Disney's America

[Maxdad]

Let's create the park ourselves. Since Disney Sea is an unlikely development, given the landlocked parcel, perhaps we could resurrect another idea the Disney Company proposed for Virginia; Disney's historical look at America.
Imagine the monorail taking a loop west and arriving in a large glass structure, similar to the old London World's Fair Glass Palace with red and white panels of glass, towering three stories. The monorail drops you off in the Atrium; a three story tall open space that looks out over the new Theme Park, Disney's America. Above is the blue glass dome, with 50 stars designed into the glass work. On each of the stories, shops and restaraunts provide visitors with a unique mall shopping experience, like Main Street, only in a vertical, space saving environment.
Facing South, the huge glass windows provide a view of the new theme park, with a central lake, Eagle's Crest Island (celebrating America's Native American Culture), and the surrounding themed "lands," each depicting an era of American History.
Down on floor one, your admission to the park leads you either to the left or right, depending on which direction you want to travel in time. Let's go to the left.
The first thing we see is Determination Falls, a "natural" wonder that by it's very nature, epitomizes the Great American Spirit. Why, Because Determination Falls is the only natural Waterfall that overcomes obstacles, and flows up!
Now we are in Boston Harbor, depicting life in America, 1650-1770. On the water side, you walk along the docks with merchant ships and Old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea...). Visit a recreation of the Mayflower, or Old Ironsides. On the land side, wander down the city streets of Boston, including Liberty Square. See trades demonstrate their crafts (Coopers, silversmith, Furniture Builders), in much the same was as you can at Colonial Williamsburg.
At the end of the street is the Governor's Mansion, Housing the attraction "Sons of Liberty," A Pirates type ride retelling the story of the events that led to the American Revolution. Outside, you can take a ride on the "Boston Tea Party," Become the crate that get's thrown into the harbor!
As we meander south, we cross a red covered bridge to Sleepy Hollow, a small village depicting life in America shortly after the Revolution. Visit Thoreau's Walden Pond, and take a ride on "Ichabod's Headless Fright," as you become the character in a recreation of Washington Irving's classic story.
But all is not well in America, because one group has been sorely excluded. Slavery exists, and in "The Road to Freedom," learn about the African American experience.
We exit, and we are now in Contention Springs. The Civil War is afoot, and reenactments of Civil War Battles occur as a nation struggles for unity. Take part in a contest of your own, in the "Gauntlet," A river raft ride with a twist. Be the first raft through the gauntlet, and go through dry. But come in second, and you are soaked!
Over the southernmost point of the lake you cross into Innovation Square, depicting the Post Civil War America highlighting the great inventions of the industrial revolution. From Edison to Whitney, from Bell to Ford and the Wright Brothers, learn about invention in a whole new interactive experience. At the same time, the terrain has taken on a more City-type landscape. We come up to the 1930's here.
Finally, we come to Yeager Flats, a tribute to both the WWII effort and the race for space. Experience "Lift Off," as your rocket jet speeds up a 90 degree track, and just as it looks like gravity is going to win and pull you backward, instead, your vehicle takes you over the crest, and you do a freefall... facing downward!
Or try the G-Force simulator, a ride similar to the jets at Disneyland, but instead of facing in the direction of the rotation, the cars face inward, forcing your body outward with centrifugal force.
We are now back at the Crystal Palace building, But there's one land left. Experience America as it once was, by visiting Eagle's Crest Island. Here, learn about the many Native American tribes and cultures, with Pocohantas as your guide. Kids can visit with Grandmother Willow, and Discover what is "Just around the riverbend" in Meeko's river adventure.
All in All, Disney's America is a learning experience, but with just enough adventure to satisfy the thrill seeker as well. It isn't intended to be the primary destination for vacationers, but it would give reason to stay an extra day, and it provides Southern California with a much needed link to our Eastern American History.
So, what do you think, Gang? Any ideas to add? Now all we have to do is get Disney to pay attention to us and get the park built!!

