RUMORS
Sure,
hearing about coming attractions is fun, but, rumors are even
better. Whether projects that were discontinued and may come back,
to rumors that surface over the internet. They are all here.
Disney's
America
Stopped
due to protests in Virginia, Disney's America is rumored to resurface
in Texas. Disney has recently been buying up land in Orange County,
Texas, for what is not known yet. Disney's America is a park that
will celebrate America. There were plans to display attractions
having to do with the first civilized colonies to dusty boom towns
of the west, and more. There was going to be many things among
a replica of the Statue Of Liberty and a recreation of the battle
between the Merrimack and the Monitor.
Click
here to view Disney's America concept art
WESTCOT
Another
theme park that was under plan was Westcot. Westcot was going
to be an Epcot for California. Now not much is known about Westcot,
except it was to be where Disney's California Adventure is now.
Westcot is not really dead, it's just gone into hiding for a while.
Here is
a presentation for the planned Westcot that was done by Tony Baxter:
At an
early 1994 NFFC convention Tony Baxter described the plans for
WestCOT. Here are some excerpts:
..I'm going to explain a little bit about this. [The] two major
changes in this park [are] different from anything Disney's ever
done: one is that you're actually going to be able to spend the
night in a Disney park. Walt had always talked about EPCOT in
Florida being a place where you could live a life you couldn't
find anywhere else. Now it's never been feasible for us to do
that in a long term way but when we started WesCOT we said to
ourselves "Could we find a way where [guests] are not just
looking at he France Pavilion or the Japanese Pavilion but actually
saying "That's where I want to stay" and having that
be your headquarters for your whole visit to Disneyland.
That's half of [WesCOT]. The other half is the Future World pavilions,
where we're actually creating a role where the guests will be
able to step on stage into a role in tomorrow and it's going to
be a lot more participatory, a lot more theatrical. So you won't
have those big pavilions that we have in Florida but once you
step inside our theater and walk from the audience side onto the
stages of Land, Living and Science, we'll ask a little bit more
of you. It's sort of like what we did in Toon Town with fun but
in WestCOT we're going to do it with some powerful thinking.
. . Pardon me if I'm a little parched today. I just came back
from a company thing that was in Aspen and there's no humidity
there. It's also gorgeous and I now know why Michael [Eisner]
talks about the "Montana Future" when he tells us how
are we going to redo Tomorrowland. We've been struggling with
that as you all know. Maybe we can talk about [that] when we get
done with this [presentation].
. . I'm going to show you some of the slides that made up [the]
presentation. They're different from anything I've shown you in
the past in that most of the things I show you we are probably
going to build it exactly as you see it, but this is so far out
that things are probably going to change again and again. . .
. So with that in mind It'll just go through this slide show that
I've put together here.
[Slide #1] This is the first glamor shot. . . . Generally, you
can get the lay-out. This area here, a center court area, is shared
by both Disneyland and WestCOT. You will either approach it from
Harbor Boulevard on a shuttle system from the parking garages
or you will come from L.A. and park over in the strawberry field
and come on a shuttle to this area. You won't believe how much
work it was to get people to start thinking of the strawberry
field as a parking lot instead of a second gate. The parking lot
at Disneyland is absolutely the most spectacular piece of property
in the center of Anaheim with the hotels, the convention center
and so forth all around. We had to use that for the park.
We put America here at the beginning of the experience because
it's linked to Disneyland with the train station and Main Street
being Walt's symbolic gesture to the heart of America. The entrance
[to America] would be similar to the Centennial Fair in Philadelphia
a hundred and so years ago. The grand promenade and interior space
would be the gateway to the Americas with South America and Mexico
on this side and Canada over to the left and America itself with
the American Adventure show in the middle. And then we go on to
Europe and Africa and then Future World sits across the lake and
looks out across to the Greek amphitheater that faces straight
on.
[Slide #2] This gives you an idea of the other portions of the
project. You can see the parking garages here and over here and
then the shuttle system will take you up to the center court.
The ticketing will be exactly perpendicular to the way it is now.
So won't face Disneyland the way you do now. You'll come in from
the side and choose whether you want to go to Westcot or to Disneyland.
. . . When we first put the two park entrances together they didn't
fit and so we said "Wait a minute, let's make one continuum
from the hub at Disneyland down through town square, the rail
road station the monorail, that will become part of this and then
the gateway to WesCOT and then the lake looking directly out to
the icons. So the castle an the icons are all in one continuum.
I would get that most people would combine tickets here. In Florida
it's not as prevalent because to get from one park to another
it's about a 2-hour experience but here literally the distance
between Pirates of the Caribbean and Alfredo's Italian restaurant
is closer than if you were in EPCOT standing at the Seas Pavilion
and walking down to the Italian restaurant. So we think that people
will probably see this all as one. So it puts a lot more emphasis
on town square and what we do out in front--you can see some new
buildings in here--and the exploration of where would the turn
styles be. Would they be where they are now or would we put them
in town square so we could get some double use out of this activity?
