New Disney Resort Location

jjparker17

Active Member
Original Poster
Hey everyone,
I am new to the forums and was thinking about posting my ideas for a new Disney resort. However, I've been struggling to find the perfect location for it. My dream location for it would be the UK (where I am from) because the UK has a strong love for Disney, regularly visiting the existing theme parks, and is already a popular tourist destination. I also feel like it is time for Disney to build a new park in Europe since there are already 3 in Asia and 2 in the US.
My issue is that I can't find a piece of land big enough for the resort.
My other option was Australia although I would worry about the long journey most people have to take to get there.
I was wondering if anyone could find a place in the UK with enough land for 3 theme parks, 1 water park and 14 hotels (which would mean it is in between DLP and WDW in size). This could be anywhere in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland) as long as it is big enough to fit this resort.
Also if anyone has any suggestions of other countries that might be able to house this resort, please feel free to leave them below.
Thanks and can't wait to share my ideas with you all!
 
Last edited:

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone,
I am new to the forums and was thinking about posting my ideas for a new Disney resort. However, I've been struggling to find the perfect location for it. My dream location for it would be the UK (where I am from) because the UK has a strong love for Disney, regularly visiting the existing theme parks, and is already a popular tourist destination. I also feel like it is time for Disney to build a new park in Europe since there are already 4 in Asia and 2 in the US.
My issue is that I can't find a piece of land big enough for the resort.
My other option was Australia although I would worry about the long journey most people have to take to get there.
I was wondering if anyone could find a place in the UK with enough land for 3 theme parks, 1 water park and 14 hotels (which would mean it is in between DLP and WDW in size). This could be anywhere in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland) as long as it is big enough to fit this resort.
Also if anyone has any suggestions of other countries that might be able to house this resort, please feel free to leave them below.
Thanks and can't wait to share my ideas with you all!
Question, are you only using available space as your criterion, or other practical considerations? For example, there's plenty of room in the Spreewald or some surprisingly empty areas of Niedersachsen in Germany, but much of this land is protected from development and Disney isn't likely to add another resort that would draw visitors away from Disneyland Paris, since that resort took awhile to turn a profit. Large parts of the US and Canada have plenty of open room, but the weather isn't suitable for a year-round Disney resort. For that reason, I had fun Imagineering a Disney winter ski resort, which I placed somewhere in the cold mountain regions of the US or Canada.
 

jjparker17

Active Member
Original Poster
Question, are you only using available space as your criterion, or other practical considerations? For example, there's plenty of room in the Spreewald or some surprisingly empty areas of Niedersachsen in Germany, but much of this land is protected from development and Disney isn't likely to add another resort that would draw visitors away from Disneyland Paris, since that resort took awhile to turn a profit. Large parts of the US and Canada have plenty of open room, but the weather isn't suitable for a year-round Disney resort. For that reason, I had fun Imagineering a Disney winter ski resort, which I placed somewhere in the cold mountain regions of the US or Canada.
Well I am trying to find a location that would have both ideal weather, easily accessible to tourists and enough space for a full resort complex. I agree that Germany might cannibalise Disneyland Paris due to how close they are. I hadn't actually considered Canada which is a good location however you are right about it potentially being too cold. Other ideas I had were Sweden or Italy if I was to stick with a European location. Or maybe the Cairngorms in Scotland which is a MASSIVE area of undeveloped land. The only issue with that is that it is a National Park and there might be issues with building a theme park there.
 

Imagineer45

Active Member
Given that Disneyland Paris has struggled to bring in guests, I am not sure how keen Disney would be to build a second property in Western Europe. However, an interesting idea would be building a ski resort in the Alps. Walt loved the Alps and even used European ski villages as inspiration for his proposed Mineral King ski resort in California.
 

