Disney's Enchanted Forest - Piecing it Together

[Haymarket]

Disney's Enchanted Forest - Piecing it Together

I'm trying to get a sense of what Imagineering's concept for "Disney's Enchanted Forest" was. It seems to have been in development sometime between 2000 and 2010. Some say it was for a second park in Hong Kong, but others say it was a redevelopment of a smaller theme park outside Seoul, South Korea. I was wondering if you can help "reconstruct" the park by helping piece it together by identifying various elements in the illustrations we have available to us.

Here are illustrations purportedly provided by former Imagineer John Horn on his now offline personal site (Horn[the letter y] is his real last name, but I don't want this post to be blocked, so I'll call him John Horn from hereon):

A sketch of the park's proposed logo.

John H.'s painting of the central icon of the park, a castle-like "treehouse." Lots of details here that I'll get to.

A more technical look at the central "treehouse."

A blurry image showing one proposed layout of the park.

I've pieced together some of the elements (attractions, layouts of areas) in the last image above, with certainty on some, but less certainty on others. I'll get to those next.

In the meantime, if you can identify what's in the illustrations, please do contribute.

[Does anyone know if Tim Delaney and/or John Horn[letter y] are doing any Imagineer panels or other appearances? Any idea how I'd keep an eye on those types of events, so if either of them is schedule for one, I can be there? I so want to piece this together.]

 

[Haymarket]

Regarding John H.'s painting, here's what I've found.

1. In the cyan rectangle, there seems to be a meet-and-greet location with Mickey and Minnie.

2. In the yellow rectangle, there appears to be a dragon, his rear legs and tail sticking out towards the rivulet. That said, the feet seem awkwardly bent—could it be that the tail is a snout, and the legs are front legs, weirdly jointed, so that he's more of a crocodile-like creature?

3. The green rectangle shows the bathhouse from Hayao Miyazaki's animated movie Spirited Away. Note the placement of the smokestack.

Here is its location in the larger park sketch, and a zoom. It seems to be a ride, judging by the outlined base of the back building, which would contain the ride (I thought it was some kind of pool at first lol).

Here's the bathhouse in Spirited Away, with the same smokestack:

4. The magenta rectangle shows an Alice in Wonderland maze, and some kind of building with a flying carousel ride, with each guest in some kind of peapod-like vessel "floating" via a lime-shaped balloon. [Is there a Disney or Ghibli feature film with this sort of vessel? I know Miyazaki has flight in almost all his films, but I couldn't find a flying vessel similar to this one.]

Here is a drawing, possibly by John H., of the Alice in Wonderland maze, and the flying carousel ride (note the appearance of the building's roofs, along with the whimsical flame-like flag/accents at the very tips of each of the two roofs, of which the green is the larger, and the brown is the smaller in both images). Is Alice shrinking there, her arms sticking out of some sort of yellow ... egg-shaped dress? I haven't seen the film yet. [Oh, I see: she's growing larger, so that her arms are sticking out of the building/tent/structure that she was in before growing in size.]

If you see anything else, or have additional materials, please post them here. Thanks very much.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

Whoa, that's so interesting. I've never heard of it before and would love to know more.

 

[Haymarket]

Whoa, that's so interesting. I've never heard of it before and would love to know more.

I have a bit more, some of it related to the image below by Imagineer Tim Delaney. I'll get to it in a bit.

 

[Haymarket]

Here's Tim Delaney's illustration, marked-up. The green lines are for a comparison to the blurry park overview illustration that I'll do later.

The feature behind the castle in the cyan rectangle looks like a roller coaster:

The feature in the red oval looks like an attraction related to The Little Mermaid. It looks somewhat like Mermaid Lagoon at DisneySea:

The feature in the yellow rectangle looks like an Indiana Jones-related attraction, like the ones at Tokyo DisneySea, Disneyland, and Disneyland Park (Paris):

(continued below)

 

[Haymarket]

The village in the magenta oval looks like the village in The Little Mermaid, with its almost uniformly reddish roofs:

That has me thinking that the castle in the white oval is probably Prince Eric's, despite it perhaps looking somewhat more like the castle from Snow White. The color of the roof, its (somewhat close?) proximity to the village, and the huge shell in the lower left corner of the zoomed-in image below all seem to suggest that it's Prince Eric's castle (the shell being a whimsical on-theme accent to the "land"). [Edit: I'm thinking it's a version of Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid, currently at the Magic Kingdom, which has the same type of waterfall-accompanied grotto entrance under Prince Eric's castle (images and video below).]

Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid (Magic Kingdom):

 

[Haymarket]

I believe that Tim Delaney's illustration is an artistic interpretation of parts of the larger park overview "map." Here's the comparison.

Here's Delaney's illustration:

Here's my crude markup of the part of the park I believe corresponds to it, with the roller coaster and Indiana Jones temple attraction in particular providing some guidance:

1. I think the part outlined in dark blue is the central treehouse/castle.

2. If anyone can process the writing outlined in purple to make it legible, that'd be a big help.

3. The green trapezoid may be roughly the field of vision of Delaney's illustration, except of course from a much lower angle.

4. The part outlined in cyan is the roller coaster.

5. The part outlined in yellow may be the Indiana Jones attraction. The smaller outline inside may be around the temple part of the attraction.

6. The part outlined in red may be the Mermaid Lagoon section, and this is a bit nuts, but I think the smaller circle may be around something representing Ariel (note the red color of her hair, and the green of her tail).

7. I think the part outlined in white may be Prince Eric's castle. The smaller white circle is around what may be the waterfall-covered grotto entrance underneath the castle, with the little bridge leading into it. In the zoomed image below, the bridge has the green arrow pointing at it, and the grotto entrance and waterfall have the cyan arrow pointing at them.

8. Last, the magenta-outlined part might be the village from The Little Mermaid, but I'm less sure of that.

Plans change, of course, so it's not totally clear what's what, or whether anything really corresponds to anything else. I think the roller coaster and the Indiana Jones temple are the points that I'm somewhat more confident about, which provide anchors to guess at the others.

I'm inclined to believe that Disney's Enchanted Forest was planned for the site outside Seoul. I'll explain that later.

If you have any leads or hunches, feel free to post them. Thanks in advance.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

I'm trying to get a sense of what Imagineering's concept for "Disney's Enchanted Forest" was. Some say it was for a second park in Hong Kong, but others say it was a redevelopment of a smaller theme park outside Seoul, South Korea. I was wondering if you can help "reconstruct" the park by helping piece it together by identifying various elements in the illustrations we have available to us.

Wow, I haven't heard or seen of this project before! William Silvester in his book "Building Magic: Disney's Overseas Theme Parks" dedicates a page to a rumor (in a 2005 LA Times article but also in a 9/28/06 press announcement) of a possible theme park for Seoul that would have been a smaller version of Hong Kong's park. He thinks it might have just been a tactic for leverage with the Chinese government to get better deals with Hong Kong and Shanghai parks.

With regards to a second park at Hong Kong Disneyland, this is what a HKD press release says: "Hong Kong Disneyland was also built with the space for a second park directly across from the entrance to the current park. Disney has not yet announced that the second park is in development...the common thought is that the second park will be built before a fourth hotel."

 

[The Lochness Monsta]

It weird, I've usually heard of everything Disney, but this ones never crossed my path.

 

[Haymarket]

Wow, I haven't heard or seen of this project before! William Silvester in his book "Building Magic: Disney's Overseas Theme Parks" dedicates a page to a rumor (in a 2005 LA Times article but also in a 9/28/06 press announcement) of a possible theme park for Seoul that would have been a smaller version of Hong Kong's park. He thinks it might have just been a tactic for leverage with the Chinese government to get better deals with Hong Kong and Shanghai parks.

With regards to a second park at Hong Kong Disneyland, this is what a HKD press release says: "Hong Kong Disneyland was also built with the space for a second park directly across from the entrance to the current park. Disney has not yet announced that the second park is in development...the common thought is that the second park will be built before a fourth hotel."

I think the article you're talking about is the LA Times article "Disney May Build Park Near Seoul" by Richard Verrier from 2/25/05. A picky note on my part: it didn't quite say that the Seoul park would be a smaller version of Hong Kong's park; rather, it said "The proposal being discussed would involve something more modest than the 310-acre Disneyland opening later this year in Hong Kong."

The reason I think that Disney's Enchanted Forest may have been designed for a site outside Seoul is because major Korean media reported that it was a proposed redevelopment of the current Seoul Land and adjacent leisure facilities. and their layout is somewhat similar. There are two islands in the front of the park for something like the treehouse/castle and the possible Mermaid Lagoon-like land circled in red above (which is seemingly designed as something like an island in the blurry overview map), as well as several rivulets throughout, emptying into an adjacent reservoir. It looks as though the design contemplated incorporating land outside the park and possibly modifying the shape and use of some of the reservoir.

