I thought I heard a few years ago....

[Disneyland1084]

that a Disneyland was going to be built back east in the United States? Can anyone confirm this? Was there ever talk of it?

 

[hawkrn]

how many years ago???????

 

[Sosai X]

It was going to be called Disney's America, and was going to be built in Virginia. But it was cancelled in 1996, never getting past developmental stages. Here's the nametag they would have worn:

 

[WBHoenig]

It was one of those things that Eisner really wanted, but I think the main thing that stopped it was the lack of support from some historical group and the high price of land. I think those were the reasons, anyway.

 

[DancingBear]

It wasn't the land prices; Disney had its options locked up before it announced the project. It was anti-development forces led by Robert Duvall and other wealthy landowners, who helped organize historical preservation forces on the grounds that it was near (but not on) the Manassas battlefield site. And financed by homebuilders like Pulte. There are lots of tract houses on the site now.

 

[dbm20th]

They also managed to solicit the help of some historians, namely Shelby Foote, who claimed it would somehow diminish the historical impact of the areas landmarks. Honestly, those arguments were..forced at best. Disney was not buying those areas, and anyone who knows how careful Disney is about public relations would easily assume they wouldn't destroy them. Also, they would have brought ALOT more visitors to those areas. Something you would imagine a historian would want. The whole anti-DA thing was very, very politically charged and ridiculous.