Dallas/Fort Worth is a new site for Disney Theme Park?

[TheLionKing]

My brother, who is doing business in there heard from business sources that Disney is looking to build another theme park there.

Personally, I find this very hard to believe. My brother is not a disneyphile, so it was not like he was looking for Disney rumors.

Any comments?

 

[Bstanley]

Too hot in the summer.

Too cold in the winter.

Tornado Alley.

Not enough folks within driving distance.

I personally like the northwest Houston rumors better (especially when I lived there the climate and location are much more like Orlando.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We have all been hearing the TX rumors for so long we would fall off our chairs if it really ended up being true.
If it came to pass, I hope it isn't D/FW. I HATE coming and going from that airport.

 

[Tik Tok]

Oh Good Lord!!

The last thing that Disney needs right now is to be building yet another theme park. Maybe they should concentrate on fixing the ones they've already got first...

 

[Planogirl]

I doubt this even though this native Houstonian disputes the bit about not enough people within driving distance. More than Houston I believe. And Houston isn't exactly a haven for comfortable weather either.

But I really don't think that it's likely to happen simply because Texas is too uncomfortable and Disney isn't going to spend that kind of money on anything!

By the way, if anyone flies into DFW anytime soon, see about using Love Field instead of DFW airport. It's much easier and quieter.

 

[taysalyn]

i agree with the weather factor...much too hot (coming from a native texan). and i agree with Tik Tok, they should concentrate all their 'imagination' in updating the existing parks.

 

[JustBob]

Build a park within a reasonable drive from those of us in the middle of the country!

Perhaps the new park will feature barbequed emu!

 

[Kirby]

I heard the same rumor a couple a months ago from our neighbor who is doing some landscaping work for the new hotel/resort being buildt in Grapevine.

I've also heard that Disney bought property in the McKinney area.

I'll believe it when I see it.

I personally wouldn't want them to build on that side of DFW. It's getting much too congested up that way. I'd rather they go south of the metroplex. At least then I wouldn't have to go through Dallas to get there.

 

[Planogirl]

Kirby, if they'd build a decent loop around the city then we could all avoid Dallas.

I think a Disney park of some kind in the center of the US somewhere would be nice but Disney will not invest that kind of money in anything right now. But that's just MHO. And I agree that the current parks desperately need the cash investment if one is to be made.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Originally posted by Kirby
I've also heard that Disney bought property in the McKinney area.

Please don't tease! 75 is bad enough right now. I would say stick it in Garland (for traffic reasons), but that means we'd actually have to go to Garland *shudder*. Stick it in Plano or maybe Anna or Sherman.

I hope they don't build it in Houston. The traffic is even worst, not to mention going to Disney would require actually being in Houston *double shudder* Houston has more people in Houston proper, but I believe there's more people living in the DFW area than the Houston area (though I could be wrong).

Location-wise Dallas is the better choice. It's a lot more accessable to the surrounding states (which = more $). Dallas also has the benefit of 2 airports (I think Houston only has one).

Weather-wise is a push IMO. Houston's climate in the summer is a little more humid than at WDW (which a lot of people consider too hot), but their winters are a little more mild. Dallas' climate is a lot less humid in the summer, but the temps are a steady 100+º from mid June to late August. The winters here range from the teens to the 40s (which is close to winters in SoCal) & it rarely snows with accumulation. Dallas has the occasional tornado, but due to the heat index of larger cities they usually touch down on the far out skirts of the cities in the sticks. Houston on the other hand has problems with hurricanes & they don't descriminate between a podunk town or downtown Houston. I guess a fair comparison is that Dallas' weather is more like the weather in Anaheim & Houston's is more like Orlando.

Competition-wise Dallas is the better choice. For a long time Six Flags Texas has been the only game in town & exercise all the monopolistic attitudes & habits we dislike. Astroworld is a solid park & Fiesta Texas (also a pretty good park) isn't too far of a drive from it. If it came to Big D, they'd probably have Six Flags Texas either scrambling for ride & employee upgrades or filing chapter 11 within a year.


I hope they build it in the DFW area, but this rumor is pretty old & until I see some heavy duty construction going on, I won't hold my breath. I might buy some land just in case though

 

[mrsapalm]

Blecchhh! As a former Fort Worth Fugitive, I would hate hate hate to see Disney do that. But, I doubt there is any fact to the rumor about Disney building a theme park there. Disney owns property all over the place, but that doesn't mean they are going to build theme parks everywhere. Texas is waaayyyy too hot for a theme park that would potentially draw the numbers that Disney does (outside temp. + number of bodies in close proximity= TFH... too freakin' hot).
Besides, I love having to travel to go to WDW. I want to feel as though I am getting away from my life.
-MrsAPalm

 

[raidermatt]

...Disney isn't going to spend that kind of money on anything!

