In the early 1990s, Disney came very close to opening a theme park in northern Virginia called Disney’s America. The planned park would have been based on American history and would have been constructed at Haymarket, Virginia, close to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.
The project was first revealed in November 1993, according to Smithsonian Magazine, and included proposals for nine different zones totaling 125–185 acres, each including hotels, residences, and commercial development. Historians who were worried about the project’s effect on neighboring historic monuments and how Disney would depict intricate historical events were among the several groups that fiercely opposed it. Preservationists and locals were also worried about urban growth and the degradation of the surrounding countryside.
Disney finally declared on September 28, 1994, that they were dropping their plans for the park in Haymarket because of the persistent opposition, despite some early support from MPs and state government funding. WETA explores the unsuccessful attempt to introduce Disney’s America to northern Virginia.
Despite never becoming a theme park, the initial location of Disney’s America in Haymarket, Virginia, has not been left unaltered. According to a recent article by the Colgan Team, the land has instead been transformed into expansive residential neighborhoods, especially master-planned ones with a variety of facilities. Dominion Valley Country Club, a gated golf course community with resort-style amenities and opulent residences, and Piedmont, a bustling neighborhood with tennis courts, pools, and access to natural areas, are two noteworthy developments on or close to the land that Disney examined.
In essence, the area changed from a Disney theme park to a highly sought-after suburban residential center, attracting homebuyers with its close proximity to Washington, DC, I-66, top-rated schools, and the allure of master-planned communities with golf courses and other amenities. Despite being successful in blocking the theme park, the resistance to Disney’s America eventually failed to impede important growth in the area, albeit of a different kind.
