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Environmental Decline Of Disney's America

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Environmental Decline Of Disney's America
Anti Disney links [http://www.geocities.com/~jmgould/disney.html] [http://www.saneasylum.com/articles/124] The World According to Disney by John Sterling Trading in Fantasies {draw:rect} Earth Island Journal.
Summer 94
Vol. 9 Issue 3 p32+ {draw:rect} Few people would equate "Disney theme park" with "environmental threat." Most support Disney's wholesome brand of family entertainment because it offers people a respite from the stress of daily life. But Disney's friendly image has been under fire lately due to the financial woes of its Euro Disney park in France and over its current plans to build "Disney's America," an American history theme park, in rural Virginia. A careful look at Euro Disney and Disney's America reveals that …show more content…
Despite its environmental transgressions, Disney has received billions of dollars in bank loans and government subsidies to support its recent theme park projects. Kansas State University architecture professor Gary Coates is one of a growing number of professionals who have identified theme parks as inherent agents of environmental decline. "When we are in Disney World... we are inside someone else's story; we cannot tell what is reality and what is not," said Coates in Jerry Mander's book, In the Absence of the Sacred. Coates argues that theme parks create a preprogrammed fantasy world that excludes nature's randomness and unpredictability. As such, these parks lead visitors to believe that an environment can be sustained within a vacuum controlled by technicians and engineers. Euro Disney's Failure Walt Disney Co. is expanding its empire. Inspired by its successful Tokyo Disneyland, Disney borrowed $3.7 billion from 63 different banks, kicked in a paltry $220 million …show more content…
According to Disney's designers, the park would be divided into seven theme areas, each recreating a major historical event with a Disney twist. "'Native America' explores the life of America's first inhabitants and offers an exciting white-water river raft expedition," said a November 1993 Disney press release. The company did not say whether "Native America" would also reenact the Trail of Tears or Custer's slaughter of the Plains Indians. Other themes include a Civil War fort in which the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac will be recreated; a replica of Ellis Island intended to illustrate the immigrant experience; and "Enterprise, a factory town [that] highlights American ingenuity and features a high speed thrill attraction called the 'Industrial Revolution,'" said the press release. If charges of historical inaccuracy do not halt Disney's America, the park's potential environmental impact might. Bob Leuthy, a board member of Protect, a citizens' group based in Haymarket, VA, claims that Disney's America threatens the overall quality of life in Prince William County."Quality of life is an environmental issue. If Disney's America is
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