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
Given that Disneyland Paris has struggled to bring in guests, I am not sure how keen Disney would be to build a second property in Western Europe. However, an interesting idea would be building a ski resort in the Alps. Walt loved the Alps and even used European ski villages as inspiration for his proposed Mineral King ski resort in California.
Hmm, that idea sounds familiar...
 

jjparker17

Active Member
Original Poster
Given that Disneyland Paris has struggled to bring in guests, I am not sure how keen Disney would be to build a second property in Western Europe. However, an interesting idea would be building a ski resort in the Alps. Walt loved the Alps and even used European ski villages as inspiration for his proposed Mineral King ski resort in California.
I don't think that's a fair argument for why they shouldn't build another park in Western Europe. I mean Hong Kong Disneyland had similar issues to Disneyland Paris but that didn't stop them from building Shanghai Disneyland. They just need to work on making DLP better which their upcoming expansions (Frozen, Star Wars, Marvel) look like they are going to do. If I was to build in Scotland or Ireland, the distance between that resort and DLP would be the same distance as HKDL to SHDL.
The problem I have with building in the Alps would be that I would have to change my whole idea and base it around the location. Plus the steep mountains don't really work for a Disney Park, in my opinion, which need large amounts of flat land. I'd rather find a location that could fit a classic Disney resort complex.
 

jjparker17

Active Member
Original Poster
Okay so I think I have found a few locations in the UK that could potentially be good sights for my Disney resort.
The first is Luggala Estate in Wicklow, Ireland. It's 5,000 acres which is a good amount of land (similar size to what DLP owns) however the issue is that the closest airport is Dublin which is 30 miles away.
The second is Lincolnshire, England. For this one I don't have an exact location, maybe Habertoft in Orby but I'm not sure on the size of that land. However, Lincolnshire is already an established holiday destination with multiple holiday parks that Disney could buy the land from.
The third is another island called Scalpay, also in Scotland. The island is 6135 acres and has a population of 4 people which means it is easier to buy and build on the land.
Finally, the last is an island called Fetlar which is in-between Scotland and Norway. This has a massive 10,076 acres but it does have a population of 61 people. Obviously since this is an island, Disney would need to build a lot more than usual such as an airport however how cool would it be for Disney to have their own island!
I still need to have a look at places near Italy however I think some of these could be fantastic locations. What do you guys think?
 

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
Here's another idea, as long as we're ignoring the economic reality that Disney will never build a resort that steers traffic away from Disneyland Paris: Mecklinburgische Seenplatte district in the northeast of Germany.

Advantages:

1) Huge areas of underused land that is not protected from development.

2) Like Florida, the landscape is relatively flat and is filled with natural lakes, waterways and swamps.

3) The region is already established as a vacation destination, although mostly for camping and water sports.

4) Close to Berlin, and thus, a major rail hub. Also close to the a few major Baltic ports.

5) Close to Germany's and Poland's Baltic beaches, thus allowing for the possibility of a nearby stand-alone beach resort, similar to Disney's Vero Beach complex.

Disadvantages:

1) Even though the region lies near Berlin, it sits far from the major population centers of Germany and neighboring Poland.

2) Same problem you'll run into in most of northern Europe, the climate might limit the resorts' ambitions.

3) This being Germany, any waterpark (which would need to be indoors) would need to feature a very un-Disney FKK section to entice enough visitors.
 

jjparker17

Active Member
Original Poster
Here's another idea, as long as we're ignoring the economic reality that Disney will never build a resort that steers traffic away from Disneyland Paris: Mecklinburgische Seenplatte district in the northeast of Germany.

Advantages:

1) Huge areas of underused land that is not protected from development.

2) Like Florida, the landscape is relatively flat and is filled with natural lakes, waterways and swamps.

3) The region is already established as a vacation destination, although mostly for camping and water sports.

4) Close to Berlin, and thus, a major rail hub. Also close to the a few major Baltic ports.

5) Close to Germany's and Poland's Baltic beaches, thus allowing for the possibility of a nearby stand-alone beach resort, similar to Disney's Vero Beach complex.

Disadvantages:

1) Even though the region lies near Berlin, it sits far from the major population centers of Germany and neighboring Poland.

2) Same problem you'll run into in most of northern Europe, the climate might limit the resorts' ambitions.

3) This being Germany, any waterpark (which would need to be indoors) would need to feature a very un-Disney FKK section to entice enough visitors.
I really don't get this notion that building another theme park in Europe would "steer traffic away from Disneyland Paris". Do you guys think that Shanghai takes tourists away from Hong Kong? Because it's literally the same situation, even down to the distance between parks. The distance between Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disney is 1238km. The distance between Paris and Berlin is 1054km. The distance between Paris and Scotland is 1192km. Even if the argument is that Disneyland Paris doesn't get as many visitors as other parks, DLP made 9.84 million in 2018 whilst HKDL only made 6.7 million.
 

