Disney nears final vote on Anaheim expansion plan.

Competing Southland parks support $3 billion project

Walt Disney Co. has successfully completed the first stage of the approval process for its planned expansion of Disneyland, and is expected to face a final vote by June 23. Anaheim's Planning Commission on May 20 approved the final environmental impact report submitted by Burbank-based Disney Development Corp., the Disney subsidiary overseeing the massive theme park expansion project.

The final EIR must still be approved by the Anaheim City Council. The City Council set aside three dates in June to hear public comment on the expansion: June 9, 10 and 23. If, however, public comments are concluded before June 23, the City Council will vote on the expansion at that time. The rubber stamp from the Anaheim City Council is the final approval that Disney needs before it can go ahead with its expansion.

Disney officials called the May 20 approval by the planning commission a "milestone," but were quick to add that the expansion deal still is far from a sure thing.

Disney plans to expand on land adjacent to its existing theme park, Disneyland, which opened its doors in 1955. The expansion is designed to include development of a second theme park, to be called Westcot. The new park would be similar to Disney's Epcot Center park in Orlando, Fla.

Plans also include three new theme hotels in addition to a large-scale renovation of the existing Disneyland Hotel.

The estimated $3 billion project also includes establishment of a garden district in and around Westcot and Disneyland.

The concept is modeled after Disney's Orlando theme park/resort, Walt Disney World and Epcot Center. Disney has learned its lessons well from its history in Florida.

Its strategy is to diversify the experiences offered to visitors to its Anaheim theme park, just as it has done in Florida. By adding retail areas, restaurants and a second theme park, Disney hopes that visitors will stay longer than one day at the expanded park. MCA/Universal is employing a similar strategy at Universal Studios Hollywood. On May 24, MCA/Universal opened a retail center, Citywalk, adjacent to its Universal City theme park.

One Disney official stated that its company's conservative estimate is that tourists will spend two days at the expanded Anaheim park.

A similar two-day-stay estimate was projected during the expansion of Walt Disney World, and that projection was found to be grossly understated. Visitors to the Florida park are actually spending an average of four days, which gives Disney the opportunity to capture four days' worth of tourist spending.

Other Southland theme parks support Disney's plans to capture yet more tourist dollars here in Southern California. That allegiance is apparently based at least partially on their belief that some of the additional traffic generated by Disney's expansion would spill over into their parks.

Knott's Berry Farm President and Chief Executive Officer Terry Van Gorder recently endorsed Disney's planned expansion and publicly urged the City of Anaheim to approve the project. One reason for his support, he stated in a letter to the City of Anaheim, was that Orange County desperately needs something to rejuvenate its stagnating tourism industry. He said he believes the Disney expansion might be the key.

Likewise, officials at Universal Studios Hollywood, though not quite as active in its support of the Disney project, have expressed belief that the expansion would provide a much-needed boost to the local economy.

However, both Disney and Anaheim city officials cautioned that, despite the go-ahead given by the city planning commission last month, the project has not been given the final green light.

On the positive side, Disney estimates that construction of Westcot would boost jobs in Southern California by more than 27,000 in the long run. Additional benefits would be an estimated $46 million per year in sales and property tax revenues for the City of Anaheim, $14 million per year for Orange County and $90 million for the State of California.

Disney officials stated they cannot make a final estimate of the expansion's cost until the Anaheim City Council approves the final EIR. Until the total cost can be firmly forecast, the company will not make a final commitment to develop the project.

Meanwhile, Anaheim city officials are caught in a classic double bind of yearning for the benefits that an expanded tourist attraction would bring their city and concern about the costs involved.

These lingering concerns relate largely to the cost of upgrading infrastructure to accommodate the proper functioning of a larger amusement park. Disney officials have stated that such improvements should include building public parking structures bordering the park and improving existing nearby roads and intersections. Disney would also like new off-ramps to be built that would feed off the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) directly into the new parking structures.

Large utility lines that currently hang over the Disneyland surface parking lot would need to be buried beneath the ground, and existing storm drains and sewers must be improved, Disney officials stated.

Disneyland presently generates 850,000 gallons of waste water daily. That figure would increase by 1.8 million gallons after the expansion is completed.

The total amount that must be raised by the City of Anaheim to assure Disney that its expansion is viable is estimated to be as high as $800 million, according to Deputy City Manager Tom Wood. How, specifically, the city would come up with that financing is still under negotiation.

In a recent memo to the mayor, city council and planning commission, the Office of the City Manager outlined its support for the expansion and its commitment to finding a way to raise the capital. The City Manager's Office believes that improving the infrastructure in the area surrounding Disneyland is a necessity, even if Disney scraps its expansion plans. This is the area through which the bulk of Anaheim's tourist traffic between Disneyland and the Anaheim convention center travels. It is the belief of the City Manager's Office that improvements should be made, regardless of the ultimate fate of Disney's plans, to ensure the future health of tourism in the city's center.