Disney’s Broken Theme Park Promises & False Advertising

How many times has Disney advertised & promoted attractions for their theme parks that were ultimately cancelled? In this episode we attempt to answer the question once and for all, as well as explore what they were going to be.


PRIMARY INFORMATIONAL SOURCES:

Marc Davis In His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks - Pete Doctor & Christopher Merritt - Disney Editions

RetroWDW.com
ProgresslandUSA.com

VIDEO & IMAGE CREDITS:

(In Order of Appearance, non-Internet links & complete list within the end credits of the episode)

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind 4k POV - Attractions 360

Fire Mountain concept art - Disney Enterprises - Photo Courtesy of WDWNT.com

Hi-Resolution concept art of Westcot - Frederick Chambers / @HelmsmanFreddy - Disney Enterprises

Photos of Alien Encounter Figure - How Bowers / @GoAwayGreen on Twitter

Concept of Plectu’s Fantastic Galactic Revue - Nick Tierce / @nickytea on Twitter

Switzerland Pavilion concept art - Courtesy of WDWNT.com - Property of The Walt Disney Company

Muppet Studio Construction photos - Bioreconstruct, @bioreconstruct on Twitter

[maxpowr]

For all of Eisner's faults, he understood park theming and integrated it seamlessly. Iger only cares about dumping more Disney IPs into the parks. Blizzard Beach would be all Frozen if Iger created it.

[Account_Not_Applicable]

For all his faults (and there are plenty) I have more respect for Eisner than the current people in charge at Disney. At least Eisner was thinking of big creative ideas that could make them a lot of money, even if they did lead to a lot of risks not panning out, and losing money in the process. At least he made an attempt to be innovative.
Today, Disney plays it so safe that, while they are making a lot of money, they've stagnated. They're not innovative. They're not creative. They just exist to make money, not history.

[LetMeExplainStudios]

I want to go to the parallel universe where Michael Eisner decided not to build Euro Disney.

[ttintagel]

The bit of false advertising that always gets me is the fact that they were using footage of a functioning Yeti animatronic to promote Animal Kingdom well into the 2010s.

[otaking]

Nowadays, I get more upset about what _does_ get added to the Disney theme parks instead of what doesn't.

[doctorfrosty]

Disney may disappoint, but Yesterworld never does

[dpowemsj]

I will forever wish for the Eisner era to return. There were tons of misses, but it felt like everyone was actually trying to take big swings and when they hit, they hit HARD.

[greedolegofan]

I sorta feel like we need a part 2 considering the promised and cancelled content for Galaxies Edge, Mary Poppins at Epcot, The Theater at WDW Mainstreet, The Watch Tower at Epcot, The Play Pavilion at Epcot and others I know I’m missing.

[TheDigitalApple]

I still wish Disney was able to both give us Thunder Mesa and a proper Pirates of The Caribbean in Florida.

[ComradeSeanski]

still wild to me that universal's "Life of pets" ride was 100x more complicated and intricate than Disney's new Spiderman
"ride"

[ScofieldStudios]

The longer gap between videos, the better they are. Been watching this guy for 4 years and he never gets old.

[marshallhuffer]

I think the Avengers Campus Quinjet ride would qualify as a broken promise. It was going to be part of the land's Phase 2 stage, but it was put on hold due to the pandemic and was ultimately cancelled with the building being used for stunt shows and the ride being scrapped for a new ride featuring King Thanos.

[oldstoner]

I was an opening team cast member at animal kingdom in 1998. this video brought back so many memories I can’t believe it’s been 25 years.

[bartplays]

YES! FINALLY A NEW YESTERWORLD VIDEO! I used to pray for times like this!!!

[CaptainKotetsu]

This reminds me of the most recent Universal Orlando commercial which features a direct jab at Disney:

“It’s more than magic……It’s for real.”

[BrightSunFilms]

Such a great deep dive into the cancelled projects. Great video and i'm sop glad you made this!

[laurynnnsmith]

Disney hasn't learned at all, they still announce most projects too early and people end up disappointed

[zaryuezy-youtaylor]

Wish there was an Alternate Universe where all these experiences where built in a Disney Park.

[CocoHutzpah]

In an alternate universe, Epcot security has had a major problem of guests in track suits squatting around the Russia pavilion.

[thebluetarp]

It is such a shame that Thunder Mesa never got built. Wow, what an extraordinary thing that would have been. Having three attractions intertwine with each other like that?? Actually four, if you include the railroad