Year after year, it seems that more and more classic attractions and beloved fan-favorite rides enter our Lost Legends collection, replaced by hotter, fresher, and newer stories. In fact, fans have gotten used to saying goodbye to rides.
But throughout the history of Disney and Universal’s theme parks, there have also been rare times when entire themed lands disappear off the map – literally. Today, we’re collecting a list of twelve lost lands you may remember. In fact, you may have even stepped foot in these axed areas! Some of these replacements may be obvious improvements… Others may make you wish for a time machine to experience the classics of yesteryear one more time.
How many of these twelve ultra-classic lost lands do you remember? How many did you actually manage to step foot in? And for that matter, which of these do you wish would return, even at the cost of their own replacement? Let us know when you share this feature!
1.Mickey’s Toontown Fair at Magic Kingdom
Lifetime: 1996 – 2011 (15 years)
Originally opening in 1988, “Mickey’s Birthdayland” was a temporary expansion meant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Big Cheese himself! In typical Disney fashion, his birthday lasted two years. Even then, the “temporary” street of meet-and-greet circus tents didn’t disappear. Instead, it was renamed Mickey’s Starland in 1990. Then, in 1996, the land was officially made permanent as Mickey’s Toontown Fair.
Reusing the circus tents and adding “country homes” for Mickey and Minnie (as opposed to their “real” homes in Disneyland’s Toontown), Toontown Fair also gained a ride: Goofy’s Barnstormer. For Magic Kingdom fans, we chronicled the making of Mickey’s Toontown Fair in its own, full, Lost Legends: Mickey’s Toontown Fair feature. Of course, we also told the story of its death. The first land added to Magic Kingdom also became the first to ever be removed… kind of.
What happened: When official artwork was released to announce Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland in 2009, Mickey’s Toontown Fair was gone, replaced with a glittering Pixie Hollow meet-and-greet. But when fans revolted against the Princess-heavy plans, Disney went back to the drawing board. Toontown Fair was annexed into Fantasyland and became Storybook Circus. Though the tents and Barnstormer were retained, extensive reimagining transformed the area from a two-decade-old temporary county fair to a vintage traveling circus with nods to Dumbo, The Little Engine That Could, and other classic Disney characters.
2. “A bug’s land” at Disney California Adventure
Lifetime: 2002 – 2018 (16 years)
When the Declassified Disaster: Disney’s California Adventure opened in 2001, reception to the park was pretty dismal. One of the biggest complaints leveled against the second gate was its lack of Disney characters and having practically nothing for families with small kids. Both were solved with a Band-aid solution: “a bug’s land.”
Constructed in a small lot adjacent to the existing “It’s Tough to be a Bug” 3D show, Flik’s Fun Fair was a collection of fairly simple, off-the-shelf family flat rides (bumper cars, two spinners, a splash park, and the iconic Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train) overlaid with bug-sized details. Though the mini-land wasn’t phenomenal, it was a sorely needed family-friendly outlet in the park… and one of the earliest additions in the Pixarification of Disney Parks and one of the coolest ways Disney has shrunk its guests. Arguably, it was also more fun and effective than the Toy Story Lands that have become the norm today!
What happened: In 2016, Disney Imagineers toppled the Lost Legend: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney California Adventure to create a Guardians of the Galaxy themed ride – the first in a vaguely-alluded to Marvel-themed land en route to the park. Initially meant to overtake the park’s Hollywood Land altogether, some political hurdles in resort expansion caused the Avengers Campus to shift, squashing “a bug’s land” entirely. In fact, the new Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure attraction will be retrofitted into the old “It’s Tough to be a Bug” theater!
