Despite a deadly pandemic closing its theme parks for a year, Walt Disney Co. has begun charting a course for the future by announcing plans Thursday to upgrade and renovate its Anaheim resort with new attractions, shops and restaurants within its existing 490-acre footprint.

The plan, dubbed Disneyland Forward, is short on details, but Disney officials made clear they want to squeeze new attractions, shops and eateries into underdeveloped existing areas of the resort, specifically around two Disney hotels west of the theme parks and in the site of a parking lot east of the resort.

Disney officials said it is too early in the process to disclose construction cost but vowed to bring detailed construction plans for approval to the Anaheim City Council by 2023. The media giant spent $1 billion to open its newest expansion to Disneyland, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, in May 2019.

“Guests need and want more, ” said Jeanette Lomboy, Disney portfolio executive at Walt Disney Imagineering. “In order to give guests what they want, we need more flexibility in Anaheim.”

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