Disney’s America was to be a theme park based on American History, which would have been built in the 1990s.
The first location considered for this enterprise was Colonial Williamsburg, but due to the area only reporting seasonal business this never materialized. Another factor in this location not being used was the two-hour driving distance from Washington D.C., where the park’s major clientele were expected to be based.
The second location considered for Disney’s America was Haymarket, Virginia, only twenty miles from the capital. This location was soon confirmed, and, as of 1993, the project was overseen by Mark Pacala, better known for setting up the Disney Vacation Club, and designed by Bob Weis (currently the creative lead for the forthcoming Shanghai Disneyland).
At the official announcement in Haymarket, Weis unveiled a scale model of the preliminary plans for the park. This featured seven themed areas: Presidents’ Square, recreations of a Native American Village, a Civil War fort, Ellis Island, a turn-of-the-century factory town, a state fair and a Midwestern family farm.
Other areas, which were later added to the plans, included Cross Roads USA, which would be the hub of the park, and Victory Field in which Guests would have experienced what American Soldiers faced during the World Wars.
Park attractions would have included The Hall of Presidents (which would have been moved from Walt Disney World, rather than recreated), a film featuring the Muppets telling the story of Immigration, and a rollercoaster ride called Industrial Revolution which would travel through a nineteenth century landscape. This attraction would feature inversions and near misses with blast furnaces.
Construction of the park was called off for a variety of reasons, which were a mixture of public, personal and financial. Public reasons included opposition by locals and historians. The reasons for the resistance was varied, including the park’s name implying that the Nation was owned by the Corporation and the fear of local historical sites (such as Manassas, the location of the two major battles of the American Civil War) being threatened or undermined by their proximity to Disney’s America. More generic worries included important events from history being forgotten, glossed over or not taken seriously enough.
Personal reasons which Michael Eisner (then Disney’s CEO) cited for not going ahead with the project included the death of Frank Wells (then Disney’s Chief Operating Officer), the resignation of Jeffrey Katzenberg (formerly head of Disney’s motion picture divisions) and Eisner’s own emergency quadruple bypass surgery. These three events had occurred within a space of five months, and Eisner felt “it wasn’t fair to subject the company to more trauma”.
Financial reasons for the park not going ahead included unanticipated large amounts being spent to silence the critics (including expenditure on attorneys and lobbyists), a delayed opening date deferring the date when money would be coming back into the company from the park, and the realisation that the park would have to close for four months annually rather than the expected three. The strengthening of the vision for the park brought costs up an additional 40%, whilst projections for the parks revenues –based on a lower than usual attendance in the other Disney parks worldwide- were decreasing steadily.
Several attractions proposed for the park have influences readily seen in other Disney parks. For example, a proposed Lewis and Clark themed water ride led the way for Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and later Grizzly River Run at Disney’s California Adventure (DCA).
Likewise, the design for Victory Field inspired Condor Flats at DCA and the proposed Family Farm was practically identical to DCA’s former Bountiful Valley Farm.
In 1995, Disney’s America was briefly mentioned at a three-day brainstorming retreat in Colorado as one of six proposed suggestions for a new park where DCA currently stands.
The final location considered for Disney’s America was Buena Park, a neighbor to Disneyland. In 1997, the Knott’s Family announced they would be taking bids for their theme park Knott’s Berry Farm. If Disney’s plan had gone ahead, they would have transformed their entrance area into President’s Square (incorporating The Hall of Presidents) and would have adapted the iconic Bigfoot Rapids into the Lewis and Clark themed water ride.
This plan did not go ahead due to Disney realizing they would be expected to transport the park’s Guests to Disneyland, and Knott’s Berry Farm’s concern that Disney would change the park to the extent that it would no longer fit in with the ideals of Walter Knott who had died 16 years previously.
