From a friend back home. I'm trying to get this verified with a childhood friend that's on Governor Haslam's staff as well.
"I'm only counting this as a rumor at this time but I've heard from a reliable source that in the next 30 days that there will be an announcement made that Walt Disney has purchased property around the I-40 & I-81 split and is going to build a Walt Disney World.
From what I hear, I've heard that Walt Disney has purchased the property from the beginning of I-81 up 4 miles to exit 4 and the property goes back toward the Smoky Mountains some ways."
Nope. The "New Walt Disney World" rumor pops up just about every year or so in one place or another. A year or two ago even the media bought into the idea that Disney was building something near Branson, which turned out to be nothing but run-away real estate speculation.