Hong Kong Expansion = Anaheim Expansion?

Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
Old Mouseketeer said:
With respect to the so-called "Expansion Pad" on the Eastern side of SWL, my rebel spies report a lot of construction there. A very large service building is going up directly behind the area marked as the queue for the Falcon attraction. It spans the entire back of that block. In addition, utility lines are being put in trenches in a large portion of the NE corner of that lot.

I'm not certain that this is any kind of expansion pad--it appears that it may, in fact, be service area for SWL.

Here is my reasoning. Over the past decades Disney has moved away from integrating backstage facilities into expensive onstage buildings. In the old days they did things at DL like attaching the Inn Between to the back of Plaza Inn/Red Wagon Inn, the Pit Stop under NOS, the new Admin Building on the backside of Primeval World and the old locker rooms on the back of Grand Canyon. As late as 1983 they put offices, a CM break room, food storage, and talent dressing rooms under the Village Haus. At WDW you have not only the vast tunnel and basement system, but also fully functional second stories above Main St. Today you see a plethora of metal clad buildings backstage at DCA housing everything from Entertainment Costuming to Security to banqueting kitchen and support for the parks.

I don't think that what they are building on the Eastern edge of SWL is temporary--I believe it's quite permanent. The best my Bothans can infer is that it will house some combination of SWL Area offices, CM Costuming for SWL (rumored to be more elaborate and diverse than elsewhere) talent and character costuming for SWL, Character Host and PhotoPass deployment, Fantasmic!, and possibly replacement for the demolished Facilities costuming issue that was demolished at Winston Gate.

Obviously, this is all deductive reasoning. CMs I talk to say that little is being shared, even with park managers. But I'm inclined to see the so-called Expansion Pad as more of a permanent service area. YMMV.
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Then I wonder if this means Toontown is even more likely to go away and be replaced by the rumored Frozen land.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Stevek said:
I think there are a few things that are untouchable...Main Street, Castle, Pirates, Mansion, Space Mtn, Tiki, IASW, JC, Mark Twain, Golden Horseshoe, Most of FL...but the rest of Tomorrowland (yes, the subs, autopia, & Star Tours) and Toontown, I'd be ok if something bigger and better came in. The problem will be exactly what do we get in return. If they show the inventiveness of attractions like Pirates and Mansion, great. But if they go full IP with little tie to the actual land...a bit more problematic for me. Bottom line, keep the things that are the heart of what makes Disneyland and fine tune with everything else.
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How about Splash, BTM and Matterhorn?
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
mickEblu said:
How about Splash, BTM and Matterhorn?
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Sorry, meant to put Matterhorn in there. While I absolutely love the others, I'd be less upset with them going. Of course, that ultimately depends on what we would get. Would have to be something amazing.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Stevek said:
Sorry, meant to put Matterhorn in there. While I absolutely love the others, I'd be less upset with them going. Of course, that ultimately depends on what we would get. Would have to be something amazing.
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Yeah, I would hate to see any 3 of these go. I'm pretty much on board with your first post. I could live without Toontown and the current iteration of TL (excluding Space). Would like to see them repurpose the lagoon but I'm guessing if the subs ever close again, the lagoon is probably gone in favor of a big expansion.
 
Old Mouseketeer

Old Mouseketeer

Well-Known Member
SSG said:
A recent construction permit says: "SW- Frontierland - BLDG 9053/ Wardrobe, Green Room - New Commercial Construction: 10,270 sq.ft of 1 story commercial office building."
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That sounds about right from how I've heard it described. Gotta love those permits!
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Today the execs from Hong Kong Disneyland announced a $1.4 Billion expansion of the park over the next six years. Coming to the park is a bizarre remake of the cloned Anaheim castle, a new Frozen Land with two attractions, and a Marvel Land expansion of Tomorrowland that removes Autopia and Buzz Lightyear and replaces them with new Marvel rides.
http://attractionsmagazine.com/hong...rea-and-more-as-part-of-multi-year-expansion/

Here's the map of Hong Kong Disneyland when all of this is completed in 2023.
HKDL-SITEPLAN-161121-re.jpg


With the exception of the ego-driven Castle makeover (that has all sorts of inappropriate jokes already written for it), the Frozen and Marvel announcements seem to match up directly with the as-yet unannounced Anaheim expansion that the last year of Miceage Updates and good, solid rumors from our friendly insiders here have all been talking about. Hello @GiveMeTheMusic!

That is, Frozen land and E-Ticket for Disneyland wedged between Toontown and Fantasyland Theater on the "Future Expansion" that the now famous Miceage map of Star Wars Land featured back in 2015. Also, the rumored Marvel themed mega-coaster E Ticket for DCA that Al Lutz Miceage Updates have said is planned for the parking lot between Tower of Terror and Cars Land.
StarWarsExpansion-After-610x518.jpg


Here's the Frozen Land expansion area for Hong Kong...
Frozen-themed-area.jpg


And the Marvel remake of Hong Kong's Tomorrowland... (Buh-bye Autopia!)
Marvel-themed-area.jpg


Would one of our youngsters here who are technologically inclined care to cut and paste the expansion areas from that Hong Kong Disneyland map above onto the "Expansion Pad" north of Fantasyland and an aerial map of the parking lot south of Tower of Terror? An aerial map or Google Earth image of the Anaheim parks with these two major new Hong Kong developments grafted onto them might prove to be a peek into the near future for Anaheim.

Something tells me that the big Hong Kong announcement today has major hints for what is also coming to Anaheim sooner rather than later. Your thoughts?
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I'm literally suppressing squeals right now.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Dr. Hans Reinhardt said:
Is it really that bad of idea? I guess I'm different in that I don't have the same intense emotional attachment to some of these things as the rest of you.
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Well aside from destroying the classic you would probably get a watered down version of Shnaghai as it would have to be shoehorned into our existing infrastructure and not be something purpose built. I guess the show buildings could go higher if necessary (??) but I'm not sure they could go wider. Is there any example of a Disney E ticket that was shoehorned or built into existing infrastructure that met or exceeded expectations?

I can't think of one off the top of my head
 
D

Deleted member 107043

mickEblu said:
Well aside from destroying the classic you would probably get a watered down version of Shnaghai as it would have to be shoehorned into our existing infrastructure and not be something purpose built. I guess the show buildings could go higher if necessary (??) but I'm not sure they could go wider. Is there any example of a Disney E ticket that was shoehorned or built into existing infrastructure that met or exceeded expectations?

I can't think of one off the top of my head
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My comment was completely hypothetical and assumed Anaheim could accommodate the full blown SDL experience. It's highly unlikely that DL's Pirates will ever undergo that kind of drastic transformation, so no need to even worry about it. ;)
 

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