3. The Streets of America at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Lifetime: 1989 – 2016
Picture it: 1989. The new Disney-MGM Studios is the talk of the town. A real! Working! Movie studio! You may see actors! Stunts! Real celebrities! Of course, the park’s back half – its production facility – was accessible only via the spectacularly epic, multi-hour Declassified Disaster: The Backstage Studio Tour. Meant to whisk guests into the magic of the movies, this multi-stage attraction included a tram tour, which contained a visit to the New York Streets – a camera-ready recreation of the Big Apple. But almost immediately, the Studios proved so popular, New York Street needed to be opened to pedestrians instead of trams, allowing guests to explore the sidewalks, stoops, and streets up close…
Of course, like a real studio, the exteriors quickly revealed themselves as simple plywood facades with no actual businesses inside. Believe it or not, it wasn’t until 2003 that Disney announced their intentions to add streets themed to San Francisco and Chicago. Aside from a “forced perspective” San Francisco street mural, it never happened, but the area was still dubbed the Streets of America, with photo opportunities galore including a fabulous “Singing in the Rain” lamppost with a built-in umbrella!
What happened: The Streets of America officially bit the dust in 2016. In fact, most of the remaining “studio” facilities (and the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show Spectacular) would be leveled. They represented the old Hollywood Studios. It was time to bring in the new – Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The Streets of America became the streets of Black Spire Outpost, an alien marketplace on the edge of the known universe. The closure of the Streets of America orphaned the holiday season Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, but it also left one attraction without a land to call its own…
4. Muppets Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Lifetime: 2016 – 2017 (1 year)
When the massively memorable and spectacular quotable Muppet*Vision 3D opened in the Streets of America at the Disney-MGM Studios in 1991, it represented the very last work that creator Jim Henson had been involved in before his unexpected death. Unfortunately, the beloved puppeteer’s passing also spelled the end for a much larger relationship with Disney that would’ve provided the Studios park with the Possibilityland: Muppet Studios – a “Muppetational” land anchored by The Great Muppet Movie Ride.
Muppet*Vision was ultimately the only permanent Jim Henson project to be produced for the parks. However, in 2016, as the massive reimagining of Hollywood Studios began, dead ends and construction walls isolated the 3D show to such an extent that it was officially annexed into its own, standalone land – Muppets Courtyard – with the Pizza Planet restaurant reimagined as Pizzerizzo.
What happened: Would Disney finally leverage their ownership of the Muppets? Of course not! “Muppets Courtyard” was a short-lived stop-gap. As quickly as it arrived, the land was disbanded. It was absorbed into the rather flavorless “Grand Ave.,” ostensibly themed to a modern day Los Angeles if only by its “anchor” attraction: the BaseLine Tap House pub. Nevermind that the bulk of the land – still dedicated to Muppets – is stylized as New York. In any case, Grand Avenue largely exists for one purpose: to lead guests into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge through the Figueroa Street Tunnel.
5. Amity at Universal Studios Hollywood
Lifetime: 1990 – 2012 (22 years)
Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990. Unlike Magic Kingdom’s fantasy-infused lands, Universal’s were 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 (read: games of skill), Amity truly existed for one solitary reason: to house the Lost Legend: Jaws.
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. 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. That’s fine, since it was bulldozed anyway.
What happened: Jaws closed in 2012 – the last of Universal Studios’ epic creature features to meet the wrecking ball. Amity became the London waterfront – home to Kings Cross Station. Of course, stepping through the shops of London leads to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley. Is Gringotts a worthy replacement for Jaws? We’ll leave that to you to decide. But at least rest easy knowing a number of sharky Easter eggs are hidden in the magical land.
6. Sunshine Plaza at Disney California Adventure
Lifetime: 2001 – 2010 (9 years)
Another of California Adventure’s opening day lands to get leveled, Sunshine Plaza was meant to act as the park’s “Main Street” equivalent. Located beyond the world’s largest mosaic tiles, Sunshine Plaza made up the core of the “postcard” entry designers had planned for the park’s entrance, reigned over by a stretched-and-skewed cartoon Golden Gate Bridge and terminating in the park’s demoted icon, the Sun Icon.
Ultimately, Sunshine Plaza represented just about everything wrong with California Adventure. With corrugated steel walls, a bleak concrete plaza, and a metallic “hubcap” icon more fit for a mall than a Disney Park, the land was a stark contrast to Disneyland rather than being a complement and companion.
