I personally doubt that the voice of residents had as major a role in
Disney America's disappearance.  I recall reading a news article that noted
Disney had decided to put more emphasis in animated feature films and less
into theme parks.  It seems to be a fairly simple return on investment sort
of issue.  The Lion King saw not only the return on their initial investment
but a major profit in just a very short time.  Disney America was going to
require a much more significant investment of capital with a much slower
rate of return on their investment.  I believe they were estimating costs
of $250 million with annual revenues of about $35 million.  In other words,
it would take  a lot longer to realize profits from the theme park than from
animated films...  The objections of the locals just made the decisions to
cut their losses that much easier.
 
Anyway, that's MHO...
 
Richard Efthim, Naturalist Center
National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC 20560
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