More Disney Attractions That Never Got Built
Last year, I described six Disney attractions that nearly became a part of the parks. Alas, they didn’t because plans often change at Disney.
In truth, the rides I mentioned are merely the tip of the iceberg. Disney has countless other attractions that never got made.
Photo: Disney
Let’s take this opportunity to decide whether we would have liked a few others.
The Excavator
Two of the attractions we’re about to discuss should have anchored Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
During the planning phase of the park, Imagineers underestimated the drawing power of the animals themselves.
However, dramatic budget cuts eventually reduced the number of rides available during the park’s earliest days.
Photo: Disney
One of them would have shakily connected to the overall theme at DinoLand U.S.A.
Disney planned a wooden roller coaster called The Excavator. Visually, it would have connected with The Boneyard play area.
Photo:Disney Wiki
More importantly, DinoLand U.S.A. would have offered two different thrill rides, the roller coaster and Countdown to Extinction, which we now know as DINOSAUR.
The coaster plans came with some inventive ideas. Guests would have zoomed through dinosaur skeletons and other remnants of past digs.
Photo:Disney Wiki
Sadly, the ambitious nature of this coaster ultimately worked against it. Disney couldn’t justify two rides this expensive in one themed land.
Later, park officials tried to make up for The Excavator’s cancellation by giving guests…Primeval Whirl. It wasn’t a good trade.
Photo: Disney Wiki
The Mary Poppins Spinner
I think we can safely describe this one as a dead project. Bob Chapek had been the primary supporter of the premise and, well, you know…
Anyway, at the 2019 D23 Expo, Disney announced a Mary Poppins flat ride as the anchor attraction at the United Kingdom pavilion at EPCOT.
Photo: D23
At the time, park officials had warmed to the idea of sprinkling rides throughout the World Showcase.
In taking this approach, management would have encouraged guests to roam and thereby increased sales at shops, restaurants, and lounges.
Image: Disney
Currently, the Mexico pavilion hosts a ride, Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros.
So, when guests enter that side of the World Showcase, they can ride something. Disney sought to balance that proposition by putting something on the other side.
Photo: Disney
At the time, Mary Poppins Returns had performed well enough at the box office to justify the premise, although I’d argue Mary Poppins is iconic enough without needing the sequel to prove it.
Imagineer Tony Baxter clearly agreed with me, as he did this way back when:
You’ll notice 2016 as the time stamp of the video, which demonstrates that Disney has wanted to do a Mary Poppins ride for ages.
The 2019 version of the ride would have been a spinner, possibly one with an homage to the Jolly Holiday setting from the movie.
At one point, a much more substantial dark ride had been rumored as well. Alas, Disney didn’t want to spend much on a bookend for Gran Fiesta Tour.
Still, we probably would have gotten a gorgeous, joy-inducing ride at the United Kingdom pavilion if not for the pandemic, which arrived a few months after D23.
At that point, Disney shut down all significant expansion plans that hadn’t broken ground yet.
Monsters, Inc. Roller Coaster
You know that breathtaking door scene at the end of Monsters, Inc.? Yeah, that was almost the backdrop for a Disney roller coaster!
This rumor percolated during the early 2000s as Disney’s Hollywood Studios struggled to find its footing.
At the time, Disney officials decided that this park needed more family attractions. That logic explains the existence of Toy Story Land.
However, we almost had a different attraction in this area, and it likely would have cost us Slinky Dog Dash.
Plans called for a suspended roller coaster in the area that later became the third track for Toy Story Mania!
Photo: Disney
So, this was a Toy Story Land attraction before there was a Toy Story Land. Alas, the drawback with the coaster was that it wasn’t family oriented.
Instead, this thrill ride would have mirrored Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster in demeanor.
Credit: Disney
After hemming and hawing for several years, management finally settled on different plans for the area. So, Toy Story Mania! expanded, and Disney built two new attractions.
By all accounts, the Monsters, Inc. roller coaster would have been a memorable combination of thrill and dark ride elements.
Photo: Pixar
For this reason, I’ve always presumed that Disney pivoted with the idea and created Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Paradise Pier Water Flume
Some attractions require detailed descriptions. Then, we found instances like this one where the title paints a specific picture.
Photo: CrispyCream27
While planning Disney California Adventure, Imagineers contemplated an interconnected pair of attractions. One got made, while the other did not.
You know and possibly miss California Screamin’, the exemplary thrill ride that has since morphed into The Incredicoaster.
Photo: Disney
What you may not realize is that Disney almost threw a flume ride through the western helix of that coaster!
Yes, Imagineers planned an absolutely brilliant conceit. The Paradise Pier Water Flume would have meandered along the water near California Screamin’.
Photo: Disney
Then, the log flume would have suddenly thrust guests through an open portion of those coaster tracks.
Afterward, the log flume would have splashed down into Paradise Bay.
You can probably figure out why Disney eventually discarded the idea.
Photo: Disney
Keeping one ride operational is challenging enough. Connecting a second way to that same land is just asking for trouble.
While Disney never built the ride, artwork with these plans has remained at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel for many years now.
Photo: Disneyland
I presume those images will vanish during the Pixar Pier Hotel retheme, but they were there as recently as 2022.
Quest of the Unicorn
This particular attraction wouldn’t have involved a ride of any sort. Instead, it would have been a maze hidden within the confines of Beastly Kingdom.
Photo: Walt Disney World
As a reminder, Disney’s Animal Kingdom should have a themed land called Beastly Kingdom.
Alas, budget cuts delayed the project until the first park expansion…which never happened.
Photo: Vecteezy
Remnants of this area remain hidden in plain sight at Animal Kingdom to this day.
The core concept involved the marriage of the real zoo creatures at the park alongside mythical beasts from fables.
Disney intended the supernatural creatures to provide appeal that regular animals could not.
Photo: Disney
After the delay prevented Beastly Kingdom’s initial construction, park officials quickly deduced that the living animals were plenty for guests.
So, Beastly Kingdom died before it ever lived, at least in Disney form. Many of the Imagineers from this project moved to Universal Studios.
Photo: Universal
Not coincidentally, Gringotts Bank at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter looks eerily similar to some blueprints from Beastly Kingdom.
However, Quest of the Unicorn never got made at either park. That’s because it came with unique features.
Photo: Disney WIki
Specifically, Beastly Kingdom would have contained a “good” side and an “evil” side, a kind of spiritual predecessor to a Disney Villains theme park.
On the good side, guests would have explored the area until they uncovered the hidden location of the unicorn within the maze.
Credit: Disney
Disney theming probably meant something akin to the Storybook Dining character meal at Artist Point. You would have believed in myths and legends.
But we got Pandora – The World of Avatar instead. Nobody’s complaining about that!
In fact, most of these cuts eventually led to superior theme park experiences. Patience has proven a virtue for Disney fans.
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Photo: Disney.fandom.com
