Never one to rest on their laurels, TDO is always on the lookout for future expansion. Be it within and around existing parks or other markets around the world to expand the theme park business. While all of expansion post Walt Disney World has taken place overseas, Disney has turned its attention back to North America. Between California and Florida there was no U.S. location that seemed feasible so they turned their eyes north towards Canada.
With the early reception to the Pahkope Ski Resort under construction, Canada (Eastern Canada specifically) seemed primed for a theme park. With a number of Canadian guests already making the visit south to Florida and the proximity to a few heavily populated U.S cities in the Northeast, the area was ready. With a population of over 2.7 million Toronto became the obvious choice, but wasn’t so obvious was where in Toronto and for that matter how. Canada didn’t exactly have year round weather.
Having learned their lessons from botched lands, and attraction replacements, Disney tried a new tactic with their initial rough plans for the park. They would release the backbone and location of their plans ahead of time and test out the public reception. With Billy Bishop City Airport on The Toronto Islands across from the main city as their first choice, their plans were leaked on April 1, 2018. (http://dailyhive.com/toronto/disneyland-toronto-islands-resort-canada) The perfect day to disavow any reality to the project at hand.
Reaction was, shall we say, not good. The people of Toronto loved their islands and this takeover would not go well. The test though helped Disney realize several things. The people of Toronto did like Disney and the idea of a theme park, but they were going to have to work on their execution. If it was going to be in the city, it needed to be a part of the city which prompted Imagineers to work on plans to build up, not out to maximize space and keep the park near the city center.
With that Disney turned their eyes east of downtown Toronto. In the Studio District of all places, they located a plot of land that was close enough to the city center that would make sense and also some nearby parcels occupied by storage facilities and other small businesses they could take over to get themselves 42 acres of land. While not nearly enough for a typical theme park, the land would be enough to get started with their new vertical design. The space in fact would be large enough to hold 2 of the Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadiums with 3-4 acres left over.
One issues that would come up though with using a city based location would be transportation and ease of access for the area. Another factor that came in selecting this location was the newly planned East Harbour project (http://eastharbour.ca/). A new 60 acre development of office, retail and amenities that would both complement and bring additional people within direct contact of the park. On top of that, the East Harbour project would also bring mass transportation lines in the form of a subway and streetcar directly next to the park.
With that, the idea behind Disneyland Toronto was officially born.
A new type of Disney park. All indoors to combat the harsh winters. Multi-layered to save space and bring a new design element to the theme park experience.
All firsts for any Disney park around the world. Main Street, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland would all be a part of the initial build. Each land with its own structure housing multiple levels of attractions, shops, in some cases lodging, and multi-story open viewing spaces to take in the larger than life classic Disney attractions.
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Put simply, each land will be divided into 3 levels. The multiple levels are used to create the most unique takes on classic Disney lands in the world. Sometimes these multiple layers are used to hide showbuildings under walkways and create a unique sense of depth.
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The entrance to the park actually features a slope up (as well as stairs and elevators for those who prefer those for accessibility sake) taking guests from street level, past the Mickey flower bed, under the iconic train station (which serves as an actual stop for the city transit system aside from the visual wonder of it), and then up to the second level to enter the large building that houses the park and step into the magical world of Disneyland Toronto and the Main Street by the Sea to start your day!
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