The impact on Walt Disney World

There were a lot of plans for Walt Disney World as part of the Disney Decade, with a number of things set to debut at the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center and Disney-MGM Studios, along with expansions mapped out for the resort. Some attractions, such as Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, One Man’s Dream and the “fourth theme park” that turned out to be the Animal Kingdom, did see completion, but many others did not. Here is a list of a number of the things at the parks that didn’t end up happening.

EPCOT Center

Soviet Union Showcase

A lot of EPCOT Center visitors were eager for a USSR showcase. The one Disney planned was titled Red Square and the Soviet Union. It would have replicated Moscow’s Red Square and had a St. Basil’s Cathedral as its centerpiece, which would house an Audio-Animatronic show that focused on Eastern European history with film segments and live actors called Russia: The Bells of Change. Another planned attraction was Ivan and the Magic Pike, based on Eastern European folk stories.

The Soviet Union Showcase project collapsed not just due to a lack of funds because of Euro Disneyland’s struggles but also because the Union collapsed shortly after Imagineers created designs and concept art like the piece above. With the decline of its economy in the wake of the collapse, the Russian government couldn’t afford to invest in a pavilion at EPCOT Center.

Matterhorn Mountain and Bobsled Ride

The press release states:

“Inspired by Europe's tenth most famous mountain, this imposing landmark will be built on the shores of World Showcase Lagoon beside a charming Swiss Village. Bobsleds will race up, down, around and through a chilling ice-covered adventure. It will be the centerpiece of a picturesque Switzerland Showcase.”

Journeys in Space

This was going to be an attraction at Future World that simulated space travel with new systems and special effects.

Disney-MGM Studios

The Muppet Movie Ride 

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Disney was eager to purchase Jim Henson’s Muppets so that it could develop an area at Disney-MGM Studios called Muppet Movieland. Disney still made one of the attractions planned for the land, Muppet*Vision 3D. However, the other, a parody of The Great Movie Ride called The Great Muppet Movie Ride, was never built.

Sunset Boulevard

Similar to Disneyland’s Hollywoodland, this would have been “a new Tinseltown street beginning at Hollywood Boulevard and extending the atmosphere of film's past and present with landmarks along the way geared to memorable moments.” Several of the attractions planned for it were the same as the ones planned for Hollywoodland, including Tracy’s Crime Stoppers, Toontown Trolley and Baby Herman’s Runaway Baby Buggy Ride. Here are additional attractions that were planned for Florida but not California:

Roger Rabbit's Hollywood

A group of attractions, shops and restaurants centered on the Toontown Depot that was set to open by 1995.

The Benny the Cab Ride

Mickey's Movieland

Mickey’s Movieland was going to be housed inside a copy of the original Disney Studio found in California. Here’s the description from the press release:

Disney history will come to life in the form of a replica of the original Hyperion Avenue Disney Studios. Inside, children and adults will encounter whimsical hands-on movie-making equipment which will give them a chance to live out their own motion-picture-producing fantasies.

In the 1990s, additions at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park will include a whole new menu of unusual dining experiences, "streetmosphere" characters and many other themed specialty shops that will line the new boulevards.

Disney’s Boardwalk

The entertainment, dining and shopping area Disney’s Boardwalk did happen, but there were some shows planned for it that never made it out of the concept stage. They are:

Under the Sea

This was going to be a 900-seat indoor aquatic dinner show featuring The Little Mermaid and Sebastian.

Family Reunion

Disney was planning a 300-seat environmental theater dinner show that mingled guests and the cast.

Disney Magic

The title pretty much explains this one. It was going to be a dinner magic show starring Disney characters.

The early, tossed attempts at a second California park and a Disneyland Resort

The Disney Decade press release was intentionally vague about “a second Disney theme park for Southern California” that they stated would have been located either next to Disneyland or in Long Beach. That lack of clarity was because they hadn’t decided which direction to take yet. We’ve discussed the theme parks they were considering building in the past, but here’s a short look at each of them and how they were affected by Euro Disneyland’s troubles.

Port Disney / DisneySea

Announced in 1991 in a publication called The Port Disney News, Port Disney was an expansive plan for a property next to the Port of Long Beach in California. It was going to include a cruise ship port for the Disney Cruise Ship line, a 400-boat marina, a retail and entertainment area and a total of five hotels. Most significantly, though, Port Disney was going to include DisneySea, the aquatic theme park that ended up finding a new home in Tokyo.

Though disagreements with the city of Long Beach were also cited as a cause of its incompletion, former Disney cast members have reportedly said that one of the biggest reasons why Port Disney didn’t happen is because of the financial problems caused by the bomb that was Euro Disneyland. After that stumble, The Walt Disney Company was hesitant to spend the $1 billion that Port Disney was estimated to cost. Learn much more about the Port Disney/DisneySea project by reading this.

WestCOT

Also announced in 1991, WestCOT was a new vision of EPCOT Center intended for the West Coast that would feature, among other things, a taller, gold version of Spaceship Earth called SpaceStation Earth and a World Cruise boat ride. The plan was to build it next to Disneyland in Anaheim. Ultimately, though, the Euro Disneyland debacle and other issues forced Disney to announce the cancellation of the WestCOT in 1995. Learn more here.

The cancellation of these two projects resulted in us getting California Adventure as the second theme park of the Disneyland Resort. If Euro Disneyland had done better, maybe we would have gotten the more expensive and (at least initially) more impressive Port Disney/DisneySea or WestCOT.

The failure of Euro Disneyland has definitely played a big role in Disney’s past, present and future. If not for it we probably wouldn’t have California Adventure and the list of “lost” Disney attractions would be quite a bit shorter. For good or ill, Euro Disneyland completely changed the course of Disney’s theme park business and the company as a whole. We can only guess how things might be different if the international park was a success from the start.