Why has Disney never made a "Disneyworld over Mid-America???"

[Flashback2012]

As nice as it sounds to have a Disneyland/ Disney World would be, you aren't missing much when it comes to having one. I live about 17 miles from Disneyland, and have been a handful of times. Its expensive, they go up in price every year. As a SoCal resident, I get a discount, I only have to pay $98 to get in, and that is on a off day.(they have a new pricing chart, where prices depends on the time of year/day.). So off/slow days  are cheap, but popular days/summer its way more expensive. I think its like $120 per a ticket on busy days. Plus the crowds, waiting in line for rides, food is expensive and not good.

Then again, I am not much of a theme park fan......

I've always been something of a theme park junkie.  We still have Kings Island, Coney Island and The Beach still operational here. Kings Island and The Beach are only about 20 miles away and Coney Island is about 35 minutes away. The Beach was closed for several years but recently reopened and Kings Island attached its own water park. Coney Island is much smaller in scale than Kings Island but still enjoyable to go to as an alternative to KI. We used to have more amusement parks with another water park called Surf Cincinnati and Americana Amusement Park/Lesourdsville Lake & Fantasy Farm (two parks right next to each other). All 3 of those have closed down in the last 20 years though I still have fond memories of when my dad would take my little brother and I to Americana & Fantasy Farm for the day. 

I managed to knock Walt Disney World off my bucket list last year when we went down for vacation. Being both a theme park junkie and a Disney junkie; it was nice to finally set foot in the park after decades of wishing to be able to go.  Disneyland has now replaced Disney World on my bucket list so someday I WILL make my way out to California and go there. 

Back on topic regarding a Disneyland in the Middle of America...I did some research and discovered there's a few amusement parks in a nice little three-hour triangle of St. Louis-Kansas City-Branson. St. Louis has Six Flags, Branson has Silver Dollar City, and KC has Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun. It would seem to me that Disney might not want/be able to just plop an amusement park down in that part of the country.  I mean they could but I would think a lot of locals and those other park owners would be crying foul to their state legislature. 

I think a more appropriate question might be why hasn't WB managed to ape the success of Disney with their brands? They have DC Comics, Looney Tunes, and Hanna-Barbera at their disposal and at one time owned the Six Flags chain of parks (and they used to own Nickelodeon once upon a time) but they seem to do nothing but trip over themselves in regards to building their brand. 

[gf78]

I've always been something of a theme park junkie.  We still have Kings Island, Coney Island and The Beach still operational here. Kings Island and The Beach are only about 20 miles away and Coney Island is about 35 minutes away. The Beach was closed for several years but recently reopened and Kings Island attached its own water park. Coney Island is much smaller in scale than Kings Island but still enjoyable to go to as an alternative to KI. We used to have more amusement parks with another water park called Surf Cincinnati and Americana Amusement Park/Lesourdsville Lake & Fantasy Farm (two parks right next to each other). All 3 of those have closed down in the last 20 years though I still have fond memories of when my dad would take my little brother and I to Americana & Fantasy Farm for the day. 

I managed to knock Walt Disney World off my bucket list last year when we went down for vacation. Being both a theme park junkie and a Disney junkie; it was nice to finally set foot in the park after decades of wishing to be able to go.  Disneyland has now replaced Disney World on my bucket list so someday I WILL make my way out to California and go there. 

Back on topic regarding a Disneyland in the Middle of America...I did some research and discovered there's a few amusement parks in a nice little three-hour triangle of St. Louis-Kansas City-Branson. St. Louis has Six Flags, Branson has Silver Dollar City, and KC has Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun. It would seem to me that Disney might not want/be able to just plop an amusement park down in that part of the country.  I mean they could but I would think a lot of locals and those other park owners would be crying foul to their state legislature. 

I think a more appropriate question might be why hasn't WB managed to ape the success of Disney with their brands? They have DC Comics, Looney Tunes, and Hanna-Barbera at their disposal and at one time owned the Six Flags chain of parks (and they used to own Nickelodeon once upon a time) but they seem to do nothing but trip over themselves in regards to building their brand. 

I'm not a huge theme park fan myself.  I've never been to Silver Dollar City though my wife & kids have and I've been to Six Flags once since I moved to Missouri in 1985.  That was last year when my wife guilted me into it pretty much.  I'm not big on rides or such.

I just really enjoyed Disney World and I am a sucker for that "Disney Magic."  When in Florida last summer, it didn't even bother me to take the girls into the princess stuff.  The shops were a huge part of my enjoyment.  We have the Disney Store, Lego Store, etc. here in St. Louis.  But it isn't the same as walking around and shopping in a Lego store that has a giant knight fighting a dragon about two stories tall....all made of Legos. 

[ignition365]

A realty and brokerage firm confirmed a few years back that a shell company owned by Disney was looking to buy land just outside of San Antonio, obviously nothing came of that.

[gf78]

A realty and brokerage firm confirmed a few years back that a shell company owned by Disney was looking to buy land just outside of San Antonio, obviously nothing came of that.

Texas would be a good place for a Disney!

[ignition365]

A realty and brokerage firm confirmed a few years back that a shell company owned by Disney was looking to buy land just outside of San Antonio, obviously nothing came of that.

Texas would be a good place for a Disney!

Tons of open space, low cost of living (usually), and a majority of the top 10 most populated cities in the nation.

Of course though, anywhere you would develop would likely be far away from existing tourist attractions.  Houston does have the old AstroWorld lot still though, not nearly big enough for DisneyWorld proportions though.

