Disney's America Is Back?

Tekneek;2460963 wrote: In today's dollars, just getting to the point of opening the Magic Kingdom would probably take close to $3 billion. I'm not sure they'd be willing to write that check today.

They wrote a $4B check to buy Star Wars...

BrerGnat;2460968 wrote: They wrote a $4B check to buy Star Wars...

How much did myMagic+ cost......... ;)

John;2460973 wrote: How much did myMagic+ cost......... ;)

Right? What was it, almost $2B?

I'd never heard anything about this. My husband was enamored with the Civil War entrance the article referred to. With his love of history and my love of Disney, this would have been the IDEAL destination for us. My pipe dream of DVC may have even become a reality...

The nearest airport to Disneyland is almost an hour away so that hurdle may not be so challenging here. I know nothing of the interstates around that area so I can't comment there. However, being in the middle of nowhere seems like a huge advantage for Disney. There would be little interference. The outside world couldn't easily come crashing in and destroy our "fantasy."

Interesting! My first thought was, what are they going to do in the winter? It would be fun if they did it, but I'm not holding my breath.

TheVBs;2460978 wrote: Interesting! My first thought was, what are they going to do in the winter? It would be fun if they did it, but I'm not holding my breath.

They could have a killer Valley Forge re-enactment!

magicofdisney;2460976 wrote: I'd never heard anything about this. My husband was enamored with the Civil War entrance the article referred to. With his love of history and my love of Disney, this would have been the IDEAL destination for us. My pipe dream of DVC may have even become a reality...

The nearest airport to Disneyland is almost an hour away so that hurdle may not be so challenging here. I know nothing of the interstates around that area so I can't comment there. However, being in the middle of nowhere seems like a huge advantage for Disney. There would be little interference. The outside world couldn't easily come crashing in and destroy our "fantasy."

Actually the Orange County Airport (SNA) is only about 20 miles from Disneyland. And LAX is only about 40 miles away. I-5 has been running through CA since way before Disneyland came along, and Disneyland is literally a stones throw from that freeway. Disneyland's location could not be more opposite this plot of land in VA.

Every time one of these types of stories pop up regardless of whether it is Disney or whoever, I always find it sort of humorous when people start posting there is no way anyone would ever build in that area because it is "in the middle of nowhere" or there isn't a major interstate running through there or the closest airport is about an hour away and my personal favorite is "it isn't close to a major city."

The fact of the matter is that if one of these were to be pulled off today it would have to be done in an area exactly like this. You can't get enough contiguous land near a major city or airport to build something this size and even if you found enough to work with, it would never happen for all the red tape and lawsuits.

What it will take, is finding land out in the open but in an area where the infrastructure could easily be added as needed. A 20 mile interstate spur can be built in a few years if there is support for it and they turn the project loose. This is one of those things that these days, a company would have to simply say, we are building this thing so you might as well stop crying and complaining. It drives me crazy how the few rule the many in America now and we can't get anything done for all the whining.

Anyway, I don't really believe they have revived this project but it sure would be nice. I would be there at rope drop on opening day.

BrerGnat;2460987 wrote: Actually the Orange County Airport (SNA) is only about 20 miles from Disneyland. And LAX is only about 40 miles away. I-5 has been running through CA since way before Disneyland came along, and Disneyland is literally a stones throw from that freeway. Disneyland's location could not be more opposite this plot of land in VA.

Indeed.

There are 5 airports within 50 miles of Disneyland. Orange County is 15 miles away, Long Beach - 23mi, LAX - 34mi, Ontario - 36mi and good ol' Burbank (my stomping grounds) is 42 miles away. For reference, MCO to the MK is 24 mi.

The section of I-5 in Orange county was completed around 1951/52 and was part of the reason Walt chose the site of Disneyland. I-5 north of downtown LA wasn't completed until the late 50's. As a very young lad I can remember the construction and how horribly long it took to drive from our house in North Hollywood to Grandma's house in Glendale (all of 12 miles) before the Freeway.

Steve

Hmmmm....I think I will reserve judgment on the validity of this rumor until more information is available. I know that Officials at Sweet Briar have adamantly denied this rumor to the local ABC affiliate, but of course, if this is true they would do that at this point anyway. We can only hope that this long delayed project will finally make it past the dream stage.....but I'm not holding my breath!

BrerGnat;2460968 wrote: They wrote a $4B check to buy Star Wars...

A proven, long established, property. Not an "idea" of something that might be.

As far as "MyMagic+" goes, I would stop short of labeling any IT-based initiatives as an accepted expense, because we've seen them slash that area of the company pretty strongly recently.

Wells;2461004 wrote: Hmmmm....I think I will reserve judgment on the validity of this rumor until more information is available. I know that Officials at Sweet Briar have adamantly denied this rumor to the local ABC affiliate, but of course, if this is true they would do that at this point anyway. We can only hope that this long delayed project will finally make it past the dream stage.....but I'm not holding my breath!

IF this is true, I would expect the official to deny since they have been brought to court to stop the closing... And so far, the closing has been temporarily blocked by the Virginia Supreme Court... They sent it back to a lower court to rehear the arguments...

BrerGnat;2460987 wrote: Actually the Orange County Airport (SNA) is only about 20 miles from Disneyland. And LAX is only about 40 miles away. I-5 has been running through CA since way before Disneyland came along, and Disneyland is literally a stones throw from that freeway. Disneyland's location could not be more opposite this plot of land in VA.

I've only been to CA twice and both times I flew into SNA. I was remembering it took about 45min to an hour to get to the parks. I was comparing that to the hour reference earlier. The mileage may be minimal, but as you know, traffic can be painful. Of course, not living in the area, I don't know all the shortcuts.

The more I think about this, the more amusing it becomes. I mean come on, we're talking Walton's Mountain here, folks!

They might as well buy a swamp and drain it. Oh, wait . . . .