Some really cool concepts there.

The World Showcase stuff sounds the best, especially the Austrailian Resort pavilion.

they should consider Australia again but not for Epcot but for DAK.

The Scandinavian pavilion sounds very interesting.

Spain is another one that should be reconsidered.

Ath this point its time they consider filling in those eight spots.  World showcase has become stagnant

Good old days when WDW occupied pride of place in terms of future attractions and expansion plans.

I think I've read elsewhere that the Matterhorn also could've gone in the Scandinavian pavillion (if one came to be)...part of me likes the idea of Disneyland and WDW having some different attractions, but a Matterhorn-type attraction would be really fun.

Also, all the other countries in World Showcase would be really fun, too.  I wonder if they ever will expand World Showcase.

This is the kind of article I love to read, Jim!  Great job, and thanks!

This is the earliest I've ever heard the Grand Floridian mentioned by name.  For some reason, I assumed that the theme for that hotel was some mid-eighties conconction.

Jim, I have to hand it to you.   This is the kind of stuff you do great.  A big step up from the wild projections or the Pixar beat-down.

In addition to the specific projects Jim mentioned at the end of the article, it looks like a few other projects "morphed" into something else.

Wonders of Life Pavilion is (was?) a Life and Health pavilion.

Horizons had a lot to do with space exploration, and of course Mission: Space is a space-themed attraction/pavilion.

Like the Movies Pavilion concept, the African Pavilion became a large part of Animal Kingdom. (I do concur with those who want to see more nationalities represented around the lagoon, though!)

The hotel/resort area isn't themed like WS, but the resort areas around EPCOT took off not long after the Swan/Dolphin experiment showed some sign of success.

Did New Orleans Street become Pleasure Island? The geography seems right to say that it did.

And, of course it is not the Matterhorn, but I can't help but think that Imagineers were looking at Expedition Everest as WDW's version of "The Matterhorn on Steriods."

Thank you, Jim! I love reading the "world that never was" type of articles you write.

Chris

One enjoyable aspect of a Disneyland vaction is the ability to walk from your resort hotel to the theme parks. If you need a mid-day break from the parks you can be back in your hotel room in minutes. This situation is not as easy at Walt Disney World. Long walks combined with bus transportation can cause the shortest trips to take up to an hour. I like the idea of additional themed hotels located behind world showcase. Actually, any themed hotel that is walking distance to a theme park is a benefit. Monorail and boat transportation continues the "magic" of a Disney vcation because they are modes of transportation that we don't experience in our home cities. The busses really need to go. So, it's time for a real Hollywood Hotel adjacent to the Studios Theme Park.

The mention of the Empress Lily choked my up a little. I was sad to see that beautiful upscale namesake of Lilian Disney get sucked into a Borg entity franchise, Fulton's Crab Shack. I'm all for progress, but it seemed that the 90's were all about turning a unique shopping experience (The Disney Shopping Village) into a mall with stores that are available in most major cities. That is Downtown Disney. I love most of the renovations that went on there, but somebody lost sight if what imagination means. It went from, "Let's make something nobody else has" to "Let's put in all the hot franchises!" That's why Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island is Rainforest Cafe (replacing of Chef Mickey's), The Lego Store, Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop, Planet Hollywood, The House of Blues, etc, etc.

And How I would have loved to have seen an Australian pavilion in place of the Swan & Dolphin that now dwarf the Eiffel Tower.

But I suppose the direction they went did make more money after all, and kept them ahead of the competition of Universal and Church Street Station.

These are the types of articles that got me coming to JHM in the beginning ... good stuff, Jim. Although in fairness I know you can't write these all the time. You'd run out of material pretty quickly!

Anyway, lots of good stuff here. If Iger was smart, he'd dust off some of these plans and get 'em going again. Especially the stuff for World Showcase. I agree with Micky ... WS is getting pretty old. There's really not much going on there of interest anymore.

If I thought they still needed more hotel rooms, I'd say adding one adjacent to a theme park (a la Disneyland) would be a good idea, too. Maybe they could raze one hotel and move it someplace else!

Where exactly are there 8 slots in World Showcase? Between the current pavilions? Anybody know?

Bulldoze the Swan and Dolphin and build the Australian complex !! Let's start a movement !!!

Ahhhh, so much imagination and attempted entertainment originality wasted.  Isn't that the story of the Disney Company the last 20 years?   The Eisner years?

