Written by Jacob Flores, Staff Writer
On March 25th, 2021, the City of Anaheim announced a proposal of a future expansion towards the Disneyland theme park. The proposal consisted of a multi-year project starting in 2026 and ending in the somewhat future of 2035. With nearly 2 billion dollars being put towards it to start off, this expansion is being called “Disneyland Forward”. Nearly three years later on May 7th, 2024, the Anaheim City Council approved the future expansion to begin its multiple year process and preparation. As of today, in 2026, Disneyland has begun construction on the soon-to-be future expansion of the parks and resorts with the main headline of the project being towards “The Avatar Experience”. With the predecessor of this attraction being based off of The Walt Disney World version in Animal Kingdom, this area is based off of the newer movies such as “Avatar Way of Water” and “Avatar Fire and Ash” rather than the original movie. Although Avatar is just the beginning of the future expansion, the Avengers franchise plays an even bigger role for the future of Disneyland as a whole.
“Avatar Land Expansion”. Concept art by Disney.
With construction for the Avengers Campus expansion beginning back in January of 2025, Disney California Adventure (DCA) saw its second largest development in the park’s history. This recently finished portion of the park is shown to have an all-new ride with a complex story-line and technology set to continue Disney’s reputation of innovation. It is predicted that it will surpass the achievement that the Galaxy’s Edge portion of the main park established with the Rise of the Resistance ride. Avengers Campus is set to open late 2028 to 2029 and will be sure to amaze both fans and critics alike.
Concept art by Disney.
With the Pixar Pier opening back in summer of 2018, the area lacked many features with further rides to be added. This changed in late 2025 as construction began with the future “Coco” attraction. This coaster will be set in the land of the dead, a reflection on the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos. The attraction is set to be a boat ride that takes guests through the movie scenes and adventures people are well familiar with. The ride is set to open in late 2030, with ground barely starting to move as of this article’s release. As part of the Celebration of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary, there are still many projects to be completed in these next few years. One of these is the third gate, which is an all new parking garage that will add onto the land already available to guests to place their vehicles. for further expansion towards the park in the near future. Disneyland is also set to have more ride scenes added and updated over the next couple of years, but only time will tell the future of what the park is to be. As Walt Disney once said “Disneyland will never be complete, we will continue to open new doors, create new ideas, and use imagination to its fullest potential.”, and this ideal is clearly being honored to this day.
Concept art by Disney.