MANASSAS, Va. — In a departure from its collection of fantasy- and animation-dominated theme parks, Walt Disney Co. on Thursday unveiled plans to build a 1,200-acre park outside Washington that will pay homage to American history and culture.
Dubbed Disney's America, the park is planned for a site in Prince William County about 40 miles west of the nation's capital. It would be Disney's third U.S. park, joining Disneyland in Anaheim and Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.
The Virginia park will feature amusement rides as well as high-tech interactive and "virtual reality" re-enactments of U.S. historical events such as Civil War combat. Some 2,000 workers will be employed during construction of the park, and another 3,000 permanent positions will be created when it opens sometime in 1998, Disney officials said.
The officials said the new facility will cost "hundreds of millions" of dollars to build, but they wouldn't be more specific.
Disney, which has already purchased or optioned the land needed to build the park, said it will spend the next four to six months securing local zoning and building permits in the booming Prince William community where the park is located. Disney officials said their Virginia proposal will not affect the company's previously publicized plans to attempt to expand its park in Anaheim, an announcement echoed by Disney and Anaheim officials working on the project.
"The two projects are completely independent," said Ken Wong, senior vice president of Disney Development in a telephone interview. "They are designed for different markets. They are not competitive" with each other.
Disney, he added, has enough money to build both Disney America and the proposed $3-billion Disneyland Resort theme park and hotel complex at the same time.
Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said he talked with Disney officials Thursday about their Virginia plans.
"I was assured that the Virginia project has no bearing at all on the Disneyland Resort project in Anaheim," Daly said. The Anaheim project has already won the necessary city approvals--"they could start tomorrow," he said--while the Virginia project has a long way to go to reach that point.
The area's Manassas National Battlefield Park, Potomac Mills shopping mall and Prince William Forest Park drew more than 14 million visitors in 1992, according to a county official. And the Danish toy maker Lego Group is expected to announce whether Prince William County or Carlsbad in San Diego County will be the site of its first American park.
