Rumors Of A Disneyland Expansion Including A Marvel Theme Park

[Nikefutbolero]

The new allure of DCA gives Disneyland some breathing room this summer, but also adds fuel to the growing fire of park expansion for Disneyland. We’d told you last year of the developing plans to add several new attractions to Disneyland by mid-decade, in either the unused portion of Frontierland north of Big Thunder Mountain or the eastern flanks of Tomorrowland.

While Bob Iger and Tom Staggs have visited Anaheim constantly the past few months to shepherd the DCA relaunch (and have returned for several days this past week to check up on the place), they’ve also spent several days in Anaheim inspecting the two main expansion areas for Disneyland. It goes without saying that John Lasseter continues to practically live in Anaheim, even after the opening of Cars Land.

The attention for both TDA and WDI is shifting quickly to two main goals for Disneyland; increased ride and crowd capacity. In the Tomorrowland area particularly, WDI has convinced Burbank’s sharp pencil boys that a large swath of the 1959-67 Tomorrowland must go to make way for the future. The result is that three current attractions are now on WDI’s radar for demolition and redevelopment; Innoventions, Autopia, and - get ready - the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. The first two attractions likely don’t come as any surprise, but the addition of the Submarines to the endangered species list is a new twist.

The work on Disneyland expansion is moving very quickly, with several key proposals for new E Tickets and D Tickets coming together this summer. If Lasseter and WDI get their way, Disneyland will get a three year period later this decade not unlike the last three years at DCA where almost a half dozen new attractions opened in quick succession. Burbank still wants to see how the spending and visitation numbers come together for DCA this summer, but the initial DCA reaction has lent support to the argument that Disneyland needs the same type of major attraction expansion in two areas of the park at the same time.

One other stop on the recent Iger and Staggs tours was the sprawling Toy Story Parking Lot down near the Anaheim Convention Center, and the adjacent land Disney owns but has not yet developed. Bob Iger has made public comments about his desire to get the Marvel characters “into the parks”, but the restrictive legal agreement with Universal over the Marvel characters means the Florida parks are off the table for Marvel. But Anaheim is definitely in play, and Bob is convinced the Marvel franchise is too big for just a single ride or even a small land in an existing park.

It’s no coincidence then that WDI has mocked up a detailed model of an entirely new theme park based solely on Marvel characters and stories, featuring mainly thrill rides and energetic shows aimed at teens and adults. And WDI, always looking for their next big gig, conveniently used the roughly 100 acres available to Disney on and around the Toy Story Parking Lot as their exact footprint for this new park model. The Marvel park could also be slotted in as a second park at either the Hong Kong or Shanghai resorts sometime in the next decade (or later), but the third park expansion land in Anaheim is the location where this concept would likely first appear.

When my friend told me I got extremely excited..Thoughts?

 

[HydroGuy]

You are placing things in quotes, but not linking to the source of that info. Not sure what we are supposed to do with this.

FWIW a Marvel theme park at DLR has been discussed on this forum over the last month or so. So rumors have already started.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hmm, this looks like a portion of a recent Al Lutz article that we've been discussing here. I agree that if you're going to quote something and try to discuss it, you should credit the source.

 

[Nikefutbolero]

I can't post links

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I can't post links

You could still add a comment though such, "as seen on...", or "here's part of an interesting article from so-and-so website", or "as reported by"... It's just nice to know the source of something when having a discussion.

 

[skier_pete]

Yup - this is all from Al Lutz. A pretty good source in general. It actually would make a lot of sense for Disney, as a third park in Anaheim would bring Disneyland to be much more of a vacationer destination, though you could bet if they did this, it would also include more on-site hotel options as well. And Marvel is appearing to be a money-generating machine, so the logic behind it is sound as well. You could probably get away with it being a sort-of mini-park, with less attractions as long as the attractions you DO have are good enough.

However, I would caution to say this is all extremely blue sky at the moment.

 

[chrissiecutie]

Am I the only one NOT excited about this news??

I totally understand its all "up in the air" & nothing has been confirmed. But to me...Marvel just doesn't equal Disney, KWIM?

And to loose such iconic Tomorrowland rides like Autotopia & the Subs would be a real shame. IMO, Innoventions can go but I would be sad to see the others disappear.

 

[Disco]

Am I the only one NOT excited about this news??

I totally understand its all "up in the air" & nothing has been confirmed. But to me...Marvel just doesn't equal Disney, KWIM?

And to loose such iconic Tomorrowland rides like Autotopia & the Subs would be a real shame. IMO, Innoventions can go but I would be sad to see the others disappear.

Marvel doesn't equal Disney because it hasn't been done by Disney. People are used to seeing cardboard cutouts and other 2-D images of their Marvel heroes because that is how US portrays it in their parks. When Disney does Marvel, it will be more serious like HP was for US.
Autopia is great for kids but it really is just an obsolete ride that can be found in just about any amusement park across the states. It could be reimagined to be something better but it is currently just wasted space.
The Subs will be really missed as they are an iconic and original ride. However maintenance and upkeep are just not worth the low ridership volume.
I wish they kept the Subs going in WDW as they were so much cooler with the Vernion theme but now that they are gone I care less about the DL Nemo version surviving.
Maybe they could keep one and have it run around the River of America for nostalgic sake?