As the price of everything continues to climb, fewer Americans have disposable cash for things like entertainment.
But that isn’t stopping one company from gearing up to make itself even bigger.
Now a city in California just approved this extremely woke entertainment company’s expansion that will cost billions of dollars.
Anaheim City Council approves Disney expansion
The Anaheim City Council just unanimously approved a $1.9 billion expansion plan for Disneyland Forward, which is the Walt Disney Company’s proposal to expand the original theme park.
The project is expected to take decades to complete, but “the 7-0 vote came early today after an eight-hour public hearing that started Tuesday night, during which Anaheim residents, Disneyland cast members, and officials from nearby cities spoke about the plan’s advantages and problems.”
Disney’s proposal will now face a final city council vote on May 7.
Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, confirmed that some of the coming attractions will include an Avatar area inspired by James Cameron’s World of Pandora designed for the Disneyland Resort.
In a recent presentation at Disney Imagineering, Iger told the media that “we have the property, meaning land, and the property, meaning intellectual property, to basically take advantage of the resources that we have to [in turn] to create shareholder value.”
Other popular Disney themes that may become part of the Anaheim expansion include Frozen, Tron, Zootopia, and Tangled, to name a few.
The company said, “With Disneyland Forward and more flexibility within our existing properties, new lands and adventures like those underway at Tokyo DisneySea and Shanghai Disneyland could inspire new experiences here” on the official Disneyland Forward website.
The plans for Disney’s Anaheim expansion have been waiting to come to fruition for decades.
Various other companies have snatched up valuable land around the park, forcing Disneyland to get creative whenever it made any past expansions.
The original Disney California Adventure was built over a parking lot, and the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction was built over a petting zoo, backstage area, and barbecue restaurant.
More freedom for Disney moving forward
Thanks to the new approval from Anaheim City Council, Disney will get more zoning freedom.
Disneyland Forward will pay $40 million to purchase three roadways around the resort called Magic Way, Hotel Way, and part of Clementine Street.
These roadways will give the company more flexibility over areas that already have major infrastructure in place.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that representatives from the Actor’s Equity Association and the Disneyland cast member-led “Magic United” have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board.
Combined, the groups have a super majority of 17,000 employees and are asking for better pay and more protection.
Disney will likely include the union as part of its plans to increase jobs in Anaheim.
Disneyland Forward is expected to add approximately 8,960 new positions during the construction phase and 4,854 when the new expansion is fully operational.
Informed American will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