It's not a perfect fit, but with some infill and excavation, it may have been a fit. Just a thought, not wedded to it.

Seoul Land from above:

From a lower angle:

The main international airport is the red oval, central Seoul is the blue oval, Seoul Land is the green oval:

 

[Haymarket]

As an aside:

Legacy designed the newly opened Lotte World Adventure Busan outside South Korea's second-largest city Busan. It opened on March 31, 2022. The park changed its name in the last minute before opening from "Lotte's Magic Forest," and among the names considered for the park were "Lotte's Enchanted Forest" and "Lotte's Forest of Enchantment." I wonder whether they have former Imagineers over there who brought some ideas over—that is, I wonder if there are elements in the park or its original design (it's been scaled-down from the initially publicized design) that we would have seen in Disney's Enchanted Forest.

Legacy (lots of nice concept art at the link):

Inspired by the garden-centric theme parks of Europe, Lotte World Adventure Busan is a radical departure from the new Asian theme parks of the 21st century. While visitors to the park will find all the thrills and ‘wow factor’ they’ve come to expect from Lotte World, they will also be surprised by the ample garden spaces and upscale tone of the park.

Also:

Marcus King, Legacy | GGE’s Senior Director of Project Management, notes that the park’s design will be completely unique within the Asian theme park landscape. “Our guiding concept here was to create Asia’s first European-style theme park, and to immerse guests in the charm and wonder of a magical garden environment,” King said. He also notes that the new park will feature six themed zones, each one inspired by a different element of nature.

Maybe Disney's Enchanted Forest was something like this? A European-style theme park rich with garden spaces amidst a forest setting?

The apparent signage and logo designer's site at this link.

The original publicized design. I wonder how similar it would have been to Disney's Enchanted Forest (I'll call it DEF from hereon):

 

[Haymarket]

A zoom-in of Tim Delaney's illustration of the park shows a futuristic section, displaying several finials and accompanied by the small waterfalls scattered throughout the park (running water seems to have been an ongoing feature throughout), connected across the waterway by a bridge.

It looks reminiscent of Tim Delaney's work on Hong Kong Disneyland's Tomorrowland, but on a smaller scale. The round, planet-like building with what may be a ring around it looks somewhat like Delaney's concept art for a Space Mountain in Shanghai Disneyland (below), but given the modest scale of Disney's Enchanted Forest (DEF), more likely it's perhaps meant to be a similar building to the "Arcade" he had in his concept art for HKDL's Tomorrowland, in the green rectangle:

Tim Delaney, Space Mountain Concept, October 2, 2008

Tim Delaney, Hong Kong Disneyland Tomorrowland concept art

It looks like that domed "Arcarde" building became the more modest "arcade"-like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride at Hong Kong Disneyland, where the dome was downscaled to feature only atop the gazebo-like building displaying the Buzz Lightyear statute (magenta rectangle), in front of the ride building, which also featured a gift shop, Star Command Suppliers. The ride was opened in 2005 and was removed to make way for a Marvel-themed ride in 2017.

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Star Command Suppliers gift shop, Hong Kong Disneyland (2005 to 2017)

We can also see that there are two smaller spherical structures with finials on top:

I think these are somewhat reminiscent of the Orbitron at Hong Kong Disneyland, opened in 2005 (which is itself reminiscent of the Astro Orbiter at the Magic Kingdom, and the Orbitron at Disneyland Park(Paris):

Orbitron, Hong Kong Disneyland

The most recent version of this ride is Jet Packs at Shanghai Disneyland, though it has a sleeker look, including no finial:

 

[Haymarket]

I believe that the futuristic section of the park may have been similar to Hong Kong Disneyland's Tomorrowland, which was largely designed by Tim Delaney, minus Space Mountain. It would perhaps have had quick-serve restaurants like the Comet Cafe and the StarLiner Diner, and maybe a couple more attractions.

Tim Delaney, overview of Hong Kong Disneyland's Tomorrowland

Orbitron and the Comet Cafe, HKDL

Tim Delaney, StarLiner diner concept art

If DEF were built today, perhaps it would have a Marvel attraction (or two), like HKDL's Tomorrowland does today, where Astro Blasters made way for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!, and an Iron Man Experience attraction was also added, as both are to become their own land ("Stark Expo") in 2022.

Stark Expo, including The Iron Man Experience (center) and Ant-Man and The Wasp, Nano Battle! (right).

