Why For did WDW wave “Buh-Bye” to Seven Seas Lagoon’s Wave Machine?

Jim Hill

12 years ago

TikiTerry writes in to say:

I’ve really been enjoying all of these Disney World history
stories that you’ve been sharing with JHM readers lately. So I was wondering if
you could maybe talk about the Polynesian Resort‘s wave machine. How long did
it work? Where was it located? Why did Disney shut it down?

TikiTerry –

Wow. That’s a lot of questions. And – to be honest – there
aren’t a lot of answers out there. Mostly because the team that opened Walt
Disney World was genuinely embarrassed that they’d spent $400,000 (which is
$2.2 million in 2011 dollars) on a piece-of-sh … machinery that didn’t work
properly. And for a while there in late 1971 / early 1972, there was concern
that the wave machine might wind up costing Dick Nunis his job.

You see, it was Dick who – in his role as vice president of
operations of Disneyland and then-just-beginning-construction Walt Disney World
Resort – who had pushed & pushed hard that a wave machine be one of the key
elements of Seven Seas Lagoon (You know? That 200-acre, man-made lagoon which
the Imagineers had built out in front of the Magic Kingdom).

“And why did Nunis push hard for this wave machine?,” you
ask. Well, you have to remember why people vacationed in Florida before there
was a Walt Disney World. It was to take advantage of the wonderful weather as
well as snag a spot for their blanket on the Sunshine State’s 825 miles of
beautiful sandy beaches.

And given that Dick viewed the Atlantic Ocean & the Gulf
of Mexico as Disney World’s direct competition … Well, he wanted Seven Seas
Lagoon to have some of the real ocean’s appeal. And – to Nunis’ way of thinking
– that meant white sandy beaches. More importantly, the sound & feel of
waves lapping against the shore.

Besides, you have to remember that the Company’s original
vision for WDW was that it would be “The Vacation Kingdom of the World.” That –
in addition to those days that they exploring the Magic Kingdom – Guests would also
want to go boating on Bay Lake, hiking around Fort Wilderness, shopping at the
Lake Buena Vista Village …

An overview of the wave machine set-up in WDW’s Seven Seas Lagoon,
with Beachcomber Island and all of its wave-making machinery to the
top right of the photo and Beachcomber Beach towards the bottom
left. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

And as for Seven Seas Lagoon, Dick dreamed of someday staging
surfing competitions out there. Nunis figured that pictures of all those buff
guys riding the curls (with WDW’s Polynesian Village conveniently in the background of each shot, of course)
would be great publicity for the Resort. In much the same way that those photos
of Arnold Palmer & Jack Nicklaus playing on the Magnolia & Palm courses
at the first-ever Walt Disney World Golf Championships & Pro-Am Tournaments
in late 1971 helped raise the public’s awareness of WDW’s Golf Resort.

The only problem was – in order to turn Nunis’ dream into a
reality … Well, that wave machine would have to be installed before Seven Seas
Lagoon was then filled in with water. More to the point, a special cove area would
have to be carved out just down the beach from Disney World’s Polynesian
Village. Someplace that was within walking distance of the hotel which was surf
& surfing friendly.

And this was all going to cost serious money. And given that – in late 1969 /
early 1970 – the costs of constructing Walt Disney World had already begun spiraling
out-of-control … finding an additional half million dollars (which would cover
the cost of the wave machine as well as construction of the Polynesian Village’s
Beachcomber Cove area) was going to take some doing.

But Dick was up to the task. So he twisted some arms and
cajoled a few members of senior management at WED. And eventually Roy O. Disney
himself voiced his approval for the project.

So the money was found. And the wave machine was installed.
And then the Seven Seas Lagoon was filled with water. And sometime during the
Summer of 1971, Walt Disney World’s wave machine was fired up. And – from all
accounts – it initially worked very well.

A close-up view of the mechanism used to power the wave machine on Beachcomber
Island. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

And by that I mean: Disney Legend Bill “Sully” Sullivan (who
was part of the opening team of the Walt Disney World Resort) has very fond
memories of spending an afternoon with his family at Beachcomber Cove during
the late summer of 1971. “I taught my son to surf (on the curls that were
created by) the wave machine that was at the Polynesian,” he recalled in a 2007
interview with Disney historian Jim Korkis.

“So if Cast Members were enjoying the effect that WDW’s wave
machine created in September of 1971, why then don’t Guests who visited Disney
World in October of that same year – during
the Resort’s first official month of operation – recall this amazing piece of
machinery at all?,” you ask. It’s simple, really. By then, Seven Seas Lagoon’s
wave machine had been shut down for tinkering.

“And what exactly was the problem with WDW’s wave machine?,”
you query. Well, it’s at this point that the stories diverge.

Now some longtime Disney World employees will tell you that
the wave machine was shut down because it did too good a job of replicating the
action of genuine ocean waves. Meaning that it kept causing serious beach
erosion at Beachcomber Cove.

The Southern Seas II paddles by Beachcomber Island (please note — just off the stern of
this WDW steamship — some of the machinery used to power Seven Seas Lagoon’s
wave machine). Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

On the other hand, Transportation veterans will tell you
that the real reason that WDW’s wave machine was shut down was that the surf
that this extremely expensive piece of machinery created made it extremely
difficult to operate watercraft safely in and around the Polynesian Village. With
the Southern Seas (i.e. that 100 foot-long side-paddlewheel-powered steamship that
was used to transport Guests around the Resort from 1971 to 1975) being particularly
vulnerable to the rolling waves that would come rebounding out of Beachcomber
Cove and then make Seven Seas Lagoon a tricky stretch of water to traverse.

