It’s a sad reality that Australia doesn’t have its own Disneyland (or Disneyworld, or Universal Studios for that matter) but it looks like that could be changing, with not one but two Aussie states ready to take on the popular theme park.
South Australia and Victoria have both come out publicly with the intention to be part of Walt’s world and have Australia’s first Disneyland.
Late last year, SA businessman and winemaker Warren Randall shared his intentions of thrusting South Australia onto the world map by bringing the so-called happiest place on earth to the state.
He even offered up part of his 1,200-hectare McLaren Vale land to help make it happen, but now Victoria’s decided maybe Melbourne could work for Mickey and his friends.
Melbourne mayor Sally Capp told the Herald Sun, “As Australia’s capital city of fun, of course we should have a Disney theme park in Melbourne.”
There were also whispers of land near Avalon Airport being suitable for the to-be-or-not-to-be theme park.
Melbourne being Australia’s capital of fun is news to me, but at least it would give people a reason to fly into Avalon if all this is true.
From what we can tell, it seems like there’s more legitimacy to the idea of a Disneyland in Melbourne than Adelaide.
When Randall announced his dream of a SA Disneyland last year it appeared to be just that — a dream.
A spokesman for South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas told The Advertiser at the time that the state government hadn’t received a proposal from Randall. He better get a wriggle on if he wants to play ball.
But when it comes to Melbourne? There have at least been reports (according to 10Play) that David Fox, chairman of Avalon Airport, has had meetings with Disney in the past.
“There’s an entertainment precinct that we’ve defined. I wouldn’t say (for a) Disneyland at this moment in time, but anything is possible,” he said, as per 10Play.
Back in 1998, Queensland came very close to getting Australia’s first Disneyland but it never went ahead due to difficult “economics”, according to the Courier Mail.
There’s obviously a lot that goes into planning and creating a huge theme park but I’d like to visit a Disneyland on home turf before I die, please.
Image: Getty Images / Gilbert Carrasquillo