[yumyum]

man! maxdad you must of thought about this for a while! but i think that its cool and very creative ,i hope you get disneys attention,good luck

[Michael]

Hi Maxdad!

Welcome to our community!

I love the concept of Disney's America. The only problem I would see this in the area proposed is the lack of space for such a great theme park.

But a GREAT idea! I would definetly visit Disney's America a lot.



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Michael Mc Sparran
MouseInfo.com Webmaster
MouseInfo.com
Michael@mouseinfo.com

[dizneybeep]

wow, maxdad!
i would certainly visit such a park.
i love american history and that would be a great park.

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ttfn!
Jaime ºoº

[Maxdad]

Thanks All; In fact, I have sketched out the park to scale, and suprisingly, there probably is sufficient room to pull it off. The Williamsburg street would match the terrain available; if you look at the overhead drawing of the property, you can see a "street wide" parcel of land going off to the right.
The one thing that might be difficult to pull off on a regular basis are the civil war re-enactments, and if that idea has to go to make room for others, I think that would be OK. In fact, I think we have opportunity to right a lot of Disney wrongs here. First of all, Eisner's idea to plunk Disney's America in the middle of an existing historical area would slight the true need in the U.S.: Our western culture is sorely lacking in an awareness of our History. So providing the opportunity for people out here to sample American History would be a great idea.
Secondly, one of the big problems with Disneyland was the fact that in order to shop there, you had to buy admission. Downtown Disney will alleviate much of that problem, but by utilizing the Glass Palace building as the main gate as well, folks could shop at Disney America without actually entering the park.
The Monorail is problematic; could it spur off of the main line, like at Epcot, or would it be better, as some have suggested, to bring back the peoplemover? Personally, I prefer the Monorail, since it somewhat ties into the Yeager Flats theme and the World's Fair feeling of the Palace.
For a while, I toyed with the idea that the palace would actually be in the shape of Mickey's head, if viewed from the air. But maybe that's pushing it. Still, with the right design, maybe those Disney Imagineers could pull it off.
The lake can be scaled down from the Rivers of America, but I visualized a couple of ways to access the island. One, from "Harper's Ferry" from Contention Springs, and a second access from Yeager Flats.
Another chunk of American History that is missing is the role of Mexico's influence. From Texas to California, the contributions of this sector are enormous. The only reason I did not include it, was because, to some degree, it is covered at DCA and at nearby Knott's Berry Farm, with its California Mission walk. Should I include it?
I'd really welcome your ideas. I noticed on another bulletin board the idea for Ichabod's ride. I think we could use a few additional attractions.
And food... I didn't mention food. Campbell's Chowder house and a Bakery in Boston Harbor are natural. For laughs, I named a salad bar in Sleepy Hollow "Leaves of Grass," from the Whitman book. Contention Springs seems like a good place for Southern treats like cajun shrimp, chicken, and roast pork sandwiches. How about a Philly Cheesesteak in Innovation Square, and a 50's diner a la Ruby's or Johnny Rocket's at Yeager Flats.
More later....

[yumyum]

maxdad you've done a great job in planning the new park and telling us every detail...i dont want to ruin your hopes to get disney attention to take a look at your plans and designs but..... its disneys policy not to take any ideas from the public,and the only way you could give your creative ideas is to be a IMAGINEER,with your ideas you could probably be a imagineer!

[This message has been edited by YUMyum (edited 10-04-2000).]

[dizknee4life]

maxdad i think that disney america is not a very good idea cuz for one thing who wants to go to a park thats like a museum,outsiders would want to see disney themed rides,not historical monument lookalikes,if i came from another country and i went to disney america in your standpoint i'd find it quite boring and a waste of money,why would i care to know americas history,i came for the dizney themed rides , i want to see explosive state of the art attractions,i dont want to sit down and see a reanactment of a war battle scene,i wont to see a pyro- technic show that has numerous stunts performed by stunt men or a whole new fantasmic,i'd like to see a "Best of park"featuring the best rides around the disney world. i hope i didnt affend you in anyway im just expressing myself about your thoughts of disney america.

p.s.
you must have alot of spare time designing a theme park .

