Yesterday I returned to Anaheim City Hall for the final Anaheim City Planning Commission public workshop on the DisneylandForward project, and below is my recap of this momentous event in Disneyland Resort history.
- A quick brown-out at the beginning of the meeting delayed the proceedings for more than 20 minutes as the lights and projector needed to be repaired in the aftermath.
- Two items were on the agenda, the first being related to an Anaheim daycare center that had nothing to do with DisneylandForward.
- Several of the commissioners disclosed that they had private meetings with The Walt Disney Company regarding DisneylandForward prior to this public workshop.
- One commissioner proposed that they limit the length of public comments to two minutes each because of the volume of people waiting to speak, but this proposal was voted down and the time remained at three minutes.
- A brief overview of the DisneylandForward project once again kicked off this section of the meeting.
- Anaheim city staff reinforced the differences between theme park, hotel, and parking zoned areas at Disneyland Resort and also went over the proposed changes to surrounding streets and bicycle lanes.
- We heard more about the Environmental Impact Review, and were reminded that no additional fireworks would be added outside of the preexisting theme park spaces.
- The Commission members informed the crowd that street abandonments are not under their purview, but the proposed abandonment of Magic Way remained a sticking point throughout this meeting anyway.
- We learned about the differences between “Disney-owned” and “Disney-controlled” property, and the fact that if Disney were to acquire or lease new land after DisneylandForward is approved, it would have to be added to the agreement via an amendment.
- Community benefits of the project were also a major topic of discussion during the event.
- I found it interesting that the proposed new parking structure intended to be built on the existing Pumbaa parking lot would not count toward the $1.9 billion dollars Disney will have committed to expanding the resort. Instead, that money would have to be spent on theme parks or lodging.
- There was also some discussion of the structures within Disney property that have been deemed protected by way of historical significance, including the Pope house, Main Street Railroad Station, the Pirates of the Caribbean facade in New Orleans Square, and (rather surprisingly) Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country.
- Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock was present and took the podium to speak on Disney’s behalf: “I am incredibly proud to be here today. We are making history, just like Walt Disney did. DisneylandForward will allow us to continue Walt’s legacy.”
- Potrock mentioned Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and the new Zootopia and Frozen lands around the world as examples of forward-thinking experiences at current Disney Parks: “When Disney invests, everyone wins.”
- He continued by talking about the plan to continue the evolution of Disneyland Resort into a multi-day and multi-night destination: “We can commit to unprecedented community support. The future is indeed bright for the city of Anaheim.”
- Potrock also introduced a promotional video that was basically another overview of the project, with an emphasis on the jobs created and benefits to the Anaheim community.
- Another Disneyland Resort representative said, ““We are most proud of our three years of transparent outreach to the community. Our goal was to make sure everyone was factually informed on the project. I believe this is why we have seen so much support.”
- Potrock then made a closing statement: “I’d like to respectfully ask the Planning Commission to move DisneylandForward to the City Council for final approval.”
- This is where things began to get contentious, as the room started to get restless when repetitive questions from the Commission kept delaying the beginning of public comments.
- Disneyland Resort’s representatives also revealed that it considers attendance numbers to be proprietary information and refrained from being forthcoming with even general numbers at this meeting.
- One particular commissioner started asking the Disneyland Resort representatives to explain what the differences between various park admission passes are. This caused the chairwoman of the Planning Commission to put a stop to this line of questions, declaring them “off-topic.” This moment got a huge round of applause in the room.
- Public comments finally began around the same time that the previous one of these meetings actually ended.
- Once again we heard from a variety of Disney Cast Members, Anaheim Resort hoteliers and business owners, who all came out in support of DisneylandForward.
- Once the negative comments began, we heard from members of the public who accused commissioners of being on the take from Disney, others who brought up the recent lawsuit by hotel workers against Disneyland Resort, and those claiming that the Environmental Impact Report was insufficient.
- “After the corruption scandal that shook our city, Anaheim residents are still distrustful of City Hall. The FBI and private investigators allege that Disneyland has influence on legislature,” said one commenter.
- “Disney has bought our City Councils. We need to do better as a city. There’s no way Anaheim and Disney can separate. We need to have a good relationship,” commented another.
- The final few commenters seemed very frustrated with the process. Some of them have insisted that the Planning Commission delay their vote.
- Next it became time for the Planning Commission to ask questions again, but eventually Commissioner Perez was interrupted by Chairwoman Krill for going on an extended history lesson about Disneyland and making assumptions about the demographics of attendance at the park.
- Perez concluded by asking Disney to commit to an additional 1% contribution from Disneyland Resort ticket sales, to which the company’s representatives would not commit either way in the moment, saying that the focus should be on this specific project.
- Perez also wound up calling for a delay to the vote, and this was seconded by another commissioner. But the motion was voted down by the remaining members of the Planning Commission.
- At long last, around 11:10 PM, the commission voted on whether or not to recommend Disneyland Forward to the Anaheim City Council for approval. This motion passed 5-to-1, with the next and final vote on this matter set to take place on Tuesday, April 16th.
For additional information on DisneylandForward in Anaheim, be sure to visit the project’s official website.