Talks of a Disneyland being built in Liverpool could have seen the city become home to the conglomerate's first European theme park.
Over the years, Liverpool, like many other major cities, has seen its fair share of fantastical schemes that didn't come to fruition. From the controversial "cloud" building dubbed the fourth grace to an Otterspool Tower taller than the Eiffel Tower, many plans have turned out to be little more than pipe-dreams.
But perhaps one of the most whimsical ideas was reports that Disneyland could be brought to the city. It was back in 1955 that founder Walt Disney himself opened the first Disneyland park in California.
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But decades later in the 1980s, Disney was urged to look at Liverpool for its first European theme park. In 1984, the Liverpool Daily Post reported how talks were underway for our very own "Disneypool."
The article, dated June 22 that year, reads: "Secret negotiations are going on to bring the wonderful world of Disneyland to Liverpool in an amazing £500 million tourist plan. Merseyside officials and politicians are involved in a bid to turn the city into one of the world's top tourist centres.
"The scheme would bring a 450-acre maritime theme park to the disused part of Liverpool Airport at Speke and could be linked with the International Garden Festival site and the massive Albert Dock restoration." The article indicated that if it went ahead, like many major investments in the area, it could have provided many jobs for people working at and completing the project, as well as thousands more permanently in tourism and associated industries.
It continues: "A senior Merseyside County Council officer had talks in America earlier this year with Disney executive vice-president Gus Zelnick after the organisation announced it was looking for a suitable site for a European theme park. Further talks have taken place since Mr Zelnick moved his office to London in April to carry out a survey of the European potential.
"The Speke land, known as the northern airfield, is no longer needed for aircraft now that the new southern airfield is in use. The final stage of the new airport, a £5 million terminal building, is due to be built next year.
"Disney are noted for their confidential approach to negotiations and some businessmen on the fringe of discussions have been asked to sign a "no publicity" document. Mr Zelnick and top executives in America were not available to comment last night.
"But they are thought to have identified Liverpool, Frankfurt and a Spanish town as the best prospects for a European theme park. Á decision is not expected to be made until next month or later."
Then Council deputy leader Derek Hatton at the time said: "There has been no approach to us about this as far as I know. Any approach for the use of our land would be considered seriously, and this would be no exception."
Despite the idea arguably being in its infancy, North West tourist officials pledged their support for any moves to bring Disney to Merseyside. On June 23, 1984, the Liverpool Daily Post reported how The Department of Trade had said that it would help any organisation trying to promote Liverpool or the North West as a suitable site for Disney's European venture.
Disney's director of resorts, Keith Kamback, had visited the International Garden Festival with his wife and believed that it may have led people to believe that he was checking out the area. But he did confirm the organisation was looking for a new European site.
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He previously said: "England is one of four countries we are considering, but there are no plans to build a theme park in Liverpool. The whole idea is very much in its infancy."
County Council officials at the time said that the story was premature, but added that they are looking for ways to use the land at Speke made available due to the modernisation at Liverpool Airport. In a statement, they said: "Officers who knew of the possibility of Disney coming to Europe asked the leader of the County Council, Councillor Keva Coombes, whether it would be possible for the northern site to be developed in this way.
"Councillor Coombes had no objections, and so the development remains a possibility. Disney, however, have not had any detailed discussions, and the possibility remains very much just that." The statement added that the County Council felt Merseyside would be an ideal site and hoped something may happen along those lines, although they realised a great deal of work, consultation and thought would have to take place first.
The possibility of a local Disney theme park also got approval from some business owners elsewhere in the region. Around the same time, the Liverpool Daily Post reported on how early results from a questionnaire indicated support from local residents for a large scale leisure redevelopment of New Brighton’s sea front.
In June 1984, Mr John Anton, whose New Brighton Development Company was behind the plans, said a Disney theme park at Speke would "not be a threat to his proposals." He said: "There are five theme parks in southern California with less population to rely on.
"I would be very pleased to operate next door to Disney. We see the whole area of Merseyside as a tourist attraction and the more that is created, the more people will be pulled in."
By October that year, reports from the Welsh Daily Post claimed The Walt Disney Organisation’s executive vice president Guz Zelnick had already been to Llandudno to look at a site, as well as sites in Swansea, New Brighton, Speke and Corby, who all "harboured dreams of a British equivalent of Disney World." But the following decade, a new Disney site opened elsewhere in Europe.
On April 12, 1992, the Disneyland Paris resort opened at Marne-la-Vallée, on the east side of Paris. That day, Euro Disney’s giant £2.4bn theme park opened its gates half an hour early as thousands of first day visitors clamoured to be let in.
It was the Pearlman family from Highgate, London, who were the park’s first British visitors. Earlier, both Spain and France had been brought to the negotiating table with Disney's then-chief executive Michael Eisner, "who signed one of the most momentous deals in the company's history," Forbes previously reported.
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In an interview last year, Eisner told Forbes: "We picked France instead of Spain because France, and especially Marne-la-Vallée, is easily accessible from the major markets we targeted in Western Europe. Spain really wanted the resort and was eager to gain attention and increase tourism; remember the Seville Expo and Barcelona Olympics, both in 1992, the same year Disneyland Paris opened.
"We understood the dynamics and convinced Laurent Fabius, [at the time, France's] Prime Minister, to offer a package that included an RER commuter line extension and station right at the front door of what was then called Euro Disneyland." A commitment to France was made in December 1985, with an agreement being signed two years later in 1987.
For children growing up in Speke and wider Merseyside at the time, having a local Disneyland would have been incredible. Born in Speke, Lee Grimsditch grew up in the town in the 1980s.
He told the ECHO: "I'm still not over it. The best we had growing up was a place called the Venny (short for the adventure playground). I could have been flying down water rapids with Goofy, instead I swung on a tyre tied to a rope for hours on end, like a chimp."
Despite the plans not coming to fruition, a sprinkle of Disney magic did come to the city, but on a much smaller scale. Back in 1989, Clayton Square first opened and with it brought a host of new stores to the city, including the popular Disney shop.
Selling everything from Disney’s character toys to clothes, collectibles and more, it became a go to destination and many will remember its giant cuddly toy mountain. Although looking back, it probably wasn’t all that big.
But one particular stand out moment for the Clayton Square store was Christmas Eve 1996, when hundreds of shoppers queued to buy the new Buzz Lightyear toy. In later years, the store moved to Liverpool ONE, but in 2021, it was reported that all Disney stores in the UK and Ireland were set to close by September that year, except two flagship stores in London’s Oxford Street and Dublin.
Through the years we've seen the Disney Dream cruise ship dock in Liverpool as part of its British Isles voyage and this year, families will be able to enjoy some of Disney's old tales and new storylines when Disney on Ice skates into the city from March 21 to March 24, 2024. But Disney's history in Liverpool could have looked so different if selected for plans 40 years ago.
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