Happy 4th Of July! It’s been a while since I have made a new post here, and I committed to myself to do better. So to celebrate our country’s Independence Day I decided to reminisce about a theme park that never was, but eventually came to be in different pieces. Disney’s America.
Disney’s America was a project that was created during the early years of The Disney Decade. This was a period from 1990 to 2000 in which Michael Eisner, then CEO of The Walt Disney Company laid out many ambitious projects for the company to embark on. Many of these projects came to fruition, but an equal amount never made it off the drawing board.
Disney’s America was to be built on a 1200 acre of land in Prince William County, Virgina. The Governor of Virgina was on board as Disney quietly began placing options on land to create the park. However, soon word got out of Disney’s goal and the residents of the area began a literal village uprising as they didn’t want the noise, traffic and congestion that would follow a theme park. While they eventually succeeded in stopping Disney’s plans, they still wound up with the noise, traffic and congestion that follows urban sprawl. So ultimately, what would have been better?
The local residents also didn’t want Disney’s version of history. They thought that the public needs to be shown history for the way that it was. While I agree completely, I believe there is nothing wrong with making history more interesting as it may spark even more thinking of an audience who otherwise may not have been interested in the first place. Right or wrong we may never really know. The park was cancelled and many of the attractions that were planned were actually re-purposed and placed into Disney’s California Adventure. While I would have found visiting Disney’s America a fun. and somewhat educating experience. I don’t think the prophecy of Civil War soldiers graves being dug up and removed to place a parking lot down would have come to pass either.
You can read some great posts about Disney’s America by vistitng these other great sites! Disney’s America , Disney’s America, Disney’s America
Keep Moving Forward and Happy 4th Of July!
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