Disney animated characters and theme parks have frequently celebrated elements of American history and presented an idealized version of America itself, from theme park areas like Main Street, U.S.A., and Frontierland to attractions like the Hall of Presidents, the Carousel of Progress, and the American Adventure. During World War II, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck helped the war effort by appearing in patriotic cartoons and advertisements for war bonds, and Disney theme parks hosted numerous parades and celebrations during America’s 1976 bicentennial festivities.
Yet despite the quintessential “American-ness” of Disney, the company’s attempt to create a theme park focused exclusively on American history ended in failure.
In the early 1990s, Michael Eisner had already had a successful run as Disney’s chairman and CEO. His tenure included the “Disney Renaissance,” marked by popular animated features like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid, and he had overseen the opening of Euro Disney (now called Disneyland Paris) and Disney-MGM Studios (now called Disney’s Hollywood Studios). Inspired by the historical reenactments on display at Colonial Williamsburg, Eisner settled on northern Virginia as the site of the next Disney theme park. Located around 35 miles (56 km) west of Washington, D.C, the venture would feature areas and attractions based on specific periods of American history.
The $650-million project, tentatively named Disney’s America, was supposed to be built near Haymarket, a town located just a few miles away from Manassas National Battlefield Park, which commemorates two bloody Civil War battles. Along with the theme park, Disney’s America would also feature hotels, a golf course, residences, and sprawling commercial development. Before going public with these plans in November 1993, Disney had shored up support from numerous Virginia government officials.
Yet from the very outset, historians and many members of the public questioned the wisdom of creating a profit-driven, entertainment-focused theme park based on the complex, and sometimes violent and discriminatory, history of the United States. Likewise, the chosen location, near the Manassas battlefield, didn’t sit well with historians like acclaimed authors David McCullough and Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Other criticisms touched on how a Disney theme park, largely aimed at young children, would handle topics such as slavery. Disney also came up against Virginia’s General Assembly by demanding massive infrastructure improvement. In Congress, numerous legislators voiced opposition to the park on environmental grounds and brought up issues ranging from traffic to tourist accommodation.
The Disney park that never was:
- The original plans for the park included nine sections, each focusing on a specific historical time period or event: Native American society, Colonial America, pre-Civil War America, the Industrial Revolution, the U.S. Civil War, Ellis Island, a Midwestern state fair, a family farm during the Great Depression, and World War I and World War II.
- A revised plan for the park, renamed Disney’s American Celebration, was proposed in the summer of 1994, focusing on broad themes like Work, Family and Generations, Land, and Streets of America, rather than specific historical events.
- Amid further uncertainty surrounding closing the park in the winter, the unprofitability of Euro Disney at the time, the sudden death of Disney president and COO Frank Wells, and serious health issues affecting Michael Eisner, the plans for Disney’s America were ultimately scrapped in September 1994. However, some of the proposed attractions would later appear at other Disney parks, including Disney California Adventure, which opened in 2001.
