Disney's America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Disney theme park | |
  Map of the proposed theme park. |
|
| Disney's America | |
|---|---|
| Location | Haymarket, Virginia, USA |
| Opening Day | N/A |
| Resort | Disney's America |
| Theme | American History |
| Website | N/A |
| Operator | The Walt Disney Company |
Disney's America was a theme park that was to be built by The Walt Disney Company in Haymarket, Virginia. After concept plans were drawn up for the history-based attraction in 1993, it became Michael Eisner's pet project [1], and he even obtained the support of the Virginia Commission on Population Growth and Development [2].
The plan was withdrawn on September 28, 1994, after Protect Historic America organized national opposition to the park. Protect Historic America's Director Rudy Abramson had selected Shelby Foote, made famous by Ken Burns' Civil War series on PBS, as one of the opposition spokespeople. Local press revealed that the Foote family once owned the land where the park was to be built. Many Haymarket insiders believe this revelation may have finally forced Eisner to withdraw his support.
Drawings in the 1996 Disney Editions book Walt Disney Imagineering included mock ups of attractions that would have been part of the park, including a sketch by Dan Goozee of Ellis Island, and a recreation of the battle of the Monitor and Merrimack by R. Tom Gilleon. Apparently some at Disney still have hopes that some of the ideas will come to fruition. When the book was published, it said that while Disney's America had "not gone beyond the concept stage" many Imagineers felt that "its time will come."
Currently, a Boy Scout camp (Camp Snyder) occupies a good portion of the land that had been designated for the theme park.
For a brief time in 1994 and 1995, local officials in western Virginia and the state of West Virginia tried to entice Disney to build the park in those areas. The Walt Disney Company owns land in Grahams Forge, Virginia and had for a brief time met with local officials about reviving the dying project. However, the infrastructure in the rural area of Wythe County was deemed too expensive to upgrade for a major tourist attraction. The final bid for the east coast attraction came when Mercer County, West Virginia officials tried to entice Disney to build on a hilly area of property behind the airport in Bluefield, West Virginia, but again, Disney determined it would be too costly to build the infrastructure in those areas and it would be too risky a project to try and build a tourism economy in rural areas.
[edit] Themed Areas of Disney's America
The plans for Disney's America called for 7 distinctly themed area; 5 of which were listed in James B. Stewart's Disney War. They are as follows:
- Native American village
- Civil War Fort
- Ellis Island
- State Fair
- Family Farm
Other than a scrapped idea for a roller coaster as well as a white water raft ride, no more is mentioned.
Some of these concepts did make their way into Disney's California Adventure including Bountiful Valley Farm, Flik's Fun Fair, Grizzly River Run and the roller coaster California Screamin'.
[edit] Proposed Disney America conversion of Knott’s Berry Farm
A conversion of Knott's Berry Farm into Disney’s America was later drafted shortly after the Knott family announced that they would soon take bids for the property. The idea for the conversion reportedly came from the exact replica of Independence Hall which sits in the parking lot of Knott’s Berry Farm.
The plan called for stretching out the park’s entrance across the street over to Independence Hall. The new entrance to the park would then be built to resemble Liberty Square located at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, though the name of the entrance would have been referred to as the "President’s Square." The major attraction for this area would have included “The Hall of Presidents.”
Another section of the park would have included the “Native American” territories as it was to pay tribute to the history of America’s native people. The area would have included the area at which the Mystery Lodge, Indian Trail, as well as Bigfoot Rapids are currently located. Along with that, Bigfoot Rapids would have had its name changed to “The Lewis & Clark River Expedition,” which was a similar attraction proposed for the original park. This idea was eventually scrapped because the Imagineers felt it was an "inconsistent hybrid of thrills and education."
Other proposed ideas would have been the conversion of the former Roaring '20s section into the “Enterprise” territory. Reflection Lake would have been converted to Freedom Bay, and would have showcased a recreation of the Ellis Island immigration center. And the Old Ghost Town section of the park would have been left much the same way as it had always been. Camp Snoopy and Fiesta Village would more than likely have been converted into different “territories” as well.
The project was eventually canceled due to a number of reasons. One reason was a lack of a practical means to transport guests from the current Disneyland Resort over to Disney’s America, ruling out that a monorail system would be far too expensive, also noting that bus transportation would be a nightmare. But the main factor was that the Knott family had rejected Disney's bid since they were afraid that the Imagineers would replace much of what their parents had originally put into the park. Ironically, Cedar Fair (the company that bought the park 2 years later) ended up taking out more than what the Imagineers’ plans had called for [3].
