13. An accidental artifact
Tribute to: Poseidon’s Fury (1999 - 2001)
Found in: Poseidon’s Fury (2001 - Today)
Location: Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Another of Islands of Adventure’s technological marvels, Poseidon’s Fury opened in 1999 in the brand new park’s mythological Lost Continent. Even then, the attraction’s most memorable feature may have been its exterior: a towering, crumbling temple reigned over by a fallen statue of the sinister, serpentine god Poseidon. Inside, a narrated walkthrough led by an old man named “The Keeper” carried guests deep into the ruins and, ultimately, to Atlantis where the evil merman god battled his righteous brother Zeus in a climactic special effects extravaganza.
Despite being one of the park’s most marketed features pre-opening, guests were confused and underwhelmed by Poseidon’s Fury, leading to its quick closure after just a few years. We chronicled the convoluted tale of the mythical mess in Declassified Disasters: Poseidon’s Fury, but essentially, a prominent attraction designer hastily and inexpensively reimagined the attraction. Controversially, Poseidon became the good guy, battling an evil high priest. Both were recast as human actors rather than the CGI characters of old, while existing special effects were repurposed to serve a new story.
While it probably wasn’t Universal’s intention to pay homage to the original version of the attraction, possibly the largest Easter egg in any theme park is that fallen statue of Poseidon himself – the same one whose arm and Trident serve as the area’s entry gate. Poseidon’s stone head resides in a spring nearby… and it’s the short-lived, long-forgotten, animated, evil CGI merman, not the heroic, bearded Poseidon who now inhabits the attraction within. Oops!
14. The warehouse prison powerplant hotel
Tribute to: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (2004 - 2017)
Found in: Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! (2017 - Today)
Location: Disney California Adventure
When rumors arose in 2016 that Disney was considering overlaying Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy superhero team onto California Adventure’s existing Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, it seemed like a rumor so outrageous, it must’ve been a prank. How could that “irreverent” sci-fi superhero team and their ‘60s and ‘70s soundtrack ever overtake the art deco Hollywood Tower Hotel and its timeless Californian legend, seemingly custom-made for a park celebrating stories of the Golden State? But just after New Year in 2017, the E-Ticket classic gained its own Lost Legend: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror feature.
The replacement, Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! will probably always be a controversial ride. Within, guests tour through the intergalactic museum of the enigmatic “Collector” (briefly introduced in the 2014 film) who has amassed oddities and organisms from across the cosmos. Many of the most recognizable are iconic weapons or plot macguffins from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Elsewhere, several of the museum’s artifacts will be familiar to Imagineering fans (like the original Abominable Snowman from the Matterhorn Bobsleds, and even Figment from the Lost Legend: Journey into Imagination).
But for those who wish they could extend their stay at the Hollywood Tower Hotel, the Collector’s own office (successor to the Hotel’s library) contains a hidden reference to the Twilight Zone ride: a regal “HTH” luggage tag, and an iconic red Bellhop hat in a display case. Can it just be canon that the Collector overtook the Hollywood Tower Hotel, stripped out its insides, repurposed its rooms as cells, and bolted satellite dishes to the exterior? It would probably make more sense than the current non-explanation for why a “warehouse prison power plant” looms over a 1920s Buena Vista Street!
15. Skyway attack!
Tribute to: The Skyway
Found in: Matterhorn Bobsleds
Location: Disneyland
Opened in 1956, Disneyland's Lost Legend: The Skyway wasn't just a convenient way to float between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland; it was a cutting-edge transportation system imagined as a utopian solution to moving people. Just a few years after its debut, a massive expansion to the park added three attractions at once, each grand enough to warrant the introduction of a new, expensive, and limited voucher to ride: an E-Ticket. And while the Skyway could glide alongside the Monorail and over the Submarine Voyage, the third – the Matterhorn Bobsleds – stood right in its way.
Disney's imaginative solution? To have the Skyway float right through the mountain's dark, cavernous interior! In 1978 – coinciding with the Matterhorn's "move" to Fantasyland – its hollow insides were filled with icy caves... home to the reclusive and mysterious Abominable Snowman. Though Skyway riders would never see the mountain guardian, they could hear his howls as they drifted through the glittering caverns within.
The Skyway closed in 1994 and the "holes" in the Matterhorn were filled. But in a 2015 refurbishment for the park's 60th anniversary, new scenes were added to the Matterhorn. Today, bobsled riders careen through a cavern apparently being used by the yeti to hoarde a stash of items he's collected from the mountain's climbers... including a full Skyway bucket, mangled and torn right from the cable all those years ago!
16. Shrunken head singalongs
Tribute to: Jaws (1990 - 2012)
Found in: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley (2010 - Today)
Location: Universal Studios Florida
Yet another of Universal’s classic creature feature rides to end its run, Jaws was a true fan favorite; a demented take on Disney’s Jungle Cruise with authentically nerve-wracking moments waiting for an Audio Animatronic shark to erupt from the still waters of Amity. Naturally, it, too, earned it own Lost Legends: Jaws feature. Of course, also like the Jungle Cruise, Jaws took up a relatively large plot of land – and in a part of the park that lent itself to a sought-after expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Today, the space Jaws once occupied manages to fit Universal Studios’ London area with Kings Cross Station, as well as Diagon Alley. Between the two, there are many references to Jaws like a telescope in Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment (said to be made of material salvaged from the queue) or a shark’s jawbone in the Apothecary window.
However, our favorites are the more overt references. In the window of London’s record shop is a vinyl called “Here’s to Swimmin’ with Bow-Legged Women” by The Quint Twins (a reference to the toast between Quint and Chief Brody in Jaws) and the famous shrunken heads in Knockturn Alley… Awakened with a spell, they just might sing “Show Me the Way to go Home,” a song memorably sung by Brody, Quint, and Hooper while (unbeknownst to them) the shark is ramming their boat.
Comments
What a delightful article. I considered myself pretty high up in Disney trivia but many of these were news to me! Fascinating article and nice to know that Imagineers are paying homage to their past accomplishments, blowing kisses to the rides and areas of the past.