Is there space at Disneyland to build new rides without replacing clasics?

[MK-fan]

First off I want to start off going land by land and seeing what space is available.

Adventureland is super tight and all the attractions are pretty popular and classics.

Frontierland has no trim either, just a little bit of land left from Mine Train thru Nature’s Wonderland but it’s not enough to fit an attraction.

Main Street USA and New Orleans Square are out of the question.

Critter Country can get rid of Winnie the Pooh and expand a little behind it as well.

Galaxy’s Edge can add an expansion attraction to the right of the land.

Mickey’s Toontown can replace Gadget’s go Coaster and Chip n Dale’s Treehouse to add a small attraction.

Fantasyland has a big space where Fantadyland Theater sits as well as some space behind it, a land expansion would be great in this area.

Tomorrowland has a lot of room to add new attractions but you’d have to replace the carousel theater and Pizza Planet. Autopia and the Subs are classics in their own right but times change and these are rides and that would serve a greater purpose to add new attractions since they take so much land.

What areas of the park can you see have the space to add new rides without replacing something “sacred”?

 

[SuddenStorm]

Nothing at Disneyland should be touched until they do something worthwhile with the Carousel Theater.

 

[Brer Panther]

Isn't the Motor Boat Cruise land still unused, or did they build something on that?

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

The whole DisneylandForward plan is Disney's response to this: According to them, future expansion at the resort is impossible without either 1. replacing old rides or 2. getting zoning permission to build attractions outside of the two established parks.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

I think the motorboat cruise/autopia/submarine area is key to Disneyland's future... it is a massive ~7 acres. That is enough space for Disney to put an entire land.

Concerning areas where a ride can be squeezed into... while it seems that modern imagineering has lost its knack for fully utilizing space, if they really tried, they can make use of a ton of spaces within the park without taking anything out. Disney has certainly shown they're willing to move supporting facilities around the resort area to maximize park 'show' space, so there are ways they could insert things all over the place-

(sorry for the crude drawing, it's Sunday, I'm already tired)

Usable areas without touching existing attractions-
1) This area has been shown for expansion from Main Street before. It's also certainly possible with a pathway from between starcade and Space Mountain to be a showbuilding for something.
2) This area is easily accessible with a pathway under the rail ala Toontown.
3) Same as #2, both of these areas could be easily expanded into with a path under the rail where the station is.
4) This is a sizeable area left to the wilderness of Batuu, not much there but can always use space right up to the perimeter access road.
5) It's a fair chunk of land with a primo location on the riverfront.
6) An odd piece with the train cutting right through it but at the very least the southern portion is easy access to the main walkway.
7) Calling the northern limit of Runaway Railway as the expansion limit Disney is OK with, this is a sizeable piece of land... that I suspect will either go into another big star wars ride down the line, BUT, it's also enough for an entirely new land that would connect Toon Town and SWL. Obviously fireworks would be an issue, but we increasingly see Disney moving away from fireworks... Either way though, I have no doubt in the future that Toon Town and Star Wars Land will be connected.

Usable areas removing attractions (that Disney is likely OK with)-
A) This is a MASSIVE chunk of land... if you pull out Autopia and the subs, and reroute the spaghetti bowl of the monorail to just be one loop around the area, you have a huge clean slate of land. Big enough for a ride for Fantasyland and an entire new land on the NE corner of the park...
B) While Disney may want to keep shows going, maybe they don't? This is a good size chunk of land accessed from Small World.
C) If you pull out the store and Pooh, you have a pretty sizeable area in the back of Critter Country. Combine it with #4 and that's a big plot of land.

 

[TP2000]

Nothing at Disneyland should be touched until they do something worthwhile with the Carousel Theater.

It's such an eyesore. Such an embarassment. Such a letdown.

I think the problem is that it's been this way for so long, for so many decades, and for nine (9!) different TDA Presidents, that the current President Du Jour just thinks that's the way it's always been. They can only think of how to retheme the gift shop on the ground floor, and have no ability to realize what that building was and what it's potential could be.

This is why TDA is known as a house of idiots. They have no vision, beyond a rethemed gift shop.

