Disney's Near Misses: Harrods, Maglev Trains, and the Queen Mary

The Mega Mall and Harrods Deal

• 💡 In late 1988/early 1989, Disney considered building a 1.5 million sq ft mega mall in Oola County, Florida, featuring high-end retailers like Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue.
• 🎯 To make the mall a standout destination, Disney approached Harrods, the famous London department store, offering them a prominent space in the mall and a role in a Burbank studio backlot project.
• 🔑 Harrods, seeking an entry into the American market, was intrigued by the offer of full Disney company support for design and promotion.

Maglev Train and Transportation Challenges

• 🚀 A key component powering the mega mall project was Disney's simultaneous discussions with Japanese consortiums to build a maglev train from Orlando International Airport directly to Epcot.
• 🚆 This ambitious project envisioned half the train as a direct transport system and the other half as a high-speed ride for Epcot visitors to the airport.
• ⚠️ The maglev project faced significant hurdles due to the need for right-of-way and tax breaks from other Central Florida attractions, which Disney was unwilling to share, leading to the project's demise.
• 🚫 The failure of the maglev train project also meant the cancellation of a planned monorail spur that would have connected the train station to the mega mall.

Queen Mary and the Harrods Boutique

• 📌 Following the collapse of the mega mall and Burbank projects, Disney announced in December 1989 that they would open a Harrods boutique on the Queen Mary.
• 🛍️ This boutique was a drastic reduction from Harrods' 675,000 sq ft London store, featuring only about 900 sq ft and offering a limited selection of 125 Harrods-branded items.
• 🚢 Disney also launched a year-long promotion, "Voyage of 1939," on the Queen Mary to celebrate the ship's history before the war, aiming for an immersive experience.

Operational Challenges and Community Friction

• 🎭 Disney's attempt to enforce its grooming standards on long-term Queen Mary and Spruce Goose employees, who had different styles (e.g., beards), caused significant friction and layoffs during the holiday season.
• 🎨 Disney's inaugural efforts on the Queen Mary, including repainting funnels red (instead of the historically accurate orange), led to clashes with the Long Beach Historical Society and alienated the local community.
• 💰 The reality of maintaining the historic Queen Mary, with its unique construction needs and high costs (e.g., $40,000 just for polishing brass rails), proved to be a significant financial burden.
• 🧩 The ongoing conflicts with the Long Beach community and the immense costs associated with the Queen Mary project created a negative environment for Kim Murphy's subsequent presentation of the Port Disney/Disney Seas concept to the California Coastal Commission.

Unbuilt Projects and Strategic Shifts

• 💡 The narrative highlights numerous ambitious Disney projects, like the Port Disney Seas theme park and the Mineral King ski resort, that were ultimately abandoned due to financial, logistical, or environmental challenges.
• 📉 The Eisner era is characterized by grand visions like Port Disney, which included hotels, a cruise ship terminal, and a theme park, but ultimately faltered due to misaligned financials and strategic shifts.
• 📍 Disney's decision to focus on expanding in Anaheim, partly due to pressure from the city, led to the cancellation of many of these larger-scale projects, including the potential move of the Queen Mary to a more