Niagara Falls

Walt had largely banned the sale of alcohol at Disneyland. Despite this, Canadian liquor company Seagram was among those courting Disney following Disneyland's early success, aiming to convince the company to build a second theme park. It hoped to persuade Walt to develop a tourist attraction at Niagara Falls, the natural wonder that would eventually be surrounded by a host of Las Vegas-style offerings, including casinos, theatres and high-rise hotels.

In August 1963, Walt and wife Lillian travelled together with Roy and his wife Edna to Niagara Falls to discuss the proposal and meet local officials. The trip included a look at the Falls from the Seagram Tower’s observation deck – an appropriate activity, given what Seagram was proposing. The company hoped to partner with Disney to boost the tower, a 325 feet tall creation that opened in 1962 and boasted the observation deck, a restaurant and a hotel. It was located on the Canadian side of the border, and stood some 525 feet above the Horseshoe Falls. It was the first modern observation tower to be built close to the Falls, though it has since been overshadowed by the taller Skylon Tower.

As was the case with a proposed New York theme park, the cold winters in the region ruled out any potential outdoor theme parks. Instead, Walt considered a more modest plan. According to statements from longtime Disney consultant Buzz Price, this would have involved installing a clone of Disneyland’s Rocket to the Moon ride in one of the lower floors of the Seagram Tower.

Despite Price’s apparent claim that a version of Rocket to the Moon was on the cards for the Seagram Tower, his professional notes actually indicate that a 360-degree movie was considered for the site. Price even went as far as completing a financial report to ascertain the potential revenues and costs for such a venture. This could have been the first in Walt's proposed chain of Circle-Vision 360 theaters.

According to Price, Disney and Seagram failed to agree on an appropriate licensing fee for the Niagara Falls attraction. The project was quietly dropped, with Seagram going on to take over Disney’s rival Universal in 1995, before itself being acquired by French conglomerate Vivendi five years later.