Subsonic Radio

Should they make another Disneyland park? like in the middle of the U.S?

Close to Walt's old home town? say Kansas City MO or ST. Louis?

borjoyzee wrote:Should they make another Disneyland park? like in the middle of the U.S?

Close to Walt's old home town? say Kansas City MO or ST. Louis?

Not till they fix the problems with the current parks! Mainly DCA, and tomorrowland at DLR.

I agree, they need to concentrate on the parks they have now, at least DL, DCA and WDW they should always set the standards for any of the other parks and be the very best in all aspects. They should have done one in the midwest instead of in France but that's just my opinion.

Yeah - they really need to get their other parks in order first [come on -DCA closing at 6 pm? That is sick]. Besides, we get this thing called snow and cold in the Midwest that sort of closes amusement parks. Yes, even as far south as KC. And really, no one wants to go to Texas even if there were a Disney park there!

Why do they close DL and DCA so early??? I think they should stay open until at least 11pm during the week, who cares if it's a school night for the kids or if I have to get up for work the next day, let that be our choice! I say keep them open late all the time not just on the weekends.

Walt and co. looked at most major city areas and even places that were a little out of the way (like Orlando) when thinking about WDW. They went to Dallas, KC, Boston... hell, they even looked at Niagara Falls as a possibility (I wish they would have put it there, as it's only 20 miutes away). I somehow doubt that they'd put one in Walt's hometown. He wanted to keep it just the way it was (Hence Main St. USA in all disney parks). Plus, I agree that they need to concentrate on the parks they have first, then maybe find another suitable place to build...

According to official Disney history (aka Traditions), there were four main reasons that Central Florida was chosen as the site for Walt Disney World:

1.) In the mid-1960's, Florida was the number one tourist destination in the United States. Since there was an established tourism industry, it woudn't be difficult to persuade those tourists to visit the Magic Kingdom for a day.

2.) The weather. Central Florida gets something like 320 days per year of sunshine, and you don't have to worry about snow.

3.) There was an established infrastructure in the Orlando area that would support the number of visitors expected at the Disney Resort. I-4 and the Florida Turnpike are very close to the property, and the Orlando International Airport is about 25 miles away.

4.) Walt wanted to avoid what he felt was the biggest problem with Disneyland: the real world invading his world of fantasy. By buying enough land, he could prevent the rash of motels, restaurants and gas stations that sprung up around Disneyland from surrounding his next theme park. The property ouside Orlando was mainly orange groves and cattle grazing land, offering Walt the opportunity to buy lots of it at an extremely low price (I believe an average of $185/acre).

It would be tough to find another place in the country to fit those criteria. Also, even if a suitable site was decided upon, there are other issues to deal with. Remember the "America" theme park that Disney was going to build in Virginia? Though everyone loves Disney Theme Parks, not everyone wants one in their backyard.

kgmadorin wrote:It would be tough to find another place in the country to fit those criteria. Also, even if a suitable site was decided upon, there are other issues to deal with. Remember the "America" theme park that Disney was going to build in Virginia? Though everyone loves Disney Theme Parks, not everyone wants one in their backyard.

Bad move on this area not to have gone forward with this park - I lived in Northern VA during the time this all was going down - people didn't want the congestion this park would bring. Today if you drive through this area it is a sea of mass housing and the traffic is an utter nightmare - they'd have been better off with the park. I was totally for this park - wish Disney had fought to build it.

Yeah - but that fighting brings bad vibes [think WalMart] and that is something Disney certainly doesn't want, no matter the cost. Their image is worth way more than a theme park.

True, but the sad fact was that they had support of the entire region except for a small number of home owners in the particular area where the park was to be built -- those people ended up raising such a stink that I'm sure the whole P/R issue frightened Diseny off even though overall support was there and the economics of the park would have been huge for the region.

Maybe it was all for the best. The period after September 11, when everyone was afraid to fly and tourism took a major hit, was devastating to the Disney parks in this country. If there were a third resort, especially one that close to Washington, DC, it could have put Disney so far into the red during that period that the company could have suffered a major catastrophe. Remember the hostile takover that almost ruined the company in the early 1980s? Something along those lines. Also, I don't know if our country could support another "Disneyland" right now without hurting the existing Disney resorts. I'm sure Disney has done some sort of study on just that.

Anyway, I tend to agree with most people who have posted here. Though I would love seeing a new theme park complex in another location, the company should be concentrating on the properties they are currently running.

I too, agree with focusing on the current parks for at least the next 10? years. Yeah, California Adventure closing before Disneyland stinks. During the summer, it is still light when the electrical parade comes out. Not to mention the fact that after it closes, Disneyland gets a heck of a lot more crowded.