Disney Is Not Building a Third Park at Disneyland…Yet.

A new viral article has Disney fans excited about the prospect that a third theme park will soon be built at Disneyland Resort. We won’t bury the lede: the rumors are wrong. Here’s why a 3rd gate isn’t being announced anytime soon, but unlike Walt Disney World’s mythical 5th gate, why we actually do expect another California park before we’re senior citizens!

The genesis of these rumors are, yet again, a fundamental misunderstanding of DisneylandForward. Not super surprising, since that proposal has been the source of speculation and blue sky daydreaming since it was first announced amidst Anaheim’s COVID comeback. Frankly, I don’t know why we’re still talking about DisneylandForward.

The end game was approval, and that already happened. DisneylandForward does not exist in any meaningful sense anymore. It was/is a conceptual development plan for Disney to work with Anaheim to grow the area, and update the blueprint for the resort district. Oversimplifying it a bit, DisneylandForward is better viewed as a dressed-up zoning project than a plan.

In essence, the goal of DisneylandForward was to give the company more autonomy over development, and then they might use that freedom to expand the parks. Rather than being a brand new theme park, DisneylandForward offers the potential for expansion to both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. DisneylandForward also is not a third gate at Disneyland Resort.

Critically, DisneylandForward also did not commit to building any specific new theme park lands or rides. You might see reference elsewhere to possible expansion based on Wakanda, Zootopia, Frozen, Fantasy Springs, Tangled, Peter Pan, Toy Story and TRON. Those were merely examples of what Disney could build, pulled from other parks around the world.

All of the graphics, concept art, and even the environmental impact report for DisneylandForward aren’t real. They’re placeholders. Window-dressing to win public opinion on a zoning pitch (or what was required procedurally), which otherwise would’ve been pretty boring.

Everything substantive for DisneylandForward concerns infrastructure (roads, sewers, parking, etc) as opposed to theme park development. The meat of the agreement is that Disney is legally-obligated to invest at least $1.9 billion in Disneyland Resort over the next decade, with potential for up to $2.5 billion invested. If they fail to hit that mark in 10 years, Disney pays an additional $5 million penalty.

There are a few less exciting aspects of the agreement, such as Disney committing to fund $30 million of affordable housing, along with an $8 million investment in public parks, and up to $30 million on sewer systems. Disney is also offering a $90 million payment for city streets, funding of street, and transportation improvements.

So the next time a new public park or affordable housing project is announced in Anaheim, we could credibly have a headline that reads “Disney Moving Forward with DisneylandForward Plans.” We won’t, but it would be more credible than this 3rd gate nonsense.

The bottom line is that DisneylandForward was the company’s pitch to the public and City of Anaheim for more flexibility in the master plans from the 1990s in order to give the company greater autonomy over what to build and where. Since that development agreement has already been approved, DisneylandForward is “done” aside from hitting the spending targets, and they have complete autonomy over the where and what of that.

All of the above might read a bit like a broken record, but I’m not sure how else to get people to understand that DisneylandForward isn’t an actual expansion plan. We should not still be talking about it except with regard to spending targets are hit (whatever is announced at the 2026 D23 Expo probably hits that number, assuming the 2024 announcements aren’t already), and infrastructure changes.

When it comes to a third theme park or even expansion of the existing gates on the westside of Disneyland Drive, there is no “plan” that’s part of DisneylandForward. At the absolute best, we can maybe view it as a window into leadership’s circa-2021 thinking. Just keep in mind that was now three CEOs ago and plans change fast!

All of that lays the groundwork for earlier this week, when Disneyland filed two confidential construction permits for the Toy Story Parking Lot. Unsurprisingly, this led to speculation that Disney was laying the groundwork for a new entertainment district or theme park. As explained below, we can now confirm that is not the case.

