Walt Disney World is already unfathomably huge… but what if it were bigger? About 235 acres bigger?

Well, Disney has just made its second big real estate purchase of the year, which means it’s time to speculate wildly about what they’re going to do with it!

The new land purchase, done through Disney subsidiary Compass Rose Corp, includes 235 acres of land to the west of the Magic Kingdom near Lake Reedy.

The question is, what are they planning to do with it?

Recently, Disney’s main rival in the area, Universal Orlando, announced a new park: Epic Universe. This poses a threat (as threatening as things can get when we’re talking theme parks) to Walt Disney World on multiple fronts.

First, Epic Universe is Universal Orlando’s fourth gate. While some fans question whether Volcano Bay (a water park, albeit a highly immersive and advanced one) counts as a “gate”, Universal is sure to push this in their marketing. This undermines one of Disney World’s main claims to fame, as now Universal can claim they have just as many parks as their rival.

Second, Epic Universe will be the most advanced theme park in the Orlando area. Disney hasn’t opened a new gate in Orlando in over two decades, and while many of their existing parks are spectacular, Universal is promising Galaxy’s Edge-tier experiences at their new park.

Since 235 acres is larger than the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, could this new land purchase herald a new gate for Disney? Maybe. But probably not.

The new land is located near the Oak Trail Golf Course and is also adjacent to Disney’s solar farm. It’s more likely that this particular parcel of land could be earmarked for expansion related to one of those projects; like a new Resort or expanded power facilities. While it’s possible this could be home to the coveted 5th Gate, it’s unlikely.

However, as mentioned above, this is the second land purchase Disney has made in 2019. The other one was a 1,500+ acre purchase of land in Osceola County. This, combined with the already existing acreage that Disney owns, means that the World won’t be done growing any time soon. In fact, in a few years, it might even be a whole new world!

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