It takes years for a new ride or attraction to be constructed, from the initial planning permissions being submitted and approved, to the announcements and teasers, to construction then finally a grand opening. But some rides never get off the ground, with plans being kept in storage or scrapped altogether. Join me in exploring what could have been at the world’s theme parks in this two-part-post on forgotten rides, starting with Disney parks!
Rhine River Cruise, Germany Pavilion, Epcot
We start off this list at Epcot, in one of the original World Showcase pavilions: Germany. Based on traditional German architecture, the pavilion is home to various attractions and restaurants including a model railway and village, a Snow White Meet and Greet and the Biergarten Restaurant, but did you know that in the original plans a darkride was included? This attraction, known as Rhine River Cruise, would likely have been similar to Rio Del Tiempo in Mexico (now Gran Fiesta Tour) or Maelstrom over at Norway, taking guests on an adventure through German legends on the country’s largest and most famous rivers.
The project got so far off the ground, in fact, that an entrance for the ride was constructed before construction suddenly stopped! There’s a common misconception that the ride was fully built and has lay abandoned since Epcot’s opening, but this isn’t exactly plausible- it’s highly unlikely Disney would just build a ride and forget about it, and aerial shots of the Germany pavilion show that, while an unload station was partially constructed, the show building wasn’t and there’s no sign of an abandoned ride system.
We don’t have much information on why exactly the plans were abandoned, but budgeting issues is the most likely theory- by the time of Epcot’s opening every World Showcase pavilion had a sponsor, and perhaps Disney were unable to find a sponsor that was willing to support a whole ride as well as Germany’s other attractions. It’s interesting to think of what we would have seen and heard experiencing Rhine River Cruise, what the soundtrack would have been like, to the main show scenes right down to the way the boats would have been designed. Although you can’t actually ride it, a little part of the attraction still sits in the Germany Pavilion, in the form of an archway at the back of the area! Make sure to have a look next time you find yourself in Epcot’s World Showcase!
Beastly Kingdom: the Good and Bad Realms, Animal Kingdom
When Animal Kingdom was in its planning stages, the park’s focus was on three different types of creatures: existing, extinct and mythical. Animals of the third category would have a home in a themed land of their own, Beastly Kingdom, divided into two real for “good” and “bad” creatures. Both were meant to feature their own characters and attractions, with the Good Realm being home to a Quest of the Unicorn, a bright, magical maze leading to the unicorn’s grotto, and Fantasia Gardens, a musical boat ride starring the animals of some of our favourite Disney movies.
The Evil Realm was a lot darker. Towering over Beastly Kingdom, the remains of a ruined castle would have housed a high-speed rollercoaster that would take riders on a fiery adventure through the realm, ending with guests being almost burned alive by what would have been an intimidating audio-animatronic dragon.
At some point during Animal Kingdom’s construction the concept was scrapped, but references to the idea remain in and around the park today. On entering the park guests are greeted with a dragon head above the ticket booths, alluding to the dragon of Beastly Kingdom, and you can still park in the “Unicorn” section of the car park. The dragon can also be spotted in the park’s logo! Not so subtle is the giant animatronic (Disco!) Yeti that resides in Expedition Everest, doing… well, nothing, but that’s a topic for another post.
In 2017, Animal Kingdom did actually get a land dedicated to mythical creatures: Pandora The World of Avatar, along with it the iconic Floating Mountains we all know and love, and while the four WDW have been undergoing a lot of changes over the last few years, it’s likely that this is the closest we’ll ever get to experiencing Beasty Kingdom.
The Little Mermaid, Fantasyland, Disneyland Paris
While we are currently able to experience two Little Mermaid darkrides at Magic Kingdom and Disney California Adventure, the first incarnation of this beautiful ride would have been an incredible experience to say the least. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s Disney were working on their sixth theme park, and their first European park, Euro Disneyland in Chessy, France. The park would move partially away from the traditional Disneyland model, the most significant example of this being the reworking of Tomorrowland as Discoveryland. Never before seen ride concepts were being created too, and a mind-blowing Little Mermaid darkride, was one of these, years before Ariel’s Undersea Adventure or Journey of the Little Mermaid debuted at the US parks.
Designed by legendary Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter, this attraction retelling of The Little Mermaid focused more on the film’s most iconic scenes rather than musical element, beginning with Ariel singing Part of Your World and Prince Eric watching from the boat, before taking riders underwater to hear Sebastian and the ‘Crustacean Band’ singing Under The Sea. The experience ended with a burgeoning Ursula towering over guests, which definitely would have terrified a fair few people!
