The discared Disneyland projects

At first, before Euro Disneyland crumbled, things were getting built at Disney's original Californian park. The Dick Tracy Musical Revue: Diamond Double Cross stage show, inspired by the Warren Beatty adaption, ran during the summer of 1990, before the Euro Disneyland woes. You can view it here. But soon after, and especially once Euro Disneyland tanked, plans started going haywire.

Here are a number of shows, attractions and entire lands that were in the works for Disneyland resort, but were either downsized or abandoned (at least in part) due to Euro Disneyland's woes. 

The Young Indiana Jones Adventure Spectacular

This was a planned elaborate stunt show that would have been made with the help of the co-creator of Indiana Jones, George Lucas. A press released stated, 

“This action-packed live extravaganza will thrust Young Indy into a series of thrilling adventures and misadventures, adding a new dimension to the legendary lore of one of Hollywood's greatest heroes."

The Magnificent Muppet All-Star Motorcade 

Both Disneyland and Disney World were going to get a daily parade that starred the Muppets characters, with an Electric Mayhem band and the iconic Muppets tour bus.

The original version of Mickey’s Starland/Toontown at Disneyland

Mickey’s Toontown was created in 1993 to celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 65th birthday. It was originally known as Mickey’s Starland, the same name as the area at the Magic Kingdom that was built in 1988 in celebration of Mickey’s 60th anniversary. What was later titled Mickey’s Toontown did come to fruition at Disneyland, yes, but not in as grand a way as Disney executives had hoped before the Euro Disneyland debacle. Disney had to seriously scale back the amount of money being spent on it. Casualties of that budget cut included:

Kermit the Frog presents Muppet*Vision 3D

The plan was for an impressive Muppet Theater to be built at the center of Toontown’s downtown area.

A Little Mermaid dark ride

By the mid-1990s The Walt Disney Company wanted a dark ride inspired by The Little Mermaid, stating, “This magical adventure will take guests for a ride in the mirthful, musical undersea kingdom of Ariel the mermaid and her friend Sebastian the Crab.” This was actually going to be a clone of an original Little Mermaid attraction that the Imagineers were designing for what was described as Phase 2 of Euro Disneyland. But Phase 2 never happened due to Euro Disneyland’s struggles, so both the original and clone of the dark ride were left on the cutting room floor (of course, a Little Mermaid dark ride did eventually arrive at Disney California Adventure in 2011).

Tomorrowland 2055

Disneyland was going to get a brand new version of Tomorrowland in 1994 before the failure of Euro Disneyland derailed those plans. The Disney Decade press release stated: 

Disneyland's exciting "land of the future" will get a totally new 21st Century look for the summer of 1994. Guest will be able to stroll along "Sky Walks" which will give the area a second story. The ever-popular "Star Tours" and "Space Mountain" attractions will be joined by several sensational new adventures:

• Alien Encounter, produced in collaboration with George Lucas, will put visitors in the middle of a teleportation experiment gone wrong. An interplanetary foul-up will cause a terrifying alien to appear in the spectators' midst.
• Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue will house a resident troupe of itinerant alien entertainers. Stranded in Tomorrowland, these extraterrestrials will turn to show business for survival, presenting an outer-space musical-variety revue.
• A New Circle-Vision 360 Film -- Presented by Delta Air Lines, the spectacular new addition to the Circle-Vision 360 theatre will explore the scenic wonders and culture of Western civilization. Sophisticated Audio-Animatronics characters will disappear into the film at key points, blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
• A New Disney 3-D Motion Picture, produced by George Lucas, will offer visitors to the new Tomorrowland the latest in dazzling, 3-D film technology. 

None of these attractions ever made it to Anaheim, but Alien Encounter did find life at Walt Disney World’s New Tomorrowland. Likewise, the planned Circle-Vision 360 film (named “The Timekeeper”) ended up at Disneyland Paris’ Discoveryland as well as Walt Disney World.

Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland was supposed to be finished at Disneyland by 1999. It was described as “an idealized recreation of Hollywood Boulevard in the '30s and '40s, complete with shops, restaurants and the atmosphere that marked the 'Golden Age of Movies.’” It would have been made on the piece of backstage property that laid between Main Street and Tomorrowland. To keep the atmosphere of the 1930s/1940s setting intact, the backstage-facing part of Space Mountain would have been redressed to look like the Hollywood hills. That would have included the famed original Hollywood sign.

The attractions intended for Hollywoodland included:

Dick Tracy's Crime Stoppers

This was supposed to be a precursor of Hollywoodland as a whole. If Michael Eisner and the Disney execs had gotten their way, Dick Tracy’s Crime Stoppers would have premiered in 1996, starring the popular comic strip character Dick Tracy who was featured in a recent film. It was going to simulate a high-speed chase with gangsters, getting guests “into the act” with a high-tech adventure using the latest Audio-Animatronics technology, sound and special effects.

Toontown Trolley

This promised to bring you a new fantasy dimension with simulator technology similar to what was used in Star Tours. Roger Rabbit was going to be the star of the attraction, taking you throughout the world of Toontown that was made popular in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 

Baby Herman's Runaway Baby Buggy Ride

This one was also connected to Roger Rabbit, based on the misadventures he and Baby Herman had in the Disney cartoon short “Tummy Trouble,” which you can watch here. The attraction would have gone through the sets of Toontown Hospital, where you’d crash through doors, jump over beds and fall down stairs.

The Great Movie Ride

This attraction, which landed at Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World, sends you through classic scenes from famous films with advanced Audio-Animatronic technology.

Superstar Television

This was going to be a very unique experience where you could enter scenes of classic TV shows programs and even “co-star” with stars of television, and is another project that made its way to Disney-MGM Studios. 

Michael Eisner and the Imagineers were clearly excited to level up Disneyland over the course of ten years. It’s bittersweet to know some of the fantastic concepts they had planned for the Happiest Place on Earth, which never happened, thanks to the failure of Euro Disneyland.