Yep, I'm back with another one. This attraction was to be a whole new land at Disneyland. Announced in the 1976 Annual Report was "Circusland". It was to be located on five acres both inside and outside the berm adjacent to "It's a Small World" (roughly where the Fantasyland Theatre and Toontown now exist.) Dumbo was to be re-located to Circusland and elevated on a platform (much like the Astro Orbitor at WDW's MK) above the land. By the looks of the model, Casey Jr. might have also been boarded from this location. The reports adds " a new Pinocchio dark ride with Stromboli's Little Puppet Theatre gracing it's queue line; a whimsical Clown Restaurant, and Mickey's Mad House, a thrilling ride-through themed to the 1030's and the days of glorious black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons and ragtime music. However, the highlight of this all-Disney themed area will be "Circus Disney", a major ride-through attraction featuring a myriad of favorite Disney characters, all brought to life through the "Audio-Animatronics" process. Guests will travel through the wild animal menagerie (featuring King Louie and Shere Khan from "The Jungle Book"); down the midway where familiar Disney stars may be seen in the sideshow like "The Amazing Flying Dumbo-Ninth Wonder of the World"; through clown alley and finally into the Big Top where they will actually be "on-stage" as part of the three-ring show, featuring such daredevil acts as "The Flying Goofys".
The strory went on to describe how the "Circus area would be connected to Frontieralnd through the developement of Discovery Bay along a portion of the Rivers of America. Themed to the San Fransisco of the gold rush age, Discovery Bay will bring to life a time and place that climaxed an age of discovery and expansion. Here would be located attractions based on the motion pictures "Island at the Top of the World" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," the latter featuring "undersea" dining in the Grand Salon of Captain Nemo's famous submarine."
So obviously, Disney used to announce projects much further out, during planning and design phases. Portions of the above projects have appeared in other areas of the parks, world-wide. It seem they are now more cautious about announcing future plans until they are actually ready for construction. This could be due to the increased competition in the theme park business. Secrecy seems to be the name of the game now.