As others have pointed out on other threads, Disney WILL spend the money (they spend 3/4 of a billion $'s on DCA). The problem is HOW they spend it.

WDW was built when Florida had only 6.5 million residents. Disney looked at climate and future freeway patterns to pick the location, not really worrying about how many people lived nearby. The reasoning was that if they built something that compelled people to come, they would come.

But I don't see that kind of confidence coming from current mgmt. (and for good reason...)

 

[Lainy67]

Originally posted by Jeff in BigD

I hope they don't build it in Houston. The traffic is even worst, not to mention going to Disney would require actually being in Houston *double shudder* Houston has more people in Houston proper, but I believe there's more people living in the DFW area than the Houston area (though I could be wrong).

Having just moved from Missouri City (Houston suburb) to South Arlington (DFW suburb) I have to say that the population is darned close (4.8 million - DFW vs. 4.4 million - Houston). To me, it seems like Houston is MUCH more spread out though than the DFW area. Mainly via the 45 corridor (Conroe to Galveston), but it is definitely getting hairy Kingwood to SugarLand as well.

Originally posted by Jeff in BigD
Location-wise Dallas is the better choice. It's a lot more accessable to the surrounding states (which = more $). Dallas also has the benefit of 2 airports (I think Houston only has one).

Houston also has two airports. One on the north side of town (Bush International or IAH) and one on the south side (Hobby). IAH is generally more accessible with also more flights, similar to DFW; while Hobby is harder to get to and smaller but boasts Southwest Airlines, similar to Love Field. Both have pros and cons, but generally I prefer DFW and IAH to Love and Hobby.

Originally posted by Jeff in BigD
Weather-wise is a push IMO. Houston's climate in the summer is a little more humid than at WDW (which a lot of people consider too hot), but their winters are a little more mild. Dallas' climate is a lot less humid in the summer, but the temps are a steady 100+º from mid June to late August. The winters here range from the teens to the 40s (which is close to winters in SoCal) & it rarely snows with accumulation. Dallas has the occasional tornado, but due to the heat index of larger cities they usually touch down on the far out skirts of the cities in the sticks. Houston on the other hand has problems with hurricanes & they don't descriminate between a podunk town or downtown Houston. I guess a fair comparison is that Dallas' weather is more like the weather in Anaheim & Houston's is more like Orlando.

Houston is AWFUL weather wise. I will take Dallas at 100 to Houston at 95 (mid May - mid Sept) any day of the week. The humidity is a killer in Houston. The evenings are wonderful in the DFW area. You CAN'T go outside even at night in Houston from May through September without getting absolutely DRENCHED in sweat and eaten ALIVE by mosquitos which are much worse than at WDW. Houston also has tornadoes. We had one that went right over our daycare that destroyed part of the mall. We also had one hit really close to our house (within 1 mile). I just guess noone hears about them as much. They not only have hurricanes, but tropical waves, depressions, etc... Everything leading up to hurricanes. Those can cause as much damage as Hurricanes. Allison stalled over us last year right before we moved and flooded a great deal of the town including all of the basements of the hospitals downtown causing much research to be lost. In comparison I would say that Dallas is somewhere between Orlando and California in weather temperment, and Houston is MUCH worse than any of the above.

Originally posted by Jeff in BigD
Competition-wise Dallas is the better choice. For a long time Six Flags Texas has been the only game in town & exercise all the monopolistic attitudes & habits we dislike. Astroworld is a solid park & Fiesta Texas (also a pretty good park) isn't too far of a drive from it. If it came to Big D, they'd probably have Six Flags Texas either scrambling for ride & employee upgrades or filing chapter 11 within a year.

Astroworld is going downhill though. And Fiest Texas is about 3 hours away. I don't know, I see it as kind of a toss up from the competition aspect.

Originally posted by Jeff in BigD
I hope they build it in the DFW area, but this rumor is pretty old & until I see some heavy duty construction going on, I won't hold my breath. I might buy some land just in case though

I heard a rumor that Disney was looking into an indoor amusement park. Maybe along the lines of a lot bigger Disney Quest kind of thing. Maybe that would work at either one of these areas. Although I would think it would have to be a LOT bigger. Didn't a Disney Quest in Chicago close down recently.

