Downtown Disney transformation eyes Thanksgiving 2024 opening as construction begins
Construction has finally begun in Downtown Disney on a dirt lot that has sat empty for more than a year as Disneyland pushes forward with plans to reopen the long dormant west end of the outdoor shopping mall in time for the Christmas 2024 shopping season.
Disneyland has begun vertical construction on the former AMC Theatre lot in Downtown Disney where work is expected to be complete by late 2024.
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Bulldozers and excavators are busy on the former AMC lot where work crews have installed cement slabs, rebar supports, steel frames and concrete block walls for new Downtown Disney buildings, according to WDW News Today.
PHOTOS: Downtown Disney District Construction Goes Vertical at Disneyland Resorthttps://t.co/79T456qprg
— Disneyland News Today (@dlnt) June 2, 2023
Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock said at the OC Forum in May that the Downtown Disney transformation would be done in 18 months — in time for the Christmas 2024 shopping season.
Potrock’s 18-month timetable means all Downtown Disney construction should be completed in late 2024 shortly before Thanksgiving — traditionally the kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
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Demolition of the Downtown Disney AMC Theatre, Starbucks West, Earl of Sandwich, Sugarboo & Co. and other nearby Downtown Disney businesses began in February 2022 — with the dirt lot sitting vacant and dormant behind construction walls ever since.
The Downtown Disney AMC Theatre closed in 2018 to make way for a 700-room luxury Disney hotel that was ultimately canceled during a rift between the city and its largest employer.
Disneyland filed building permits valued at $5.4 million in December with the city of Anaheim for Downtown Disney construction, according to city records. The commercial construction permits filed with the Anaheim Planning and Building Department call for a new 8,300-square-foot retail building with room for five shops and an event space with a 1,250-square-foot stage.
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The Downtown Disney renovation will reimagine the west end of Disneyland’s outdoor shopping mall with a new midcentury modern design inspired by the Palm Springs area near Walt Disney’s vacation home.
The former Downtown Disney AMC location will be home to a Din Tai Fung soup dumpling restaurant and a new Earl of Sandwich along with other shops, a stage for musical acts and a grassy open space for special events.
Work continues on Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen which is undergoing an interior and exterior renovation as part of the multi-year renovation of Downtown Disney. The Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio refresh drops the Brennan’s name while updating the menu and decor.
Catal and the adjacent Uva Bar closed in April for an extensive renovation. Catal will be transformed into an upscale, gourmet Mexican restaurant called Paseo with a culinary concept created by Michelin-star chef Carlos Gayton — who owns Chicago’s Tzuco restaurant. The new Centrico replacing the Uva Bar will feature a high-end Mexican-inspired small plate menu with an emphasis on tequila-based cocktails.
Earl of Sandwich has opened a temporary pop-up shop in the former La Brea Bakery location that will eventually become the new Downtown Disney home of Porto’s Bakery.