Port Disney winning city. Formal negotiations for financial responsibility between Disney and Long Beach were scheduled to begin on September 12, 1990, after the city reviewed Disney's plans. Several independent analysts gave the edge to Port Disney, citing the uniqueness of the project and the lack of a similar nautical/ocean theme park in Los Angeles County since the 1987 closure of Marineland. In February 1991, Disney disclosed that it had been buying large tracts of land near Disneyland in Anaheim, although Disney vice-president of development David Malmuth said the land acquisition would not affect the decision between Anaheim and Long Beach, which
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant and a ripoff. In their book "Vegetarian Walt Disney World and Greater Orlando", Susan Shumaker and Than Saffel call the Sci-Fi Dine-In "the wackiest dining experience in any Disney park". The Sci-Fi Dine-In, located on Commissary Lane across from "Star Tours" and adjacent to ABC Commissary, opened on April 20, 1991 as one of the twenty new attractions opened at Walt Disney World to mark the complex's twentieth anniversary. The restaurant was created with a strong emphasis on theme, in emulation of the 50's Prime Time Café, which had opened two years prior. Disney hoped that the focus on theme