If they built in Houston area I would vote for North of Houston, somewhere between Conroe and Cy Fair (northwest of Houston). If they built in DFW area I would vote for straight North (toward Denton), or straight south (Waxahatchie or something).

 

[Planogirl]

Building around Waxahachie would be great IMO! There's a lot of space out there and the traffic isn't so bad.

I won't dispute that Houston has worse traffic overall. I live in the most congested area of DFW and used to live in one of the least congested parts of Houston so my outlook is biased I'm sure. But I don't agree that the weather in Houston is worse. It does not get as hot in Houston as it does in Dallas even though the humidity is higher. I think that the weather in Houston is very similar to that in Orlando. Dallas is normally just plain hot with 110 being nothing unusual. And Dallas gets it's fair share of tornadoes too.

Houston has another advantage which I don't believe anyone mentioned. It is close to cruiseship terminals which is a growing industry in the Houston area. I can picture a visit to a Disney park in conjunction with a cruise.

And OK, Disney will spend lots of money. But enough to build a whole resort? No way! JMHO.

 

[HorizonsFan]

I would say stick it in Garland (for traffic reasons), but that means we'd actually have to go to Garland *shudder*.

HEY!!!
I go to Garland every day and I'd much rather be there than anywhere in Dallas!
Besides, the traffic out here is getting worse. Folks are flocking to Rowlett, Rockwall, Sachse and Wylie and have to go through Garland to get there. Plus, 190 is not finished through to I-30 and Rowlett Rd./Broadway/Beltline is a mess!
I don't know why this keeps coming up. I've been hearing the Texas rumor for about 20 years now and nothing's happened yet...

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Originally posted by HorizonsFan
HEY!!!
I go to Garland every day and I'd much rather be there than anywhere in Dallas!

Actually just about every Saturday I get together with some friends at a friend's apartment, which is in Garland. It's more of a razzing than a total dislike of Garland.

Surely you've heard a few digs at Garland & Mesquite's expense, no? If you ever need Garland jokes, I've got a few. J/K

Besides, the traffic out here is getting worse. Folks are flocking to Rowlett, Rockwall, Sachse and Wylie and have to go through Garland to get there.

We moved out to Rowlett when we first moved out here (well, this most recent time ) & the traffic around Lake Ray Hubbard was awful.

Plus, 190 is not finished through to I-30 and Rowlett Rd./Broadway/Beltline is a mess!

I used to commute from the 190 (just west of 75) to 75 & just those ramps alone are murder during rush times. The further north on 75 you go, the worse the traffic gets. Once you get to north Allen, it cuts down to 2 lanes & if they are doing construction (like they are now ) it crawls.

I don't know why this keeps coming up. I've been hearing the Texas rumor for about 20 years now and nothing's happened yet...

I know, but wouldn't be insane if next week we heard an official announcement? However, like I said, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Hmm ... when I was in WDW a couple of weeks ago I was talking to another guest on the bus. He said his driver from the airport told him that WDW was going to build 5 more parks on WDW property over the next 10 years.

One or two I could see, but I wonder if they would do that if they are planning on building a new park in Texas.

How soon until we hear a rumor that Disney is reviving plans to build Disney Americana in Virginia?

 

[Kermit]

I grew up just outside of Dallas (in a tiny town called Quinlan), and I've heard that rumor before. It seems to come up every few years. I don't believe it. As a few people have mentioned, the weather isn't right. It's hotter in the summer than Orlando, and the winters can have relatively harsh weeks. Overall, the winters are nice, but there is usually at least one ice storm. There's really no where in Texas with the right climate.

I don't think they'd ever build a park where you'd have to go into DFW or Houston International to get to it. They'd build a new park in a smaller area where the airport could expand as tourism expanded. Love Field can't expand, and many parts of the country aren't serviced by Southwest.

I think that logistically a themepark in the middle of the country would be great, but you really need an almost tropical climate to have a year-round park.

 

[Kirby]

I think that the Tyler/Athens area would be nice. One of them, I can remember which, has a decent size airport that might could be expanded.

 

[fklhou]

Should we start a thread on the DB as to which city (Houston vs. Dallas) would be better for a new Disney park? It may be at least as interesting as the conservative vs. liberal threads on the DB.

I am in Houston and we heard a rumor about Disney being interested in a site up near Liberty. Houston could be a great site. The Houston airports could handle the traffic (they have the land to add a couple more runways at IAH). It will be interesting to see if this comes to pass.