The 6-acre Avengers Campus opened at California Adventure last Friday, about a month after the theme park reopened to limited crowds following the pandemic-forced closure.
It’s the largest new themed development for the 500-acre Anaheim resort owned by Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) since 2019, when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge first opened to the public.
The 14-acre Star Wars expansion, which opened its second phase early last year, is the largest themed expansion in the theme park’s history. It reportedly cost over $1 billion to build out.
The Business Journal estimates the cost for the new Avengers Campus to be in the $500 million range. It is the largest expansion for California Adventure since 2012, when the 12-acre Cars Land—costing some $1.1 billion—had its debut.
The new land could be joined by a larger, multibillion-dollar growth push over the coming years by Disneyland Resort as it looks to revisit its original development agreement with the city to allow for a physical expansion that could be its largest since the opening of California Adventure itself in 2001.
“We see this opening as just the beginning,” said Scot Drake, a portfolio creative executive with Walt Disney Imagineering that worked to conceptualize Avengers Campus.
A Decade in Making
Disney kicked off planning efforts for the Avengers Campus nearly a decade ago; Walt Disney bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for about $4 billion.
Its 2021 debut fits with the overall reopening of Disneyland Resort.
“The campus is all about welcoming new recruits and becoming part of a team,” Drake said during a media preview of the park last week.
The land is inspired by Disney’s popular Marvel Cinematic Universe, a collection of two dozen or so movies centered on a group of superheroes dubbed The Avengers.
Rides, attractions, eateries and stores at the new land are geared around this universe, ranging from the revamped Tower of Terror, to a Doctor Strange-themed show, to a cafeteria based on Ant-Man and the Wasp.
High-Tech Rides
The land’s concept is every bit as futuristic as the movies it’s focused on, with technology and innovation at the core of the campus.
Take Web Slingers, for example, one of two rides at Avengers Campus.
The 4D, Spider-Man-themed ride is similar to the Toy Story Midway Mania ride elsewhere in California
The ride instead picks up on each rider’s movements, enabling them to sling virtual webs from their wrist.
“You’re able to truly interact with the game,” such as throw shipping containers across a virtually rendered screen and open doors, notes Brent Strong, executive creative director of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Future Expansion
Disney was hit hard the past year, with the pandemic costing its park division nearly $2.6 billion in lost revenue for the quarter ending in December.
The nearly 400-day closure of the company’s Anaheim theme parks reportedly cost the company nearly $10 million in daily revenue; the region’s economy was estimated to have lost close to $23 million a day due to the closures and lack of tourist dollars in the area.
The new land is a sign that not all was lost during the hiatus.
The theme park took advantage of the quiet period to wrap construction and deliver Avengers Campus, which is anchored by the reimagined Tower of Terror, now called Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout.
Avengers Campus replaces A Bug’s Land in the southeast corner of California Adventure.
Disney still has physical room left to expand its two theme parks, but development regulations have restricted the company’s ability to add hotels, attractions and other uses in a more integrated expansion.
The company is looking to change these development agreements, and is in current discussions with the city for approvals to allow for new attractions, hotel rooms, retail, dining and other mixed-use elements.
Disney kicked off the multiyear public planning process in late March.
