New Disneyland Addition We’ve Been Waiting For Since 2022 Hits Big Milestone

The Disneyland Resort is in the middle of big investments into new rides, infrastructure, and expansion of the Downtown Disney shopping and dining district. At Mickey Visit, we have been watching all of these changes closely and just got news about two major milestones for construction to finally be moving forward on an addition we have been waiting for since 2022.

Previously, we reported on recent movements for key milestones for the new ride we’re most excited for and the major infrastructure entrance construction. At Mickey Visit, we bring you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including looks at ride reopenings, changes at Disneyland, and big hotel news. See the recent update to new Disney rides coming here and progress on two new rides coming to Disneyland here. Plus, another big milestone and an update on a new Coco ride.

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Disneyland Finally Moving Forward With Major Addition Just Outside Main Gates

Disney announced a large new location for the beloved Porto’s Southern California chain at the D23 Expo in 2022. Porto’s, famous for their pastries and savory treats, would come to Downtown Disney. This was over three years ago.

That was the year that Disney introduced big “Blue Sky” what-if ideas for Walt Disney World including the concept of “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” for Magic Kingdom, and the additions to Animal Kingdom. This was two years before all the new rides for Disneyland and new rides for Walt Disney World were announced. The event took place in the final months of Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s tenure before Bob Iger’s return. I share all this to illustrate just how long ago we first heard about Porto’s coming to Disneyland.

The Porto’s Disneyland announcement from Josh D’Amaro drew the biggest applause of the entire Disney Parks presentation, though it definitely helped that they handed out boxes of pastries. All of this is to illustrate how much excitement there is for Porto’s and how long we have been waiting for real movement around the construction of the location at Disneyland. We are excited.

To bring those up to speed who are not familiar with the Southern California chain, Porto’s Bakery & Cafe is a beloved Southern California institution with six locations in Glendale, Burbank, Downey, West Covina, Northridge, and Buena Park. The Buena Park location is very close to Knott’s Berry Farm. The cafe serves Cuban-inspired pastries, cakes, and savory dishes. I love the savory cheese rolls and potato balls. We also know that the location is a favorite for Disney employees in Anaheim and Burbank, where the food is frequently catered for lunches.

The food is also inexpensive for the quality. When you visit a Porto’s on the weekend, there is almost always a massive line, though it moves efficiently. Those who have frequented Porto’s have wondered how the massive Disney crowds and typical Disney prices will gel with the Porto’s experience.

Porto’s has taken the #1 spot on “Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the US”. In 2021, it was voted Best Bakery in the Southland according to the Los Angeles Times (again, the fact that the award we include in our original write-up is from 2021 demonstrates how long we have been writing on this). We anticipate that Porto’s will be popular and one of the best Downtown Disney dining locations when it finally opens.

The new Porto’s location will be located just outside the gates of Disney California Adventure on the most prime real estate in Downtown Disney. It will be easy to pop out of the park or do so while park hopping to grab something at Porto’s. I like that this brings new competition to Disneyland to keep upping the game on their baked goods and lunch options.

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Now, turning to the key news for what is happening right now.

In April, we got good news that Porto’s was still moving forward at Disneyland, even though we hadn’t heard much about the project up until that point. Disneyland shared that they would be completely gutting the La Brea Bakery Location, which is temporarily the Earl of Sandwich, to construct a massive new Porto’s location.

The concept artwork makes the new space look massive, and based on the additional information we’ve received, it will be. You can see all the concept artwork and details for the location that was previously released here.

Back in April, we reported that Disneyland filed a permit to demolish the Earl of Sandwich building as well as two ticket booths. The permit entry describes the intended demolition of the 2,610 sq ft bakery/restaurant and both of the two 865 sq ft ticket booths.

Now, there is finally movement towards the beginning of construction. Earlier this week, we reported that Disneyland was permanently closing two of the ticket booths on the Downtown Disney side of the Esplanade, in addition to other shifts happening with ticketing. Disneyland confirmed which two ticket booths are closing.

Now, Disney has confirmed that the Earl of Sandwich Tavern is permanently closed as of today and that the Earl of Sandwich location will close at the end of business today. The pop-up Earl of Sandwich location next to the Star Wars Trading Post (old Rainforest Cafe) will remain open. Disneyland is also at work on a new two-story Earl of Sandwich location at the far end of Downtown Disney that will also feature a celebrity chef restaurant. We don’t yet have an opening date on that new location.

This primes the entire restaurant space and ticket booth for construction to build the massive new location that you can see above.

With the closure of this location, we expect that work will begin with haste on construction in this area. The Earl of Sandwich locations were the carryover spots brought in when La Brea Bakery left the space. This is prime real estate with a ton of high-value foot traffic. Disney will not choose to keep this space sitting here vacant for long. We can expect to see real activity here quickly. Disney previously shared a targeted opening of 2025 for Porto’s, but that will obviously be pushed out. If work begins now, I could see this location opening a year from now.

Here’s a closer look at where this construction will be and the impact on the larger Disneyland Esplanade between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure.

Remember that this construction in the Esplanade is not happening in a vacuum. Disney is also launching into a massive project to build a huge new Eastern Gateway entrance from the Harbor Boulevard side of the resort.

That will bring big change to the entrance experience on the other side of the Esplanade and could mean the demolition of the ticket booths there.

I’ve seen comments on these construction update articles from people asking about the personalized “Walk of Magical Memories” stones between the two parks. Disney hasn’t given any information on if these will be impacted yet, but we will keep asking and bringing you the information as things shift.

All this work is in addition to the four new rides coming to Disney California Adventure. Disney California Adventure and the Esplanade are about to become real construction zones. It is exciting to see progress being made on projects we have been thinking about for so long.

At Mickey Visit, we bring you all the latest Disney news and planning resources. We’ll keep following along with these projects to bring you updates big and small.

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