Excellent news for West Coast theme park fans: DisneylandForward has been approved by the Anaheim City Council. The motion was unanimously approved with a vote of 7-0 on Tuesday 7th May, 2024.

The DisneylandForward project was first announced in 2021 as an effort to update the land surrounding the Disneyland Resort. During an initial DisneylandForward vote in March, the project was approved by the Anaheim City Planning Commission with votes totaling 5-1. Now that it is approved in full, the project can go ahead 30 days from now on 7th June 2024.

Disney shared the following statement after the vote was held:

“We extend our sincere thanks to the City of Anaheim for its support and collaboration throughout this process... This project will have a positive impact for generations, boosting local businesses and enhancing benefits for residents as we welcome visitors from around the world to one of America’s greatest cities — a city with an unmatched vision for dreaming big.”

So… What’s Next?

Once the project kicks off next month, Disney will set into motion the promise to spend at least $1.9 billion on the Disneyland Resort over the next decade.

As well as this, Disney has committed $30 million to go toward affordable housing in the immediate area. Disney also has plans to purchase the nearby Magic Way road, plus another couple of streets in the vicinity. 

In terms of parks, this means that Disney has a little bit of extra room to work with. A new Avatar experience was teased by Disneyland earlier this year, which is now likely to go ahead thanks to this project. We expect to hear more about DisneylandForward during D23 in August, including upcoming projects and (hopefully) new concept art.