It’s November of 1963. Walt Disney is in the Company’s corporate plane. He and a group of executives have spent the past hour flying over huge expanses of Central Florida swampland as they’re trying to decide where exactly they’re going to build an East Coast Disneyland.
Then Walt sees it. Out of the window of the plane, in the middle of Bay Lake, he sees Raz Island.
Raz Island, Idle Bay Isle, Riles Island and Eventually Treasure Island
Truth be told, this 11.5 acre island went by a couple of different names.
As the property changes hands from the early 1900s right through the 1950s, it went from being called Raz Island to Idle Bay Isle to Riles Island. All Walt knew was — when he saw that island right in the middle of Bay — that’s when Walt said “This is it. This is the piece of property we need to buy.”
It wouldn’t be ‘til nearly two years later that Walt would reveal that his Company had purchased nearly 40 square miles of land in Orange & Osceola County (a chunk of property roughly twice the size of the Island of Manhattan). This is where Disney planned on building his vacation kingdom.
Mind you, for a while there, Walt’s plans for the property were fairly amorphis. For a while there, there was no Seven Seas Lagoon out in front of the Magic Kingdom. Walt planned on enlarging Bay Lake and building several sets of vacation cottages along that waterfront. One that would be themed to Cape Cod. Another that would celebrate the South Seas.
But as for Raz Island (or Riles Island. I have to admit that I like that Idle Bay Isle name too), Walt knew exactly what he wanted to do. That was going to become a special stand-alone attraction at his vacation kingdom.
One where Guests could recreation the pirate-themed adventure that had been played out in Disney’s June 1950 release, “Treasure Island.”
Treasure Island – Disney Studios First Full-Length Live-Action Movie
Now that movie held a very special place in Walt’s heart. It was the very first full-length live-action film that Disney Studios produced that didn’t feature a spec of animation. To Disney’s way of thinking, “Treasure Island” was a crucial movie which helped in the transition from Disney being a studio that only made animation to then becoming a modern corporation in Hollywood that made TV shows & theme parks.
So Walt wanted Walt Disney World’s “Treasure Island” attraction to really be something special. To feature things like full-sized recreations of Capt’n Flint’s ship, the Walrus. Likewise a walk-through version of Ben Gunn’s cave where a vast horde of gold & jewel would glisten in the dark.
As early as 1953, Walt was toying with paying tribute to Disney’s version of “Treasure Island” in one of his theme park. The island out in the middle of Disneyland’s Rivers of America was supposed to be home to the worldwide headquarters of the Mickey Mouse Club. At one point — Walt wanted to call this man-made island Treasure Island rather than Tom Sawyer Island.
Initial Troubles with Treasure Island
Anyway … Walt died in December of 1966. And given that the cost of turning miles of Central Florida swampland into a vacation kingdom kept mushrooming (from the originally budgeted $100 million to $200 million to — eventually — a whopping $400 million), the development of WDW’s Treasure Island stand-alone attraction gets pushed off ‘til Phase 2 of the Florida Project.
The Oil Embargo of 1973 stalls things out for a bit. But by 1974, the Imagineers are ready to reimagine Raz Island. First they haul over 50,000 cubic yards of soil out to the middle of Bay Lake. 500,000 tons of boulders as well. The idea is that they first need to build a series of pathways through this 11.5 acre island which is — truth be told — only just-slightly-above-Florida’s-already-high-water-table. They also have to create sites where — eventually — recreation of the Benbow Inn & Ben Gun’s Cave will be built.
Realizing that they may need more than pirate-themed adventures to get people to pay to take a boat ride out to the middle of Bay Lake, the Imagineers also create enclosures for more than 600 tropical birds. With the idea that Treasure Island will then become a two-fer. A place where pirate enthusiasts can then challenge their inner Jim Hawkins. But also be a place where nature lovers can go and explore some flora & fauna.
Opening of Treasure Island at Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World’s Treasure Island opens on April 4, 1974. Mind you, this is just Phase One of the project. So while a full-sized recreation of the wreck of Capt’n Flint’s ship, the Walrus, has been set up along the shore and the map for this stand-alone attraction features all sorts of names like Doubloon Lagoon & Black Dog Bridge, there’s no Benbow Inn or Ben Gunn’s Cave
Mind you, you can see concept art for this supposedly-coming-soon aspects of WDW’s Treasure Island in the 1973 edition of Walt Disney Productions’ annual report. But those items are being held back for Phase 2 of the project.
