MK's original intended Fantasyland dark rides

[mharrington]

When Walt Disney World was being built, the Imagineers thought of not duplicating any of the original Disneyland dark rides in Fantasyland and instead create rides themed to an entirely different set of movies.

The original Disneyland dark rides were all classified by mood. In this case, the Snow White ride was scary, the Mr. Toad ride was crazy and the Peter Pan ride was beautiful. For WDW, the Imagineers tried to conjure rides that also echoed the moods of the original rides (scary, crazy, beautiful). In the case of Snow White, they thought of replacing it with a ride themed to Sleeping Beauty. Mr. Toad was intended to be replaced with a ride themed to Ichabod Crane (ironically, the second half of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad"). And Peter Pan was considered to be replaced by Mary Poppins. But then, Roy Disney intervened and insisted that the Imagineers remain true to Walt's original thinking at Disneyland and retain that park's original rides. Thus, they were duplicated at Florida. However, the Imagineers did revise the rides themselves so they were not complete duplicates of the original rides.

Does anyone else have any thoughts about the original thoughts for the dark rides?

 

[the-reason14]

I wish they'd made room for Alice, Pinocchio and a few other dark rides. :shrug:

 

[TP2000]

Does anyone else have any thoughts about the original thoughts for the dark rides?

That's fascinating info! Thank you so much for sharing. Where did you read/learn this about the alternate dark rides once planned for WDW? I hadn't heard that before.

What I don't understand is why WDW only has three classic dark rides, and is about to shut one of them down and turn it into a meet n' greet hall. That will leave only two classic Fantasyland-style dark rides in all of Walt Disney World.

And yet it's such a classic Disney theme park experience, and a loving throwback to the Walt Disney era of the 20th century. Why on earth would they give up on that at WDW?

Fantasyland-style Classic Dark Rides - Circa 2012

Walt Disney World Resort (all four parks combined) - Two Dark Ride Attractions
Peter Pan's Flight
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

Disneyland Resort (two parks combined) - Eight Dark Ride Attractions
Peter Pan's Flight
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Pinnochio's Daring Journey
Alice In Wonderland
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley To The Rescue!

There's only two left at WDW, and WDW Peter Pan is in such a state of repair and technological status that it's now just embarassing.

I was thinking maybe the Avatarland expansion could offer up a classic dark ride as one of its C Tickets in 2016, but then I realized that dark rides really only work with animation. Avatar is live action, and it wouldn't translate well to the dark ride artistic medium without looking cheap and cheesy.

What other dark rides could they put in at WDW? Pocahontas at DAK? Wall-E in Epcot maybe? A Mary Poppins dark ride in World Showcase's UK Pavilion? Hmm....

 

[mharrington]

What I don't understand is why WDW only has three classic dark rides, and is about to shut one of them down and turn it into a meet n' greet hall. That will leave only two classic Fantasyland-style dark rides in all of Walt Disney World.

...

Fantasyland-style Classic Dark Rides - Circa 2012

Walt Disney World Resort (all four parks combined) - Two Dark Ride Attractions
Peter Pan's Flight
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

There's only two left at WDW, and WDW Peter Pan is in such a state of repair and technological status that it's now just embarassing.

...

What other dark rides could they put in at WDW? Pocahontas at DAK? Wall-E in Epcot maybe? A Mary Poppins dark ride in World Showcase's UK Pavilion? Hmm....

Actually, I would include "The Little Mermaid" in the mold of old dark rides, so there's still three dark rides in Florida (and nine in California). As for Peter Pan, it's rumored to be remodeled (or at the very least refurbished). And they do have Mary Poppins as part of "The Great Movie Ride".

 

[Scuttle]

I really like the idea of a Mary Poppins ride. I like PPF a lot, but a Mary Poppins dark ride instead could have been amazing.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

When Walt Disney World was being built, the Imagineers thought of not duplicating any of the original Disneyland dark rides in Fantasyland and instead create rides themed to an entirely different set of movies.

The original Disneyland dark rides were all classified by mood. In this case, the Snow White ride was scary, the Mr. Toad ride was crazy and the Peter Pan ride was beautiful. For WDW, the Imagineers tried to conjure rides that also echoed the moods of the original rides (scary, crazy, beautiful). In the case of Snow White, they thought of replacing it with a ride themed to Sleeping Beauty. Mr. Toad was intended to be replaced with a ride themed to Ichabod Crane (ironically, the second half of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad"). And Peter Pan was considered to be replaced by Mary Poppins. But then, Roy Disney intervened and insisted that the Imagineers remain true to Walt's original thinking at Disneyland and retain that park's original rides. Thus, they were duplicated at Florida. However, the Imagineers did revise the rides themselves so they were not complete duplicates of the original rides.

