In the theme park world, nothing is safe.
Amazing rides, attractions, and shows can be retired in the blink of an eye when the
people in charge decide to guillotine them.
Lands are not excluded from this, and they can go from being magical places to becoming
lost and forgotten, so today, we'll be talking about Gone and Forgotten Theme Park Lands.
We're going to be ranking these lands based on three factors.
The quality of the design and theme, the attractions that they contained, and how beloved it was
and how much we miss it.
7.
Land of Oz Universal Studios Japan
We'll be starting the list with one of the least known lands.
Back in 2006 Universal Studios, Japan was celebrating its 5th anniversary, and as part
of the celebration, a new land based on the Wizard of Oz was created.
Land of Oz included the Munchkin Town, Emerald City, and the famous Yellow Brick Road, and
when it opened, it had two attractions.
The first one was Wicked.
This was a shortened version of the acclaimed Broadway musical.
The other was an animal actors show called Toto and Friends.
This was a live show starring both humans and animals, where Dorothy and her friends
from Oz visited the "Magic Orchard".
The area also had a restaurant called Munchkin Kitchen and a Munchkin Market store.
And in 2007, the area added another attraction: The Magical Oz-Go-Round, an Oz-inspired carousel.
One of the best attractions of this land was the great meet and greets where guests could
spend some time with Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion.
In theory, this land sounds fantastic, but sadly the execution was not, and for many
guests, it was the worst area in the park because it felt improvised and of low quality
in comparison to the rest of the park.
In 2012, as part of the park renovations, this land disappeared to make way for Universal
Wonderland, a whole new area that contains three mini lands based on Hello Kitty, Sesame
Street, and Snoopy.
The new area includes 20 attractions and is a huge improvement from its predecessor.
We ranked this land in the last place because, as we said before, it felt very improvised,
it's theming didn't manage to immerse guests into the world of Oz, the attractions were
not that memorable, and in all, the land was quickly forgotten.
6.
Condor Flats Disney California Adventure
California Adventure's opening was a huge disaster.
When it opened, the park had four themed lands.
Sunshine Plaza, Paradise Pier, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, and Golden State.
This last area was divided into six sub-areas, which were themed around several aspects of
California and its history, and one of these sub-areas was Condor Flats.
Condor Flats was supposed to be a desert airfield and testing facility celebrating California's
aeronautic history.
Surrounded by metal lattice structures, satellite dishes, old rocket parts, and "desert" rocks,
the runway-lined land really existed solely to host Soarin' Over California.
It also had the "Taste Pilot's Grill" restaurant and the Condor Flats Fly' n' Buy store.
The land remained that way for a while, but just like the problems with the rest of the
park, it was too modern and edgy and lacked the magic of visiting an idealized and historical
place.
Not only that, but the tiny land wedged against the evergreen-forested Grizzly Peak certainly
didn't feel like an expansive desert.
Condor Flats received some light placemaking during the park's five-year reconstruction
and emerged during the park's 2012 re-opening as its own standalone land.
But just three years after Condor Flats had been turned into a full, standalone land,
Imagineers decided to change it again, and they did a beautiful transformation.
The land was absorbed into the nearby Grizzly Peak and its 1950s National Park setting.
Desert rocks became High Sierras rocks; cactuses became evergreens; rusted metal scaffolds
became fire watchtowers; scrap metal was replaced with a family sedan, parked, and ready for
a hike.
"Taste Pilot's Grill" was turned into Smokejumpers Grill, and the Condor Flats Fly' n' Buy store
became Humphrey's Service and Supplies, which now pays tribute to classic 50s pit stop shops,
selling odds, ends, and souvenirs for passing travelers.
The Grizzly Peak Airfield is inarguably an improvement over the land it replaced.
Condor Flats is number 6 on our list because the land was just rethemed.
Other than the theme change, we didn't lose anything and the area still has Soarin', a
restaurant, and one store.
And even though in 2016 Soarin' over California was turned into Soarin' Over the World, the
former comes back every once in a while.
5.
Merlinwood Universal’s Islands of Adventure
When Islands of Adventure was being planned, Universal hired many of the designers that
had been working with Disney to create Beastly Kingdom to create the Lost Continent area
of the park.
This area is dedicated to myths and legends just as Beastly Kingdom was going to be.