“Treasure Island” Rating Change from G to PG
But then — in 1975 — something unusual happens. Walt Disney Productions goes to re-release its “Treasure Island” movie to theaters. As a courtesy, they send this film to the MPAA (The Motion Picture Association of America. These are the folks who determine whether a movie that’s going to be released theatrically will receive a G, PG, R or X rating). So the MPAA takes a long at this now-25-year-old motion picture and says “Okay. Due to all of the piratical violence that kids will see when they watch Disney’s ‘Treasure Island,’ this film needs to be released with a PG rating.”
Now what you have to understand here is that — the previous year — Walt Disney Productions had adopted a new catchphrase. Which was “Look to Walt Disney Productions for the finest in family entertainment.” More to the point, as Mouse House managers announced this new catchphrase, they made a point of saying that Walt Disney Studios would only produced G-rated fare. And now — here was the Studio’s first-ever live-action film (which had previously been okay for kids to watch) now branded with a PG rating by the MPAA.
As you might expect, Disney executives at the time kind of lost their minds. They first made all sorts of passionate appeals to the Motion Picture Association of America. Arguing that Disney’s “Treasure Island” had not only been released to theaters but also shown on NBC as a two-part episode of “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” television and the Company didn’t receive one letter of complaint in regards to that movie’s violence. The MPAA still said “No dice. Our PG rating still stand.”
Then the folks at Disney Studios began making cut to the original 1950 version of “Treasure Island.” With the hope that — if they removed enough of that pirate themed violence — the MPAA would finally relent and allow this movie to go back out into theaters with a G rating.
In the end, they wound up cutting seven minutes of footage out of this originally-just-96-minute-long movie. But the MPAA then relented and gave Disney’s “Treasure Island” a G rating.
Treasure Island Changes to Discovery Island
But — by now — the suits in charge of Walt Disney Productions had kind of lost their taste for pirate-themed adventure. Which is why they informed the Imagineers that they should abandon any plans to build the Benbow Inn & Ben Gunn’s Cave out on Treasure Island. In fact, it might even be time for that stand-alone WDW attraction to get a new name.
Which is why — in March of 1976 — Treasure Island closed for a brief redo. When it finally re-opened a month later, this 11.5 acre area had a new name, Discovery Island. And it was now advertised to WDW Guests as a nature preserve with walking trails.
The irony of all this is — in July of 1976 — Walt Disney Productions actually released a new movie called “Treasure of Matecumbe.” Which is a pirate-themed treasure adventure set just after the American Civil War which was actually shot at Walt Disney World around the edges of Bay Lake. In fact, if you look closely at this finished film, you can see scenes that were actually shot out on WDW’s Treasure Island in 1975 just about the same time that Mouse House Managers were battling with MPAA officials about Disney’s “Treasure Island” movie from 1950 being forced to get a PG rating when it was re-released to theaters.
By the way, if you’d like to see what Discovery Island looked like after all of the Treasure Island material was removed, head over to Disney+ and check out “The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World.” This episode of “The Wonderful World of Disney” originally aired on NBC in November of 1977. It was shot in the Spring of that year. So you can see the brand new Discovery Island as part of this show.
FYI: “Treasure of Matecumbe” is also available for viewing on Disney+.
Walt Disney World Closes Discovery Island
Discovery Island closed in April of 1999. The thinking was — given that Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park opened in May of the previous year — it just didn’t make sense for the WDW Resort to have two animal-themed attractions that charged admission.
What’s Next for Discovery – Treasure Island?
Discovery Island has been empty since closure in 1999. There has been discussions on a private high end resort, yet we have seen no movement.
The idea was revived as Phase 2 of “Reflections”, a Disney Vacation Club resort, but that ideas is currently on hold.
If you want to hear discussion about the future of Discovery/Treasure Island, check out our Bandcamp Exclusive Podcast – “When WDW’s Treasure Island became Discovery Island“.