
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 15, 1993                   TAG: 9311150092
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BENTLEY BOYD NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

PARK IS HISTORY IN MAKING

Tourists can stay overnight in a historic town, within walking distance of where Thomas Jefferson is repeating some of his famous words.

Nearby are Revolutionary War re-enactments, a re-created Powhatan Indian village and plenty of roller-coaster rides for the kids.

It's not Williamsburg. It's the blueprint for Disney's America, the Northern Virginia Walt Disney Co. theme park that treads some of the same ground as attractions on the Peninsula. Some of those existing attractions already are staking out the high ground of historical authenticity.

"With Jamestown as the start, Colonial Williamsburg as the middle and Yorktown as the end of the Colonial story, this is a more complete history visit, whereas the Disney park is going to be jumping around in the periods of history they cover," said Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation spokeswoman Valerie Taylor.

Disney plans include a Powhatan village with Native American interpreters - strikingly similar to the one Disney officials toured at Jamestown Settlement last year while researching their upcoming animated film about Pocahontas.

"Even though there are some miles between the two sites, we can still build on it," she said Thursday. "We have the accuracy and the authenticity here. We have always promoted that, and we will continue to promote that."

The Disney park also would try to emulate the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's success in mixing history with hotels and national political forums.

The accommodations would be on a re-created 19th-century Main Street, but the Disney park also would have a Hall of Presidents in a Colonial section where, according to a Disney video, tourists can "follow in the footsteps of the patriots."

Colonial Williamsburg officials declined comment last week on the Disney project, designed to attract day-trip visitors from Washington - about one-quarter of Colonial Williamsburg's attendance.

Colonial Williamsburg draws about 1 million paying visitors a year. Disney expects almost 9 million.

Busch Gardens, which weaves roller-coasters around a European theme just south of Williamsburg, issued a terse statement Thursday that did not even name Disney. It simply said Williamsburg's success in combining history and entertainment paved the way for "other tourist-related companies."

by CNB