Walt Disney World Archives > 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Closed September 4, 1994 Email |
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20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Overview
The 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea attraction at Walt Disney World was based on the 1954 Disney live-action film by the same name. The attraction recreated the events that took place
aboard the Nautlis in the classic film.
Guests would climb aboard one of twelve different Nautilus submarines and join Captain Nemo to explore the depths of the ocean. Along the way visitors would encounter exotic sea life, mermaids, underwater cities, and even come face to face with the monstrosities of the ocean's depths.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea History
When Disneyland opened in 1955 the Imagineers placed the original movie props from the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea movie on display in Tomorrowland.
Guests where able to view scale models of the Nautilus and walk through recreations of the Nautilus' interiors. Also on display
was the giant rubber squid from the film's climactic scene.
In the spring of 1959 Disneyland opened an attraction called The Submarine Voyage. This attraction took visitors aboard miniature replicas of nuclear submarines on a voyage through liquid space. It later severed as a model to build the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea attraction in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom®. The attraction made it's debut in Fantasyland on October 14,1971 and until it's demise was one of the Magic Kingdoms most popular attractions.
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During it's run at the Magic Kingdom®, the attraction encountered many problems that contributed to it's fate. For instance the load and unloading of guest wasn't handled well which
led to very long lines at the attraction. Also in the 1990s the water "tank" started to leak into the underground tunnels in Fantasyland, and need to be repaired. Another contributing factor was
the constant upkeep of the 11.5 million gallons of water and the ride vehicles was starting to prove non-cost effective.
The attraction was shut down on September 4, 1995 and is now just a giant tank of water with nothing replacing it at this time. Some of the submarines are now sunk off of Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Caribbean.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Trivia
- The water tank for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea held 11.5 million gallons of water.
- When the park opened 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was one of the Magic Kingdom's "E" ticket rides
What Exactly Happened to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?
One of the most innovative attractions ever created for the Disney theme parks was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A Walt Disney World "E-Ticket" attraction since its opening day on October 14, 1971 (back when WDW used individual coupons instead of pay-one-price tickets), this Fantasyland ride closed exactly 23 years to the day after it opened, making it the only E-Ticket attraction to ever be removed from the park... Click here to continue reading this article by our guest columnist, Lou Mongello.
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