We didn’t report on this at the time because, in our view, these permits were inconsequential. The Toy Story Parking Lot does have tremendous potential and will be the site of future development, but the opening of the Eastern Gateway is what ‘unlocks’ that. Absolutely nothing can happen with the Toy Story Parking Lot until Eastern Gateway opens.

The new Eastern Gateway transportation hub at Disneyland Resort will be built on a portion of what’s currently the Manchester Cast Member parking lot. This new area will provide approximately 6,000 parking spaces, shuttle and rideshare areas, security screening and dedicated access for traffic off of Disney Way. It’ll also feature a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard, leading to an all-new esplanade arrival experience.

Our expectation is that Eastern Gateway will open in late 2027 at the absolute earliest, and more likely in 2028. At that point, construction can begin in earnest on Pandora – World of Avatar and the Toy Story Parking Lot can be redeveloped. Assuming, of course, that Disney wants to proceed with either project.

Regardless, there would be no point in filing permits for the Toy Story Parking Lot in May 2026. Until Eastern Gateway comes online, that parking is needed. They can’t start on redevelopment in phases or anything else. It just isn’t happening.

We reached out to Disney regard the permits to clarify or debunk the rumors. Disneyland confirmed exactly what we suspect, which is that the confidential permits have nothing to do with a third theme park or entertainment district or literally anything of importance. The permits are tied to minor painting at the Toy Story Parking Lot, and are not a significant milestone related to DisneylandForward, per the company.

Before we offer added commentary, I do think it’s actually worth quickly revisiting key elements of the DisneylandForward pitch. Here’s how Disney laid out their vision for the zoning proposal back in 2021:

Essentially, there would be a westside expansion with new theme park elements on the Downtown Disney and Lilo & Stitch parking lots built around Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Place Hotel. The concept art of the westside site shows a mountain ridge that would separate the theme park from nearby neighborhoods–sort of like Cars Land.

This westside site expansion would wrap around to Downtown Disney, portions of which have already been redeveloped since DisneylandForward was first announced; those new areas are unlikely to materially change at this point.

The eastside expansion would bring utilize the Toy Story Parking Lot across from the Anaheim Convention Center. As part of the pitch, Disney indicated that this property could be the perfect location to cater to locals, conventioneers, hotels, and Disneyland Resort guests.

It would feature restaurants, hotels, live music, shopping, ticketed shows, and theme park experiences modeled after the popular Disney Springs at Walt Disney World. Another piece of example concept art featured Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, which would undoubtedly be popular with locals if that ended up being built.

Finally, the DisneylandForward project would revive the Eastern Gateway parking garage off I-5 and its connection across Harbor Boulevard to the parks. This was also previously abandoned, with the Pixar Pals garage built instead.

As addressed above, this has already been officially announced and is moving forward. Not a huge surprise given that Disney has wanted Eastern Gateway for years, and it falling through pre-COVID (along with a proposed luxury hotel) was likely the driver of DisneylandForward in the first place.

Nevertheless, it underscores that DisneylandForward was not simply a mirage. Even though the specifics will differ when pieces of the proposal come to fruition in the decades to come, there was a kernel of truth to them at the time. A plan to make a plan, if you will.

Beyond Eastern Gateway coming to fruition, Disney paying $40 million to remove surface streets and extensions offers a rough window into where they view expansion occurring down the road. That’s real money, indicative of future development locations.

Our Commentary

We have a series of posts that basically amounts to raining on the parade of Walt Disney World fans hoping for a fifth gate. I’m fairly confident one will not be built in my lifetime, and despite all of the wishful thinking about an “answer” to Epic Universe, I actually think Universal’s new park makes it less likely, not more.

