Over the years, there have been hundreds of Disney attractions that have been planned but not built. However, the stories behind “Why?” are wilder for some than others!

 

Sure, most haven’t been built for money or budget-related reasons (and truth be told, that factor comes into play in some of these stories) others have more… interesting. There’s fights with some of Hollywood’s most famous directors, a clash with a major sponsor, and even a model that allegedly made Imagineers sick to their stomachs…

Candy Mountain

One of the earliest recorded unbuilt Disney attractions, Candy Mountain (sometimes called Rock Candy Mountain) is one of the more bizarre ideas to come out of the Walt-era of Imagineering. The concept would see a massive mountain themed to look like gigantic candy installed in the park’s Fantasyland, with the Casey Jr. Circus Train weaving through it and the Storybookland Canal Boats sailing underneath. The mountain would have served as the finale for the latter ride, with the interior featuring dioramas of scenes from L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz books.

However, Candy Mountain was never built. See, while initial plans had called for the mountain to look like translucent rock candy, that eventually changed to a concept of a mountain made up of a smorgasbord of candy including licorice, gumdrops, candy canes, and fudge. According to Imagineering legend John Hench, the model of that version made Imagineers feel ill just by looking at it. Hench described it as “unappealing plus sickly, a tummy ache waiting to happen” and eventually the whole concept was scrapped. Decades later, Disney would include a reference to the model in a window on Buena Vista Street at California Adventure.

Western River Expedition

There’s perhaps no more mythic unbuilt attraction amongst Disney fans than the Western River Expedition. This massive attraction was going to be a full animatronic boat ride in the American West. In fact the ride – – which was to be the magnum opus of legendary Imagineer Marc Davis (Jungle Cruise, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean) – – was to be part of Thunder Mesa, a massive show-building disguised as a mesa which would included the ride, a mine train coaster, and dominated the skyline of the Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland.

The complex was planned to open as part of Phase 2 of Walt Disney World, with preview materials on display in the park (including an animatronic owl) and even postcards produced for sale. However, things weren’t mean to be for a reason that’s especially karmically unfair to Marc Davis.

You see, when the Magic Kingdom first opened, Imagineering had opted not to include a version of Pirates of The Caribbean, with the thought process being that Florida residents would have already been overexposed to pirate lore locally and would be bored by it in a theme park. Plus, since the Western River Expedition was supposed to be a similar experience (it was essentially the same ride experience, but more technologically advanced and featuring cowboys). Suffice to say, Disney miscalculated.

From opening day onwards, the main complaint received at the Magic Kingdom’s City Hall was “Where are the pirates?” See, Disney didn’t count on the generation of east coast residents who had grown up watching Pirates of the Caribbean episodes of the Disneyland television series and wanted to experience it themselves. Much to Marc Davis’s chagrin, the company used the funds that would have paid for the Western River Expedition to instead build Disney World’s shortened and truncated Pirates of the Caribbean.

While the master Imagineer, metaphorically betrayed by his greatest creation, tried to push Disney to revisit the project throughout the 1970s, its similarities to Pirates and the disastrous effect the gas crisis had on tourism doomed Western River Expedition to the dustbin of historical curiosity.

Alien Encounter

Today, the ExtraTERRORestial Alien Encounter is one of Disney’s most controversial defunct attractions. Despite being closed for two decades, the attraction still sparks debate between those who think it was an Imagineering masterpiece and those who think it was way too frightening for the Magic Kingdom. Turns out, a similar argument decades ago kept the original, IP-focused version of the attraction from being built in the first place.

See initially, the plans for the attraction called for the alien that guests got up close and personal with to be the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise (this was around the same time that Disney used the character on The Great Movie Ride). The idea was that because guests would be familiar with the tone of the franchise, the attraction being scary wouldn’t be a surprise, and parents would know not to bring small children.

So, what happened? Well, a group of Imagineers didn’t feel that the Alien settings and characters were appropriate for Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom, and went to George Lucas (yes, that George Lucas) for help. The Star Wars creator, who had worked with Imagineering on Captain EO, Star Tours, and the then-upcoming Indiana Jones attraction, allegedly convinced CEO Michael Eisner to change the concept to an original creature.

Ironically, losing the Xenomorph would lead to tonal issues that would eventually doom the version of the attraction that did end up opening… and closing within a decade.