What happened: In 2010, Sunshine Plaza disappeared behind construction walls. It was replaced with the spectacular Buena Vista Street, a 1920s Los Angeles complete with jazzy music, elegant department stores, the Red Car Trolley, the iconic Carthay Circle Theater, and references to long-lost Disney characters. Just as Sunshine Plaza had been a reminder of California Adventure’s unhappy opening, Buena Vista Street was the perfect icon of its historic, reverent, idealized Californian rebirth.
And Buena Vista Street wasn’t alone…
7. Condor Flats at Disney California Adventure
Lifetime: 2001 – 2012 as part of the Golden State; 2012 – 2015 as a land (3 years)
Located just off the hub of Sunshine Plaza was Condor Flats – a California Adventure land supposedly recreating the state’s high desert military base airfields. Littered with metal lattice structures, satellite dishes, old rocket parts, and “desert” rocks, the runway-lined land really existed solely to host the Lost Legend: Soarin’ Over California.
The problem with Condor Flats was similar to the rest of the park: it was too modern and too edgy, lacking the “magic” of visiting an idealized and historic place. To make matters worse, the tiny land wedged against the evergreen-forested Grizzly Peak certainly didn’t feel like an expansive desert. The land 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… until…
What happened: In 2015, Imagineers proved that California Adventure’s reimagining wasn’t over. Though Condor Flats had only been promoted to full “land” status three years earlier, a beautiful transformation overtook the “desert.” It 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. The Grizzly Peak Airfield is inarguably an improvement over the land it replaced.
8. Camp Minnie Mickey at Animal Kingdom
Lifetime: 1998 – 2014 (16 years)
Quite unlike the spectacularly detailed, lovingly-crafted, and well-researched lands elsewhere in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Camp Minnie-Mickey was decidedly less permanent. Made of two hastily-assembled shows and a number of character greeting huts, the land felt temporary, because that’s what it was supposed to be!
As the story goes, Camp Minnie-Mickey’s land was initially set aside for an epic land dedicated to “imagined” creatures – dragons, unicorns, sea monsters, and dancing hippos. However, the proposed land was famously cut before the park’s final budget was approved, leaving it a victim of the cost-cutting in the wake of Disneyland Paris’ opening. In fact, we told the entire tale (including how the concept might have migrated up the road to Universal) in the Possibilityland: Beastly Kingdom feature.
What happened: Despite its “temporary” intention, Camp Minnie-Mickey survived an astounding sixteen years (longer than the Lost Legend: Horizons, if you’re counting). Its sleeper hit – the Festival of the Lion King – was relocated to a custom-built theater in the park’s Africa, which is technically a better fit anyway. When Camp Minnie-Mickey finally closed in 2014, it was to make way for Pandora: The World of Avatar – a land that is definitely not temporary. As for those concepts that went to Universal… Read on…
9. The Lost Continent – Merlinwood at Islands of Adventure
Lifetime: 1999 – 2008 (9 years)
Maybe-possibly inspired by the never-built plans imagined for Beastly Kingdom, Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened in 1999 with its own land dedicated to myths and legends. There, the Lost Continent was an entirely-original creation in the otherwise IP-oriented park. The land was divided into three legendary realms: the Lost City (home of the Declassified Disaster: Poseidon’s Fury), the Midde-Eastern themed Sinbad’s Bazaar, and the spectacular Merlinwood.
It’s the latter, in particular, that fascinates fans. Crafted around an original Arthurian tale, Merlinwood invited guests into a Medieval village of pubs, craftsmen, and inventors. But just outside the village in the old castle ruins stood Dueling Dragons – two intertwined coasters performing an aerial battle with precision-timed near-miss maneuvers. Merlinwood was a living example of the fusion of storytelling and thrills, and evidence that Universal could hold their own in both theming and in world-class coasters… all at once!
