In the early 1900s, Anaheim, California, was a rural community with endless rows of orange groves. Of course, that all changed when Disneyland opened July 17, 1955, and transformed the town into one of the world's most well-known tourist destinations.
Now, Disney has set out to transform the city again with an ambitious project called DisneylandForward.
DisneylandForward is a "multiyear public planning effort" to bring new lands, attractions, hotel rooms, entertainment and more to Disneyland; as a result, it will bring more jobs and tourists to Anaheim. DisneylandForward cleared a major hurdle toward becoming a reality this week when the Anaheim City Council voted 7-0 to approve the plan.
Disney still faces a second procedural vote May 7 and a 30-day waiting period before it can officially break ground on any new developments. However, Wednesday morning's unanimous vote essentially renders these additional steps a formality.
On the DisneylandForward website, Disney suggests the project is necessary to "evolve the way we entertain today and mix together theme park, entertainment, shops, restaurants and hotels within the same experience throughout Disney properties in the future."
Related: Best Disneyland hotels in and near the park
The DisneylandForward project would not expand Disney's current footprint. Instead, it would shift current zoning codes and give Disney more flexibility to potentially build a theme park, hotel, retail, dining and entertainment locations on acreage Disneyland already owns or operates on, as seen in the map above.
Disney has not yet revealed any of the lands or attractions it hopes to build if DisneylandForward comes to fruition. However, it has shared that the purpose is to bring immersive, innovative developments similar to those already underway at other Disney parks to Disneyland.
Disney has specifically pointed to Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasy Springs expansion, featuring experiences themed to "Tangled," "Peter Pan" and "Frozen;" Hong Kong Disneyland's World of Frozen; Shanghai Disneyland's "Zootopia"-themed land and Toy Story Land; and Walt Disney World's Tron Lightcyle / Run as possible inspirations for the future of Disneyland.
Related: TPG goes behind the scenes as Disney unveils $60 billion toward future of theme parks
The developments mentioned above are part of Disney's $60 billion, decadelong plan to grow its theme parks, cruises and other experiences. That, of course, includes Disneyland; however, there are certain projects Disneyland cannot move forward with unless DisneylandForward is approved because of current zoning plans.
So far, Disney has dangled one carrot: an all-new "Avatar"-themed experience at Disneyland. It has not announced where this experience
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