Imagineer45

Active Member
I really don't get this notion that building another theme park in Europe would "steer traffic away from Disneyland Paris". Do you guys think that Shanghai takes tourists away from Hong Kong? Because it's literally the same situation, even down to the distance between parks. The distance between Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disney is 1238km. The distance between Paris and Berlin is 1054km. The distance between Paris and Scotland is 1192km. Even if the argument is that Disneyland Paris doesn't get as many visitors as other parks, DLP made 9.84 million in 2018 whilst HKDL only made 6.7 million.
The population of Western Europe (every country west of and including Germany/Austria/Italy) is slightly over 380 million. China has a population of 1.4 billion. Additionally, there is some evidence that SDL has taken people from HKDL. HKDL had 6.8 million visitors in 2015. SDL opened in 2016, and HKDL has not hit 6.8 million visitors in a year since.
 

jjparker17

Active Member
Original Poster
The population of Western Europe (every country west of and including Germany/Austria/Italy) is slightly over 380 million. China has a population of 1.4 billion. Additionally, there is some evidence that SDL has taken people from HKDL. HKDL had 6.8 million visitors in 2015. SDL opened in 2016, and HKDL has not hit 6.8 million visitors in a year since.
I don't think it is fair to compare China's population to Western Europe's population considering the significant size difference. Obviously a smaller place would have less people in it. A more fair comparison would be China and the whole of Europe as they are both around 3 million square miles. In this case, Europe has a population of 694.5 million which granted isn't as many as China but still is a lot of people. Disneyland Paris could survive another Disney resort in Europe and it would simply mean that Europeans have more of a choice of theme parks to go to. Simply from the perspective of the continents, giving a whole continent just one park to go to whilst other continents like North America (with a smaller population) have multiple just doesn't seem fair to me. Anyway, at the end of the day, it's not like my parks are actually going to be built and we must consider real world business implications 😂
 

Imagineer45

Active Member
I don't think it is fair to compare China's population to Western Europe's population considering the significant size difference. Obviously a smaller place would have less people in it. A more fair comparison would be China and the whole of Europe as they are both around 3 million square miles. In this case, Europe has a population of 694.5 million which granted isn't as many as China but still is a lot of people. Disneyland Paris could survive another Disney resort in Europe and it would simply mean that Europeans have more of a choice of theme parks to go to. Simply from the perspective of the continents, giving a whole continent just one park to go to whilst other continents like North America (with a smaller population) have multiple just doesn't seem fair to me. Anyway, at the end of the day, it's not like my parks are actually going to be built and we must consider real world business implications 😂

That is absolutely my mistake for the unfair comparison. I should have compared Western Europe to China east of the Heihe-Tengchong line. If you do not know what that is, its an imaginary straight line that splits China into east and west halves. The difference is that the east has 36% of the land, but 96% of the population. The reason Orlando and Anaheim work in the US is because DLR had a hard time drawing guests from the eastern seaboard 2500 miles away. Orlando was able to do that. China can have two parks relatively close together because the number of people concentrated in that area is astronomical. India, when further developed down the line, could probably do the same.

From a pure blue sky, unrealistic perspective, I would buy a small, unknown Greek Isle and turn it into Disney-Island.
 

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
That is absolutely my mistake for the unfair comparison. I should have compared Western Europe to China east of the Heihe-Tengchong line. If you do not know what that is, its an imaginary straight line that splits China into east and west halves. The difference is that the east has 36% of the land, but 96% of the population. The reason Orlando and Anaheim work in the US is because DLR had a hard time drawing guests from the eastern seaboard 2500 miles away. Orlando was able to do that. China can have two parks relatively close together because the number of people concentrated in that area is astronomical. India, when further developed down the line, could probably do the same.

From a pure blue sky, unrealistic perspective, I would buy a small, unknown Greek Isle and turn it into Disney-Island.
And also, back and forth travel between the coasts in the US and Canada is not nearly as common as it might be for Europeans to jet off from one country to another. The distances between population centers is much greater and we have nothing like the high speed rail networks that link together western Europe.
 

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