The Missouri town that inspired Disney's Main Street USA
Editor's Note: This video is originally from January 2017.
\MARCELINE, Mo. - If you're from a certain town in Missouri, a visit to Main Street USA in Disney might feel quite familiar.
The famous street in the heart of the amusement park holds charm and character with its colorful storefronts paired with the red brick path leading to the castle. Walt Disney planned the details intentionally based off his hometown of Marceline, Missouri.
Located in mid-Missouri is Kansas Avenue, a spot which captures the common main street in a small town, and which is also said to have been the primary source of inspiration for the famous landmark, according to the City of Marceline's website.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that Main Street of Marceline is clearly the vision for Main Street USA,” local historian Dan Viets, an author and lawyer based in Columbia, Missouri, told FOX 2 in 2017. “All the entrance ways to those theme parks are based on this little town’s Main Street.”
As Walt Disney grew up in Missouri, there were plans for the amusement park to be built in the heart of St. Louis in the 1960s. However, a disagreement completely dismantled the plans as the company refused to comply with August A. Busch Jr.'s requirement to sell beer in the park.
The director of the Walt Disney Hometown Museum said Disney returned to Marceline several times after he left, usually flying out of Kansas City and taking the train to his hometown. She noted that there was a strong interest in building a park in Missouri, as he didn't want people flocking to only California and Florida, according to prior FOX 2 reports.
Today, Marceline holds the history of their influence on Disney close. Their "Main Street" has its own Mickey ears on the sign and a whole museum is dedicated to the life of Walt.
