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5. Equatorial Africa Pavilion (Epcot)

Equatorial Africa Pavilion

Image: Disney

One of the most intriguing pavilions that was dropped from the original Epcot World Showcase plans was the Equatorial Africa Pavilion. This would have boasted an enormous, 60-foot treehouse, which guests could climb to look down on an image of animals gathering at a waterhole at dusk (an illusion created by Imagineers). Equatorial Africa Pavilion

Image © Disney

A live show featuring African musicians and dancers would be hosted in an outdoor amphitheater, while the "Heartbeat of Africa" show would offer insights into the continent's culture.

4. The Airplane Airport (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

Airplane

By 1991, Disney-MGM Studios' rival Universal Studios Florida was firing on all cylinders after its disastrous debut a year earlier. Attendance at the park would eventually surpass that at Disney-MGM Studios, and Disney put into place rapid expansion plans. This included the addition of a Muppets-themed area and several smaller attractions. But Disney was also looking for a major, headline attraction. Airplane One of the first ideas to be considered was an enormous recreation of the airport seen in 1980s smash-hit disaster movie spoof Airplane. Little is known about this truly unusual concept, but it was eventually dropped when the projected costs spiralled out of control. Instead, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was eventually installed.

3. Russia - The Bells of Change (Epcot)

Russia Pavilion

Image © Disney 

One of America's "enemies" almost infiltrated Disney's Florida resort with an attraction of its very own. Despite the frosty relations between the US and the Soviet Union, plans were drawn up in the early 1990s for a Russia Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase. Russia PavilionThe concept artwork shows that it would have been dominated by a recreation of St. Basil's Cathedral. The central attraction would have been "Russia - The Bells of Change", a show that would combine audio-animatronics, movie footage and live actors to bring the history of the country to life. The collapse of the Soviet Union put an end to the plan.

2. Stephen King's Tower of Terror (Disney's Hollywood Studios)

It

 

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios is one of Disney's most enduringly popular rides. But it could have been very different if early plans to make it appeal to thrill-seeking adults had been pursued.One possible plan that was considered was to base the ride on the works of horror author Stephen King, including the likes of the creepy Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It, perhaps housed in a recreation of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. In the end, The Twilight Zone was seen as offering a broader range of elements that could be incorporated into a ride. It was not the last time that King's works would be overlooked by a major theme park player - Universal Orlando also once developed a planfor a ride based on his novels.

1. Fire Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

Fire Mountain

Image © Disney

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Disney's Imagineers worked on many concepts to ease guests' disappointment about the shuttering of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage at the Magic Kingdom. One of these was Fire Mountain, which was to headline a new sub-land in Adventureland to be known as Volcania. It was to be a roller coaster based around a mock mountain - hardly an original concept for Disney. However, the actual ride system was to be truly revolutionary. Riders would start in a traditional steel coaster, sitting in a car with the track beneath them. Suddenly, halfway through, the ride would transform into a "flying" coaster, with the track above the rider's headers and "lava" burning beneath their feet. By the time they reached the end of the attraction, the track would have switched once again, so that waiting riders would have no idea what to expect. Ultimately, the costs of achieving this trick were deemed to be too high, and Fire Mountain was reimagined as a simple flying coaster. But it never got the green light, with Walt Disney World's management focusing on revitalising Fantasyland instead.

 
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Comments

it appears to me from reading about the various dropped projects is that Disney does not like to improve by spending the millions it gets from visitors. Disney is now CHEAP AND MISERLY not wanting to invest in new exciting rides, projects, etc. I don't think Walt would have approved of this kind of thinking. DISAPPOINTING!!

The only thing fire mountain would need is Intamin's Zac Spin cars mounted on the actual face of the rotating element with some locking or couterweight measure so that way when the track moves you stay at the same straight path. S&S can accomplish this feat with a similar concept of their coaster Tranan.

You can totally see where Expedition Everest came from!

What! How can you not list the Rocketeer Ride?

I'm saving various attractions for a much longer future article ;-)

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