Defunct Disney: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

by Sam
10.29.21

Everybody has those rides that remind of them old school Disney World. Maybe it's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride or Timekeeper... or if you're really old school, If You Had Wings or even Kitchen Kaberet. But it seems like everybody had one classic ride circled on their park maps and that was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. The Jules Verne penned novel turned Disney hit film starring Kirk Douglas from 1954 was of course gonna end up in the newly built Disneyland first, right? But you might be surprised to learn that actually, the WDW-sister to the east only got the 'Submarine Voyage' treatment.

Disneyland's Submarine Voyage

In 1959, an ambitious expansion of Tomorrowland in Disneyland was completed, which included the addition of new attractions, including the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage. "Commissioned" on June 6, 1959, in front of Richard Nixon, Walt Disney and his wife Lillian, and officers of the US Navy, the attraction made use of early animatronics to create underwater life, and the use of forced perspective to increase the feeling of realism.

 Eight submarines painted in grey took guests through the attraction, which took place in a lagoon visible from Tomorrowland and a large show building hidden behind two waterfalls. It became extremely popular with guests, and Walt Disney Imagineering consequently planned for more elaborate version for the forthcoming Florida Project concept, which would become Walt Disney World.

Vehicles

One of the signature pieces of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was the fleet of passenger vehicles, adapted for theme park use from Harper Goff's Nautilus design for the 1954 Disney live-action version by Disney Imagineer George McGinnis. The basic hulls were constructed by Morgan Yachts in Clearwater, Florida, with the final building work being transferred to Tampa Ship midway through. Another veteran Imagineer, Bob Gurr, oversaw the project. Upon delivery at Walt Disney World in August 1971, the vehicles weighed some forty tons, and were installed into a concrete guide (track), mounted on top of a mechanism that limited "bumping" accidents.

Take Your Sub to Work Day

The attraction vehicles were not actual submarines, but instead boats in which the guests sat below water level. The interiors were a mix of metal paneling, rivets, and bolts, as well as Victorian-esque fittings in the form of passenger seats that could flip outwards, and armrests beneath the portholes, in keeping with the Goff concept. Each "guest" aboard the Nautilus had his or her own seat, as well as a round porthole to look out into the attraction. A small button located in the porthole recess was intended for defogging the window if needed, though this rarely worked. Located at the top of the window recess was a small speaker through which Captain Nemo's voice (veteran voice actor Peter Renaday, doing an impression of James Mason) guides his guests through their underwater adventure.

Above the seating area was the sail (as it was known to the employees) where the "helmsman" stood and controlled the vehicle's operation. The "diving" effect was produced by bubble machines located throughout the attraction, as well as using the waterfalls at the entrance to the show building.



Each of the twelve vehicles accommodated a total of forty riders. Vehicles normally cycled through the attraction in packs of three.

The Ride

Despite the extensive 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea overhaul the attraction was given, essentially it was still the same as its Californian counterpart Submarine Voyage, in both its underwater show scenes and narration, except for a few occasional differences.

The adventure began as the guests made their way down into the back of the submarine, bending to miss the low-level raised rear hatch, and finding a place on board. Throughout the voyage, an eerie organ version of the Disney film's main theme would play on a never-ending loop, allowing for a narration backing as well as a piece of stall music if required. Following the standard Disney-style introduction and safety notes from the helmsman, the narration, in the voice of Captain Nemo, would begin.

With the submarine clear of the dock, the diving sequence would begin, with hundreds of air bubbles filling the porthole view, creating the illusion of descent. Once clear, the Captain introduced himself to his passengers, and then introduced them to the underwater plains around Vulcania. In the lagoon, guests could see moray eels, crabs, lobsters, sea bass, clams and turtles as well as a host of smaller tropical fish.

Minutes later, in another tribute to the Disney film, an "underwater party" of divers would come into view, as animatronics wearing replicas of the Harper Goff-designed deep sea diving equipment worked kelp beds and wrangled with rebellious turtles.

With the bubbles from the waterfall at the cavern entrance simulating a surface storm, the Captain would order the submarine down into the depths as a precaution, and the guests enter the show building section of the attraction. Within minutes, the devastation such natural phenomenon can create was made clear with the ominous Graveyard Of Lost Ships, with shipwrecks from various centuries littering the sea bed, guarded by the silent, gliding figures of sharks.

