Are the Imagineers taking another shot at getting a shoot-the-chutes built at a Disney theme park?

Jim Hill

12 years ago

It was supposed to be Disneyland‘s first thrill ride: Monstro
the Whale …

Which – in much the same way that Dumbo the Flying Elephant …

… was just a Disneyified version of that amusement park favorite,
the spinning rockets — …

Disneyland’s Monstro the Whale was supposed to have taken
that classic early thrill ride, the shoot-the-chutes …

… and given it a Pinocchio
themed overlay.

But during Disneyland’s initial construction phase back in late
1954 / early 1955, as the money got tighter, Walt’s initially grandiose plans for
his family fun park got simplified. So the animated menagerie & sideshow-themed
restaurant that was supposed to have set the scene for the Dumbo the Flying
Elephant ride …

… got cut. As did Disneyland’s Monstro the Whale ride.

But Walt wasn’t the type to let go of a good idea. And since
he really wanted to find a spot inside of his theme park to showcase this sinister
cetacean, when Disney decided to turn Fantasyland’s underwhelming Canal Boats
of the World ride into the Storybook Land Canal Boats … Well, Walt had a
slightly smaller version of Monstro built …

… to serve as Scene One in this float-through attraction.

Walt also never forgot about the exciting-splashdown-finale portion
of Disneyland’s proposed Monstro the Whale ride. Which is why – when the
Matterhorn opened in July of 1959 – your bobsled splashed through an alpine pond …

… before it finally came to a stop.

And speaking of stops … After Walt died in December of 1966,
Dick Nunis continued to push the Imagineers to somehow find a way to fold a
flume ride and/or a shoot-the-chutes-like water thrill ride into Disneyland’s
assortment of rides, shows and attractions (This is actually where the impetus
for the Splash Mountain project).

Now jump ahead to the mid-1990s. Where – in the wake of the
Westcot 2.0 collapse – WDI was exploring all sorts of ideas when it came to a
second gate for the Disneyland Resort. And among the many concepts that were
considered was an anti-Disneyland, if you will. A deliberately old-fashioned
amusement pier with all sorts of classic attractions like a wooden roller
coaster …

… and a ferris wheel.

And if you look closely at the above concept painting
(between DCA‘s old Sun Wheel and Orange Stinger), what do you see?

That’s right. A shoot-the-chutes ride. As you can see the
concept painting below, the track layout for this water-based thrill ride was
to have been woven over, in, around and through California Screamin’.

So why wasn’t this shoot-the-chutes attraction built as part
of Paradise Pier? For much the same reason that the Monstro the Whale ride didn’t
make it into Disneyland back in 1955? As construction costs for the Disneyland Resort’s
second theme park began to soar, pieces of the project had to be pared back.
And among the first things to go was DCA’s shoot-the-chutes ride.

So could the Imagineers ever possibly circle back on this
particular ride concept for Disney California Adventure? Given that Paradise Bay
is now filled with all of the equipment necessary to support the Disney “World
of Color” nighttime water spectacular, sending a boat-load of tourists skipping
out across this body of water is no longer a viable option.

Not for Disney California Adventure, anyway. On the other
hand, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” -themed water coaster that the Imagineers
now have in the works for Shanghai Disneyland will reportedly have some
shoot-the-chutes-like elements …

… Which just goes to show you that WDI never ever gives up
on a good concept. Especially when it
looks like Guests will have a whale of a good time riding this proposed attraction.

And as far as the Imagineers are concerned, a Disneyified
shoot-the-chutes is definitely worth another shot.

Your thoughts?