I think the mistake with that was the focus: "the park was to have been dedicated to the history of the United States"[1].
Given the popularity of existing parks, I think it's fair to say people (especially those with kids) seeking a vacation at Disney want castles, Mickey Mouse, Space Mountain, etc.
Not the same thing. Disney America was an American History-themed park that was going to be outside of Washington, DC. I mean a park like Disneyland or Disney World, but in Kansas or Texas or something like that.
Yeah Disney America was planned for Virginia horse country outside of DC, some of the most beautiful and wealthy real estate in the region. The NIMBY factor was fierce and the locals were DC elites who wanted no part of it.
It was more next door to horse country than actual horse country. The big rallying point was that it was going to encroach on the civil war battlefield nearby. Disney actually had a large buffer between the park and the battlefield. Now what would have been a preserved forest buffer is either a housing development or is planned to be one. In fact almost all the land that was going to be Disney America is all housing developments which have brought more people and traffic than Disney America would have and less jobs and tax revenue.
Years before Disney America the same people that led the opposition to it blocked Legoland from opening in the eastern half of the same county. Again the area is now all housing developments and shopping centers.
"How can you do a park on America and not talk about slavery?"
Wow, this guy is really with it. Probably going to get some blowback, but he's right.
"This park will deal with the highs and lows . . . We want to make you feel what it was like to be a slave, and what it was like to escape through the Underground Railroad."
Sometimes you should just shut your mouth when you're ahead.
If Disney can do it without gross cultural insensitivity, I think it could work.
