Anaheim officials are brainstorming a major overhaul of the city’s Disneyland Resort district to include public art, streetscape design, water filling stations, a pocket park and playgrounds, expanded sidewalks, pedestrian bridges and connecting the resort to the Platinum Triangle.
But questions remain on where the money would come from for the revamp – dubbed Resort 2.0 – with at least one City Councilwoman publicly stating Disney should help pay for such an investment and it shouldn’t fall on the backs of residents and hoteliers.
“I do appreciate that we were able to invest in the resort for the past 30 years, but I do recognize the fact that we still have a deficit that was generated by a lot of this investment,” Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava said at the Oct. 13 city council meeting.
“A lot of our partners, Disney being one of them, have really benefited from all of the investment that we have as a city, given them in terms of developing parking structures that have zero burden to them on any of the parking fees, and I think that when we’re looking at funding mechanisms for Resort 2.0, it should not be at the expense of residents in the districts that are surrounding the resort district.”
Rubalcava, who is running for reelection, was initially elected with backing from Disney Resort interests and survived a recall election with their support.
Councilwoman Kristen Maahs, whose 2024 city council campaign was heavily supported by Disney dollars, said it’s important that residents understand investing in the resort improves residents’ quality of life.
“I just want to make sure that residents understand how the investment in the resort connects to the quality of life and the experiences in their neighborhood. So, however, we can best continue to communicate that. I think it is really important that it’s not an us versus them; it’s a relationship that we all benefit from. As the resort does well, so do our neighborhoods and residents,” Maahs said.
Rubalcava said residents should benefit from resort investments too.
“The City of Anaheim has been a great partner to the resort, and I think it’s time for us to all benefit, and they can help with this investment as well,” she said.
Last year, Rubalcava suggested implementing a 3% gate tax on venues like Disneyland to help bolster the public budget after officials struggled with a budget deficit but her proposal was never approved.
Earlier this year, city council members quelled a roughly $45 million spending gap by using money from a parking structure sale and using reserves to adopt a balanced budget.
City officials also said the budget deficit would eat up roughly half of the $120 million in new revenue expected to be freed up after the 1997 Disneyland Resort expansion bonds are paid off later this year.
In the budget, officials project a positive financial surplus but concede the projections don’t take into account increasing labor costs and a host of contracts expiring this year and next.
The resort investment proposal also comes as city officials approved 16% pay raises for police officers over the next three years as part of a new contract that will cost $45 million over three years – an expense City Spokesman Mike Lyster said could potentially pull from the freed up revenue from the bond.
That same night, officials approved an up to roughly $2.4 million contract with a consulting firm to help them plan and organize a public-private partnership for a transit connector between the resort area and Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center.
City staff say the money for the consultant is coming from tourism tax dollars meant to market and improve the resort area and not general fund dollars.
Resort 2.0: Anaheim is Redeveloping
While the Disneyland Resort district makes up a bulk of the general fund budget in Anaheim, many residents have questioned just how cozy elected officials are with resort interests over the years.
Those concerns that reached a breaking point in 2022 when a FBI Corruption Probe went public alleging resort interests held outsized influence over city hall.
In the years after the scandal, officials approved a $2 billion expansion of Disneyland – selling off a couple of public streets despite concerns from some residents of a rushed deal, put a gate tax proposal on ice and opted to hold off pursuing a tax on Ubers & Lyfts to the theme park.
The Disneyland expansion isn’t the only new development in the city.
Officials are developing the OC River Walk Project – aimed at transforming the Santa Ana river to recreational open space equipped with a new trail, pedestrian and bicycle bridges and inflatable dams.
Across the freeway, the Samueli family is developing a new mixed-use entertainment district around the Honda Center dubbed OC Vibe with restaurants, hotels, parks and a concert hall.
Meanwhile, there are renewed questions on the future of Angel Stadium after the bombshell announcement earlier this year that Angels Owner Arte Moreno was selling the team to LA Rams Owner Stan Kroenke – raising questions on whether another land sale could be on the horizon.
Councilwoman Natalie Meeks recently called for a discussion on how the council will deal with a long-awaited stadium condition assessment report, potential stadium negotiations, the surplus land act and the city’s priorities for the property.
Meeks, who is running for reelection unopposed and received $25,000 in mailer support from a political action committee funded in part by Disney, said it is important to capitalize on the Disneyland expansion and the OC Vibe developments.
“We really are looking at the potential of growing our 25 million visitors a year to 40 million visitors a year, and how do we do that? And how do we accommodate it?” Meeks said during the Oct. 13 meeting.
“To the extent that we use this staff time and we put this effort and we spend some money, it will return itself to our community tenfold, hundredfold. This isn’t about just making us a fancy destination. This is about delivering services to our residents, and that’s how we’ve been able to deliver to our fire department and our police department.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
