5. Disney’s River Country at Walt Disney World

Here’s a rarity: an entire Disney abandoned water park.

Back in the mid-1970s, Walt Disney World was not the sprawling, multi-day resort destination that it is today. The only theme park on offer was the Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT Center wouldn't open until the start of the next decade. To keep its hotel guests amused and on-site for longer, Disney decided to build its first ever water park, Disney's River Country.

When Michael Eisner took over as Disney CEO in 1984, he took a more competitive approach than his predecessors. He decided to build a full water park, Typhoon Lagoon, to take on nearby Wet 'n' Wild. River Country's capacity was limited, and its days were numbered. It shut on November 2, 2001, but remains in place today - it was abandoned rather than demolished.

You can see the current state of Disney’s River Country in these aerial photographs.

4. Discovery River Boats at Disney's Animal Kingdom

When Disney's Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, it featured only a handful of actual rides. One of these was the Discovery River Boats, which were intended to provide transportation from the Safari Village to Asia, offering guests a look at scenery including animatronic dragons and other props from the mythical Beastly Kingdom.

Unfortunately, Beastly Kingdom was never actually built - leaving guests to look at bland riverbanks. Those expecting an experience similar to the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise were very disappointed. After six months, the boats were renamed as the Discovery River Taxis, emphasising that they were intended to provide transportation and nothing else. By 1999 the attraction was once again renamed, this time as the Radio Disney River Cruises, with the boats being repainted in bright colors and Radio Disney music piped in. It proved to be just as unpopular, and the ride was closed for good.

However, the two landing docks for the boats remained in place, with both having been used a character meet-and-greet spots. The boats have been previously been used part of the park’s opening ceremonies, and are still used as resort transportation on Bay Lake during busy periods (thanks to Twitter user Tom Green for pointing this out).

3. Food Rocks at Epcot

Image: Disney

Kitchen Kabaret has to be one of the most unusual Disney attractions of all time. It was essentially a Vaudeville-style show featuring singing food items, and was designed to teach kids about the four food groups. It operated in the Land Pavilion at Epcot for 12 years before being replaced by the similar Food Rocks, which itself closed for good in 2004.

Eventually, Soarin' occupied some of the space that was used for Food Rocks. However, according to Modern Mouse Radio, the actual stage was left in place and hidden by walls. Even the animatronic figures are said to be resting just beyond your reach as you queue for the flight simulator ride. Whether that will remain the case if Disney goes ahead with rumored plans to add more capacity to Soarin’ by installing an additional simulator remains to be seen.

Update: One commenter below suggests that the Food Rocks stage and animatronics are sadly no more.

2. Discovery Island at Walt Disney World

Image: Gmaletic, Wikimedia (license)

Located in Walt Disney World's Bay Lake, Discovery Island first opened to the public in April 1974 as Treasure Island, and operated as a wildlife observation attraction until 1999. At that point, many of its captive animals were moved to the newly-opened Disney's Animal Kingdom.

While several alternative uses of the island have since been put forward - including turning it into an attraction based on Lost - it remains off-limits to guests. Urban explorer Shane Pérez reached the island in 2010, claiming to have discovered "abandoned buildings, cages, preserved snakes in jars, even old employee photos".

1. ImageWorks at Epcot

The abandoned ImageWorks as seen in 2011
Image: E82 - The Epcot Legacy (used with permission)

The original Journey to Imagination attraction at Epcot was very popular. After disembarking, guests were sent through the post-show ImageWorks area. This hosted a variety of games and hands-on exhibits, such as Magic Palette (a digital drawing station), Lightwriter (using lasers to write and draw) and Bubble Music (a projection that moved in time with sounds). The most famous of these was the Rainbow Corridor, which assigned a color to each guest and followed them throughout.

When the ride underwent a major refurbishment in 1999 (a move that was incredibly unpopular among fans of the original), ImageWorks was closed. It was left largely intact, being used for storage and special events.