And when the park opened, this area was the only area that was an entirely-original creation,
because the rest of the park was based on already existing franchises.
When it first opened, the land was divided into three realms.
The Lost City, Sinbad’s Bazaar and Merlinwood.
Merlinwood was based on an original Arthurian tale and it invited guests into a Medieval
village of pubs, craftsmen, and inventors.
And just outside the village in the old castle ruins guests could find the legendary Dueling
Dragons – two intertwined coasters performing an aerial battle with precision-timed near-miss
maneuvers.
This was an amazing area of the land with great theming that combined storytelling and
thrills.
But then in 2010, this area was demolished and became a part of The Wizarding World of
Harry Potter, particularly Hogsmead.
Only Merlinwood was retired, the other two realms of the Lost Continent continue to exist.
Dueling Dragons survived this demolition, and was rethemed and turned into Dragon Challenge
that same year until it closed forever in 2017.
4.
Bear Country Disneyland
The Country Bear Jamboree opened at Magic Kingdom in 1971 and became such a great attraction
that it was the first Walt Disney World attraction to be replicated at Disneyland.
And so, the Country Bear Jamboree opened at Disneyland in 1972.
But, unlike at Magic Kingdom, where the bear band plays in Frontierland, Disneyland used
the opportunity to carve a new land out around the Rivers of America.
This land was Bear Country.
Bear Country was Disneyland's seventh themed land and was Disneyland's first major expansion
since the 1969 opening of The Haunted Mansion.
This land was home to the Golden Bear Lodge, an eatery which was renamed Hungry Bear Restaurant
in 1977, the Mile Long Bar refreshment center, Teddi Barra's Swingin' Arcade, Davy Crockett's
Explorer Canoes and of course, the Country Bear Jamboree.
Then, in 1989 Splash Mountain joined the land and became the star attraction of the area.
So, Imagineers decided that Bear Country had to change to Critter Country, a land that
would include all types of critters and not just the bears.
The Mile Long Bar closed with this change in 1989, but Country Bear Jamboree remained
until 2001 when it was replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Now, Disney has announced that Splash Mountain will be with a new Princess and the Frog story!
Imagineer Charita Carter will be serving as senior creative producer leading the project
with the one and only Tony Baxter coming out of retirement to serve as a creative adviser!
This is a really exciting change, and we can't help but wonder if Critter Country will be
joining the ranks of retired lands or if it will be staying the same with the addition
of this new ride!
We ranked Bear Country in number 4 because, with the loss of this land, we also lost a
great classic.
But thankfully, we still get to experience it at Walt Disney World.
Still, Winnie the Pooh is an awesome ride, so we can't be too sad about
the change!
3.
A bug's land Disney California Adventure
As we've said before, California Adventure's opening was a huge disaster, and one of the
many complaints that guests had about this new park was the lack of Disney original characters
and not having enough attractions for small kids.
California Adventure began making some changes in order to appeal to guests, and the first
change that came was the addition of a bug's land.
This land was Constructed in a small lot adjacent to the already existing "It's Tough to be
a Bug" 3D show, and it had some relatively simple and off-the-shelf family rides like
bumper cars, two spinners, a splash park, and of course the iconic Heimlich's Chew Chew
Train that were overlaid with bug-sized details.
This mini-land was very cute, and it had a very cool way of shrinking guests and taking
them into the world of Flik and Atta, but it wasn't mind-blowing.
Still, it kind of solved these two problems.
It added more Disney characters and kid-friendly rides to the park.
The land remained like this for many years, but then in 2016, Disney decided to bring
Marvel into California Adventure by turning the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror into Guardians
of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout.
This caused a massive uproar among fans, but in the end, Imagineers created a super fun
ride that became an instant favorite for a lot of people, at least!
When Disney announced that a new Marvel-themed land was coming to the park, it was initially
supposed to overtake the park's Hollywood Land altogether, but in the end, it was decided
that it would have to be built a bug's land currently was.
A Bug's Land was closed in September of 2018, and Avengers Campus started being built.
This new land will have two amazing attractions: A Spider-Man attraction known as the Worldwide
Engineering Brigade, or WEB headquarters, and a whole new E-Ticket attraction where
you will step onboard a Quinjet and fly alongside the Avengers in an epic adventure to Wakanda.
