20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage
Lost Disney World Attraction
*Throws roses in the air* Its Rose time. Let's go under da sea!
Jokes aside. This attraction attraction at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida from 1971 to 1994.
By the time development work for what is today Walt Disney World began, Disney imagineers had already been working out a rough concept for a sister attraction to Disneyland's Submarine Voyage. It was one of the biggest and most expensive Disney attractions ever conceived. The Florida version had 12 submarines (14 counting two submarines which grappled with giant squids on either side of the track).
It is popularly believed that the Magic Kingdom attraction was originally intended to have been installed in place of the Submarine Voyage at Disneyland in 1959, as the two attractions were identical except for the theming and some elements of the plot. It is also believed that the ride's corporate sponsor, General Dynamics, preferred to keep the original concept, and so the Submarine Voyage opened in 1959 with a non-specific theme, and with nuclear as opposed to Victorian submarines.
Despite the efforts of the construction and installation teams attached to the 20,000 Leagues project, the attraction opened two weeks after the Magic Kingdom due to infrastructure problems with the lagoon. On October 14, 1971, it was opened for business. The completed attraction covered almost a quarter of Fantasyland, including the lagoon and hidden show building surrounded by palm trees and volcanic rock, meant to evoke the impression of Captain Nemo's Pacific Ocean base Vulcania. A storage facility at the back of the show building served to house submarines removed from the main line during day-to-day operation, and also included a dry dock for repair work.
Along the shores of the lagoon, small beaches were built, one with a chest of abandoned pirate treasure. The words "20,000 Leagues" were spelled out in nautical code from signaling flags at the entrance to the attraction. The team of cast members operating the attraction played the roles of Nemo's ever-silent crew, and even wore authentic replicas of the screen production's costumes. Throughout the attraction's life, the crews were almost exclusively male. The first helmswoman appeared in the 1970s.
In the 1990s, Michael Eisner began seeking ways to cut costs and maximize profits. As a result, older rides and thematic elements that did not contribute to the bottom line were put on the chopping block at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ride was one of the first to go. At the time of its closure, Eisner considered the ride too expensive and labor-intensive to operate, never mind the fact that the lagoon leaked badly due to cracks formed by the Florida sun, and the effects were dated. The ride closed on September 5, 1994 for what was considered a refurbishment. However, no activity was noticed at all, and the submarines sat still in the lagoon and show building, as if frozen in time. Two years later, in 1996, Disney announced the ride would never reopen for the aforementioned reasons.
Replace by: Ariel's Grotto (1995-2004), Pooh's Playful Spot (2005-2010), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (2014-present)
Whoop! Finish. Sorry folks but this is the last attraction feature in here.
Until next time. ;)
Source: Disney Wiki, Wikipedia & BlogQpot
Always a D.R.E.A.M. (Disney Rules Everything Around Me)