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Would Disney ever revive cancelled projects?

MaxW

MaxW

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
i just wanted to hear the boards thoughts on whether or not they think the Disney company would ever go through with building some of the abandoned rides/lands in the parks today. I have seen some brilliant concept art for Discovery Bay and Edison Square and wonder if i'll ever get to see these attractions (or others) in real life. I understand elements get reused, but can a entire land be taken off the chopping block?
p.s. nice to meet you all, read the forums for a while now and finally decided to join.
 
HappilyEverAfter71

HappilyEverAfter71

Member
I'm not sure if they ever would but if they do, I'm always hoping Beastly Kingdom will happen (though now with Avatar coming about, it's pretty much unlikely). Oh well, I can dream.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Discovery Bay became Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris.

Edison Square became the Carousel of Progress.

The theme park component of the cancelled Port Disney was revived as Tokyo DisneySEA.

A boardwalk with games and rides, namely a giant coaster, was conceived as part of the Boardwalk Inn, then again as part of Disney's America before being built at Disney's California Adventure.

There was a thought to buy Knott's Berry Farm and turn it into the cancelled Disney's America.

Many ideas from Disney's America found their way into Disney's California Adventure.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was part of the Fantasyland Expansion and removed before the project was announced, and then added back into the project.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Discovery Bay became Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris.

Edison Square became the Carousel of Progress.

The theme park component of the cancelled Port Disney was revived as Tokyo DisneySEA.

A boardwalk with games and rides, namely a giant coaster, was conceived as part of the Boardwalk Inn, then again as part of Disney's America before being built at Disney's California Adventure.

There was a thought to buy Knott's Berry Farm and turn it into the cancelled Disney's America.

Many ideas from Disney's America found their way into Disney's California Adventure.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was part of the Fantasyland Expansion and removed before the project was announced, and then added back into the project.
Click to expand...

Regarding SDMT, apparently, the story goes that WDW realized that New Fantasyland was too top-heavy for girls. With the addition of Princess Fairytale Hall, Belle, and Little Mermaid, they needed to even things out. Re-enter 7DMT and rename Cinderella's Carousel to Prince Charming Carousel. I guess you could count Winnie the Pooh, being Christopher Robin's fantasy.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
JohnD said:
Regarding SDMT, apparently, the story goes that WDW realized that New Fantasyland was too top-heavy for girls. With the addition of Princess Fairytale Hall, Belle, and Little Mermaid, they needed to even things out. Re-enter 7DMT and rename Cinderella's Carousel to Prince Charming Carousel. I guess you could count Winnie the Pooh, being Christopher Robin's fantasy.
Click to expand...
That makes for a cute story for the then new head of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The meet and greet complex had horrid capacity and the whole point of the entire project was to add back some capacity to the park.
 
BoarderPhreak

BoarderPhreak

Well-Known Member
I'd call it "repurposing" rather than "reviving." Generally, initial pitches that failed, failed for a reason. But that doesn't mean that some (or all) of the idea is bad. It just needs a new framework.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
A good idea never dies at Imagineering. Things are frequently pulled out of file drawers and closets, dusted off and given new life. The resulting theme may be different, but the core ride concept may still exist anew.
 
NiarrNDisney

NiarrNDisney

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forums! :)

Honestly I don't think any idea is just thrown in the trash at some point some ideas are relooked at and are reimagined/created in some aspects.
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
CinderellyKelly said:
On the little mermaid DVD bonus features they talk about the "ride that almost was". Theres an online ride through of a little mermaid ride idea from 1992. It's almost exactly like the little mermaid ride in both Disneyland and disney world.
Click to expand...
Eh only in the sense that they revived the idea of a Little Mermaid ride. What they went with really isn't much like the original 92 pitch, though obviously ideas are going to be similar due to being based on the same source material (so obviously would have similar types of scenes). But they're about as similar as WDW's Winnie the Pooh ride to Pooh's Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland.

The CGI concept ride from 1992 was substantially different (and I believe pitched by Tony Baxter unless i'm mistaken, back when he was still given some freedom and power at imagineering). It would have been a much more elaborate and well done take on Little Mermaid. Different ride system (some sort of suspended vehicle like Peter Pan that could better simulate the shift above and below the sea level as opposed to an omnimover) with larger/better/more show scenes and just a much more bold vision overall. Would have made one heck of a great Fantasyland dark ride. I wish they had used this original concept instead of the version they built, it's kind of a mess the way it is (not a BAD ride but not very good either, feels only half finished).
 
Last edited:
Voxel

Voxel

President of Progress City
lazyboy97o said:
Discovery Bay became Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris.

Edison Square became the Carousel of Progress.

The theme park component of the cancelled Port Disney was revived as Tokyo DisneySEA.

A boardwalk with games and rides, namely a giant coaster, was conceived as part of the Boardwalk Inn, then again as part of Disney's America before being built at Disney's California Adventure.

There was a thought to buy Knott's Berry Farm and turn it into the cancelled Disney's America.

Many ideas from Disney's America found their way into Disney's California Adventure.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was part of the Fantasyland Expansion and removed before the project was announced, and then added back into the project.
Click to expand...
Disney's America Refused to die for awhile, Going from Hayfield,Va to Knott's Berry Farm finally to elements in DCA
 

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