ANAHEIM — When Walt Disney opened Disneyland, he saw it as a place that would always change and grow.
But to keep growing, the Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. needs more real estate to support its flagship, yet landlocked theme park.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts paid about $115.3 million for Yamaha Motor Corporation USA’s former 25-acre U.S. headquarters in Cypress, about seven miles west of Disneyland Resort.
Disneyland officials told the Business Journal they plan to use the 279,000-square-foot industrial and office buildings for behind-the-scenes work that supports the theme park.
The Cypress property’s sizable footprint and proximity to Anaheim made it an attractive investment that can support the resort’s long-term growth and changing operational needs, a Disneyland spokesperson said.
They provided no further information.
JLL and Avison Young brokered the deal.
Why Disney Needs More Space
The acquisition comes at a time when Disney’s theme parks and experiences have become one of the company’s biggest and most reliable profit drivers and Disneyland is set to enter a new period of growth.
According to the Themed Entertainment Association’s Global Experience Index 2024, which tracks theme park attendance, more than 145 million visitors visited a Disney theme park worldwide. Disney remains the No. 1 theme park operator globally and accounts for roughly eight of the top 10 most-visited individual parks in the world.
Disney Experiences, which includes the 12 theme parks such as Disneyland, along with the cruise line, hotels and consumer products, brought in $36.2 billion in revenue and almost $10 billion in operating income in fiscal 2025, according to reports.
And the company is not done pouring money into the division.
CEO Josh D’Amaro told shareholders that Disney will continue investing billions more in its theme parks, calling it “the largest capital investment plan in Disney Experiences history.”
At the recent D23 Expo, Disneyland officials announced several new investments, including Avengers-themed attractions, a Coco ride and a major update to its original land, Tomorrowland.
Disneyland Resort opened in 1955 on 160 acres of former orange groves and walnut fields.
Today, more than 27 million visitors pass through Disneyland Resort, which now covers about 490 acres and includes two theme parks, three hotels, the Downtown Disney shopping district and other properties.
Still, that is a tiny fraction of the roughly 25,000 acres controlled by its sister property Walt DisneyWorld Resort in Florida.
Unlike Disney World, where it can expand outward, Disneyland is landlocked and largely surrounded by motels, businesses, homes and city streets, leaving Disney to find ways to accommodate new attractions, hotels and entertainment within its existing Anaheim footprint.
Buying the Yamaha Motor property allows Disney to move or relocate back-of-house items — equipment, supplies, parade floats, costumes, etc. — and employees to another nearby location.
It also marks a new stage of growth for DisneylandForward, the development plan Anaheim approved in 2024.
As part of the initiative, Disney is required to invest at least $1.9 billion over the first 10 years in new attractions, hotels, entertainment, shopping and dining at the resort.
DisneylandForward, which rezoned Disneyland’s properties for mixed use, allows Disney Imagineers more flexibility to combine different uses across the resort.
Back-of-House Support
Disney has not said whether the Cypress acquisition is directly linked to the DisneylandForward initiative.
However, the Yamaha deal appears to be part of Disney’s ongoing strategy to buy or lease properties outside the theme park to support the theme park’s operations.
In 2014, Disney paid $48 million for 13 acres across Harbor Boulevard from the resort at 1515 and 1585 S. Manchester Ave., to CT Realty Investors.
The following year, Disney bought the neighboring former Carousel Inn and Suites at 1530 S. Harbor Blvd. from Wincome Group for $32 million.
At the time, Disneyland officials said that more visitors and employees meant they needed more infrastructure, such as warehouses, offices and parking.
Those properties are now being redeveloped as part of Disneyland’s Eastern Gateway project. The Manchester buildings have been demolished to make room for an eight-story parking structure for 6,000 vehicles, which is under construction.
The former Carousel Inn has also been torn down.
The site will become part of a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard, connecting the new parking structure with the esplanade that serves Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney.
In January 2025, Disney made another large real estate investment, paying $124 million for two industrial buildings at 1501 and 1601 E. Cerritos Ave. in Anaheim.
Disney had already been leasing the 407,000-square-foot complex to store equipment like parade floats and seasonal decorations, just a couple of miles from the theme park.
Disney’s Cypress Acquisition Provides Much-Needed Space
While the latest purchase gives Disney another large property for growth outside Anaheim, it marks the end of Yamaha Motor USA’s nearly half-century presence in Cypress.
Yamaha Motor USA officials cited the high cost of doing business, driven by tariffs and changing market conditions, as the reason for the move. At least 58 employees were laid off earlier this month, according to a previous Business Journal report. Around 200 to 250 employees once called the campus home.
Iwata, Japan-based Yamaha’s former USA motor campus at 6555 Katella Ave. includes an office, flex and industrial building and occupies an entire city block with access from Katella Avenue, Holder Street and Yamaha Way. Yamaha acquired the Cypress property in 1978 and established its U.S. motor division headquarters there the following year.
The Japanese manufacturer of motorized sports equipment is moving its remaining Cypress operations to Kennesaw, Georgia, where it previously relocated its marine and motorsports businesses. Yamaha Motor officials told the Business Journal they signed a leaseback agreement through the end of 2028 while they complete its corporate relocation, meaning Disney’s use of the property is not imminent.
Disney officials did not disclose which operations eventually could move to Cypress or how many employees the buildings will house. But the acquisition does provide another 25 acres of much-needed space as Disneyland prepares for another generation of growth and expansion.
As Walt Disney famously said, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
— Joseph Pimentel