20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (attraction)
| 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | |
|---|---|
| Park | Magic Kingdom |
| Land / area | Fantasyland (Magic Kingdom) |
| Type | Submarine voyage |
| Opened | October 14, 1971 |
| Closed | September 5, 1994 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering
|
| Status | Closed |
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, also known as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage, was a submarine-themed attraction in Fantasyland (Magic Kingdom) at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. Based on Disney's 1954 film of Jules Verne's novel, it took guests beneath the surface of a large lagoon aboard vessels modelled on Captain Nemo's Nautilus. For more than two decades it was one of the park's largest and most prominent attractions, and its lagoon was a landmark of early Fantasyland (Magic Kingdom).
History
Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971, but the submarine voyage was not quite ready on opening day. It opened on October 14, 1971, once the lagoon, its scenery and its fleet had been completed. Where Disneyland's earlier Submarine Voyage used modern, grey submarines, Florida's version was designed from the start around the 1954 film, whose ornate, riveted Nautilus, designed by Harper Goff, was one of the most recognisable vessels in cinema.
Disney built a fleet of twelve passenger vessels for the Florida lagoon. The attraction was a major E-ticket draw in the park's early years, but it was also demanding to run: a very large body of clear water had to be maintained, the underwater scenery required divers and constant upkeep, and each vessel carried a relatively small number of guests for the size of the operation.
Experience
Guests boarded through a hatch and sat in two rows, each person at a small round porthole, below the waterline of the lagoon. Strictly speaking, the vessels were not free-diving submarines: they were boats running on a guide system beneath the surface effect, with guests seated low enough that the view through the portholes was underwater throughout the voyage. A narration in the voice of Captain Nemo, performed by Peter Renaday, carried the story.
The voyage passed reefs crowded with fish and other sea life, a graveyard of sunken ships, a sequence under the polar ice cap, a glimpse of the lost city of Atlantis, and an encounter with mermaids, before a giant squid attacked a sister Nautilus visible ahead and the vessels returned, in story terms, to the surface and the dock. Most of the creatures and figures were static or simply animated, their effect created by the water, the lighting, the narration and the movement of the boat. From above, the lagoon itself, with its waterfall, rocks and circling submarines, was a show in its own right for guests who never rode.
Closure and legacy
On September 5, 1994, the attraction closed. At the time the closure was presented as a period of maintenance, with a return expected later; in 1996 Disney confirmed that it would not reopen. High running costs, low hourly capacity and the expense of maintaining the lagoon were the reasons most commonly given for the decision.
The submarines were removed, but the empty lagoon remained a familiar sight for a decade, with part of its edge used for Ariel's Grotto, a character greeting area. The lagoon was finally drained and removed in 2004. Part of the site then became Pooh's Playful Spot, a small children's play area that operated from 2005 to 2010. That, in turn, closed for the New Fantasyland expansion, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train family roller coaster, which opened in 2014, now stands on land that includes the former lagoon.
No trace of the water remains in the park, yet the attraction retains a strong following. Surviving Nautilus vessels and props are prized by collectors, and the Florida Nautilus design is still widely regarded as one of the finest pieces of vehicle design in Disney parks history.