Creepiest unused prop/effect hidden in a ride?

[Kara24601]

I've been watching a lot of youtube videos about theme parks and am fascinated when animatronics/props are just left in the dark instead of being removed from the ride. Like I recently learned about the dementors that are chilling in the forbidden forest ride. And while it is a backup prop and sometimes used, I am so creeped out by the carnosaurus head that is hidden on the other side of the track in Dinosaur. Does anyone else have examples of stuff like this?

 

[WondersOfLife]

Melvin, Buff, and Max in Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland.

The history behind 20,000 leagues with the props being abandoned for several years before being removed.

Abandoned Buzzy, Cranium Command (my profile pic).

Animatronic lady hidden behind a black painted-over spaceship in Spaceship Earth.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

First thing I thought of as well would be the Country Bear Jamboree props still in the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland. Even when you know its there you still have to turn around to see it and when you see it I will admit it is a little creepy because it stands out like a sore thumb in the Winnie the Pooh ride. But you have to look behind you once you enter a certain room (can't remember which one) and almost do a 180 just to see them. You can't see them unless you are looking for them as no one turns around behind them while looking into a room.

I don't know if it is "creepy" but Mr. Toad hiding at the top of the pet cemetary outside of Haunted Mansion comes to mind. Because even if you know it is there it is WAY up at the top and you can't climb up there either. I took a picture of it once and it didn't come out as clear as I would have hoped, but I had at least knew what it was.

 

[zipadee999]

This isn’t an abandoned effect in the conventional sense, but the pop-up ghosts are technically still in the attic at the DL mansion. They simply took the head-molds off of them and hid the mechanisms beneath flooring and props. For HMH, they use the same mechanisms for the jack in the box toys.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

A giant Yeti that doesn’t move and has never seen an episode of “Dance Fever”…

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

A giant Yeti that doesn’t move and has never seen an episode of “Dance Fever”…

You beat me to it!

 

[marni1971]

Forbidden Journey dementors.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The "incoming" Pterodactyl on Dinosaur that hasn't dive down to guest and just gets a very dim light And a sound effect..

 

[ShoalFox]

A lot of the descent dioramas and static figures for Spaceship Earth '94 were simply hidden behind curtains after the 2007-08 refurb and stayed there gathering dust for years.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Little Caesar the ventriloquist dummy from TZ episode. He can be seen very briefly ( if you are lucky to catch it) at the end of the ToT ride in a corner of the basement as the elevator doors shut and open to let you out. He’s creepy sitting in the dark and I think about his episode and how he takes over his human counterpart.

 

[Kara24601]

A lot of the descent dioramas and static figures for Spaceship Earth '94 were simply hidden behind curtains after the 2007-08 refurb and stayed there gathering dust for years.

I know it's just a rumor and unlikely but the idea that the paperboy's face is damaged and that's why they turned him around freaks me out too!

 

[VicariousCorpse]

A massive Medusa figure was turned off along with most of the special effects on Journey to Atlantis at Sea World years ago. She used to lurch out of a hole in the wall with her eyes glowing and her hair wriggling. Then she sat in the darkness looming right over you for years. Recently they have turned her eyes back on but she still is in complete darkness. She is visible starting at 2:55 directly ahead above the track.

 

[castlecake2.0]

A massive Medusa figure was turned off along with most of the special effects on Journey to Atlantis at Sea World years ago. She used to lurch out of a hole in the wall with her eyes glowing and her hair wriggling. Then she sat in the darkness looming right over you for years. Recently they have turned her eyes back on but she still is in complete darkness.

That ride looks like it’s seen better days

 

[Goofyernmost]

The Adventures Club, if memory serves me, once had the 'wooden leg with the name Smith' on display. (Mary Poppins fans will get the reference) I think they moved it to another location after the shut down the "Club" but I can't remember where. Or perhaps I am thinking of some other place, it was a while ago. I know I saw it somewhere though.

 

[VicariousCorpse]

The Adventures Club, if memory serves me, once had the 'wooden leg with the name Sam' on display. (Mary Poppins fans will get the reference) I think they moved it to another location after the shut down the "Club" but I can't remember where. Or perhaps I am thinking of some other place, it was a while ago. I know I saw it somewhere though.

Don't know about this reference, but a lot of the Adventurer's Club props got sent to Hong Kong for Mystic Manor and Explorer's Club Restaurant.

Edit: After looking into it further, Smith was moved to the Frontierland train station at WDW.

 

[Kara24601]

A massive Medusa figure was turned off along with most of the special effects on Journey to Atlantis at Sea World years ago. She used to lurch out of a hole in the wall with her eyes glowing and her hair wriggling. Then she sat in the darkness looming right over you for years. Recently they have turned her eyes back on but she still is in complete darkness. She is visible starting at 2:55 directly ahead above the track.

This one freaked me out! I’m sitting in the sun and could not for the life of me see the Medusa figure but I found another video with the effect turned on and knowing that thing was just chillin in the darkness gave me the spooks!

 

[VicariousCorpse]

This one freaked me out! I’m sitting in the sun and could not for the life of me see the Medusa figure but I found another video with the effect turned on and knowing that thing was just chillin in the darkness gave me the spooks!

Save it for later then. Take another look at it in 2160p quality in the dark.

 

[BlakeW39]

A giant Yeti that doesn’t move and has never seen an episode of “Dance Fever”…

ditto^

 

[Goofyernmost]

Don't know about this reference, but a lot of the Adventurer's Club props got sent to Hong Kong for Mystic Manor and Explorer's Club Restaurant.

Edit: After looking into it further, Smith was moved to the Frontierland train station at WDW.


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Thanks, I knew it was Smith but the only thing that came to mind at the time I was typing it was Sam. I fixed it, sorry. The reference was from when Mr. Banks, after being fired by Mr. Dawes Sr. all of a sudden started to laugh and when Mr. Dawes asked him why he said that he had just heard a joke (from his son Michael) and it was "I knew a man with a wooded leg named Smith", to which the reply was "what was the name of his other leg". Mr. Dawes Sr. thought about it for a second and started to laugh so hard that he collapsed on the floor. It implied that he died laughing. Seems morbid but you had to see it to understand the setting. Anyway that is what it was all about. There was no actual wooden leg prop in the Mary Poppin's movie, but it was there in the Adventures Club and as you said was in the Frontier Land Railroad Station. I have no idea if it is still there or not. Mr. Dawes Sr. was played by Dick Van D yke in the movie.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Save it for later then. Take another look at it in 2160p quality in the dark.
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That is pretty alarming! But, I am happy to know that at my age my eyes can still make it out.