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3. Glacier Bay

© Disney

Proposed for: Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea

When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, it was by far the smallest Disneyland-style park in the world, featuring only four lands on 55 acres, and barely enough attractions to fill an afternoon. There was no Big Thunder Mountain (or a Frontierland at all), no Haunted Mansion (nor a land to put it in), and no Small World… Fantasyland had only one dark ride (Winnie the Pooh) and Tomorrowland had only Space Mountain and Astro Orbitor. The park needed to expand, and badly. In an unprecedented move, Disney built three lands outside of the train tracks, connecting a new outer loop (view map) around the park: Grizzly Peak, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land.

The original plans, however, axed Toy Story Land and instead called for Grizzly Peak, Mystic Point, and Glacier Bay... Glacier Bay would've been an entirely indoor land themed to a frozen Antarctic research outpost complete with real falling snow. Not much is known about the land, but that the Hong Kong government (who co-financed the park and its expansion) insisted it wouldn’t work with an Asian audience. We also believe Glacier Bay would’ve included a dark ride through the frozen tundra and that the RC Racers coaster (currently part of Toy Story Land) would’ve remained, but as a skiing-themed ride. The land was also supposedly considered as an outdoor expansion to Tokyo DisneySea, Japan’s nautical themed park.

What Happened: The land set aside for Glacier Bay in Hong Kong was instead used for Toy Story Land. Obviously it was never built at DisneySea either (despite its presence in concept art proudly displayed in the resort's Hotel MiraCosta), but pieces of its DNA will likely make their way into the recently-announced Frozen-themed Scandanavia land coming to the park in a few years. 

4. Isla Tortuga

© Disney

Proposed for: Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland

Disney’s Hong Kong park didn’t have Pirates of the Caribbean either. The addition of a Pirates-themed land would’ve given the park its Pirates ride and a whole new land connected to Grizzly Peak. If the early concept art is to be believed, the land probably would’ve contained the signature dark ride, a village of shops and restaurants an “Adventure Island” walkthrough. Our friends at Disney and More also reported that the land would’ve included a “Splash Mountain” style dark ride including a waterfall splashdown, a pirate-themed haunted mansion, and perhaps a Fantasmic! style show on the water.

What Happened: Hong Kong Disneyland never got a Pirates of the Caribbean themed land, but not all is lost. Rumors consistently swirl that the park will get a traditional Pirates of the Caribbean dark ride (albeit in Adventureland). You’ve heard that good ideas never die at Disney, and that's especially true here. A version of this lost pirates land was built in Shanghai Disneyland, where it's known as Treasure Cove and attached more directly to the Pirates film franchise with a stunning, unbelievable, unprecedented, completely original dark ride we saw in our In-Depth: Shanghai Disneyland Walkthrough.

5. Discovery Bay

© Disney

Proposed for: Disneyland

Perhaps the most well loved never-built land at Disneyland, Discovery Bay was the pet project of famed Imagineer Tony Baxter. The land was intended to be built north of the Rivers of America, connected to Frontierland and expanding on the land’s westward-movement story. The land would’ve been a sort of 19th century steampunk vision of San Francisco based on the work of Jules Verne – a golden port of zephyrs, hot air balloons, lighthouses, smoking chimneys, and a bay containing Captain Nemo’s Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Disneyland was so close to making Discovery Bay a reality, they built and presented a full-scale model of the land and released concept art, including The Fireworks Factory shooting gallery, a Tiki Room style animatronic show called Professor Marvel’s Gallery of Wonders, and an E-ticket dark ride based on The Island at the Top of the World. Inside a lighthouse would be The Tower, a multi-sensory drop ride, and a walkthrough of the Nautilus submarine, submerged in the Rivers of America. For all of the fantastic facts, check out our in-depth Possibilityland: Discovery Bay  feature that dives into the must-see details of this would-be wonder.

© Disney

Discovery Bay inspires awe and wonder for Disney fans because it seems so obvious – it’s a time and setting that the park doesn’t already have, and it just fits along the Rivers of America… Taking the ship all the way around Tom Sawyer Island, you’d pass the Pacific Northwest (critter country), the wrought-iron patios of Louisiana (New Orleans Square), the Old West (Frontierland), and then the glimmering retro-future of San Francisco (Discovery Bay). Plus, its location between Fantasyland and Frontierland is a perfect segue between the two. As Walt had hoped, Discovery Bay would've continued Disneyland's mission of being rich with Americana, progressive futurism, and fantasy. Ah well.

What Happened: Discovery Bay was never built. For decades, every time Disney prepared to launch a new film franchise, insiders would begin to speculate that Imagineers had been tasked with drawing up plans to use the Discovery Bay plot as a new land based on the film. Recently, Oz The Great and Powerful and The Lone Ranger were rumored to be contenders. Ultimately, neither film was the success Disney had hoped, but perhaps it's for the best. In 2019 – after forty years of vacancy – the plot will become Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, a Wizarding-World-style immersive Star Wars land. 

Image: Disney

As for what became of Discovery Bay, the ideas behind this uniquely fantastical retro-futuristic realm did come to life when its author, Tony Baxter, was put in charge of designing Disneyland Paris and opted to swap Tomorrowland entirely for Discoveryland. The end result was a gold-and-brass European literary retro-future purposefully opposed to the "tomorrows" brought to life elsewhere. We dove into the design of Discoveryland in our in-depth feature highlighting its magnum opus, Paris's Lost Legend: Space Mountain – De la Terre a la Lune.

 
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Comments

Lost Expedition sounds awesome!!! Is it too late to add it to Disneyland? :)

Back in the 90s Disney considered building a theme park based on the Civil War in Virginia. Friends of ours were consultants for Disney and after much study told Disney management this would be a bad idea.

I'm a huge fan of Disneyland and the classic movies as well as many of the newer ones, but I'm a little lost here. There was a time when Disneyland was the showcase and now it seems that no new rides/lands will ever be made unless there's a strong movie to support it. Can we can back to doing new things at the parks and stop relying on films??

All the Disney parks should aspire to be great at creating new things. The rides, attractions and lands do not have to be modeled off of successful tv shows or films. Use Tomorrowland like it was used in the early days...as a place of discovery and wonderment. The proposed lands above would have been great additions to any park.

Disney should keep in mind that even a successful franchise can wither away. If Tomorrowland became Star Wars land, how long will it take for guests to be tired of it? I know Star Wars is huge, but as a land?? I think it's too specific. Every other land is fairly generic within its own theme and therefore can be added to without having to change the name.

In reply to by Brandon (not verified)

Excellent points. I think they rely too much on recent films to make something and not use the imagination part of Disney. I would love to see some new rides and attractions but it doesn't always have to be based on a movie. How about remaking Horizons at Epcot and really make it the way it was supposed to be made?

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