In addition to
Anaheim, another California city might have been home to a Disney theme park.
Visitors from various locations worldwide have traveled to
Anaheim to check out the "Happiest Place on Earth" to see Mickey, Minnie and good friends, indulge in one of Disneyland's popular treats, or flight classic attractions like Space Mountain.
However another Southern California city was almost house to its own Disney magic:
Long Beach.
Back in the '90s, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner revealed the Disney Decade, a plan that took a look at how the company would expand across all sectors.
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Included in those plans was the idea for Port Disney and a DisneySea theme park comparable to the one the company presently has in Tokyo. However those theme park prepares never ever materialized.
The fancy proposed resort in
Long Beach would have included six hotels, shopping and dining districts, in addition to an amusement park and a cruise ship port for the Disney Cruise Line. Disney's high-end cruise principle remained in its infancy at the time, according to writer and historian Michael Crawford.
Crawford, who likewise cohosts a Disney history podcast, remembers when the Disney Port strategies were initially revealed, checking out it in the newspaper.
" I matured on the East Coast and I followed Disney as a kid and this was something they had in the annual report and something they had in the paper," Crawford said. "As a young fan, I was really captivated by it. It seemed like an actually appealing task."
Plans for Port Disney started in 1988 when Disney lastly purchased the Disneyland Hotel from its previous owner, Jack Wrather, who developed and operated the hotel adjacent to the famous amusement park.
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After the Wrather's death, Walt Disney Co. bought his business from his widow. Together with acquiring ownership of the hotel, the business discovered they were the proud new owners of other assets, most of which they chose to sell off, according to Crawford.
" One thing they did keep was a long-term lease to the Queen Mary, the Spruce Goose, and an accompanying tract there on the bay in
Long Beach," Crawford said. "So, they began looking at this as a chance to establish an amusement park there."
While Disney had big plans for its most ambitious task yet, turning it into truth showed more tough than anticipated.
Due to the proposed location of Port Disney and its potential influence on the environment, the company needed to seek advice from regional, state and federal authorities.
In California, tasks that aren't considered needs to the general public might be subject to ecological review to figure out how the proposed project will impact the environment.
Due to these prospective complications, in addition to other roadblocks, Disney chose to cancel prepare for Port Disney and concentrate on other projects shared in the Disney Decade strategy, that included building another amusement park in
Anaheim.
" There were strategies to develop a second theme park in Southern California, and it was going to remain in
Anaheim in the parking area of Disneyland. The task was going to be called WestCot, the West Coast variation of Epcot," Crawford said.
The WestCot strategy never worked out, however the company did utilize the proposed site to develop the location that would come to be known as Disney's California Adventure Park.
Now, years later, Walt Disney Co. is as soon as again considering a prospective expansion for the Disneyland Resort. The strategy, known as Disneyland Forward, details how authorities wish to upgrade and remodel the
Anaheim amusement park.
The project will include brand-new destinations, stores and dining establishments within its existing 490-acre footprint, the
Los Angeles Times reported.
In 2021, Disneyland officials informed media outlets they did not strategy to ask the city of
Anaheim for more space for the amusement park extension, but rather would include new additions to the park in the underdeveloped areas around the resort that the company currently owns.
Particularly, authorities want to include new amusement park additions around the two Disney hotels west of the theme parks and in the website of a parking area east of the resort.
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The plan likewise looks for to upgrade the zoning code for the undeveloped locations so amusement park, hotel, home entertainment, dining and retail additions could be built on the land. Disney authorities formerly wanted to include a third entryway to the resort, however those strategies were abandoned after Disney got pushback from
Anaheim city authorities.
The company has not revealed how much a possible expansion would cost, however it previously mentioned that the undertaking would be privately moneyed.
Other parts of the resort, particularly Downtown Disney, have actually gone through recent restorations that aren't a part of the Disneyland Forward project, according to the Orange County Register.
Disney officials have actually welcomed its
Anaheim next-door neighbors to community coffee occasions at local parks so authorities can discuss what the proposed plan involves and offer citizens a chance to ask questions about the proposed growth.
Many hope the newest proposed expansion is successful where other scraped ideas, like Port Disney in
Long Beach, could not.
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