Photo by dinoanis

Walt Disney Co. announced Friday that it has canceled plans to build a 500-room resort hotel at National Harbor. The departure is a disappointment for developers and Prince George’s County — both were banking on the Disney brand to promote the harbor as a high-class tourist destination.

From the Washington Post:

Disney, which has made significant changes since it bought the land more than two years ago, said National Harbor did not fit in with its current lineup of projects.
Since signing the agreement, Disney bought the global theme park rights to “Avatar,” the hugely successful motion picture directed by James Cameron. It also broke ground this year on its $4.4 billion Shanghai Disney Resort — making a big bet on the Chinese market.

“Given the full slate of expansion currently underway at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the timing isn’t right to proceed with another new project of this scale,” Disney spokeswoman Kristin Nolt Wingard said in a statement Friday.

This was not the first time Disney abandoned plans to bring its brand to the Washington region. In the 1990s, the company planned to build a history-themed park, called Disney’s America, on farmland near the Manassas Civil War battlefield. It scrapped the project after several months because of local opposition. Disney’s National Harbor project would not have included a theme park.