Disney in South Texas??

[weezyree]

We have been in San Antonio four years now and every once in awhile we hear a rumor that Disney is thinking of building a 'park' on IH 10 East of SA, which would be perfect. It's middle of the country as far as East to West goees, still warm climate so year-round fun is in order and there is NOTHING East of SA until you hit Houston!!

Anyone else hear this??

 

[CanadianGuy]

We get these threads a lot on this board..

DISNEY COMING TO (Texas, West Texas, East Texas, Louisiana, Georgia.. __insert state name here____ ) ...

The only one that has ever proven to hold any water was the DVC Hawaii announcement.

In some cases, people throw out the name "Disney" in hopes of selling land at a premium to a few suckers who happen down the road or whatever.

It's really almost as bad as the "I have a bridge I can sell you" scam.

In other cases someone says "You know what would be good there, a THEME PARK" and then someone else repeats that and eventually that gets spun around into "DISNEY IS COMING FOR SURE"

Disney does a lot of things in secret.. but one thing they haven't done in secret for a good many years is acquire land in other states for themeparks.

Don't forget Disney DOES acquire land for very non-sexy, non-themepark uses like warehousing merchandise, radio and television transmitter land, etc. And that COULD be happening in your area of Texas.



k

 

[Stumpy]

Yep, the rumors persist. Several years ago Disney was going to build a park in Oklahoma because it is close to the center of the country and when we lived in Mississippi a story broke on several news channels that Disney was purchasing a large amount of land, sufficient to build a new theme park.

With the renovations planned/initiated at WDW, DCA, Hong Kong and the park that will open in Shanghai, there will be no new park coming to the US for a while. If a new one is added in the US, I would assume they would add a 5th park to Florida, but most likely if they did plan a new park it would either be in Asia or the Middle East based on comments posted in miscellaneous news articles from executives about expanding into growing international markets.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Yep, the rumors persist. Several years ago Disney was going to build a park in Oklahoma because it is close to the center of the country and when we lived in Mississippi a story broke on several news channels that Disney was purchasing a large amount of land, sufficient to build a new theme park.

Stumpy makes a good point about rumors.

The Oklahoma story started in summer 2007. The press was invited to an event with Oklahoma's governor and Disney executives. Immediately, rumors began that Disney would announce a theme park for Oklahoma. It turned out to be nothing more that an event to officially announce that Oklahoma would be at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival later that year. But, by that time, the Disney Oklahoma theme park rumor already had a life of its own.

The Mississippi rumor dealt with a site in northern Mississippi, somewhere south of Memphis, Tennessee. While it's doubtful that any conscientious journalist would have reported that Disney actually purchased land for a new theme park, I wouldn't be surprised if journalists reported the rumor as a rumor. I don't know what the real story was, but clearly Disney didn't really buy the theme park site in Mississippi. Possibly somebody started the rumor in hopes of somehow making money off real estate in northern Mississippi.

 

[Stumpy]

Surprisingly, the North Mississippi rumor was first announced on WMC-TV, the NBC affiliate, with others soon announcing the story. The story quickly became headline news and then faded just as fast. The area is known for casinos and while Disney is not involved in gaming, I do believe they have been used as consultants on design and construction of facilities. They had a distribution hub for online shopping in North Mississippi, but the story was unrelated to it and the distribution center was in a neighboring county from where the story broke.

Obviously the thing was a hoax, but I found it interesting that the local news got suckered into it.

 

[Sosai X]

I think my favorite rumor of all time is the one that said Disney was going to purchase the South of the Border complex in Hamer, SC, and its Pedroland park. The rumor said it was going to be overhauled into a waystation for people driving to WDW.

 

[fireman1]

Stumpy makes a good point about rumors.

The Oklahoma story started in summer 2007. The press was invited to an event with Oklahoma's governor and Disney executives. Immediately, rumors began that Disney would announce a theme park for Oklahoma. It turned out to be nothing more that an event to officially announce that Oklahoma would be at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival later that year. But, by that time, the Disney Oklahoma theme park rumor already had a life of its own.

The Mississippi rumor dealt with a site in northern Mississippi, somewhere south of Memphis, Tennessee. While it's doubtful that any conscientious journalist would have reported that Disney actually purchased land for a new theme park, I wouldn't be surprised if journalists reported the rumor as a rumor. I don't know what the real story was, but clearly Disney didn't really buy the theme park site in Mississippi. Possibly somebody started the rumor in hopes of somehow making money off real estate in northern Mississippi.

the story about the theme park in Ms. was/is true, it just isn't Disney..

http://www.pickeringinc.com/press/press-riverbend.htm

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/mar/20/riverbend-crossing-gets-extension-to-2015/

Here is what was planned.
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/design-07-2.pdf

With the economy being the way it is, I cant say if things with it are still a go or not, but it was planned.

 

[Erik_in_TN]

Until the economy improves...I do not see any new land purchases being made. At least for major projects.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Until the economy improves...I do not see any new land purchases being made. At least for major projects.

A Disney theme park in a new U.S. location would be a major, long-term commitment. A recession can be the perfect time to invest in the future.

If Disney really wanted a third major U.S. location, the past year would have been a good time to acquire land. Real estate prices have been depressed, and state and local governments have been eager to push through projects that create jobs. (Disney bought a parcel in Maryland in 2009 for a resort project, but not for a real theme park).

All indications are that Disney feels the U.S. market for major Disney-branded attractions is satisfied with Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort.