THEME PARK FAVES
Instead of the three original dark rides that debuted in Disneyland's Fantasyland, there were plans early on to substitute them with three "atmospheric" dark rides. At least, that has been the narrative for a very long time. For example, Peter Pan's Flight would be a Mary Poppins dark ride instead, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride would be themed to Ichabod Crane (which is fitting given the 1949 film), and Snow White's Adventures would be a Sleeping Beauty dark ride. On a similar note, I have read on an Internet board that Alice in Wonderland was slated to be Babes in Toyland. According to the user, this was all originally planned during Walt's lifetime when the Magic Kingdom was first being planned by the Imagineers, which places it in 1966, but that brings up some reservations I have about the claims. However, other descriptions of the possible IP used for Fantasyland dark rides would've included Sword in the Stone and other films.
Then again, think about the Western River Expedition. Yes, that legendary Marc Davis attraction which was just a victim of harsh circumstances and wasn't even built (at least in its planned form because some people argue that Splash Mountain is a descendant of Western River, but that's a post for a different day).
During Walt's lifetime, the discussion of what would be a part of Disney's Florida theme park was kept mostly to the design team, which is interesting because of how busy the designers were with other projects, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, New Tomorrowland, and even the Haunted Mansion. Ultimately, Walt was more concerned with EPCOT as in the planned city, not the theme park. His only noted remarks regarding the Florida park were vague in that he said he wanted the unnamed theme park to NOT be a duplicate or replica of the original. He was also quoted as saying that the attractions at Disneyland have been designed and proven to be fitting for the new theme park. So in the end, Walt's limited remarks on the Florida Park basically set the stage for what WED would do for Florida.
In continuing with that philosophy, the 1968 Annual Report (published Sep. 1968) outlines the "show philosophy" for the future theme park:
"During 1968, while the land was being prepared for actual construction, major design emphasis has been placed on the show philosophy for the 'new Disneyland' theme park. In size, and in its general shape, it will parallel many of the features of California's Disneyland.
Although many attractions will be familiar to the 76 million people who have already visited California's Disneyland, many more will be unique to the new theme park in Walt Disney World."
It goes on to establish the general aspects of what the theme park would cover on the following page:
"As Disneyland now does, however, the new theme park in Walt Disney World will strongly reflect the wonder worlds of nature, the classic stories of childhood, and the spirit of America as we prize it---the nostalgia of the past, and the abiding faith and dreams for man's future."
Wow, I am forever partial to that "utopian" marketing, as in the kind the Walt Disney Company has been reliant upon for decades.
Anyway, I shall get on with my point and say that the idea to have enough attractions to make Walt Disney World a separate experience than Disneyland and yet retain the format of said attractions, while presumably reimagining classic Disney attractions.
So the timeline of "currently available history" shows that the master planning of the theme park itself was kicked in high gear in early 1967. That year alone for Disneyland brought the Pirates and the New Tomorrowland, which were both influential and the zenith of Disney Imagineering at the time (and for a long time afterwards).
Within the early stages of planning, decisions were made to make the new theme park stand out from its predecessor. Perhaps more out of concern for the costs than the inherent design philosophy (then again, the design replaced a land from the California park with an unused concept from that park), the Pirates of the Caribbean was eventually given the axe in favor of the Western River Expedition, which was first developed that year as a mixture of Pirates and Nature's Wonderland. That was done by late 1967. So the Pirates survived as a possibility for Florida for a short time in 1967 and wasn't considered for another four years until the park opened and warranted its quick inclusion.
We know the history, especially if you've read what Foxxy Furr of Passport2Dreams, Jim Hill, Mike Lee of Omniluxe (WidenYourWorld), and well, this blog.
So what about those other E-Ticket items?
Well, the E-Ticket attractions in 1967 were the Pirates (already covered), Small World, Matterhorn, Submarine Voyage, Tiki Room (it originally required its own separate ticket when it opened in 1963 as it was owned by Walt Disney and not the actual Park), and the Pack Mules Thru Nature's Wonderland. Heck, at the time that planning on the Magic Kingdom began in 1966 and 1967, the two major upcoming E-ticket concepts were the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain.
MEET THE REPLACEMENTS!
In the planning stage, a lot of attractions that were either already at Disneyland or were considered for Disneyland at one point were put on the boards. Like what we know about the Pirates and Western River Ride, even the attractions that wouldn't be duplicated at the new theme park were given a counterpart.
Instead of having the Matterhorn Bobsleds replicated in Florida, it was decided early on (perhaps as early as the first half of 1967) that the Space Mountain roller coaster that was supposed to be the focal point of the New Tomorrowland update was given a premium spot on the ever-changing layout of the Florida park.
The Haunted Mansion, which was being designed in its final form around this time (1967-68), was one of those attractions that would naturally fit into the park and was selected early on to be another ride for Walt Disney World.
Of course, that opened a whole can of worms since the location of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion was on the outskirts of the Frontierland-New Orleans Square area and it was already built as a plantation manor from the Antebellum South. As we know, Liberty Square was envisioned for Disneyland by Walt in the mid-1950's and it didn't get built at the time, so it was revisited as a replacement for New Orleans Square for the new theme park as New Orleans Square was both meant to be a unique experience and the actual Big Easy was deemed too close to Florida to replicate such a land. Heck, look at the similar store offerings at the New Orleans Square of the 1960's and the Liberty Square of the 1970's. Then again, there was the Bicentennial coming up within ten years that would certainly be a missed opportunity if they neglected to finally build Liberty Street in some form for Florida, which restarted plans for a revised Liberty Street at Disneyland. From what I've been able to determine, Liberty Square was always part of the plans for WDW. In fact, its other unbuilt neighbor, Chinatown, was slated for the Florida Park's Main Street.
(Note: This is curious, given Dick Nunis' hint at building a New Orleans Square style area at Lake Buena Vista in the early 1980's)
Back to the actual shows and rides, folks.
Anyway, the Liberty Square idea always had the Hall of Presidents show in some form or another, so instead of merely replicating the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show from Disneyland, they revisited the "One Nation Under God" show that Walt had been tinkering with at the time of the work for the New York World's Fair. They "plussed" it!
So are we still in American History Land?
Yes, because a lot of things were altered in this area and yet familiar to the original.
Let's take a look at Pecos Bill.
Before Pecos Bill settled there, the area was designated to be a store because the prime eating location would be the Mesa Terrace Restaurant in nearby Thunder Mesa. However, the change in plans brought a striking resemblance to the Casa de Fritos area.
The frontier facades were altered, but three major similarities were left intact. Grizzly Hall (the home of the Bear Band show) resembles the Davy Crockett Frontier Arcade building. The Golden Horseshoe was magically transformed into the Diamond Horseshoe with a similar facade and interior. In fact, Bill Martin once said that there was this planned building (likely a copy of the Golden Horseshoe, but directly across the street where the Casa de Fritos would stand) for Disneyland's Frontierland back in 1953-1954 that was too expensive to build at the time and those plans were recycled twelve years later for the "replacement" of the Golden Horseshoe. The Frontierland Shooting Gallery was, well, the Frontierland Shooting Gallery.
As per the islands carved out early on, Tom Sawyer was to return, but with new activities planned for the islands. In fact, some of Dorothea Redmond's early work on the Florida Park in 1967 was done on what would be Tom Sawyer Island and additional activities were planned by Marc Davis in 1969 and 1971.
So when it came to Adventureland, it was given a hell of a lot more space, based on years of dealing with a tight area in California. It retained the three basic attractions, but improved them. For example, the Swiss Family Tree House was put on a man-made island. The Tiki Room was given a wider, and I mean wider, pre-show area. Oh, and it wasn't even announced as the Enchanted Tiki Room. It became the Tropical Serenade, which was a copy of the original show with a larger theater and set in a Balinese ceremonial house. As per the Jungle Cruise, it was given the Marc Davis treatment from the beginning with a longer ride time and an excursion into the ruins of an ancient Cambodian temple. A lot of the shopping and refreshment experience was just given that thematic boost. For example, the Tahitian Terrace was initially planned for the area due east of the Jungle Cruise and the Adventureland Bazaar was given a courtyard of space. Oh, they added a viable quick-service location called the Adventureland Veranda.
Time to look towards the future. The Submarine Voyage from Disneyland was somewhat outdated by 1967, so it was moved to Fantasyland and given a 20K theme. Then again, the idea of the Nautilus being a submarine ride was something that was suggested as a future attraction back in 1957-1958. Keep in mind that Disneyland still had the 20K walk-thru exhibit around the time they started planning the Florida Park or at least when the Florida Project was announced to the public in 1965. Space Mountain was going to be Disney World's "Matterhorn", despite being a "future attraction" bound for Disneyland. Speaking of the Matterhorn, it was initially tossed around, but the idea of a Matterhorn in Florida was reconsidered after the park opened and yet it was a possibility that was entertained in a stockholders meeting in 1971. The Flight to the Moon was likely going to be an attraction sponsored by R.C.A., which featured computers. Known as the Computerama, or in the words of John Hench, "Alice in Computerland", and we all know about how that went...
The Carousel of Progress, which was already spinning at Disneyland at this time, was "replaced" by a show concept called the Yestermorrow Time Machine, which was to be sponsored by Monsanto and was conceived in 1970 between Dick Irvine, Marc Davis, and writer Ray Bradbury. The entry building on the right side of the entrance to Tomorrowland in Florida was originally designed to hold a possible Carousel theater setup.
So the Adventures Thru Inner Space dark ride wasn't planned to be at Disney World and the sponsored dark ride slot was taken up by Eastern Airlines for a show of some nature. That was announced publicly during the summer of 1971, even though there were hints of a pavilion being designed as early as 1970. The People-Mover and Monorail were planned for Disney World from the beginning. (Do we need to go over EPCOT?)
As per the one ride that did open in Tomorrowland back in '71, the Grand Prix Raceway was a retooled Autopia to fit in with the then-super popular sport of drag racing instead of the consumer-fueled car culture of 1950's futurism.
And I definitely mentioned the trinity of classical Disney dark rides (in Fantasyland, of course), but did I mention the other small changes that were made?
So the Skyway Chalet was redesigned for Disney World, but the Motor Boat Cruises that were to receive a transformation into "Garden of the Gods" by Marc Davis in the early 1960's. Since that concept was also unused at Disneyland, it was likely suggested for the Florida park in 1967 or 1968. It would be brought up again in 1972 for Disneyland and a variation on the idea was pondered for Florida in the 70's and again in the 90's.
Whew, we spent a long time just thinking up what could've been. However, these aren't probably all the ideas that were suggested. As per that Nature's Wonderland replacement, we'd get a diorama of the stagecoach robbery scene from the Western River Expedition, a possible duplicate of the Rainbow Caverns, and definitely the scenery of the "animated wilderness" on the Rivers of America. This 1967-1968 concept was eventually dropped by 1971, but the idea for the Rainbow Caverns was revisited in 1971 when additional capacity was needed for Florida.
In fact, we would be able to choose from a number of "themed" resorts, including the un-built Asian, Venetian, and Arabian resort hotels. Certainly, the city core of Epcot would be likely there in some form with its only actual proof that it remained a city-like idea after Walt's death in the form of the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village that opened in March 1975.
Imagine what could've been...
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