Liberty Street: A Love Letter to America
Ah, Liberty Street—the Disney dream that got lost in the bureaucratic Bermuda Triangle of Imagineering. Let’s dive deeper into this comedic tragedy, shall we? Because nothing says “American history” like a bunch of animatronic founding fathers and a guy in a mouse suit.
So, it’s 1956, and Walt Disney is riding high on the success of Disneyland, which had just opened the year before. But Walt, being Walt, wasn’t the type to rest on his laurels. No, sir. He was already dreaming up new ways to make Americans feel patriotic while simultaneously selling them churros. Enter Liberty Street, a proposed extension of Main Street, U.S.A., where the stars and stripes would meet the magic of Disney. It was supposed to be a love letter to America, complete with cobblestone streets, gas lamps, and enough red, white, and blue to make Uncle Sam blush.
Walt was so jazzed about this idea that he announced it in a press release and even sketched out the plans on his weekly TV show, *Disneyland*. Picture this: Walt, in his perfectly pressed suit, standing in front of a chalkboard, drawing out Liberty Street like a mad scientist plotting world domination. “And here,” he’d say, pointing to a sketch of a colonial-style building, “is where we’ll house the Declaration of Independence. But not just any Declaration—an *animatronic* Declaration! The quill pen will move, the ink will flow, and John Hancock’s signature will be so big, you’ll need binoculars to see it all!” (Okay, maybe he didn’t say that last part, but you get the idea.)
The pièce de résistance? The Hall of Presidents. Walt envisioned a grand exhibit featuring life-sized robotic versions of every U.S. president, from George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Imagine walking into a room and seeing Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address while Thomas Jefferson side-eyes him like, “Yeah, yeah, we get it, you saved the Union.” It was supposed to be educational, inspirational, and slightly creepy—just like Disney at its best.
But here’s where the story takes a turn for the tragicomic. Liberty Street never happened. Poof. Gone. Like a hot dog left too long in the California sun. The Declaration of Independence exhibit? Never built. The Hall of Presidents? Well, that one *eventually* made it to the Magic Kingdom in 1971, but by then, Walt had passed away, leaving us to wonder if he’d be thrilled or just mildly annoyed that it took 15 years to get it done. (“I could’ve built another park in that time!” we imagine him grumbling from the great beyond.)
And so, Liberty Street joined the ranks of Disney’s “lost attractions,” a category that includes such gems as the Western River Expedition (a Pirates of the Caribbean knockoff for Frontierland) and the infamous Discovery Bay (a steampunk-themed land that never got past the concept art stage). It’s like Disney’s version of “we’ll get to it someday,” except “someday” is code for “never, but thanks for playing.”
But hey, let’s not be too hard on Disney. After all, they did give us the Hall of Presidents, even if it took them a decade and a half. And let’s be honest, watching robotic Lincoln deliver speeches is way more entertaining than, say, reading a history textbook. So here’s to Liberty Street—the dream that never was, but lives on in our hearts (and in Walt’s dramatic chalkboard sketches). Thanks, Walt. You tried.
So what do you guys think of Liberty Street? Would you have gone?
Next Week, we'll take a look into what was gonna be a total Muppet Takeover!