I think we're leaning toward leaving them where they are but the
ticket booths will be moved, so there's 4 elements depending on
where you come in from. But this would be kind of a free space
with souvenirs and some food that would be open to both groups
of people going to either Disneyland or WestCOT. The morning start
up entertainment could also be shared by both groups.
. . These are the other resort hotels that stretch all the way
down to Katella. Those themes have not been settled on yet but
the Disneyland Hotel will be one of them, there'll be a new luxury
hotel at the front and a more moderately priced hotel down by
The Emerald .
We're going to talk primarily today about the park. . . . First
off, West Street will become Disneyland Drive. If you were driving
down or strolling down you will not see these parking garages,
those will be hidden from your view. But what you will see are
facades that line the street. This will be a European facade with
a port a cachere and a drive where you would come in , drop of
your luggage and then park your car here. The hotel rooms for
Europe stretch all the way out to Canada, which is in The Americas
and on down to Greece and Rome on the opposite side.
Next is the entrance to Asia. It's an Indian-like palace that
stretches up into China and Japan on one side and out to SE Asia
on the other end. Next--it probably won't make it for opening
day--is a grand Egyptian palace-- stretching over into the Middle
East. We're probably only going to open with a boat ride and some
middle African attractions in this area. Future World is the large
structure here and South America and Mexico have the largest show
buildings without hotels in them because we have a population
that we feel we ought to do something quite dramatic for.
. . Now we're going to go into the Americas. [slide #3] This is
the promenade inside the grand hall at front of The Americas,
so you've just stepped in from the common space between Disneyland
and WestCOT. This would be a place where we could recap all the
souvenirs that would be found throughout the realms that you're
going to visit, so it's sort of like an emporium. It's also the
gateway and entrance to the American Adventure show, which is
similar to the one in Florida but will be updated because we are
not talking about opening this tomorrow, we're talking about 7
or 8 years from now.
Directly beyond the opening at the far end is the gateway to the
lake area and across the lake you'll see the spiral with the earth
in it which is the gateway to Future World. [Slide #4] This is
looking back at the area we just came out of. It's sort of a melting
pot of America: it looks much like New York might have looked
a hundred years ago when you arrived from a foreign country. We
wanted to symbolize this melting pot area; our country is made
up of all the differences and diversities of all the other cultures
around the world.
On one side is Canada. We're going to have a Native American show
that will probably be done similar to the Spirit Lodge that was
done up in Vancouver [since this presentation was made the Spirit
Lodge was relocated to Knott's Berry Farm]. It was done by Bob
Rogers Productions, which has worked very closely with Disney
on a lot of projects.
On the other side is Mexico and South America. We're going to
do an indoor Blue Bayou-like space where there will be a fiesta
going on all the time. There will be several rides for children,
a dark ride and what would normally be outdoor thrill rides but
they'll be indoors to keep this feeling of a night time fiesta
going on day in and day out. There will be restaurant facilities
in there too and then at night we'll be doing a [??????] fiesta
in this area [slide #5]. In Florida it's just a restaurant with
a placid lake so we're going to dramatically bring that to life.
In the other area is the Aztec and Incan cultures in South America
and Mexico and we'll have a very mystic show about the spirits
and legends of South America and Mexico. There will also be native
dancing on the outside in front of that space.
[Slide #6] Now the promo film for WestCOT talked about World Cruise.
It's the longest ride we've ever done: it's 45 minutes long, it
has 5 stops and in between that there's like 9 minute stretches
of ride. So that's about as long the Jungle Cruise currently is.
You'll be touring all the outdoor sites of the Four Corners of
the World as well as going into show boxes where we'll tell the
stories about the different areas you're coming to or leaving.
For instance, if you were leaving Asia and going into Europe,
you would go into a space and--very much like Spaceship Earth--you
would see the forming of ancient Greece and Rome and the burning
of Rome and then the resurgence and the renaissance. After Michelangelo
paints the Sistine Chapel as he does in Spaceship Earth, we would
emerge out of that building and be in Renaissance Italy and you're
invited to step out in that experience: amid all the entertainment,
shops and restaurants. One of the things that we found out when
we analyzed EPCOT is that many elements are out of context. For
instance, the Sistine Chapel is in Spaceship Earth, the Mona Lisa
is being painted in the World of Motion but the Italian and German
pavilions are way out on the other side of park. So we've tried
to index all of that so on the World Cruise you'll get all of
those story points that encompass the dawn of the earth's history
up through modern times and then at 5 key points you'll be invited
to step out if you wish or continue on with the story. They all
had to be designed as 9 minute shows because we have no guarantee
where you're going to get on. So each story is complete and sets
up the next stage.