The dynamic is different at Disneyland. I do think a new gate will be built in my lifetime, probably before I’m a senior citizen but unlikely in the 2030s. In fact, if I had to rank the likelihood of new gates, they’d be as follows:

1. Shanghai Disney Resort 2nd Gate
2. Disneyland Abu Dhabi
3. New Disneyland in Stable Emerging Market
4. Disneyland 3rd Gate
5. Disneyland Paris 3rd Gate

Everything else seems improbable, and most new markets are better served by cruise ships than theme parks. That’s more flexible and dynamic, while also reducing risk. The wildcard is Disney being offered a sweetheart licensing deal, a la the agreement with Miral in Abu Dhabi. But even with that, there’s a non-zero chance (probably more like low double-digits) that park never happens. As Disney is hopefully now learning, even those licensing agreements are not without risk.

This brings us back to the Toy Story Parking Lot. In my view, the highest and best use for this land is a third theme park. I don’t think the plot is quite large enough for a modern park, and there are a host of logistical challenges it would present, but I still think that’s more plausible than a different parcel in Anaheim or beyond. Based on gossip we’ve heard over the years, it’s also possible (if not probable) that Disney already owns a lot more land in Anaheim than is public knowledge.

There are several critical distinctions between Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort when it comes to a new gate, but the big one is infrastructure. Whereas Walt Disney World is far better off building out their existing gates to avoid incurring those costs, the argument could be made that the circa 1955 castle park cannot sustain much more expansion. That it needs development at DCA and beyond to function as a release valve on demand already. Although developing the westside parcels and adding a rear entrance, a la International Gateway, could change the equation there.

Even so, a third gate at Disneyland has more upside at some point than continued expansion at the other two gates. Between the larger local population and the effect a third gate would have on transforming Disneyland into more of a bona fide tourist destination, there’s a compelling case for another standalone park after the DCA expansion is complete.

Doing another Disney Springs would be lucrative, but also shortsighted. If Disney wants to delve deeper into the dining & shopping district realm, they could probably acquire GardenWalk for like three-hundred and fifty bucks. I’m only half-joking.

GardenWalk went through bankruptcy and foreclosure 15 years ago due to developers defaulting on their loan. After failing to sell in a firesale auction, GardenWalk finally sold in 2012 and then again in 2019 for $80 million, a fraction of its original cost over two decades earlier.

Disney has passed on buying GardenWalk on at least two past occasions, but that’s the real answer. Given how things are going there, I’m guessing GardenWalk could absolutely be theirs if they wanted it. (And they should!)

GardenWalk would be strategically-located for Disneyland Resort expansion, and its value in Disney’s hands would be higher than anyone else’s. Otherwise, GardenWalk will likely tread water indefinitely and likely never be fully built-out.

That leaves Toy Story Parking Lot for a hotel district or a third theme park. After all of the upcoming park expansion, they’re probably going to have appetite for room inventory, and with that location, it would be just as attractive for conventioneers as park guests.

Not only that, but restaurants and retail can be built as part of resorts. Building new hotels here would be the risk-averse approach, so it’s probably the more likely outcome, but I’d love to see this land earmarked for a third gate.

There’s also the fact that Disneyland is in the midst of expanding Disney California Adventure without touching the parcels on the westside of Disneyland Drive, which were positioned as park expansion pads by DisneylandForward. Earmarking those for future hotels and the Toy Story Parking Lot for a third theme park makes more sense to me, especially since capacity can be added to the existing two gates without touching those plots.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves with this third gate or hotel district speculation. In all likelihood, nothing is happening with the Toy Story Parking Lot until 2028 at the earliest. And whatever is coming down the road likely isn’t going to greet guests until sometime in the mid-2030s at the absolute earliest, and that’s assuming Disneyland takes the less ambitious path. For now, all we know officially is that the permits pertain to painting (of a minor variety), but a fresh coat on some signage or restrooms doesn’t preclude major redevelopment in the decades to come. Watch this space.

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think about the future of Toy Story Parking Lot? Is it destined to become a third theme park, hotel district, or Disney Springs West? Any predictions as to whether Disney will expand Disneyland beyond the boundaries of the existing parks before the mid-2030s? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!