And there are other longtime WDW employees who will tell you
that the main reason that the wave machine had been turned off by the time Walt
Disney World had begun its three-day-long grand opening celebration on October 23,
1971 was that this piece of machinery had already proven to be problematic.
That this wave machine could only run for a few hours at a time before it would
then break down. And then it would take a full team of engineers working in wet
suits to finally get the thing going again.

Mind you, though Dick Nunis himself insisted (as part of his
June 1999 Window-on-Main-Street ceremony at Disneyland Park) that WDW’s wave
machine ” … only ran for one day,” that wasn’t really the case. In fact, there’s
a black-and-white photograph in a 1972 edition of “Eyes & Ears” (i.e. the then-weekly
newsletter / magazine which was distributed to all Disney World) which shows
Dick on a surf board, riding a wave into Beachcomber Cove. So WDW’s wave
machine was operational – if somewhat erratically so – well into 1972.

“So why didn’t the Imagineers and/or WDW’s engineers just
find a way to fix this wave machine?,” you ask. The story that I’ve always
heard is that – in order to make the sort of permanent repairs that would have
finally made this expensive & balky piece-of-sh … machinery work properly …
Well, that would have involved draining Seven Seas Lagoon and/or building a
very expensive dike around Beachcomber Island (i.e. the artificial isle just
offshore where all of the machinery for WDW’s wave machine was kept). And
during the early, early days of Walt Disney World (when the Company was still
trying to recover the $400 million that they’d poured into the construction of
this Resort), that just wasn’t an option.

Dick Nunis’ Window on Main Street in Disneyland Park. Please note — according to the
bottom line of this turn-of-the-century window advertisement — that wave machines are
supposedly a Nunis specialty. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

And speaking of money … One surprising source of revenue for
the Walt Disney World Resort in those early, early days turned out to be
parties for big convention groups. To be specific: Major corporations were
willing to pay top dollars for beachside luaus for their employees similar to
the one that was held for the press & honored guests as part of WDW’s grand
opening back in October of 1971.

And as you might have already guessed, that luau was held
right at waterside in Beachcomber Cove. Which – given the hours & hours of on-site
prep that are typically involved with properly staging corporate events of this
size – meant that the beachfront area where these highly-expensive-to-produce
waves were supposed to come rolling in often had to be closed off for
Polynesian Village Guests.

Then – because a number of high profile (more importantly,
would have been extremely profitable for the Resort) corporate parties had to
be suddenly cancelled during the Summer of 1972 due to Central Florida’s highly
changeable weather – a decision was made to build an all-weather structure down
along the shore by Beachcomber Cove. Here’s a description of that project from
Walt Disney Productions’ 1972 annual report:

Luau Cove – Due to the popularity of our evening luaus,
particularly as a convention activity, the need arose for an all-weather
shelter where these events could be held, rain or shine. Luau Cove, now under
construction along the beach adjacent to the Polynesian Village, will provide
sheltered seating for 500 guests, as well as a stage and food warming
facilities. It is scheduled for completion early (next) year.

And once that structure opened in 1973, the handwriting was
pretty much on the wall for WDW’s wave machine. So much of Beachcomber Cove’s
waterfront property had been eaten up by the construction of Luau Cove that it then
just didn’t make much sense for Polynesian Village’s employees to continue promote
this now-extremely-narrow strip of beach as a place where Guests could frolic
in the surf. Which – at that point, anyway – rarely if ever came rolling in.

So the wave machine was left to rust & corrode just
off-shore in Seven Seas Lagoon. And as for those who whispered about how Dick
Nunis was going to lose his job with the Company because of this
half-million-dollar boondoggle … Well, as it turns out, there were so many
other things that went wrong at Walt Disney World during its first three years
of operation (EX: those bob-around boats that constantly broke down out of Bay
Lake. Which meant that Cast Members had to regularly go out and rescue boatloads
of stranded, sun-burned tourists. Not to mention all of the poorly-poured
cement floors in the Garden Wings of the Contemporary Resort. Which then had to
be jack-hammered up and replaced in 1973) that the wave machine debacle quickly
faded from memory.

Mind you, Dick Nunis never forget about that wave machine.
He still believed that – in the proper setting (more importantly, with a piece
of machinery that would actually work the way that it was supposed to) – that an
in-land ocean experience, where Guests would then get the chance to frolic in
some artificially-created surf, would be a huge hit with WDW visitors. So Dick
pushed & pushed & pushed and eventually got Typhoon Lagoon built. And
when that water park opened in June of 1989 and its 2.7 million gallon wave
pool immediately became Typhoon Lagoon’s most popular feature, Nunis finally
felt vindicated.

Anyway, TikiTerry, that’s the story of WDW’s wave machine.
As I’ve heard it, anyway. And if you folks have any Disney-related stories that
you’d like to see answered as part of a future Why For column, please feel free
to send them along to whyfor@jimhillmedia.com.

Special thanks to the nice folks at Pixie Vacations for sponsoring
this week’s Why For.

Your thoughts?