Disney makes the biggest expansion to California parks since 2001
Disney fans in Southern California can finally rejoice: after years of proposals, the City of Anaheim has unanimously approved Disney’s $1.9B expansion of its California theme parks — clearing the way for final approvals in May. It will include several new themed lands — and mark the company’s largest expansion in the state since Disney’s California Adventure opened in 2001.
- The $1.9B expansion is a tiny sliver of the $60B worth of proposed expansions made by CEO Bob Iger last year, which Disney plans to roll out over the next decade.
- This new California expansion joins ongoing developments at Walt Disney World in Florida, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Disney Adventure World in France.
Theme park war: On the other side of the continent, rival Comcast is also expanding — with its new Universal Epic Universe theme park expected to open by 2025. With popular franchises like Harry Potter and Donkey Kong, Comcast could generate “hundreds of millions” in annual revenue — and potentially lure visitors away from neighboring Walt Disney World, located just 10 miles away.
