Confused about what the Walt Disney Company wants to do next in Anaheim? Then maybe it’s time to take a second look at thirdthemepark.com

Jim Hill

17 years ago

Earlier this week, Jill T. wrote in to say:

According to today’s Los Angeles Times, the Walt Disney Company and SunCal have failed to reach a compromise on that big housing project. So now we’re back to Disney pushing the Anaheim City Council to get this zoning issue put on the November ballot.

What I don’t understand is why Disney is so dead set against letting SunCal build this condominium complex. It’s not like you’ll be able to see any of this low cost housing from inside the parks.What’s the real harm in letting this construction project proceed?

Dear Jill,

To properly answer your question, I’m first going to have to turn to the Wayback Machine (i.e. The Internet Archive website). Which will then take us back to the Fall of 2000. Back to that heady handful of months just prior to the opening of Disney’s California Adventure, when Mouse House managers were still confident that that theme park would be an absolute smash. So confident, in fact, that these suits were already itching to tell the public how they planned to follow-up DCA.

Which is why these Disney officials then set up thirdthemepark.com.

That website was exactly what it sounded like. Thirdthemepark.com outlined (in the vaguest possible terms, mind you) the Walt Disney Company’s long-range plans for those 52-acres of strawberry fields that Mickey had purchased from the Fujishige family back in 1998.

Of course, what’s funny about looking at these plans today is to see how many rides, shows and attractions that were originally proposed for Park No. 3 back in the Fall of 2000 eventually wound up in Disneyland anyway. Case in point: “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” (Which opened in April of 2003) and “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters” (Which opened in March of 2005).

According to Imagineers that I’ve spoken with who were very familiar with the Walt Disney Company’s plans for Park No. 3, this DLR addition would have really piled on the interactive attractions. The goal this time around was to create a very hands-on sort of Disney theme park. Where it was the guest who really made things happen as they rolled through rides and/or participated in shows.

If all of this hands-on stuff sounds familiar to you SeaWorld fans out there … Well, there’s a reason for that. As originally designed, the Disneyland Resort’s third theme park was supposed to be the Mouse’s answer to Discovery Cove (i.e SeaWorld Orlando’s pricey sister park. Where guests now pay upwards of $279 per person per day for the privilege of swimming with dolphins and then lounging on a private beach).

Ever since Discovery Cove opened in July of 2000 and was then able to convince 1000 guests a day to pay that astronomical entrance fee so that they could then get friendly with Flipper, the Mouse has been anxious to also get into the high-priced-boutique end of the theme park business. And given all of the affluent communities that there are in Southern California, it was felt that this particular version of Disneyland Resort Park No. 3 would have a very strong customer base to draw from.

Of course, all of this pie-in-the-sky planning was being done before Disney’s California Adventure opened in February of 2001. Once it became apparent that this new theme park was failing to meet virtually all of its initial financial & attendance projections … Well, there was no point in continuing to talk about how much money the Mouse could possibly make off of Park No. 3 while Park No. 2 was circling the drain.

And then 9/11 happened. Which was followed by the whole “Save Disney” brouhaha. And given all of the distractions that the Walt Disney Company has had to deal with for the past five or six years … Well, it’s easy to understand why any plans for a third theme park at the Disneyland Resort have been placed on the back, back, back burner.

But that said, the Mouse still has dreams (a decade or so from now) of turning those 52-acres that they bought from the Fujishige family back in 1998 into a theme park / resort that would cater to Disney’s high-end customers.

So now do you understand why Mickey doesn’t want any low-cost housing being built directly across from this future construction site? Disney want to avoid a “Let Them Eat Cake” scenario. Where would-be guests might feel guilty about enjoying themselves at a high-priced theme park that’s located next to a condominium complex where some of the residents may have trouble making their monthly rent.

Which (I know) might seem like a somewhat ridiculous concern. But let’s remember that this is the Walt Disney Company that we’re talking about here. A corporation that is always very concerned with its public image. Which is why — if the Mouse had its druthers — it would really prefer that SunCal build some sort of luxury hotel right next door to where Theme Park No. 3 is going to be built. So that the park’s would-be patrons wouldn’t then feel any guilt when they visited the Disneyland Resort’s third theme park.

Which brings us back to thirdthemepark.com … Given that they kept getting questions about all of the artwork, photos and descriptions that they’d originally posted on that website, Disney Company officials decided to change thirdthemepark.com in the Summer of 2002 into a page that promoted DCA’s next big attraction, “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.” Once that thrill ride opened in May of 2004, thirdthemepark.com limped along for another year or so (Still featuring that ghostly image of those doomed hotel guests gesturing in the corridor) before it finally went dark.

Mind you, the Mouse still supposedly owns the thirdthemepark.com domain name. And provided that the Anaheim City Council does allow this zoning referendum that Disney is currently pushing for to wind up on the November ballot … Who knows? Maybe Mickey will then have a compelling reason to bring this website back from the dead someday soon.

But — for now (More importantly, at least for the forseeable future) — all of the Imagineers’ efforts will be concentrated on trying to turn DCA into a worthy companion for Disneyland. Once that effort’s complete … Well, maybe then we’ll discover what sort of Discovery Cove-inspired theme park the Mouse plans on building out on top of those Anaheim strawberry fields.

Your thoughts?