Does anyone else have any thoughts about the original thoughts for the dark rides?

If Disney had followed this original plan, then Disneyland would've had a Sleeping Beauty castle but no Sleeping Beauty ride, whereas WDW would've had a SB ride but not a SB castle.

 

[bgraham34]

I really like the idea of a Mary Poppins ride. I like PPF a lot, but a Mary Poppins dark ride instead could have been amazing.

Mary Poppins would be a great dark ride. But the only problem would be is that it would not be long enough. 3 mins long would make you want more.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I really like the idea of a Mary Poppins ride. I like PPF a lot, but a Mary Poppins dark ride instead could have been amazing.

I agree! And an Ichabod Crane/Sleepy Hollow dark ride could have been awesome too. *sigh*

No disrespect meant to Uncle Roy, but he didn't understand his own brother when he insisted that WDW imitate Disneyland. Walt didn't like to repeat himself (his motto: "You can't top pigs with pigs") and IMO he would have much preferred that NEW rides be installed in WDW.

This is what makes me so mad about the dopey "Avatarland" that Iger wants to build. So many Disney-plussed properties are available for new rides, but what does Iger do? He goes outside the studio for ideas. I'm convinced that Iger really has no faith in Disney classics when it comes to what he thinks the public wants to see. And yet...The Lion King reissue has been number 1 at the box office TWO WEEKS IN A ROW. Jeez! The man's clueless.

 

[Enchantâmes]

What I don't like about Iger is that he doesn't seem to have much passion for Disney... Eisner and Wells had passion back in the 80's and 90's they were determined to bring a troubled company back into the spotlight and they did. Iger has done a decent job cleaning up Eisner's mess of the 2000's but he lacks the passion and he is so distant compared to Eisner and Wells. He hasn't really made a real impression as far his personality goes, he's kinda just been there in the background where no one can see him Eisner and Wells told you proudly that they were the kings of the kingdom and they were running the show. I don't get that from Iger, all I get is: "Hi I'm just gonna sit back here in my office make an appearance every so often, make the fans like me by buying Oswald back, put Pixar EVERYWHERE, and then bring Avatar to Florida because a wizard is stealing our thunder."

Eisner had himself everywhere when he and Wells took over, he was on TV and on VHS tapes, even Katzenberg had his share of the spotlight. Iger has nothing as far as I know, he just is more distant and it just doesn't feel right to me when the Disney company is run by a man behind a curtain. That's just how I feel about him. :shrug:

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I agree! And an Ichabod Crane/Sleepy Hollow dark ride could have been awesome too. *sigh*

No disrespect meant to Uncle Roy, but he didn't understand his own brother when he insisted that WDW imitate Disneyland. Walt didn't like to repeat himself (his motto: "You can't top pigs with pigs") and IMO he would have much preferred that NEW rides be installed in WDW.

This is what makes me so mad about the dopey "Avatarland" that Iger wants to build. So many Disney-plussed properties are available for new rides, but what does Iger do? He goes outside the studio for ideas. I'm convinced that Iger really has no faith in Disney classics when it comes to what he thinks the public wants to see. And yet...The Lion King reissue has been number 1 at the box office TWO WEEKS IN A ROW. Jeez! The man's clueless.

Yeah what does that tell you. It tells me that Lion King is as popular as ever. I've always maintained that it would make an amazing dark ride if they ever chose to build it.

 

[TP2000]

Actually, I would include "The Little Mermaid" in the mold of old dark rides, so there's still three dark rides in Florida (and nine in California). As for Peter Pan, it's rumored to be remodeled (or at the very least refurbished). And they do have Mary Poppins as part of "The Great Movie Ride".

Hmm. Yet Mermaid has so many things that break the mold on what a classic dark ride is, and it's really something much grander and bigger and more ambitious than any classic dark ride.

Mermaid has the Omnimover system gulping 2,000+ riders per hour, and the very large building and scale of sets with a track that descends and ascends to multiple levels, and fully detailed scenery, and some very advanced animatronics, plus a six+ minute ride time.

The classic dark rides have the little cars on the bus bar system trickling through 600-800 riders per hour, the small one-level buildings with intimate sets, mostly 2-D plywood scenery with a few 3-D props, very basic animation that can't even be called "animatronic", and short ride times of 2.5 or 3 minutes.

I would also put the Living Seas Nemo ride in a category above and beyond a dark ride. Nemo isn't quite at the level of Mermaid, but it's obviously beyond Snow White. Also, Nemo is really just one part of a sequence of attractions that is the entire Seas pavilion. A dark ride really just sits on its own and tells its own story separately.