[Slide #7] Going on now to Europe, because of the size restriction
here,we weren't able to have each individual country the way they
do in Florida. That would take up the whole parking lot alone
without any Future World but by pooling [continents] together
like Germany, Italy, England and France, you'll feel more like
you're in a land than you do in Florida, where you barely get
in and that's the end of the pavilion. You keep being reminded
that you're along that lake. Here you'll be able to really get
lost back in the bi-ways and when you look up it won't be a fake
set in the window it will be somebody living up in that space
[hotel guests]. So I think it's going to be a much more environmentally
complete space.
We have an attraction, Tivoli Gardens, in the front here. We've
tried to integrate children's rides throughout the park because
another problem we have at EPCOT is it's mostly films and travel
information and shopping, which children don't find that attractive.
So we've got something at each stop which we hope will be appealing
to all age groups. There's a CircleVision show in France that
we did for Euro-Disney, "From Time to Time," It's with
audio-animatronics...Hidden under the acropolis here is the show
space where guests will see the dawn of Europe and the blossoming
of the renaissance.
[Slide #8] This is back in the courtyards going from Germany onto
Italy and these canals are the areas where the World Cruise will
travel...The larger buildings in the back can be achieved because
we have 5 and 6 stories to work with in the hotels, that they
don't have to work with in Florida. Another reason for that is
that in the 30-something years that Disneyland's been open the
outside surround has gotten a lot more developed and grown up
and we can't hide that anymore with new trees. So having 6 story
buildings in the back is going to give us the block that we need.
And then on top of the hotels we'll put set pieces like St. Basil's
from Russia.
We were very hot on doing a Russian pavilion and we were very
close to doing it in Florida and then the whole economy changed
over there. We have a completed show that was read to go and maybe
it will come to life here in WesCOT.
(Slide #9) Going on to Asia, this building combines the Indian
palace in the back, which is a hotel stretching over into China
and Japan. In the foreground is SE Asia and there's a carousel
of mythic Asian animals primarily for the children as well ethnic
foods along the lake. There's a Japanese show in the main pavilion
over here and Ride the Dragon, which is a Chinese festive dragon
that travels up and down over the Dragon's Teeth Mountains. When
it gets up to the higher altitudes, so you won't see the Emerald
Hotel, we have silks that come down over the side of the coaster
and enclose the guests in a festive dragon. . . . The silks will
be in the up position when you load and then when it gets going
really fast we'll bring them down and it will be like in a worm
hole from a Star Trek movie. That'll keep you from seeing things
that you shouldn't see too. . . . It will be a striking piece
to see both from Disneyland Drive on the outside as well as providing
a rather effective backdrop inside the park. . . . A lot of these
ideas were lifted from the original EPCOT concept so we'll bring
back The Temple of Heaven for China.
[Slide #10] This is a sample of how we would do an Indian hotel.
We cheated a little bit because India obviously isn't exactly
in Asia but it is one historic architecture that already looks
a lot like a hotel. The stretch of doing this was easier than
taking a Chinese or Japanese form and trying to adapt it to a
livable experience.
[New slide] There was a concept for Africa and the Middle East
that we're kind of sorry we didn't get to do. Michael Eisner is
always trying to stretch everybody to do things that are very
difficult. One of the shows we had in here was The Three Great
Religions of the World. He said "I want you to do a show
that everyone will enjoy and will find perfectly in concert with
their particular religion." (laughter) So we had settled
on depicting the 7 days of creation and avoiding all of the problems
between the Muslim and the Jewish and Christian versions of that.
And we were getting very excited because we were starting to deal
with 7 of the great artists of the world and trying to have them
depict each of the single days that they had been given. Maybe
that will happen later. The Three Religions would be a little
olive garden piece and you would step into the pre-show and go
into the main area.
(New slide) This is the portion that we will be building initially.
It has the Zambezee River Cruise, the Story Teller Tree, where
we'll have stories of African history told beneath the tree with
a live narrator and the Tishman African Art Exhibit, the world's
largest African art exhibit that is currently running at the Bower's
Museum and this will be the permanent home for that show.
(New slide) The Egyptians did not build hotels, obviously, so
we're cheating a little bit here but it could be a very fun and
elegant place to build.
(New slide)Across from the lake is Future World and like I mentioned
it's like going on stage. We only have one icon so instead of
all the different pavilions competing architectural, we only have
one space. You'll walk under the cascading waterfall into the
lobby and there'll be gangways leading to the stages. Inside those
stages we have 3 wonder areas, in combination with the Four Wonders
of the World, will give us The Seven Wonders of WestCOT. That
will be a catch phrase at WestCOT.
