Back in the 90s, the Gold Coast was within inches of establishing Disneyland Australia. That was, of course, before the Mickey Mouse operation pulled the rug and went with Hong Kong instead, which eventually debuted circa 2005 and welcome five million visitors in that same year alone. An opportunity to avenge this loss, however, may have just presented itself.
Prominent businessman and winemaker Warren Randall – who runs the Seppeltsfield and Penny’s Hill wineries – has publicly reignited discussions of making a rather ambitious second bid (third if you count the failed plans to establish a Disney Wharf concept around White Bay and Glebe Island).
Calling upon his fellow South Australian business owners and government departments to make his home state “the happiest place on Earth” – one of potentially seven, but I digress – Randall is even offering part of 1,200-hectare McLaren Vale land portfolio in order to make Disneyland Australia a material reality.
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“I would love to make land available for the location to kickstart it. Definitely,” Warren Randall recently told The Advertiser.
“Either you sell the land into a consortium or you lease it or you gift it – you find a way.”
South Australian economic advisers previously entertained the notion of a large-scale amusement park with the state’s Economic Development Board (EDB). Sadly, this very notion become nothing more than sand in the face of political winds after Liberal Premier Steven Marshall won the state election of 2018 and closed down the EDP.
It almost goes without saying that Disneyland Australia would bring major dollarydoos to our sunburnt shores. According to Disney, its Paris location accounts for approximately 6% of all France’s tourism revenue. Since opening in 1992, the amusement park has welcomed over 375 million visitors, contributed €85 billion ($126 billion) to the national economy, as well as employed 17,000 people across the park and resort.
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Warren Randall added: “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.”
“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 – [it] makes a lot of sense.”
But before all the maladjusted Disney adults out there get ahead of themselves, it’s worth noting that at the time of this writing, the South Australian government has yet to receive any formal word from Disney itself about constructing a seventh amusement park. And lest we forget what happened last few times we made a bid for Disneyland Australia.