 

[TP2000]

If Disney had followed this original plan, then Disneyland would've had a Sleeping Beauty castle but no Sleeping Beauty ride, whereas WDW would've had a SB ride but not a SB castle.

Disneyland does have a Sleeping Beauty Attraction inside the castle though. It opened in 1957, two years after the park and the Castle was built.

It's not a ride though, it's a walk-through diorama, and it's been lovingly restored and re-Imagined for the 21st century. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YK57RL1rLk&feature=related

 

[PRNCSAurora]

I would've loved to have seen a Mary Poppins and Sleeping Beauty dark rides. It is really upsetting that there are so few left in WDW.

 

[Thrill]

This is what makes me so mad about the dopey "Avatarland" that Iger wants to build. So many Disney-plussed properties are available for new rides, but what does Iger do? He goes outside the studio for ideas. I'm convinced that Iger really has no faith in Disney classics when it comes to what he thinks the public wants to see. And yet...The Lion King reissue has been number 1 at the box office TWO WEEKS IN A ROW. Jeez! The man's clueless.

Obviously Lion King is top at the box office. It's not like anyone can watch it on DVD or anything. And it's not a like a Blu-Ray comes out in two weeks, either.

While I don't think Pandora will be bad, there were better moves that could have been made. I think the one thing Animal Kingdom is sorely lacking is a simple dark ride. There are none. You've got shows, you've got thrill rides, you have the safaris. At some level, every other park has at least a couple o dark rides. Epcot has the World Showcase boat rides, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, and Nemo (Imagination? What are you talking about?). Magic Kingdom has too many to list. Hollywood Studios just has Great Movie Ride and Toy Story Mania, from my memory, but I'd argue that DHS has ride problems too, so that could be the reason.

What am I saying? A Lion King dark ride could have went a long way towards solving Animal Kingdom's issues. Maybe work with Dinoland, get rid of Hester's and put in a dark ride there.

Avatar can deliver a dark ride (not a Fantasyland style one, but that's not what I'm asking for), but it's going to be an expensive one. We could probably get a couple just above Fantasyland level dark rides and a smaller version of Beastly Kingdomme for the same price, at the very least.


As for what could have been WDW's Fantasyland, I wish it happened. Ichabod Crane would have been a good ride.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I have a Lion King DVD?????

So do I, for that matter, but I went to the movie anyway. And why? Because I was so HUNGRY for a GREAT Disney animated film, a hunger not at all satisfied by "Tangled" (Disney's attempt to be Dreamworks) and "Princess and the Frog" (misfire). And I LOVED it. The 3D was pretty effective, but it was the story and the emotional impact it had that made me feel the premium price was worth it.

And I bet all the other moviegoers who made the movie #1 two weeks in a row felt the same. People want the REAL Disney, not a faded mockery or a pale imitation. Or something with the name "Disney" pasted on it but that was not created or recreated or plussed by Disney magic. I hope against hope that Iger will look at the receipts from Lion King and LEARN something. But I really fear that he's near the end of his rope with this dumb Avatar thing and has lost any of the understanding he ever had about what makes Disney special. I hope he leaves the company and SOON before he does any more damage.

 

[scoobygirl39541]

I would have LOVED an Ichabod Crane ride!

 

[MarkTwain]

So if there were an Ichabod Crane ride instead of Mr. Toad... would we still have it? :lookaroun

 

[Theme Parkitect]

Ichabod Crane could STILL be a great ride, and could be put in Liberty Square, to add a little something else besides HM, something a little scary but not so much as HM. (Yes I know, HM is funny, but not really for little kids until the actual ride, the Streching Room is quite frightening, especially with the dead man... :lol

Ever since I had heard about BK being at DAK, I have ALWAYS wanted to see a Fantasia dark ride... Would include great music, and breath-taking displays...

 

[TheBeatles]

Ever since I had heard about BK being at DAK, I have ALWAYS wanted to see a Fantasia dark ride... Would include great music, and breath-taking displays...

I've always been fascinated by the thought of an attraction based on or that takes its cue from Fantasia.

I'd say the only thing that came close--not relating to Fantasia, but more so the full experience of sight ,sound and color--was the original Journey Into Imagination.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Disneyland does have a Sleeping Beauty Attraction inside the castle though. It opened in 1957, two years after the park and the Castle was built.

It's not a ride though, it's a walk-through diorama, and it's been lovingly restored and re-Imagined for the 21st century. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YK57RL1rLk&feature=related

Aye. Lovely little walkthrough. Wish we had something like that. But oh well, all parks their own little gems!