Disney’s well-known Omnimover system didn’t make an appearance on Euro Disney’s version of the ride, instead, riders would sit in clam shell chariots inspired by the ride vehicles on Peter Pan’s Flight, allowing for a better view of the scenes from all sides.
Obviously Ariel never did get her own ride at Euro Disneyland, now Disneyland Paris, but not all the scenes were scrapped. It’s pretty easy to compare some of the scenes we did actually get to the original designs for the ride, such as the Under The Sea portion of the ride, and when Floatsam and Jetsam introduce us to Ursula, among other scenes. It’s fair to say Imagineering took a lot of inspiration from Tony Baxter’s designs when creating the Little Mermaid rides we have today!
The plans for Disneyland Paris’ Little Mermaid attraction weren’t just locked away in the archives never to be seen again. In fact, you can find a full POV of the ride that could have been on the Little Mermaid Platinum DVD!
Mount Fuji Rollercoaster, Japan Pavilion, Epcot
We’re returning to World Showcase, this time at the Japan Pavilion, for another ride that never made it off the ground. Japan was always going to be an impressive pavilion, with traditional Japanese architecture surrounding the courtyard, and several restaurants serving national cuisine. But while today the back sightline of the pavilion is mostly dominated by trees, in original plans for the Japan Pavilion we would have looked upon a giant Mount Fuji! The mountain would contain a mine-train type coaster that would wind through the rockwork, like a combination of Space Mountain and Expedition Everest!
The story of why the project was ultimately abandoned is a pretty interesting one. When a sponsor was found for Japan, video camera company Kodak had already agreed to sponsor Imagination! over in Future World. Japan’s sponsor was a direct competitor of Kodak, which created problems. The sponsor pulled out of the deal and the pavilion’s budget was cut drastically, with Mount Fuji and the rollercoaster removed from the plans altogether. Bijutsu-kan, an exhibition gallery, remains as the only long-standing attraction in the Japan Pavilion even today. Coincidentally, the building that houses Bijitsu-kan was originally meant to be the site of another unbuilt attraction, Meet The World!
Although it would be great to see this unfinished concept make a comeback, it seems unlikely, as the space that would have been home to Mount Fuji is now used for Bijitsu-kan and what looks to be a Cast Member car park. The idea could be applied to any of the other pavilions with a bit of empty space however- I would love to see a rollercoaster ride through the Alps in Italy or Germany!
Dick Tracy Dark Ride, Disneyland
Released in 1990, Dick Tracy was a high-speed film full of excitement and adventure, inspired by a classic comic book series, and set to smash the Box Office. Disney were expecting the movie to be so successful, in fact, that the budget was increased from £23 million to nearly £50 million during production, and plans were made for a major presence of the film at Disneyland, including a darkride! Unfortunately, Dick Tracy did not make as much of a splash at the Box Office as was expected, and in its new poor financial state Disney could no longer afford to build a ride, so the plans were abandoned.
Dick Tracy did eventually end up with a presence at Disneyland however. A new musical stage show based on the movie, was so far along in production by the film’s release that it would be pointless to simply scrap it, so Dick Tracy Diamond Double Cross debuted in November of 1990, to mostly positive reviews. The show starred the title character as well as the main villains, but what was arguably the most memorable aspect of Diamond Double Cross was the kind of terrifying costumes!
Did I miss any off this list? Which of these attractions do you wish you could have experienced? Let me know below!
Your articles are amazing. Thank you for your hard work.
It’s definitely worth a visit! 🙂
Interesting! Never heard of that park before
Love this Lily
If you enjoyed this article, check out some of my other posts from theme parks and attractions around the world, and consider subscribing to have all the latest Coaster Dreamers content delivered straight to your inbox!
Tall and Speedy: the story of the Intamin Accelerators
There was a time when lifthills were not just commonplace on coasters; they were compulsory for a working ride. A train travelling up a lifthill was the only way to gain enough momentum to complete the circuit- that was, until 1978 when Montezooma’s Revenge opened at Knotts Berry Farm in California, the first coaster to…
Disneyland’s Black Sunday: What was it and how did it happen?
“As long as there is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will never be complete” Walt Disney When you think of Disneyland, what comes to mind? Castles, family, and Mickey Mouse? What about fires, dehydration and stampeding crowds? Okay, those last three maybe aren’t so likely. But all these actually happened on Disneyland’s opening day,…
Strangeness of Life: The weird and wonderful attractions of Epcot’s Wonders of Life Pavilion
When Walt Disney began drawing up his plans for the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow, something that was included right from the start was a pavilion dedicated to health and fitness, and the wonders of the human body. Imagineers wanted to stay as close to the original plans as possible when designing Epcot Center, now…
Coaster Dreamers 
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoy them. Sorry about the late reply -Lily 🙂