Stark Expo is planned to separate from Tomorrowland into its own land in 2023, with the addition of the "Avengers Quinjet" attraction (below):

 

[Haymarket]

This is the rock formation next to the rollercoaster in Tim Delaney's illustration.

I think it's vaguely reminiscent of the Peter Pan area of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea:

While there are no waterfalls in the three Fantasy Springs-related images immediately above, there have been depictions of waterfalls from Neverland mountains, e.g., Thomas Kinkade's painting for Disney:

It's a stretch, but maybe this grey blob is Skull Rock or Captain Hook's ship, on water that's not visible because of the low angle:

Another stretch, but perhaps something like the cancelled Pixie Hollow was in a grove of trees somewhere nearby (green rectangle)?

Pixie Hollow - New Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom concept art

 

[stitchcastle]

y'all, what if The Enchanted Forest (with its Spirited Away attraction) was meant to be the 3rd Tokyo gate that got repurposed into Fantasy Springs?

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Some more recent things about Tim Delaney:
His design company: https://www.tjddinc.com/meet-us
Tomorrow Society Podcast: https://tomorrowsociety.com/tim-delaney-imagineer-podcast/

 

[Haymarket]

So far what I have is:

1. The treehouse/castle with character meet-and-greets and the "dragon"

2. The bathhouse from Spirited Away - a ride

3. An Alice in Wonderland maze

4. Some sort of peapod-like flying vessel ride

6. Something that looks like Mermaid Lagoon from Tokyo DisneySea

7. An Indiana Jones ride

8. A roller coaster

9. Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid

10. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

11. An Orbitron

12. Some sort of Peter Pan attraction(s) (least confident about this one) [More likely something like Shanghai Disneyland's Adventure Isle.] Something like Shanghai Disneyland's Adventure Isle (post #20 below)

I'm aware of what's popular in South Korea with regard to Disney. If it really had been for South Korea, they picked the right franchises available 2000–2010. I wouldn't be surprised if they had included Pooh and Beauty and the Beast as well.

Only Indiana Jones is a mild head-scratcher, but it probably made sense given that the ride itself is popular everywhere versions of it are built. Also, theme parks are hugely popular with young couples in South Korea, as in Japan, and I can see something like the Indiana Jones ride being something for the boyfriends to do.

If they really were able to use Ghibli properties, Spirited Away is very popular in South Korea, as is Howl's Moving Castle. My Neighbor Totoro is up there, too, and certainly fits the forest theme. The Studio Ghibli park just opened—maybe elements of it would have been in DEF, though the Ghibli park is very different from any Disney park.

I actually could see Hayao Miyazaki allowing licensing of some properties in a South Korean Disney park, and perhaps only a South Korean Disney park: he's not fan of the contemporary Walt Disney Company, but allowing some of his beloved properties in the park might fit with his values related to international peace, reconciliation through the young and through culture, etc. If you know the histories of the two peoples with each other, you know how it'd fit.


A video about the new Ghibli park. Includes subtitles.

 

[Evilgidgit]

I actually could see Hayao Miyazaki allowing licensing of some properties in a South Korean Disney park, and perhaps only a South Korean Disney park: he's not fan of the contemporary Walt Disney Company, but allowing some of his beloved properties in the park might fit with his values related to international peace, reconciliation through the young and through culture, etc. If you know the histories of the two peoples with each other, you know how it'd fit.

Ah, yes, the infamous "no cuts" message that Studio Ghibli sent to Miramax when they wanted to edit/hack Princess Mononoke to pieces. Miyazaki wanted no nonsense with his movies.

 

[Haymarket]

I found some South Korean coverage of the matter. I'll add more about this later. The media's reported proposed placement of the park was roughly as I figured above.

The image below translated.

 

[Haymarket]

After additional searching, I noticed that Tim Delaney's rock formations with three waterfalls looks vaguely like a side-view of concept art for Adventure Isle at Shanghai Disneyland (recall that Disney was reportedly using the possibility of a park in Korea to pressure the Shanghai to move quicker towards a deal):

The full concept illustration of Adventure Isle:

One of Adventure Isle's main attractions at Shanghai Disneyland is the Roaring Rapids river rapids ride:

There are at least two waterfalls in mountains, and the other main attraction is Soaring Over the Horizon:

Video of Adventure Isle:



I think that something like Adventure Isle is more likely what was contemplated for DEF, rather than the Peter Pan mini-land being built at Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea (discussed earlier).