Anyone rember the plans for a Historical Park in VA?

[worfbb77]

I seem to remember Disney trying to build a new park with the theme as American History. I would like to know if anyone has the old plans and what went wrong with it. I think it was something about where they wanted to build it.

 

[joel_maxwell]

well, basically (rough draft) disney (eisner) wanted to build this park in the pennsylvania area. the residents of the particular area protested enough to get the point across that they didnt want it in thier back yard so that is where the plans stopped.

there is a site that has concept art................... ill try to find the link

Joel

 

[joel_maxwell]

http://chotank.com/disneyrom.html

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/2825/america.html

watch out for the geocities..................... pop-up message hell

hope this is what you were looking for.

 

[worfbb77]

That is what I was looking for thanks.

 

[tazhughes]

Originally posted by jmaxwell007
well, basically (rough draft) disney (eisner) wanted to build this park in the pennsylvania area. the residents of the particular area protested enough to get the point across that they didnt want it in thier back yard so that is where the plans stopped.

Actually the park was going to be built in Virginia right nest to the site of Bull Run. There were 2 major problems:
1. The locals fought the development because of concerns of traffic and the like.
2. Major historians and historical societies from around the country blasted Disney for trying to Disneyfi history. (In fact this continues to be a raging debate within the history field and there are books written on the topic)
The combination of the 2 led to the collapse of the project. If you read Eisner's bio you can get the Disney side of it. I personally think it was a great idea (one of their most creative) and should have been built elsewhere. By the ay it was called Disney's America, if you do a search you'll find all the info you could ever want.

 

[Disney2002]

The problem with the park location is that it really wouldn't have been able to function terribly well as a year-round park. And seasonal parks for disney... feels odd.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Didsnt we just have this convo last week where it turned into a bunch of NoVa folks complaining about traffic.

Long story short, i used to live there until 7 weeks ago, and my house was less than 8 miles form the proposed park. Its all about politics

 

[marni1971]

Esiner recently admmited they should have talked to the local groups first and not the politicians.

And not called it `Disneys America` - sounds so condecending dosn`t it?

 

[dmagickingdom]

you all have answered a question that has been in my mind for a while. I had heard something mentioned once upon a time about Disney's "mistake" in Virginia but had no clue what it meant and always forgot to research it.
thx for the info everyone.

 

[PhotoDave219]

and FWIW, all the "bad" things the local groups predicted, came true anyhow. Through rampant development and not a theme park....