Think Disney World Is Going To Build a Park in Your State? Think Again

Amid the Walt Disney Company’s fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, every state in America had big dreams of the vast complex of Disney World moving to their state. A state representative in North Carolina put forth a bill to set aside money to help woo the Magic Kingdom and its other Parks to the Tar Heel State.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley laid out the welcome mat, hoping to bring the Mouse House to her home state. Her proposal was more of a jab at her future opponent for the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination, Governor DeSantis than a serious invitation. Even a businessman in Texas started getting rich by bilking people out of money by telling them Disney World was coming to the Lone Star State.

But realistically, it was never going to happen. The vast Walt Disney World complex is not a circus that can be packed up and moved from city to city around America. But there were some hopes that Disney would be so angry with DeSantis and Florida that it would start to think about creating miniparks in other states to attract its loyal fanbase elsewhere. That was the best hope for these states who desperately wanted some of that Disney Magic, and tax money and jobs, in their state. But those hopes were dashed yesterday.

Speaking at a J.P. Morgan conference this week, the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, Josh D’Amaro, put an end to the hopes that some states had. D’Amaro told the crowd that Disney focused on “core assets is where we should be spending most of our opportunity.” Essentially, Disney World and Disneyland will get the most attention, and anything outside of those Parks in America is mute.

Universal Studios has been working on the mini Park strategy and, earlier this year, announced a plan to build a smaller Park in Texas and are looking into Las Vegas. This strategy would be similar to what Six Flags does with its regional Parks. Disney, however, is the king of Theme Parks, and people are willing to travel to Florida or California for Disney.

The Walt Disney Company did consider building a new Disney theme Park in Virginia in the 1990s, but those plans fell apart. Since then, Disney has focused on updating the Disney World Parks, adding Disney Animal Kingdom, and Disneyland Park, adding Disney’s California Adventure. But with Disney’s current issues in Central Florida, fans had hoped a Disney Theme Park would be coming to an area closer to them.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.