called the parks the “physical centerpiece of the company.” And of course, they retain a deep link to Disney’s heritage.
As Walt himself noted, Disneyland is a “living” entity that would “never be finished.”
Stuff We Wrote
Film shoots
Number of the week
Lionsgate’s musical biopic “Michael” retook the top spot at the box office last weekend with a haul of $26.1 million in the U.S. and Canada.
The film, which chronicles the early career of singer Michael Jackson, has had remarkable staying power atop the charts since it debuted in late April. The film’s weekend revenue was down only 31% in North America compared with the previous weekend.
Overall, “Michael” has now made an estimated $703.9 million in worldwide box office revenue, with $421.1 million coming from international markets.
What I’m watching
Now that WNBA season is in full swing, I’ve been watching my L.A. Sparks and caught the game against the Toronto Tempo on Sunday. It was a rough game, but here’s hoping the Sparks can start turning things around, and quickly.