6. WestCOT

Location: Anaheim, California

Planned in: 1990s

Theme: Future technology, countries of the world

Lands: Future World, World Showcase

The background

While it was planning Port Disney, Disney was considering an alternative approach for the Disneyland Resort. Less than a year after it announced Port Disney, it also announced WestCOT, a West Coast version of the popular Epcot at Walt Disney World. It never intended to build both parks, but was instead playing the local authorities off against each other in a bid to secure incentives to build one park or the other.

WestCOT would be the centerpiece of a major expansion to the original Disneyland Resort, which would cost an eye-watering $3 billion. The new area would span some 550 acres, and would include the new park, three new hotels, Disneyland Center (a new waterfront shopping and entertainment district) and the 5,000-seat Disneyland Bowl amphitheater.

The plans

Guests would reach WestCOT from the resort’s towering new parking garages by taking a PeopleMover to the front gates. They would discover a park that was similar in style to Florida’s version of Epcot, but with some key adaptations to allow for the smaller footprint of the Disneyland Resort.

Future World

The iconic headline attraction of Future World would be Spacestation Earth – an upgraded version of Epcot’s Spaceship Earth. The 300-foot golden sphere would be set on its own island, with guests passing over a bridge and under a waterfall in order to reach it. Inside, the Cosmic Journeys attraction would be a revamped version of Disneyland’s former Adventure Thru Inner Space ride.

Three pavilions – Wonders of Living, Wonders of Earth and Wonders of Space – were expected to include clones of Epcot favorites such as Horizons and Journey into Imagination.

World Showcase

Whereas Epcot’s World Showcase features pavilion dedicated to individual countries, WestCOT’s version would feature a smaller number dedicated to entire regions.

The Americas Pavilion would have represented the US in the early 20th century, hosting a clone of Epcot’s American Adventure and a show themed around a Native American Spirit Lodge.

The Europe Pavilion would have included a version of the Timekeeper CircleVision show, a Tivoli Gardens-style playground for younger children and the Trans-European Express (a simulated train ride past famous landmarks).

The Asia Pavilion would have been headlined by a steel roller coaster known as Ride the Dragon. This would have rampaged through the Dragon's Teeth Mountains, boasting cars designed to resemble Chinese-style lion-dragons. At its highest point, riders would be able to see outside the park's walls, so it was planned to have billowing red and gold silks emerge to hide the view.

Finally, the Africa Pavilion would have hosted “a raft ride down the mythical Congobezi River”, as well as a farming exhibit.

The extraordinary World Cruise boat ride would have been the longest ride ever built by Disney. Passing around the entire World Showcase area and through each of its pavilions, it would have included audio-animatronic scenes depicting the world’s cultures and would have taken a full 45 minutes to circumnavigate (riders would be able to hop on or off at ports in each of the pavilions).

Hotels

One of the most exciting elements of WestCOT would have been the ability to stay overnight inside the park. Each of the World Showcase’s buildings would have featured six floors, with the top three featuring hotel rooms.

What went wrong?

The cost of acquiring the necessary land was one factor, while there was also significant opposition from local residents (particularly to the impact of the huge Spacestation Earth icon).

As with Port Disney, the final straw was the disastrous debut of Disneyland Paris, which caused a swathe of theme park expansion projects to be put on hold or cancelled. WestCOT was officially canned in 1995, and the much cheaper and less ambitious Disney's California Adventure was built in its place.

The legacy

Few elements of WestCOT were carried forward into other projects, although of course many were based on the existing Epcot.

The concept of staying the night within a Disney park was adopted for Tokyo DisneySea's Hotel MiraCosta. This is yet another reason for Californians to resent the decision to cancel both DisneySea and WestCOT, while the Japanese resort welcomed many of the best elements of both.

Learn more

You can take a detailed look at the WestCOT plans by reading this article.