Take A Look at Disney

1/6/11

Undiscovered Disney: Mineral King

Welcome to  a new monthly series where I take look at Disney projects that never got off the ground.  I will be using my calendar I received from joining D23, the first official Disney fan club. 
I will be using the calendar since each month talks about plans that Disney had but never got off the ground.
Here is the link, if you are untrusted.

http://d23.disney.go.com/

First up is Mineral King


In 1969,  the U.S. Government opened area in Sierra, Nevada for private development.  Walt Disney was quick to put in a bid, that the government accepted.  Walt worked with an Olympic ski course designer, Wally Schaeffler.  The plan was to build a ski resort, that would give guests an ultimate experince of the resort and the Sierras without disrupting the nature of the Sierras.   The estimated cost was $35 Million.   The resort was going to accommodate over 3,000 guests.  There were going to be  Olympic like ski paths.  There would have also been hiking trails, restaurants, shops and pools.

Why didn't it happen?

The reason, Mineral King never got off the ground is because Congress voted to make the land where Mineral King was to be part of the Sequoia National Park. This abruptly put an end to all plans for private development  in this area.

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