Mickey & Minnie Make Another Move on Washington

Disney buys land for resort at National Harbor

Disney is making another move on the Washington area.  Walt Disney Co. has bought 15 acres at the National Harbor in Prince George's County for $11 million.  Disney plans to open a 500-room hotel and resort on the site.

The new hotel would be a stand-alone and would be separate from the Disney theme parks. Disney has a similar project under construction in Hawaii. 

National Harbor opened a year ago, and houses several hotels and restaurants, as well as a convention center.  However, the economic downturn slowed projects, and several sites on the development remain unused.

The Washington Post quotes a Disney executive as saying the project should put "a recognizable Disney footprint in the Washington area." There's no word when the project would begin.

This isn't Disney's first attempt at opening a resort in the Washington area; in 1994, executives scrapped plans to open "Disney America" in Prince William County, Virginia, after continued protests with area residents.  The project would have put the historically themed park on farmland near the Manassas Battlefield.

The Disney project in Hawaii started with the purchase of 21 acres of land on Oahu in 2007.  It will be Disney's first mixed-use family resort outside of its theme park developments and is scheduled to open in 2011 with more than 800 hotel rooms and villas.

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