I think that's unfair to Eisner, Kbene.  He wasn't alone in frittering some great WDW visions into uninspired realities.  The deal with Tishman for the Epcot Resort hotels was inked just after Epcot opened, long before Eisner.  Prior to that, grand ideas for all new Migic Kingdom attractions like Thunder Mesa and a trio of dark rides were shelved for proven Disneyland formulas from Fantasyland and Pirates.  And don't forget that it was during the mid-seventies that the oil crisis spooked Disney management into freezing development of all those cool hotel concepts along the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake.

I'm no Eisner apologist, but regrets can be shared all-around.

Some sort of Mountain over in Fantasyland would be a welcome addition.  Has anyone noticed the HUGE vacancy left over from 20K?  And the best they could do is fill in 5% of that space with a cheesy playground that should be part of the Disney Employee Daycare?!  REALLY?

I, for one, am all for Florida expanding it's mountain range.  It may be a while since Everest just opened... but hopefully soon.

Jim... to be honest i am kind of disappointed with the article. It was really short with no real extrapolation on the concepts or ideas. The article only contained 860 words and out of those only 260 were yours.

Jim... i think this is half assing it a little bit. Its like watching a home run slugger hit a homer and stop at first base.

I can only hope and assume that you are working on some larger more time consuming essay that will completely enthrall and keep your readers riveted.

thanks.

Good article Jim. Reminds me of the good 'ol days.  ;o)

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go fantasize about riding the train through the Matterhorn while REAL snow flies around me.

sigh

Happy thoughts.

cbarry123, I haven't been to WDW myself, but on Google Earth it looks like there might be a few premarked areas left for development:

1 - Between Mexico & Norway

2 - Between the Outpost & Germany (possibly two spots)

3 - Between Germany & Italy

4 - Between Japan & Morocco

5 - Between Morocco & France

6 - World ShowPlace area between UK & Canada

Not quite 8, but there seems to be some room for expansion. There are structures & trees in those areas, and I'm sure if existing pavilions extend into those spots right now (again, I've not been to Epcot).

First post! woohoo!

danielc56

Ratatouille just passed the $200 million mark.

Just in case you wanted to know, Jim.

danielc56, remember that at the time this was written, the Norway and Morocco pavilions hadn't been built yet.  So those two, plus your six makes the eight Nunis was referring to!

Yes, yes, yes! RATATOUILLE made $200 million...in just 66 days! I knew it was a great movie, now I know it is, beacause it passed that magical number...although that magical number used to be $300 million...then $275 million...then $250 seemed like a better benchmark, beacuse, you know, too many big blockbusters like Tranformers, etc., had the nerve to open this summer! But, we all told you so, Jim...we're right and you're wrong...I think...wait...am I really pleased...or just bitter because you don't march in lock-step...oh, who cares, RATATOUILLE made $200 million...in 66 days...albiet, barely...crawling, limping, to get there. And rumors that Bob Iger bought-out a few theaters, just to make sure they got there,  are just silly:)  Yeah to us, and ha ha to you, Jim!

This article reminds me why I started reading Jim Hill...all the great stories about unbuilt concepts, future concepts, etc.  The Ratatouille comments may be out of place in context of this article but they do point to a change of focus of this site.  With regard to gross of Ratatouille, total gross excluding this week's foreign intake is now over $373 million.  The film has yet to open in such major markets as UK, Germany, Australia, etc.  It is quite possible that when all is said and done, total gross will exceed the $462 million of "Cars."  If not, it will be pretty close.

I thought I read on a website, perhaps here, that you can actually see the concrete footings for what was supposed to be the East Coast Matterhorn somewhere in Fantasyland around where the skytram let you out.

Ah. The good old days of articles. This really makes me think back...

Anyway, I'm up for the Matterhorn in Fantasyland. That just made me grin. It's my favorite ride in Disneyland, I'd be thrilled to have it in WDW.

Jim Hill's back with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, he shares info about a trio of rides that were supposed to have been built in TDS's American Waterfront area. With at least one of these attractions drawing its

Great read as always Jim!  I am reading a book now called The Disneylands that never were  (or something like that) and the information you write about fills in more info about the proposed future from long ago.

I have always thought that Disney really needed to expand in various places as one reader commented it can tend to get stagnated in places.  Having been to WDW about 20 times over the last 12 years, I always get excited with new attractions and new things to check out.

As for Epcot, it REALLY needed expansion and still does...Australia is one I would agree with and a South American country would be nice to see too.

Thanks for the great read!