Though we’ve already taken a look back at the attractions, shows, and restaurants that we lost forever in 2018, as we continue to review the past year, we’ll take a look at one of the more unique phenomena we saw this year: projects that were announced, but then cancelled, before construction was able to ramp up!
The Magic Kingdom Main Street Theater
Image: Disney
Back in 2017 it was announced that the Magic Kingdom would be adding a brand new entertainment venue to Main Street USA. Based on the iconic Willis Wood theater that existed in 1920s Kansas City, where Walt Disney lived after he left his hometown of Marceline, this historic recreation was all set to be be built in what is currently the backstage bypass area between Main Street U.S.A. and Tomorrowland.
However, though preliminary work on the Magic Kingdom theater project started around the beginning of the year, it was completely halted back in February, with staging and fencing being pulled down in just a matter of days around where vertical construction would have begun. And though this all happened about 10 months ago, Disney still has not made any official announcements regarding the cancellation of this project, only removing it from their list of upcoming attractions on their website and fiing new permits that omit the previous plans for this new theater.
Image: South Florida Water Management
Though there’s no real way to know why Disney cancelled such a high-profile project with virtually no warning after preliminary construction had already begun, we’d guess that there was some kind of budget issue behind the sudden death of this project. While its doubtful that a performing arts venue broke the budget all by itself, with so many projects going on right now, including the construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, The Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster, the Tron Roller Coaster, Ratatouille, and more, it could be that Disney decided to cut something from the lineup, and unfortunately the Magic Kingdom theater was the easiest to halt construction and development on since preliminary work had just gotten underway at the beginning of the year.
Luxury Disneyland hotel project
Image: Disney
Back in 2016, Disney officials surprised fans by submitting plans to the city of Anaheim to begin construction on a new luxury hotel at Disneyland Resort, which would have been the first Disneyland hotel property built in two decades, and would be the fourth Disney-owned hotel at the resort.
According to the plans submitted to the city government, this new addition to the resort would have been a 700-room, four-diamond hotel (the same as Disney’s Grand Californian hotel) with luxury amenities including two themed pools, a kid’s play area, and a rooftop restaurant that would have overlooked Disneyland park and provide stunning views of the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Image: Disney
Originally, when this hotel was first announced Disney planned to build the luxury resort at the north end of the resort, in an undeveloped area. After this plan was announced, Disney was able to secure a $267-million tax break from the City of Anaheim government to help finance the project.
However, as the plans for the hotel changed, the construction site was moved to Downtown Disney, where Disney began closing parts of the shopping district to make way for the hotel earlier this year. And while this slight location shift might not have seemed like a big deal at first (the shift is less than 1,000 feet), the City of Anaheim has objected to the change in location, and has rescinded the 70% break on Anaheim’s occupancy tax. In response to this development, Disney has completely cancelled the project, even engaging in a little testy exchange with the city of Anaheim, which you can read about here.
In the wake of this cancellation, Disneyland Resort has started redeveloping the areas of Downtown Disney that were originally shut down for this hotel development. And while this is another big project that we’re sad will never be realized, at least Disneyland Resort isn’t losing valuable Downtown Disney space, which was a concert for longtime parkgoers and annual passholders who visit the shopping and entertainment district regularly.
