Construction is finally going vertical on the west side of Downtown Disney District a year after demolition concluded and the land was cleared.

Downtown Disney District Construction

This site is the former home of an AMC Theater and other businesses, including Earl of Sandwich and Sugarboo & Co. Construction materials are staged behind these trees, near construction vehicles.

The vehicles include a bulldozer and a digger for moving dirt around. Brick walls outline the beginnings of a building, with rebar sticking straight up out of the walls.

A steel frame sits even higher on another concrete structure. Both are right next to the Monorail track.

Behind the structures, we can see piles of dirt in the open space of the construction site, where workers are preparing for more building foundations.

In addition to new buildings, the Downtown Disney District reimagining will include an open, grassy space for events and relaxing.

Construction is also ongoing elsewhere in Downtown Disney District. The Catal restaurant and its outdoor Uva Bar & Cafe closed on April 9 to make way for Paseo and Centrico from Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytan. The neighboring Sprinkles closed soon after and demolition moved to the former bakery. Recently, Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock said that the transformation would be complete by the end of 2024.

Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen has also been slowly updated.

Downtown Disney Overhaul

The Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort is currently undergoing a transformation that includes several new shops and restaurants. The new spaces set to be constructed are inspired by the mid-century space age look, which was popular in California during the 1950s and ’60s.

This process has slowly progressed over the last few years. However, Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock recently revealed an 18-month completion time frame, which roughly sees the District fully embracing its fresh face around the end of 2024.

We’ve heard about plenty of these new outlets thus far, such as the award-winning Din Tai Fung, which serves Chinese food, including bao, wontons, and more. Other outlets on the way include the beloved Porto’s Bakery and a new permanent home for Earl of Sandwich. Currently, the sandwich shop sits in the former home of La Brea Bakery, which will be the site of Porto’s in the near future.

All of this work on the resort’s entertainment, shopping, and dining hub is merely one minuscule portion of larger plans connected to the DisneylandForward initiative — a multi-year public planning effort that seeks to map out the next thirty years of vision with the City of Anaheim and Orange County.

DisneylandForward primarily aims to obtain more flexibility for land the resort received approval to develop in the 1990s, ideally adding a mix of theme parks, hotels, retail, dining, and entertainment on the eastern and western edges of the resort. Currently, Disneyland has used less than half of the millions of square feet already approved for development, according to the Orange County Register. All plans stay within the existing 500-acre property in Anaheim with no physical expansion or additional acreage.

Are you excited about all of the upcoming Downtown Disney District changes? Let us know in the comments.

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