[This message has been edited by dizknee4life (edited 10-04-2000).]

[Maxdad]

Thanks, YumYum and Dizknee4life,
I appreciate your input. No, I don't have a whole lot of time on my hands... but I did sketch out my designs while on vacation this Summer. It was a relaxing, creative thing for me to do, and it really took relatively less time than you might think.
You see, Imagination is a wonderful thing, and I believe that's the heart of the Disney message. One of the reason's I thought the Light Magic Parade was such a dismal failure was because the storyline was centered arround a bunch of fairies who came to teach the Disney characters how to imagine. Criminy... that's what Disney Character's Do!
No, Diz4life, you didn't Offend me. I understand your wish to have theme rides. That's why I have a hard time imagining the Civil War reenactments myself. I only included it because it was in Eisner's original plan.
Disney has a stock of historical characters to draw on, from Pocahantas to Johnny Tremaine, and these elements fit naturally into Walt's vision of America. Walt was so enthralled with our nation's promise that Disney and America are hard to separate.
But the rides I envision are actually fairly inexpensive for this new, budget minded management style the company has adopted. One of the saving graces for DCA is the fact that many of the rides are "stock" rides; things produced from sources outside Disney with minimal theme hardware added (a basic roller coaster with a "Mickey loop", the Maliboomer, the Orange Stinger).
So too, the things in my Disney's America are easily created. The raft race in Contention Springs is a simple raft ride with a triggered waterfall. The Escape Gravity thing has been invented already by a very creative outside guy; his original idea was to create the feeling one gets "going over the edge" on a skateboard. I crossed it with SFMM's Superman Escape, added a NASA touch, and Voila. The G-Force simulator is Dumbo and the Astrojets, re-oriented (maybe a bit faster). The Tea Drop is another SFMM - ; I forget what they call it, but it's basically a large grandstand that lifts about 90 feet, and gets dropped in a bay of water, spraying the people awaiting to ride in line. Think of it as a wide Spash Mountain.
Yeah Yum, I know. Disney probably wouldn't pay any attention to the idea because of their "no unsolicited policy." Why else do you think I posted it here? If I thought I really had any chance to getting anything out of it (again, I do have a real job that takes up plenty of time), I would have pursued it. But Disney seems unreachable for a 49 year old dreamer like me, so I thought by posting it here, I would at least be able to share it with an appreciative audience.
Hey Paul Pressler and Marty Sklar! If you ever get the chance to read this, and like what you see, I hope you'll remember me. In the meantime gang, let your imagination go free, and don't keep yourself from creating wonders just because the rest of the world says no. While it would be nice to be compensated for developing an idea, and be part of the Disney creation team, I just think Disney's America would be a great addition to the Anaheim Resort area.
One of the MouseInfo regulars, Wildrider, always ends a message with the phrase "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land among the stars." That's what I've tried to do by posting my ideas here. I encourage all my MouseInfo friends to do the same
Thanks!

[This message has been edited by Maxdad (edited 10-04-2000).]

[ismael flores]

Hello maxdad i also think you r idea is awesome. I have traveled many times to WDW and contrary with what was said here about a foriegner wanting to know anyhting about history, people do. When i travel out of this country i don't go looking for amusement parks because of the rides, a roller coaster is a roler coaster but historical places are what gets the most attention. Take WDW for an example Ever noticed how busy Epcot world showcase gets. Not to many rides there. The america pavilion is usuually very crowded and all it contains are animotronics talking and representing our history. People come out of there overjoyed in amazement and feeling. As you add to this idea keep us posted in here. maybe you could upload a sketch of layout

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ismael v flores

[disneygirl]

I like your ideas, and like someone else said people do look for the historical elements. I know when my sister joined the navy one of the things she said was that she wanted to see the world. My sister likes much like I do the historical past and being able to see it like it was is really amazing to me. There is an old park called Columbia not to far from where I live and when I feel like a visit to the past I go there. I would really enjoy a whole entire park where I could see the past.