Oh that's not freaky or anything.

Leaving the destruction behind, the Nautilus would reach the North Pole, circumnavigating the Polar Ice Cap from below the surface, and narrowly avoiding large icebergs stabbing through the water. Venturing deeper, the Nautilus entered the eerie world of the Abyss, where guests viewed examples the many weird and strange species of deepwater fish that thrive in such an environment.

Rising slightly, one of the final discoveries made is the ruins of Atlantis, along with a typical Disney-fied sea serpent, accompanying mermaids, and a treasury bursting with jewels and gold. With the ruins of the ancient civilization soon left behind, the Nautilus would enter the final phase of its journey, with a tribute to the most iconic and memorable part of the 1954 Disney film: the attack of the giant squid. After seeing a much smaller sister Nautilus trapped in the clutches of one such creature (curiously marked XIII on the tailfin), the passenger submarine would be attacked itself by long, thrashing tentacles.

With a final push to the surface, the Nautilus would clear the caverns of the dangerous squid, and enter the safety of the tropical lagoon, on its way towards the dock.

Closure

Though the attraction was a guest favorite and remained popular throughout its existence, it was expensive to maintain, as well as having a low hourly loading capacity for an attraction of its size and expense. It was closed on September 5, 1994, without advance notice, for what was outwardly termed a temporary maintenance period. The ride was set to reopen in the summer of 1996, but in April of the same year, the closure was officially made permanent.

One day, somebody's gonna make a big discovery in that landfill.

Post-closure, several vehicles were left stationary in the lagoon and by the dock, before the entire fleet was eventually pulled from the attraction in 1996. The submarines were regularly moved around to different locations in Walt Disney World backstage for several years, until eventually being stripped and buried in a landfill in 2004. Three of the vehicles were saved from the fleet's demise. Two were shipped to be sunk in the snorkeling lagoon at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. Here, the two submarines were placed in various areas of the snorkeling lagoon and covered with cargo netting to help sea life and microbial corrosion cling to them. As of 2008, only one of those two Nautilus submarines still exists, but both its wheelhouse and dorsal fin have been destroyed by hurricane weather. 

The third submarine was first moved to queue for the backlot tour at Disney's Hollywood Studios, but was eventually moved to an empty lot. When the tour was still open, it could be seen next to some props from Star Wars or Pirates of the Caribbean. When the tour closed, the submarine was put in storage, but it has been taken out and displayed at various Disney events, still in fairly good condition.

The lagoon remained as a scenic viewpoint (and was renamed "Ariel's Grotto", complete with a King Triton spouting statue) until 2004, when the water was drained and the sets and infrastructure were demolished. 

Things Disney Nightmares are made of.

The lagoon sat unused until 2004, quietly sitting with it's track's exposed - but serving as a beautiful photo spot. Until filling the body of water in, a massive King Triton statue was added to give the former attraction some semblance to current Disney properties:

"Well guys, we have this huge lake here. Let's put a statue of Ariel's dad in there. It'll make sense..."

Pooh's Playful Spot was built where the attraction formerly stood and operated between 2005 and 2010 before making way for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as part of the Fantasyland Expansion. 

What would Captain Nemo think? 

However, the exterior to The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure contains a silhouette of the Nautilus in a rock wall. 

I can see it. Can you?

Also during Fantasyland's massive 2012 expansion, Imagineers were sure to put a nod to the old attraction - a massive squid sits atop a wind vane on the cartographer's shop in Prince Eric's village.

"Mommy, why is there an octopus here in Prince Eric's village?"

Looking back, 20,000 Leagues and it's precursor Submarine Voyage are/were a classic attractions where imagineering truly went beyond anything they'd ever done before. Maybe it was a little bit hokey, but for kids and adults of all ages, Disney went out of their way to make you believe you were about to be murdered by a giant squid. Doing some quick google earthing, check out how massive the show building plus docks for all those subs were:

Fantasyland 2021

Fantasyland 2002

So you missed out on 20,000 Leagues? That's cool - there's still plenty of things to see that you'll be able to be nostalgic about later. Just start planning your next trip... but why not save time, money and energy by booking with a former cast member herself? We've got the expertise to get you in the resorts and parks and do almost anything you'd ever want to. Best thing, it's no cost to you! Hit up our FB page HERE or email us HERE.