Mt. Fuji Roller Coaster

Over the years, Disney has considered adding many ride concepts to EPCOT’s World Showcase. At one time, this included a discussion of adding a massive Mt. Fuji coaster to the park’s Japan Pavilions. Several pieces of concept art were created, however a Disney sponsor had an issue with the concept.

Kodak, who had been a Disney sponsor for decades at that point, was allegedly unhappy about the idea of having an attraction that used the name Fuji (one of their biggest rivals at the time) prominently displayed in EPCOT. Now, truth be told, we’re sure that budget issues also played a role in the project never moving forward, but still…

Roger Rabbit Attractions at MGM Studios

There was a time when it looked like Roger Rabbit was going to be the main character of the park now known as Hollywood Studios. At the time the park opened, the characters from Who Framed Roger Rabbit were all over the park, including on signage and as part of the Backlot Tour. However, even more was planned.

Disney wanted to build a full Roger Rabbit land at the park, including three attractions:

• The Toontown Trolley: A “whacky” simulator ride through Toontown piloted by Roger Rabbit himself.
• Baby Herman’s Runaway Baby Buggy: A dark ride attraction that would see guests ride in “giant baby carriages” themed to the Roger Rabbit short Tummy Trouble.
• The Benny the Cab Ride: A dark ride themed to the film that would have seen guests ride in vehicles designed to look like the anthropomorphic character Benny. This attraction would eventually evolve into one built thousands of miles away.

So, what happened? Well, to be blunt, Disney feuded with Steven Spielberg. See, the original film was a co-production between Disney and Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. After it’s gargantuan success, several disputes broke out between the two sides over creative and financial issues regarding ownership of the characters. These would eventually lead to the MGM rides – – as well as the Roger Rabbit sequel film – – never seeing the light of day. Of note, the two parties were able to work together long enough for Disneyland’ Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin to open.

Beastly Kingdom

During the initial design of Animal Kingdom, the park was planned to have two areas dedicated to animals that weren’t alive on Earth. The extinct would be represented by Dinoland U.S.A. while the mythical (dragons, unicorns, etc.) were planned to make their home in the fantastical Beastly Kingdom. The land was supposed to be anchored by a massive Dragon’s Castle coaster on its ”dark side” and a maze with a unicorn animatronic in the middle on the “light” side.

So, why was the land never built? Well, it came down to money… and toys. See, taking care of live animals is expensive, and Disney relegated more of the budget than planned for the infrastructure of the park’s zoo elements. In turn, one of Dinoland or Beastly Kingdom had to be pushed to Phase 2 of the park. Then-CEO Michael Eisner chose Dinoland to be built first, as it was believed that the evergreen popularity of dinosaurs would make it a more finically successful land when it came to souvenirs and other accouterments.

Initially, plans called for Beastly Kingdom to be added to the park later. However, a funny thing happened. See, when Disney pushed the land back, many of the designers working on it were let go… and went to work for Universal, designing their then-upcoming Islands of Adventure. In fact, many elements of the original version of The Lost Continent land at that park were very similar to planned Beastly Kingdom attractions, which seemed to be the final nail in the land’s coffin. Currently, Pandora: The World of Avatar occupies the land once planned for Beastly Kingdom.

The Original Superstar Limo

Superstar Limo is arguably the most universally panned Disney attraction of all time. The slow-movie dark ride – – which took guests on a slow-moving dark ride through a version of Hollywood full of terrifying caricatures of Celebrities – – was so reviled that guest approval ratings for California Adventure actually went UP when it closed less than a year after opening. Perhaps the ride turned out so bad, because it was retooled during its creation.

Initially, Superstar Limo was supposed to be a higher-speed ride, which put guests in the role of a celebrity being chased through Hollywood by paparazzi. This concept was deep into development in 1997, when the beloved Princess Diana was killed in car accident that was allegedly the result of a chase between her party’s limousine and a group of paparazzi.

Suffice to say the ride needed to be rethemed quickly, and still work within the space already planned, leading to the original version. While it’s… debatable as to whether the original version would have received a better reception from guests, we’ll never have a way of knowing for sure.

These are just some of the wild stories behind why certain blue sky Disney concepts never saw the light of day! Stay tuned to DFB for more deep dives on Disney history!

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