For those keeping score, the nine (9!) TDA Presidents who oversaw the continued demise and humiliation of the Carousel Theater:

Paul Pressler: 1994-1999
Cynthia Harriss: 1999-2003
Matt Ouimet: 2003-2006
Ed Grier: 2006-2009
George Kalogridis: 2009-2012
Michael Colglazier: 2012-2018
Josh D'Amaro: 2018-2020
That Blonde Lady Wearing Skintight Slacks In The Workplace: Three or Four Seconds In 2020
Ken Potrock: 2020-2021

 

[unmitigated disaster]

Honestly, Autopia is outdated. It needs to go. So does the Carousel house.

 

[DanielBB8]

I think the motorboat cruise/autopia/submarine area is key to Disneyland's future... it is a massive ~7 acres. That is enough space for Disney to put an entire land.

Concerning areas where a ride can be squeezed into... while it seems that modern imagineering has lost its knack for fully utilizing space, if they really tried, they can make use of a ton of spaces within the park without taking anything out. Disney has certainly shown they're willing to move supporting facilities around the resort area to maximize park 'show' space, so there are ways they could insert things all over the place-

View attachment 578474
(sorry for the crude drawing, it's Sunday, I'm already tired)

Usable areas without touching existing attractions-
1) This area has been shown for expansion from Main Street before. It's also certainly possible with a pathway from between starcade and Space Mountain to be a showbuilding for something.
2) This area is easily accessible with a pathway under the rail ala Toontown.
3) Same as #2, both of these areas could be easily expanded into with a path under the rail where the station is.
4) This is a sizeable area left to the wilderness of Batuu, not much there but can always use space right up to the perimeter access road.
5) It's a fair chunk of land with a primo location on the riverfront.
6) An odd piece with the train cutting right through it but at the very least the southern portion is easy access to the main walkway.
7) Calling the northern limit of Runaway Railway as the expansion limit Disney is OK with, this is a sizeable piece of land... that I suspect will either go into another big star wars ride down the line, BUT, it's also enough for an entirely new land that would connect Toon Town and SWL. Obviously fireworks would be an issue, but we increasingly see Disney moving away from fireworks... Either way though, I have no doubt in the future that Toon Town and Star Wars Land will be connected.

Usable areas removing attractions (that Disney is likely OK with)-
A) This is a MASSIVE chunk of land... if you pull out Autopia and the subs, and reroute the spaghetti bowl of the monorail to just be one loop around the area, you have a huge clean slate of land. Big enough for a ride for Fantasyland and an entire new land on the NE corner of the park...
B) While Disney may want to keep shows going, maybe they don't? This is a good size chunk of land accessed from Small World.
C) If you pull out the store and Pooh, you have a pretty sizeable area in the back of Critter Country. Combine it with #4 and that's a big plot of land.

Area A can be extended to Space Mountain on the south and Rocket Jets platform on the west side and Innoventions on the east side. This is a huge chunk of land that Disney keeps neglecting. I see no reason Submarines and Autopia should be retained. Astro Orbiter should be moved away from the Tomorrowland entrance. Will they return the north portion into Fantasyland with Frozen theme? Will they add Tron in this area? Both would be nice.

Area 1 was overflow when there's a lot of people in the park. It's also backstage area. I makes no sense to turn it into park space.

 

[Th3 DUd3]

First off I want to start off going land by land and seeing what space is available.

Adventureland is super tight and all the attractions are pretty popular and classics.

Frontierland has no trim either, just a little bit of land left from Mine Train thru Nature’s Wonderland but it’s not enough to fit an attraction.

Main Street USA and New Orleans Square are out of the question.

Critter Country can get rid of Winnie the Pooh and expand a little behind it as well.

Galaxy’s Edge can add an expansion attraction to the right of the land.

Mickey’s Toontown can replace Gadget’s go Coaster and Chip n Dale’s Treehouse to add a small attraction.

Fantasyland has a big space where Fantadyland Theater sits as well as some space behind it, a land expansion would be great in this area.

Tomorrowland has a lot of room to add new attractions but you’d have to replace the carousel theater and Pizza Planet. Autopia and the Subs are classics in their own right but times change and these are rides and that would serve a greater purpose to add new attractions since they take so much land.

What areas of the park can you see have the space to add new rides without replacing something “sacred”?

Yes, But now we'll have to destroy the classics. You had one chance to save them and you chose their evil twin brother who technically means the same, Clasics. Hope you're happy!

 

[DanielBB8]

It's such an eyesore. Such an embarassment. Such a letdown.

