Good News

[mrgoofy]

I figured that we could use a happy conversation around these parts so here it goes.

I personally see the parks as an investment in the company's future, if they take care of the parks, the parks will take care of them. That said I'd like to see which part you'd like to see built first and where: Disney's America or DisneySea.

I think that given the cost of it DisneySea will probably be the latter of the two built in the USA. I think that America would fit in well here in the northeast (probably somewhere in south central Pennsylvania or northern Virginia). It would be an instant hit because the population of the Northeast has no real theme parks (only too many Six Flags). I personally think that building it as a regional park, one designed to hold people over until their next trip to WDW or DL. With WDW being 1100 miles from my house it isn't exactly a weekend getaway, but a regional park right here in Pennsylvania or Virginia would serve the northeast as well as midwestern states. Many people feel that this would compete with WDW, but the two resorts would be entirely different in focus, while WDW is mostly for entertainment, America would be for edutainment. Remeber all of those class trips you took to museums when you were in school, imagine how much more you would appreciate this nation's history if you could experience it first hand with Disney quality. Sure the park presents some sticky subjects to deal with (slavery, japanese internment camps in WW2 being some of them) but I think we would be greatly suprised at how the imagineers handle this. I know that as a 12 year-old I would watch the discovery channel and PBS and loved to learn about history, but most of my friends weren't like that. I know that if you told them they were going to a Disney Theme Park they would go in a heartbeat, so I think this park would be a valuable tool in sparking the interest of young Americans about their nations history.

OK. Now its your turn.

 

[toefungus]

I agree, a theme park up here in the NE would be great, and it would probably do good because there are a lot of people in the NE. There is one problem though, it will probbaly have to close during the winter months. I'm not sure if many people would want to go when it's 20 degrees out and snowing. It'll probalby just close for December-March, and that wooudln't be that bad. I know that I'd be going there a lot more thant wdw because wdw is a cool 1000 miles from me.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

A theme park in the north east was the original vision of Michael Eisner but they were dropped because of extreme bad press and outsiders who thought a Disney theme park in Virginia wouldn't be good.

 

[HorizonsFan]

they were dropped because of extreme bad press and outsiders who thought a Disney theme park in Virginia wouldn't be good.

The complaints didn't come from "outsiders"; they came from those who live in the immediate area of the proposed park.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

No they weren't. Accourding to a number of sources, the people of the town wanted the theme park because they knew that when the tourists were done with the park, they would go down into town. The economy in the town would boom! Many people not involved in the town protested against Disney and Disney pulled out.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

It may seem that the Disney's America idea has been dropped since many people complained about the name of the park, DISNEY'S America.

 

[toefungus]

It may seem that the Disney's America idea has been dropped since many people complained about the name of the park, DISNEY'S America.

I don't think they would drop the whole park just because of the name. I'm sure they would change it to somting esle. If they were to build a park in the NE, it would have to have a resort or two, shopping, ect.... It can't just be a one day park, it should be like a few days that people would spend there. Eventually they could add another park and more stuff. I really don't see all of this happening, but we can all wish.

 

[mrgoofy]

I really could see this being done as as sort of "Grand Experiment" of sorts. Disney has tried with other types of regional entertainment (theater shows, disneyquest, cruise line) so I really don't see this as much of a departure from that. Remember in the late 60's disney was interested in building their own ski resort (that is where the country bear show was to have originally gone). I have never been skiing, but if I had the choice I would definately make tracks over to Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort had it actually happened. With the apparently smashing success of Tokyo DisneySea, I think the company will try to roll out something big here in the USA.

BTW- I don't think there is enough land in Anaheim to do justice to this idea. I do seem to recall that they did change the name of the park slightly at the last minute to combat exactly what you refered to Mickey Moose. I'll double check and let you all know.

Is anyone out there going to vote for DisneySea???

 

[HorizonsFan]

Accourding to a number of sources, the people of the town wanted the theme park

Could you point me in the direction of those sources?

 

[zaksmom]

Disney's America was to be built about 20 minutes from our home. The Commonwealth of Virginia and Prince William County were for it. Sure there were those concerned about strip malls, etc. - but we already had a lot of that! Roads would have to be built, but the tax base would be increased. If I remember correctly, Disney was going to build schools, fire departments, utilities, etc. We visited the Disney offices several times (we've saved all the literature and pins they handed out) and many of our children who were 8 or 9 at the time were looking forward to getting their first jobs at Disney. There were Disney parades here and you saw bumper stickers on a lot of cars (actually I still see some). Even though some locals didn't want it, it was really the historians and the wealthier folks who live in neighboring counties who forced the issue. The historians were afraid that history would be disneyfied and that having a theme park near national monuments and battlefields would not be too classy. Even though it really was a state and local issue, the US Congress held hearings and Mickey was hung and burned in effigy. We also have movie stars and other millionairres that live in hunt country who just didn't want the development. Disney sold some of the land to the Boy Scouts and the development of the land into a camping area was fought by many of the same people. They want their peace and quiet out there. I was quite disappointed that the park wasn't built. However, I have to admit now that every time I decide at the last minute to go west - a quick afternoon in the mountains, to do business, to visit family - I do think how nice is it to have no traffic.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

Check with Jim Hill and MousePlanet that provided a huge long segment on tracking down the locations and history of Disney's America theme park. Michael Eisner also states the reasons for the destruction of the plans in his book, Work in Progress. Look it up and see for yourself.

 

[Quentin Disney]

Hypocrities. I heard there is now a water park bulit in place of where Disney's America would be built. I think Jim Hill's article elaborates on that issue.

It seems to be a good ideal on paper, but I don't think it can be executed properly. Who knows, it might happen one day. Since ideals never really die at Disney, an area that was supposed to be in DA now exists in Disney's California Adventure. Wanna guess what it is?

 

[MickeyMoose15]

The place where Disney's America would have been now houses a water park, McDonalds, Wendy's and a couple of hotels. Sad....just sad!

 

[toefungus]

Thanks for the story zaksmom. Maybe Disney's American will happen somwhere else.......

 

[HorizonsFan]

Thanks for the info zaksmom. I though I remembered that the naysayers were from within the state and the area surrounding the project.
As for Hill and Mouseplanet, I really don't care for the way he waves initial, unapproved plans around and yells, "Look what we missed!" Plans change from conception to implementation and it's not fair to compare the two. If Hill says it's true, I take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

"Since ideals never really die at Disney, an area that was supposed to be in DA now exists in Disney's California Adventure. Wanna guess what it is?"

Actually, several ideas first proposed for Disney's America have found there way into California Adventure, including a boardwalk area (Paradise Pier), factory tours, and an airfield.