Big Thunder Mountain and the phantom boat ride
Image: Disney
In the years following the opening of Magic Kingdom, Disney faced tremendous economic constraints. For a few years, their architectural feats stood on hold. There was a reason for this status quo. While the new park proved wildly popular from the start, they still had to contend with the aforementioned $400 million cost to build it, the equivalent of almost $2.5 billion today. To say that they were cash-strapped undersells the problem.
Despite their financial limitations, The Walt Disney Company refused to let their founder’s legacy flounder. They proceeded with several new projects over time. The catch was they faced opportunity cost decisions with each new construction. Big Thunder Mountain wound up the temporary loser in this fight.
Originally conceived in the early 1970s, Disney Imagineers intended the ride to operate as a companion to the linchpin attraction, which was already well into the planning stage. The Western River Expedition was a boating journey in Frontierland, and it would share the same general space as a train-style roller coaster. The company would craft a western-themed pavilion hosting the two new attractions. You’ve likely never heard of Western River Expedition since Disney never built it. In fact, that’s where the entire conversation jumps the shark.
Big Thunder Mountain vs. Pirates of the Caribbean
Image: Disney
Imagineers projected Western River Expedition as the Pirates of the Caribbean of Walt Disney World. They saw no need to build a mirror copy of the signature Disneyland attraction in Florida, because that state was chock full of pirate history already. It’d be like building Hall of Presidents in Washington, D.C. They’ve lived it. Why do they need to catch the highlights again during a 10-minute boat ride?
Disney’s logic was sound. Alas, their branding was stronger than their logic. From opening day forward, Walt Disney World guests questioned when Magic Kingdom would add Pirates of the Caribbean. The only problem was that Disney hadn’t planned for it. That means they also hadn’t budgeted for it. In order for the company to give the people what they wanted/demanded, Imagineers would have to make sacrifices to build a ride they hadn’t expected Floridians to anticipate.
The first cut was the deepest. Western River Expedition, the spiritual successor and Floridian response to Pirates of the Caribbean, hit the chopping block. In order to lower expenses, Disney had to drop the pricey Adventureland expansion. Imagineers still liked the idea of a train functioning as a roller coaster, but again, there was a financing issue.
The company was no longer getting two attractions from the same financial outlay, and they’d experienced a sudden expense in building Pirates. Something had to give, and that victim was Big Thunder Mountain. The decision was only supposed to be temporary, though. Imagineers such as Tony Baxter and Bill Watkins remained steadfast in their belief that this coaster would prove popular. Disney simply had to find the money to make it. In their estimation, that should have occurred as soon as Pirates of the Caribbean was ready. Except...
Big Thunder Mountain vs. Space Mountain
Image: Disney
Pirates of the Caribbean debuted to tremendous acclaim on December 15, 1973. With that attraction finished and drawing more customers into Walt Disney World, the company’s financial problems eased a bit. Disney mastered the art of using increased ticket sales from one ride to pay for the next offering. Insiders presumed that Big Thunder Mountain would become that attraction. Only, it didn’t.
Almost a decade earlier, vaunted Disney park constructor John Hench enjoyed a sudden burst of creative inspiration. He envisioned a Space Port that would become the hub of Tomorrowland. The central selling point of his new pavilion was an indoor roller coaster, the ultimate dark ride. Hench’s ideas for something he called Space Voyage largely remained intact over the years as Disney planners tinkered with the mechanics of it.
In June of 1966, they changed the name of the ride to something more familiar, Space Mountain. Disney hired one of their favorite construction partners, Arrow Development Company, and they prepared to add it at Disneyland. Remember that Walt Disney World was still more than five years away when Space Mountain received its ultimate identity.
Third time unlucky
Image: Disney
As was the case with so many attractions, Walt Disney’s death fundamentally altered the history of Space Mountain. WED Enterprises wanted to carry on the legacy of Uncle Walt, but their funds were limited. Investors were understandably skittish about the company after its founder died. It’s akin to Apple in the wake of the passing of Steve Jobs except that Disney wasn’t the force of nature on Wall Street that Apple is today.
On some level, investors had confidence that Disney trained a worthy batch of successors, yet they didn’t put their money where their mouths were when it came to loans. In the wake of his death, The Walt Disney Company found itself in a strange position. The stock increased steadily for years to the point that they become a member of the exclusive Nifty Fifty, indicating that they were one of the bluebloods in corporate America. Still, creditors worried that the debt they were accruing with their Florida purchases represented far too much unwelcome risk.
With a hard cap on their spending, Disney directed all their resources toward Walt Disney World. From their perspective, Disneyland was a dream that Uncle Walt lived to see come true. While they would always work to keep it fresh, a mission statement that still stands today, the better way to honor their leader would be to create a second theme park in Florida. They wanted to craft something just as impressive in the early 1970s as they had done in California in 1955. You see where I’m going with this.
Space Mountain, a Disneyland project, changed overnight into a Walt Disney World project. This happened in the wake of Pirates of the Caribbean, a Disneyland project, becoming a Walt Disney World attraction due to the demands of the Florida visitors. Big Thunder Mountain, a Walt Disney World project from the start, once again got pushed down further in the queue in order to make room for a California attraction nobody had originally planned to build in Florida.
Comments
Good article.
What surprises me is how quickly the new attractions were constructed (after finally deciding, of course). We are now looking at 3+ years before Pandora is open to the public, and its likely Star Wars land won't be open for another 4 years. I know these are themed areas and not just a single attraction, but I would think advancements in construction technology would speed things up a bit.