I think the problem is that it's been this way for so long, for so many decades, and for nine (9!) different TDA Presidents, that the current President Du Jour just thinks that's the way it's always been. They can only think of how to retheme the gift shop on the ground floor, and have no ability to realize what that building was and what it's potential could be.

This is why TDA is known as a house of idiots. They have no vision, beyond a rethemed gift shop.

For those keeping score, the nine (9!) TDA Presidents who oversaw the continued demise and humiliation of the Carousel Theater:

Paul Pressler: 1994-1999
Cynthia Harriss: 1999-2003
Matt Ouimet: 2003-2006
Ed Grier: 2006-2009
George Kalogridis: 2009-2012
Michael Colglazier: 2012-2018
Josh D'Amaro: 2018-2020
That Blonde Lady Wearing Skintight Slacks In The Workplace: Three or Four Seconds In 2020
Ken Potrock: 2020-2021

The Carousel Theater has reached the end point of continual updates. There's nothing more to do with the building after the addition of Star Wars, which all exhibits and meet & greets should be moved to Galaxy's Edge. Do everyone a favor and just demolish the building and People Mover tracks. Tomorrowland should be optimistic and not humiliating for Star Wars fans where all Original Trilogy stuff was left in this terrible building to rot.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I think the motorboat cruise/autopia/submarine area is key to Disneyland's future... it is a massive ~7 acres. That is enough space for Disney to put an entire land.

Concerning areas where a ride can be squeezed into... while it seems that modern imagineering has lost its knack for fully utilizing space, if they really tried, they can make use of a ton of spaces within the park without taking anything out. Disney has certainly shown they're willing to move supporting facilities around the resort area to maximize park 'show' space, so there are ways they could insert things all over the place-

View attachment 578474
(sorry for the crude drawing, it's Sunday, I'm already tired)

Usable areas without touching existing attractions-
1) This area has been shown for expansion from Main Street before. It's also certainly possible with a pathway from between starcade and Space Mountain to be a showbuilding for something.
2) This area is easily accessible with a pathway under the rail ala Toontown.
3) Same as #2, both of these areas could be easily expanded into with a path under the rail where the station is.
4) This is a sizeable area left to the wilderness of Batuu, not much there but can always use space right up to the perimeter access road.
5) It's a fair chunk of land with a primo location on the riverfront.
6) An odd piece with the train cutting right through it but at the very least the southern portion is easy access to the main walkway.
7) Calling the northern limit of Runaway Railway as the expansion limit Disney is OK with, this is a sizeable piece of land... that I suspect will either go into another big star wars ride down the line, BUT, it's also enough for an entirely new land that would connect Toon Town and SWL. Obviously fireworks would be an issue, but we increasingly see Disney moving away from fireworks... Either way though, I have no doubt in the future that Toon Town and Star Wars Land will be connected.

Usable areas removing attractions (that Disney is likely OK with)-
A) This is a MASSIVE chunk of land... if you pull out Autopia and the subs, and reroute the spaghetti bowl of the monorail to just be one loop around the area, you have a huge clean slate of land. Big enough for a ride for Fantasyland and an entire new land on the NE corner of the park...
B) While Disney may want to keep shows going, maybe they don't? This is a good size chunk of land accessed from Small World.
C) If you pull out the store and Pooh, you have a pretty sizeable area in the back of Critter Country. Combine it with #4 and that's a big plot of land.

This is incredible, @MoonRakerSCM ! Thank you!
I just don’t trust this current leadership to handle expansion wisely and not for short term profit.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

We need an entire brand new tomorrowland minus space mountain. get rid of everything else. I am ok with subs and autopia going too

 

[cmwade77]

First off I want to start off going land by land and seeing what space is available.

Adventureland is super tight and all the attractions are pretty popular and classics.

Frontierland has no trim either, just a little bit of land left from Mine Train thru Nature’s Wonderland but it’s not enough to fit an attraction.

Main Street USA and New Orleans Square are out of the question.

Critter Country can get rid of Winnie the Pooh and expand a little behind it as well.

Galaxy’s Edge can add an expansion attraction to the right of the land.

Mickey’s Toontown can replace Gadget’s go Coaster and Chip n Dale’s Treehouse to add a small attraction.

Fantasyland has a big space where Fantadyland Theater sits as well as some space behind it, a land expansion would be great in this area.

Tomorrowland has a lot of room to add new attractions but you’d have to replace the carousel theater and Pizza Planet. Autopia and the Subs are classics in their own right but times change and these are rides and that would serve a greater purpose to add new attractions since they take so much land.

