Disney Park Plans for Anaheim Grow : Development: Amusement company’s plans appear more ambitious than first revealed. Firm has spent millions buying surrounding land.

In what is being described by sources as a massive undertaking, the Walt Disney Co. is preparing plans to construct two new theme parks and several major hotels near Disneyland.

The company said months ago that it was preparing a development plan for the Disneyland area, but the size of the proposed project--particularly the addition of a third park--surprised some local residents and officials.

Disney, which has tried to keep details of its plans secret, has already spent millions of dollars to acquire local properties for the proposed development.

While the company has provided broad descriptions of its proposal to real estate and government officials, it has not provided specific details of what the two new parks will be or a timetable for building them.

“We are working hard to finalize our preliminary master plan for a Disneyland expansion which we believe will serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of the Anaheim commercial recreation area,” Disney officials said in a statement Tuesday. “We hope to announce the plan soon. At that time the nature and extent of our project will become clear.”

Disney’s activity comes a year after the Burbank-based company announced it would spend more than $1 billion to develop another theme park in the 1990s, in Anaheim or Long Beach. The company has since said it might build parks in both areas.

The company has already revealed a proposal for a marine theme park in Long Beach.

The speculation in Anaheim intensified this week when it was revealed that Disney recently acquired a 23-acre parcel near Disneyland for $30.2 million. In addition, other landowners confirm that they have been approached by the firm in recent weeks about selling or leasing their property. The company has obtained land leases on some motels near the amusement park.

Some landowners and business operators on the fringes of Disneyland said word of the theme park’s appetite for more property in the area is the topic of conversation.

Real estate and other sources said the company’s proposal is so sizable that it would change the face of the Disneyland area, now crowded with aging motels, mini-malls and convenience stores.

Some motel operators confirmed that they had signed confidentiality agreements with Disney prohibiting any discussion of recent transactions involving their properties. Although they said Disney was not directly involved in the property negotiations, they believed that the company was involved as a third party.

Some Disney officials have talked of the plans in public. At a breakfast meeting of the Orange County Employment Managers Assn., a Disney official said the company may soon be looking for engineers to build and design two theme parks and several hotels in Anaheim.

Having three world-class amusement parks close together is not without precedent. In Florida, Disney has Walt Disney World, Epcot Center and MGM Disney Studios, all within close proximity of each other. Guests have to pay a separate admission price to visit each. Many stay in Disney hotels and eat at Disney restaurants.