Urban Disney

Recently, the Walt Disney Company completed its largest single development in the United States: the $1.4 billion expansion of its Anaheim, California–based Disneyland Resort—the name given to all the area Disney attractions, including the original Disneyland Park. In addition to upgrading and expanding the namesake theme park, Disney has built a second theme park, Disney’s California Adventure, on Disneyland’s former parking lot, with three districts—the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, the Golden State, and Paradise Pier. Also included is the 750-room Grand Californian Hotel in Disney’s California Adventure, the first Disney hotel built within a theme park. The nearby Disneyland Hotel and the Disneyland Pacific Hotel, which has been renamed the Paradise Pier Hotel, also have been renovated. Connecting the two theme parks and the hotels is the new Downtown Disney, a 20-acre, 300,000-square-foot public esplanade of shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues. In addition, Anaheim and the Walt Disney Company have improved the infrastructure and streets within, and adjacent to, the Disneyland Resort as part of creating the pedestrian-friendly Anaheim Resort District, the name given to the 1,100 acres surrounding and including Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center. Editor's note: The full text of this article is only available to ULI members.

Thanks to Urban Land Magazine