What areas of the park can you see have the space to add new rides without replacing something “sacred”?

Fantasyland has where the motor boat lagoon used to be and a ton of space behind it.

fantasyland theater needs to remain to provide an entertainment venue.

mickeys toon town actually has a lot of space behind it.

they could build a new TDA building a bit further away and use all of that space.

This is without getting too creative, if you get creative, there is a lot more.

Eliminate Downtown Disney and there is a ton of space. Get Anaheim to allow the mixed use and there is space by the Disneyland Hotel as well.

 

[BubbaQuest]

MoonRakerSCM nailed it! Thanks for a great map.

It frustrates me being stuck in the exiting crowds at night knowing section 1 is back there unused. Seems like such an easy option to open that up as an alternate entrance/exit path and to free up some of the bottleneck at the Space Mountain exit.

And I know the objective is not to replace attractions, but it feels like some attractions could be reconfigured to free up some extra space. It feels like Small World and Car Toon Spin could be reconfigured to open up space between those two areas. Although I guess that's where Runaway Railroad will go -- so we already know there is space for a new ride . Also the wasted indoor Indiana Jones queue feels like it could be opened up to add another attraction between Indy and Jungle Cruise.

 

[Stevek]

Tear out tomorrowland minus SM and Autopia (yes, I believe it's a classic and should stay) and start from scratch. That being said, it is a bit hard to argue that removal of the subs and Autopia would allow for significant growth (as long as they just don't use the land to build 2 new attractions). Beyond that Disney has already given us the answer as to where expansion will likely happen. I'm guessing this happens before anything inside the berm or additional infrastructure just outside the berm gets touched

 

[Stevek]

I think the motorboat cruise/autopia/submarine area is key to Disneyland's future... it is a massive ~7 acres. That is enough space for Disney to put an entire land.

Concerning areas where a ride can be squeezed into... while it seems that modern imagineering has lost its knack for fully utilizing space, if they really tried, they can make use of a ton of spaces within the park without taking anything out. Disney has certainly shown they're willing to move supporting facilities around the resort area to maximize park 'show' space, so there are ways they could insert things all over the place-

View attachment 578474
(sorry for the crude drawing, it's Sunday, I'm already tired)

Usable areas without touching existing attractions-
1) This area has been shown for expansion from Main Street before. It's also certainly possible with a pathway from between starcade and Space Mountain to be a showbuilding for something.
2) This area is easily accessible with a pathway under the rail ala Toontown.
3) Same as #2, both of these areas could be easily expanded into with a path under the rail where the station is.
4) This is a sizeable area left to the wilderness of Batuu, not much there but can always use space right up to the perimeter access road.
5) It's a fair chunk of land with a primo location on the riverfront.
6) An odd piece with the train cutting right through it but at the very least the southern portion is easy access to the main walkway.
7) Calling the northern limit of Runaway Railway as the expansion limit Disney is OK with, this is a sizeable piece of land... that I suspect will either go into another big star wars ride down the line, BUT, it's also enough for an entirely new land that would connect Toon Town and SWL. Obviously fireworks would be an issue, but we increasingly see Disney moving away from fireworks... Either way though, I have no doubt in the future that Toon Town and Star Wars Land will be connected.

Usable areas removing attractions (that Disney is likely OK with)-
A) This is a MASSIVE chunk of land... if you pull out Autopia and the subs, and reroute the spaghetti bowl of the monorail to just be one loop around the area, you have a huge clean slate of land. Big enough for a ride for Fantasyland and an entire new land on the NE corner of the park...
B) While Disney may want to keep shows going, maybe they don't? This is a good size chunk of land accessed from Small World.
C) If you pull out the store and Pooh, you have a pretty sizeable area in the back of Critter Country. Combine it with #4 and that's a big plot of land.

Within the existing footprint, 4, 5 a portion of 7 & C would be the most likely candidates.

 

[truecoat]

Let's not forget this map Disney included for their long term expansion plans with this highlighted space.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Let's not forget this map Disney included for their long term expansion plans with this highlighted space.

View attachment 578873

Love all the detail!

 

[Tamandua]

Why all the pizza port hate? That's my favorite place to eat at Disneyland. Well... My favorite was big Thunder BBQ... I can't lose the pizza port as well. Where am I going to get soda refills if they 86 it?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Pizza Port is pretty garbage.