A ‘yuge Australian businessman and winemaker wants to spearhead a bid to build the world’s seventh Disneyland in *checks notes* South Australia. You just know New South Wales is pissed.
Warren Randall — who owns Seppeltsfield and Penny’s Hill wineries — is trying to get fellow business leaders and the state government on board to back the project.
He told The Advertiser bringing “the happiest place on Earth” to South Australia could thrust the state onto the world map. Be gone, City of Churches! The Mouse Metropolis is here.
“I think, in tourism, we’re all a little bit sick and tired of Adelaide being the place you fly over when you go from Sydney to Perth,” Randall said.
“It is time we made a statement, a few statements, in our state.
“McLaren Vale would be my spot — wide, open, flat, next to the beach, next to the ranges — makes a lot of sense.”
Um, sorry Randall, but South Australia is already a “statement” after Dev Patel helped break up a knife fight in Adelaide. Have Goofy or Pluto ever successfully broken up a brawl? I didn’t think so.
Randall’s so gung ho about bringing Disneyland to South Australia he’s even offered up some of his McLaren Vale land to get the ball rolling. If he has a wee bit to spare, I’d love a slice TBH.
“I would love to make land available for the location to kickstart it. Definitely. Either you sell the land into a consortium or you lease it or you gift it — you find a way,” he said.
“I think because we are so close to the beach, the hills and the city, particularly with the two-way Southern Expressway, that makes all the difference.
“We have the land. We’ve just got to have the will, the desire and the energy to put it together.”
Go off, inspirational king. Petition to make “the will, the desire, the energy” the new “live, laugh, love”.
A spokesman for South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas told The Advertiser the state government hadn’t received a proposal from Randall just yet. But as myriad Disney movies have proven, anything is possible — just take Remy cooking up a storm under Linguine’s hat in Ratatouille, for example.
Only time will tell whether South Australia follows in the foot steps of Anaheim, Orlando, Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo and gets its very own Disneyland. Previous plans to bring the theme park to the Gold Coast and a resort to Sydney have both flopped, so Disney stans can only pray.