What happened: As if you don’t know… In 2010, the area became The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, demolishing Merlinwood in favor of Hogsmeade. Though Dueling Dragons survived until 2017, it played second fiddle to the land’s new headliner: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The other two realms of the Lost Continent continue to exist, though both need (and deserve!) a major injection of attention by Universal Creative.
10. Bear Country at Disneyland
Lifetime: 1972 – 1989 (17 years)
While Disneyland guests are used to their favorite rides being cloned in Orlando, it’s not every day that an attraction gets cloned from Disney World to Disneyland. In fact, the first case of such a move was in 1972 when the Modern Marvel: Country Bear Jamboree made its way West. 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. In fact, the Country Bears remained the stars of Bear Country till nearly two decades later when they lost the spotlight.
What happened: In 1989, Splash Mountain joined the land. The new “Ride the Movies” thrill was an early example of a new way of doing business at the parks, relying on thrilling, epic, cinematic attractions. Since Br’er Rabbit and his critter pals of the Briar Patch would now be the star, Bear Country became the more inclusive Critter Country – a land Disney World visitors should be jealous that they don’t have themselves.
Ultimately, the Country Bears vacated their Critter Country playhouse in 2001, yielding to the unstoppable force of another bear: Winnie the Pooh. Still, Bear Country remains the only permanent land ever to disappear from Disneyland’s lineup.
11. Paradise Pier at Disney California Adventure
Lifetime: 2001 – 2018 (17 years)
One last stop at Disney California Adventure brings us to the park’s one-time starring land. In 2001, Paradise Pier contained nearly all of the park’s rides – albeit, mostly off-the-shelf carnival rides. Still, the Pier contained that same fatal flaw: it was too modern, filled with stucco walls, circus freak posts, neon signs, Beach Boys music and rides like launch towers, yo-yo swings, the bronze-faced Sun Wheel, and two bare steel roller coasters.
As part of the park’s reimagining, Paradise Pier got an aesthetic upgrade. The land’s timeline was reset from modern day to the early 1900s (the same time period as Main Street) becoming a historic Pacific Ocean boardwalk of strung Edison bulbs. While it got an infusion of Disney characters, they were pie-eyed, classic versions of the characters from the 1930s and ‘40s, fitting the land’s style and exemplified by the refurbished Mickey’s Fun Wheel.
What happened: Despite getting Paradise Pier on the right track in 2012, Disney didn’t stop there. As part of the park’s next era of transformation (oddly, axing the Californian story they just spent a billion dollars to create in favor of IPs), Paradise Pier changed again in 2018. The resulting Pixar Pier is a cute-but-dumb mish-mash of Victorian architecture, vibrant jewel tones, and… well… Disney’s highest-earning Pixar intellectual properties, crammed together in “neighborhoods” (Disney’s new cop-out for juxtaposing things where they don’t belong). Weirdest of all, it’s still reigned over by a very confusingly named Ferris wheel. It doesn’t make sense, but hey, what does anymore?
12. Future World at Epcot
Lifetime: 1982 – 2020 (38 years)
The creation of EPCOT Center is an epic tale in its own right. But suffice it to say that when the park opened, one of its foundational elements was its division into two realms: Future World and World Showcase – each a “permanent World’s Fair” of monumental pavilions. Since then, 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 (the Lost Legends: Universe of Energy, Body Wars, Horizons, World of Motion, Journey into Imagination, Kitchen Kabaret, and The Living Seas).
At the semi-annual D23 Expo, then-Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Bob Chapek was on hand to announce that Epcot would undergo the most radical transformation in its lifetime. At last, the park’s Future World would receive the intentional, purposeful, and thoughtful master-planned reimagining it’s needed for years. But for Future World to be reborn, it would need to die…
What’s happening: 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” (there it is again): World Discovery, World Celebration, and World Nature. They don’t really roll off the tongue, but Disney’s betting big that this reinvention of Epcot will fix some of its foundational flaws and put it on course to be “more timeless” and “more Disney.” We’re not sure when the new naming conventions will officially kick in, but sometime this year is a good guess.
