That Time Disney DID Plan to Build Another Resort Outside of Florida

With the Walt Disney Company’s ongoing feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, there has been a lot of talk online about how Disney should consider moving Walt Disney World to another state. Other states have even volunteered their services; more likely, they would take the thousands of jobs and millions in taxes that Disney pays to the state.

Leaders in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas made public statements encouraging the Walt Disney Company to consider the move. Most people making these statements don’t fully understand just how large the Walt Disney World Resort is. Disney World covers 43 square miles. Disney World employs more than 77,000 people, making it the largest single-site employer in the United States.

Related: Watch Your Back Florida, Another State is Eyeing a Disney World Move

Walt Disney World isn’t a traveling circus that can just move. The Disney Company has spent billions of dollars to create the Parks, hotels, and entertainment areas that makeup Walt Disney World. It cannot be put on moving trucks and brought to another state.

But 30 years ago, Disney planned to create another Park and Resort area in another state. According to ABC’s affiliate in Pennsylvania, in the 1990s, Disney created a plan and announced that Disney would open a new Park in Northern Virginia.

On Veterans Day 1993, then Disney CEO Michael Eisner announced that the Walt Disney Company would build Disney’s America in Haymarket, Virginia. The new Park would be located just a few miles from the Manasses National Battlefield Park, about 45 minutes outside Washington, D.C.

Eisner said in a press release at the time the purpose of the Park was:

to celebrate those unique American qualities that have been our country’s strengths and that have made this nation the beacon of hope to people everywhere.

Disney’s America was set to cover 1,200 acres, or four percent of the size of the Walt Disney World Resort. Disney planned to hire 3,000 new Cast Members, and the Park was set to open in 1998.

The Park would have a Civil War fort, President’s Square, and a Native American area. Disney also released the concept for a new whitewater rafting ride.

So, what happened? The concept faced immediate backlash from the local community and nationally. Locally, people were concerned with the massive amount of traffic a new Disney Theme Park would cause, and nationally, people were concerned with Disney’s ability to portray the complex history of the United States.

In September 1994, Eisner pulled the plug on the project. All was not lost, though. The concept for the Whitewater Rafting Ride would eventually become the Grizzly River Run at Disney’s California Adventure.

Disney has considered moving outside of Florida but quickly learned that not all areas of the country are receptive to a large Theme Park in their backyards.

We will continue to keep you updated on this story at Disney Fanatic.