The land was supposed to open on July 18 of this year but was sadly postponed because
construction had to be stopped.
Bug's land is number 3 in this list because, the land's theming was amazing and a favorite
among many guests, but other than the iconic Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, it didn't have
any great attractions.
This land will live in most of our memories as a beloved land, but we think Avenger's
Campus will be an amazing addition to the park that will bring many great attractions.
2.
Amity Universal Studios Florida
When Universal Studios Florida opened back in 1990, it brought all of our favorite movies
to life.
And they did this by creating picture-perfect recreations of real places, ready for their
close-up.
New York, Hollywood, San Francisco, and…
Amity!
Recreating the placid islands of Cape Cod and Massachusetts in the midst of a charming
community street festival Amity truly existed for one solitary reason: to house the amazing
and sadly now retired attraction Jaws.
The land was so great that in fact, Captain Jake’s Amity Boat Tours – the ride’s
departure point – featured real props from the films, and the ride’s queue video was
cleverly disguised as Amity’s local news station.
The land was perfectly tied in with the ride because the ride’s story was set in Amity
Island, years after the original events of Jaws.
These events had made tourism drop at the island, so a local sailor named Jake Grundy
decided to create a tour to take guests to the sites where the attacks had taken place.
Visiting this part of the park was a whole experience but of course, unlike the park’s
other themed lands, this quaint village drawn right from Jaws didn’t really have a reason
to exist without its headlining ride.
And when Jaws was closed in 2012, there was no reason to have Amity in the park.
So it was gone forever.
Amity became the London waterfront – home to Kings Cross Station.
Stepping through the shops of London leads to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon
Alley.
This Wizarding World expansion is mindblowing for Harry Potter fans everywhere but this
land is number two on this list because we can’t help but miss Amity and it’s amazing
signature ride, Jaws.
1.
Future World Epcot
When Epcot was being planned, the main idea was to divide the park into two areas.
The World Showcase and Future World.
Both of these areas would be inspired by the World Fair full of different pavilions that
would be permanent.
Future World was designed to be a showcase for the future, showcasing new technology
in conjunction with stories often exploring the past, how we got to the present and giving
a glimpse into the future.
Originally, Future World debuted with six pavilions: Spaceship Earth, CommuniCore, Imagination!,
The Land, Universe of Energy, and World of Motion.
The Horizons pavilion opened the following year, and The Living Seas and Wonders of Life
pavilions were added in 1986 and 1989, respectively, bringing the lineup to nine.
But the increasing speed of technological advances, changing views of futurism and the
demand of the corporate sponsors that partnered with Disney on these various attractions would
ultimately prove to be a challenge to the staying power of these attractions.
And Future World’s story has been defined by evolution.
Over time, nearly every one of its pavilions has dropped the epic, educational dark rides
that defined them like Universe of Energy, Body Wars, Horizons, World of Motion, Journey
into Imagination, Kitchen Kabaret, and The Living Seas.
And now the biggest change is about to come.
Last year at the D23 Expo, it was announced that Epcot would undergo the most radical
transformation in its lifetime.
Future World will receive the huge reimagining it’s needed for years.
But that means that the last remains of what the area used to be would have to be retired.
Since Future World has long-since dropped its focus on futurism and industry in favor
of discovery and thrills, the Future World name will be retired.
Instead, it will be subdivided into three “neighborhoods”: World Discovery, World
Celebration, and World Nature.
With this Disney is hoping that this area of Epcot will now be more timeless.
While we are excited to see what Disney comes up with for this area of the park, we placed
this in number one because we feel that the concept of Future World was very unique.
And not only that but also Future World’s attractions were extraordinary, having amazing
technological advancements and also original themes.
For many of us, Future World has been one of the best, if not the best land ever created
at a Disney Park and it will have a huge place in theme park enthusiasts’ hearts always.
Do you agree with this list?
Let us know how you would rate them!
It’s sad to see lands being retired at theme parks, but it's very exciting to get to visit
the lands that replaced them!
And you can do it if you start planning your next magical vacation with our friends from
pixievacations.com.
They will help you plan your perfect vacation to any Disney or Universal park specifically
tailored to your vacation style and budget, and working with a pixie is completely free.
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See you next time!