Nature is quite large because it not only contains some new things
that we don't have in Florida but it has the growing areas as
you have seen them in Walt Disney World and the Seas Pavilion
as part of Nature. This building alone will is the same size as
Walt Disney World's Seas Pavilion. I used to say to everyone:
"Think of a Price Club and taking out all of the stuff and
making it about 20' higher than that." (laughter) It's on
2 levels. . . . The Nature area will have everything from a frozen
environment, which will actually be cold and refrigerated so you
can actually play with the ice and snow to an arid desert and
a humid jungle area. This is all new. This is going to be an area
that you can actually go into as well as going the under the water
in the Seas pavilion, pretty much as you know it at EPCOT. . .
.The growing areas in the Seas and the Land will be open as a
more major attraction. In Florida you have to reserve a trip to
go through there and here we'll make it more of a standard event.
Living combines Wonders of Living from EPCOT (Cranium Command,
The Making of Me] and Journey into Imagination, also from Walt
Disney World [which will feature unused concepts from the Figment/Dreamfinder
ride differentiate it from EPCOT) . Science is a whole new area.
We've got a big show called Cosmic Journeys (a combination of
film, simulation and 3-D similar in theme to Adventures Thru Inner
Space and the reverse: a powers of 10 view of the universe)and
a tremendous amount of interactive things that involve kids and
learning about future roles they might have in the world we live
in. One of the things we tried to analyze is what is it that turns
kids off and causes them riot today as opposed to being excited
about getting a job. One of the things we realized is that people
today are doing jobs that many people don't understand. If you
are living in L.A. looking at people coming into those glass towers
and sitting in front of computers all day, it doesn't makes the
sense of hundred years ago when people watched their family plant
food in a garden or making furniture and all these trades that
made growing up not such a mystery. So one of the real key thing
that we want to do in here is create hands-on activities where
kids would understand everything from something that would be
fun to do like animation to something that would be technically
boggling like designing computer parts for automobiles. We hope
that when you come away from those experiences you will have less
fear and apprehension about becoming a part of that world.
(New slide) It's almost like a mall with activities on 2 different
levels. The expansion areas here are all areas that we will grow
into as hopefully things take off.
(New slide) The icon, which we still don't have a name for yet
has changed a dozen times. We had the 300' golden ball and then
we looked at how that would look from Main Street and it looked
terrible, so it's evolving. We want something that symbolizes
hope and is attractive in that it lures you toward it. That's
the gateway there--with all the mist and fountains--for all of
the attractions, so everyone goes in one way. It's all theatrically
lit so you don't go outside--except for maybe in a few of these
nature biomes. . . . It's an environment that we wanted to make
almost like Tom Sawyer Island but along the trails, instead of
slides and tree houses you'll find adventures that tell you about
a certain part of nature's eco system.
. . All of Future World will be indoors so it will be very theatrical.
I think making it a stage set rather than reality out in the sunshine
let's it be a little bit more dream-like and futuristic than if
you're stuck dealing with stucco that gets chipped a lot and starts
staining and looking old. This way we can change it a lot because
it's all set up much like on a studio soundstage. As a new element
comes in we change it out.
The World Cruise comes into here and the 9 minute experience that
would begin
here and go through Future World tells the story of the formulation
of the
earth: the land, the sea and then man's development of his intellect.
Other portions tell the stories of the urban development
of the land as we know it.
Presentation
borrowed from Alt.Disney.Disneyland(A.DD.)
FAQ
Above
is concept art for Westcot. This was painted in 1993, not too
long ago, by R. Tom Gilleon. The spire on the left would be the
icon of the park like Spaceship Earth.
ROGER
RABBIT'S TROLLEY RIDE
An attraction
that has been rumored to open at Sunset Blvd. in the Disney MGM
Studios. Roger Rabbit's Trolley ride would be a simulator ride,
i.e. Star Tours,Back to the Future The Ride,Body Wars,etc. You
would ride a trolley through Toontown encountering cartoon characters
from the movie.
Baby
Herman's Buggy Ride
Yet another
attraction rumored for Sunset Blvd. is Baby Herman's Buggy Ride.
This would probably be a dark ride with Baby Herman and co.
DISNEY
VILLAIN THRILL RIDE PARK
Rumored
to be the fifth gate for WDW is a thrill ride park with the theme
of various Disney villains. There would be roller coasters and
simulator rides that represent Disney villains.
INDEPENDENCE
DAY MOVIE ADVENTURE
A pretty
intresting rumor is this one about an attraction for Disney MGM
Studios about the movie Independence Day. Nothing other than that
is known about this attraction. Disney MGM Studios already has
another attraction there based on a 20th Century Fox film, Star
Tours.
THE
RUMORS NEVER END. MORE TO COME SOON.
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