'Mayan Disneyland' Construction Abandoned In Yucatan After Mexican Government Invests Over $6M

Over 6 million dollars were spent in the Mayan Palace (Palacio Maya), which was supposed to be the first piece of what the government called a ‘Mayan Disneyland’ in the state of Yucatán in Mexico. The construction, which began with its first stone being set on December 21, 2009, was finally abandoned completely in 2012. According to former governor Ivonne Ortega, the first investment would be enough for the construction to progress in more than 50 percent but according to Mexican newspaper, Reforma, the 13 thousand square meters of land have been abandoned and are being taken over by undergrowth.

It was last May that the construction company, ‘Ingeniería y Desarrollo Inmobiliario de México’ left the site and left the project in the hands of the Yucatan’s culture and tourism patronage, ‘Patronato de las Unidades de Servicios Culturales y Turísticos’.

The Mayan Palace would have joined the Master Plan for majestic ruins, Chichén Itzá, which consisted in a development of hotels, golf courses and even an amusement park, and together, the complex would conform the supposed ‘Mayan Disneyland’. In addition, the construction site is also adjacent to the natural well, Albán, as pointed out by journalist Pedro Diego Tzuc.

Inspired by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, then governor, Ortega said, “We’ll be able to interpret how they read the stars. We’re going to have a Disneyland but with culture. We’ll know how precise their calendar reads were.”

Doctor and specialist in cultural patrimony from Patrimonio Cultural del Centro Yucatán del INAH, Iván Franco says, “they let the idea die. They ended up putting all efforts on the Museum of Merida and turned it into a white elephant even before it was born.” Franco had criticized the project since the beginning since he knew the resources needed to build and maintain the Mayan Civilization Palace, would be exorbitant.