An Interesting Concept Re-emerges-- Perhaps Another DVC Opportunity...

[yitbos96bb]

So a little background...

I (the DH of our online duo) went to high school in Northern Virginia (DC suburbs) and have found my way back here as a dirty nasty "lobbyist", at least thats how we are all portrayed!

When I was growing up here there was a HUGE land battle in my home county, Prince William. Disney had come in and bought a massive swath of land and was going to open its third U.S. theme park to be called "Disney's America". The concept would have been to have a park themed on american history, which you see a good bit of at Disneyland, MK and Epcot.

Well, being Virginia much of the open space is owned by people who have had the property for several generations. Between that and the traffic issues the deal eventually died and Disney sold off all of the land.

Well, a possible new development has come into play that is rumored around the Old Sominion to possibly revive the concept.

Last year Anhuesur-Busch was sold to the European company InBev. You probably saw a good bit about it on TV. Well, upon purchasing the company InBev announced its intent to sell none-core business lines and focus on the beverage/brewing industry. One of those is Busch Entertainment, which owns Busch Gardens, SeaWorld and Sesame Place.

Rumors are abound that Disney may be looking into purchasing part or all of the parks. Doing so would give them access into the Virginia and Texas markets where they have looked to expand in the past. They are also the only company in the theme park business that would seem to have the capital to make such a move.

For a good run down visit http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/is-inbev-getting-closer-to-selling-busch-gardens/. (Sorry that it has a bit of a political spin in general, but this story is apolitical.)

Anyways, though I am from VA I was thinking-- having a new Disney park anywhere with a new DVC property would be an amazing experience. I especially like the concept os an American History themed Disney park. WD was always very involved in history and it would seem to fit with both his legacy and the legacy of the company as a whole.

Here is a good run down of what happened with the project and what the intent was, including a proposed lay out and artists renderings:

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2008/03/disneys-america-theme-park-project.html

Yeah I've heard these rumors too...

Sesame Place would make the most sense... They own the muppets already so merge all of Jim Henson's puppets into one park.
Busch Gardens Old Country would be AWESOME as well and makes sense.

Not sure about Busch Gardens Tampa...

Seaworld is the enigma, since its off Disney Property. If some kind of transportation was available...

 

[yitbos96bb]

It would be a big expansion in a down year. Some of the markets are desirable, but I think Tampa is a problem. And what would they do with Sesame Place? I've always viewed sesame street as a competitor.

Maybe they would just pick and choose which parks they wanted. I could see the Busch Gardens parks, but not the seaworld parks.

Sesame Place makes perfect sense... They own the muppets. The Sesame Street characters are Jim Henson creations. Its a great platform to expand on their muppet franchise, while gaining access to Sesame Street

 

[xoxorockon1]

i heard that disney bought property in Cape May County, NJ (particurally Wildwood) If this is true I'll be happy to have a disney park 3 hrs. from me

 

[yitbos96bb]

Just to add to the intrigue...

there is a rumor going around that Disney bought land just west of Montgomery, Alabama.

Let's just say there is more than one way to take on American History.

Montgomery is well known for Civil War / Civil Rights.

It would definitely be more contemporary.

Of course during the Revolutionary War -- this was Indian (Native American) Land. Hmmmm.

Umm... Montgomery is kind of known for being on the wrong SIDE of the Civil War and the Civil Rights movements.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I actually worked at Sesame Place for a number of years, and can tell you that Disney has tried to leverage that park away from Busch a number of times. Sesame Place as a piece of land, structure and environment is actually owned by Sesame Street Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop) and Busch Entertainment only staffs and manages the facilities for them.

Disney was not happy when Jim Henson passed away and he allowed Disney to manage the classic muppets and SSW to have the Sesame Street brand. They have tried on a few occasions to buy out SSW and Sesame Place to no avail. If the oppurtunity came along for Disney to buy that park I don't even think they would bat an eye, the place is a gold mine and would give them the north eastern presence they have been looking at for years with failed projects like Disney's America and the expansion of the DisneyQuest franchise to NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia.

I don't believe Disney Quest ever opened in any of those towns... They pulled the plug after Chicago.

 

[yitbos96bb]

i heard that disney bought property in Cape May County, NJ (particurally Wildwood) If this is true I'll be happy to have a disney park 3 hrs. from me

Yep,

My mother's father's brother's sister's former roommate told me that too.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Sesame Place makes perfect sense... They own the muppets. The Sesame Street characters are Jim Henson creations. Its a great platform to expand on their muppet franchise, while gaining access to Sesame Street

Operating a park that licenses the Sesame Street characters would not mean the Disney would then own the rights to the Sesame Street characters or would be "gaining access to Sesame Street."

Although Jim Henson created the characters for Sesame Street, they are owned by Sesame Workshop (originally Children's Television Workshop), a nonprofit educational organization.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Not necessarily true. BG Williamsburg is already in a great location, with a yearly supply of tourists, and it is already zoned as a theme park, so Disney would probably not face the same problems the faced in Northern Virginia.

If Disney just needed a big enough parcel for an American history theme park and zoning for such a park, they would not have to spend billions for Busch Entertainment and then knock down and rebuild Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

The are plenty of places in America where local, county, and state governments would gladly push through appropriate zoning for Disney to build a new park.

In the unlikely case that Disney winds up owning Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Disney would use and improve what's already there. To do otherwise would make as much sense as entirely converting World Showcase at Epcot into an an American history theme park.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Operating a park that licenses the Sesame Street characters would not mean the Disney would then own the rights to the Sesame Street characters or would be "gaining access to Sesame Street."

Although Jim Henson created the characters for Sesame Street, they are owned by Sesame Workshop (originally Children's Television Workshop), a nonprofit educational organization.

I should have been clearer...

Yes I know they would not Own the Sesame Street characters. I meant gain access to Sesame Street, in the sense that now they would have a park that they can sell more Sesame Merchandise. More important, it would be a great place to add some muppet attractions and incorporate the muppet characters, since the two are cousins, even if not owned by the same people.

Owning Sesame Place, might also allow Disney a chance to work out a licensing deal with SW to use Sesame Street characters in their theme parks as well as on the Disney channel.

 

[mitros]

I'd say it's all a lot of hooey. Disney won't spend the money to do anything really fantastic at the parks they already own. Why would they buy other parks?????