[gf78]

Somebody mentioned that Disney builds in areas with large tourism draws.  That seems to be true.  When in Florida, Universal Studios and SeaWorld were literally right down the street from Disney World.  A couple miles at the furthest.  Disney has to complete with these other tourist attractions that are so close.

If they were to build in the Midwest, they wouldn't have these other huge competitors nearby.  Disney would stand to rake in all of that money due to both a lack of competition and being close enough to several major metropolitan cities that people would be willing to drive to more often than they would to go all the way to either California or Florida.  Again, I'm no financial guru but it seems like good business sense to me.

A vacation trip to Florida or California is a huge expense.  You have travel, lodging, meals, etc.  So say it takes about a grand just to go to Disney World in Florida.  Just an example.  If people could drive there in roughly say....six hours, they would use less gas.  They wouldn't have to pay for a hotel stay.  They wouldn't have to eat out every meal for a week or more.  So that easy grand would be money spent at Disney as opposed to just getting to Disney. 

If Disney World was hours away instead of days (driving) or you didn't have to fly to get there, would more people go more often?  I believe so.  I know people who go to Branson and Six Flags several times a year.  Some people go every couple of months.  Wouldn't people do the same for Disney if it was close enough to drive to in a reasonably short amount of time?  I believe so.

[Flashback2012]

I'm not a huge theme park fan myself.  I've never been to Silver Dollar City though my wife & kids have and I've been to Six Flags once since I moved to Missouri in 1985.  That was last year when my wife guilted me into it pretty much.  I'm not big on rides or such.

I just really enjoyed Disney World and I am a sucker for that "Disney Magic."  When in Florida last summer, it didn't even bother me to take the girls into the princess stuff.  The shops were a huge part of my enjoyment.  We have the Disney Store, Lego Store, etc. here in St. Louis.  But it isn't the same as walking around and shopping in a Lego store that has a giant knight fighting a dragon about two stories tall....all made of Legos.

Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH is another bucket list destination. I would love to go to a Six Flags at some point as well. I'd love to be able to Missouri and check out all three parks if I could. Of if I could just win the lottery already. 

My housemates are going to Hershey, PA for vacationing with some of their friends and are supposed to be going to Hershey Park sometime during the week. I was supposed to go but a custody issue with the friend's kid made it so they had to go at the beginning of June which is already booked solid on my work's PTO calendar. 

[gf78]

Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH is another bucket list destination. I would love to go to a Six Flags at some point as well. I'd love to be able to Missouri and check out all three parks if I could. Of if I could just win the lottery already. 

My housemates are going to Hershey, PA for vacationing with some of their friends and are supposed to be going to Hershey Park sometime during the week. I was supposed to go but a custody issue with the friend's kid made it so they had to go at the beginning of June which is already booked solid on my work's PTO calendar. 

All the years I lived in Pennsylvania....I never went to Hershey.  Don't know why.  Just didn't.  We did go to Six Flags Great Adventure and Brigatine Castle several times which wasn't far away in New Jersey.  And about three miles from our house (I was still a youngin') there was Sesame Place in Langhorn, PA which was like Six Flags but Sesame Street themed.  Pretty cool place.

More cool places to visit in Missouri are the Bonne Terre mines, St. Louis Zoo, Science Center, the Arch, Meramac Caverns, Lone Elk Park and Grant's Farm. 

http://www.grantsfarm.com/

[shepard11]

My wife loves disney. She went a few years ago with her family without me and loved it. I don't see the appeal myself. I really don't like people (no offense). And I really don't like Florida at all. It's her dream that one day we go together. I rather just go somewhere were it's cooler and less people like Southern Washington State is always nice (I use to live there).

[gf78]

My wife loves disney. She went a few years ago with her family without me and loved it. I don't see the appeal myself. I really don't like people (no offense). And I really don't like Florida at all. It's her dream that one day we go together. I rather just go somewhere were it's cooler and less people like Southern Washington State is always nice (I use to live there).

LOL...I really don't like people myself either, no offense meant.  Big crowds suck.  Florida was ok when we were on the coast, but Orlando was hot & humid as shit.  By 10AM, we were all miserably uncomfortable including the kids. 

But with that being said, Disney had a lot of cool things, rides, shops and just plain fun to be had.  That's why I would like to see a Disney World/Land/Whatever somewhere in the Midwest.  I can deal with throngs of ignorant people for one day.   

[rayne315]

problem with it being in the Midwest is our ridiculous farm land/wooded land prices. because of our nice nutrient and organics rich soil an acre of farm land generally sells for $6,000+ in iowa. Where I live farm land typically sells for $12,000 an acre for undeveloped cleared farm land. so you factor what we are talking about land wise (27,258 acres for Disney World), you are looking at somewhere around $163.5 Million+ just for the land itself. then all the prepping, permits, building, etc. you are easily looking at around 1 Billion+ in costs to make another Disney world sized area

[turf]

problem with it being in the Midwest is our ridiculous farm land/wooded land prices. because of our nice nutrient and organics rich soil an acre of farm land generally sells for $6,000+ in iowa. Where I live farm land typically sells for $12,000 an acre for undeveloped cleared farm land. so you factor what we are talking about land wise (27,258 acres for Disney World), you are looking at somewhere around $163.5 Million+ just for the land itself. then all the prepping, permits, building, etc. you are easily looking at around 1 Billion+ in costs to make another Disney world sized area

That's why the Ozarks made some much sense.  You can still buy land up here for $100 and acre if its undeveloped.