“Once upon a time…” So begins any epic tale of adventure and mystery, and for fans of both Disney and Universal’s parks, today’s tome may be one of the greatest theme park fables of all time.
For years, we’ve been adding stories to our fan-favorite collection of Lost Legends – the full, definitive write-ups on rides, attractions, and experiences that changed the theme park landscape, and then disappeared. We hit the road to explore the beginnings of the original TEST TRACK, witnessed the interdimensional origin of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, pulsed through the bloodstream aboard Body Wars, and literally dozens more.
But today’s entry is a mythological double-feature: the almost-believable story of how the epic plans for one of Disney World’s most famous never-built projects, Beastly Kingdom, might’ve inspired or even shaped the short-lived land of legends, The Lost Continent, brought to life just a few miles up the road at their biggest competitor. It’s a swirling, time-traveling tale of the potentially-intertwined creation of two of the leading theme parks on Earth, and the could-be classic that turned into a Lost Legend between them.
Could it possibly be that Disney accidentally designed, then indirectly lead to the destruction of Universal’s most incredible themed land? We’ll let you be the judge… But to tell the story of Disney’s never-built land of dragons and unicorns and how the concept may have been temporarily revived at Universal Orlando, we’ll need to start somewhere unexpected…
“Hooray for Hollywood!”
In 1984, Frank Wells (left) and Michael Eisner (right) arrived at Walt Disney Productions. The Disney they stepped into was, frankly, in disarray… After decades of withering reputation and stagnating studio productions, the arrival of Wells and Eisner was a last ditch effort to save the studio from being torn apart and sold in pieces. With extensive careers at Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures under their respective belts, the new president and chairman had just the cinematic chops to reignite Walt’s legacy.
While the duo relaunched Disney films thanks to the so-called “Disney Renaissance,” they also reimagined Disney’s parks with an epic new philosophy; the “Ride the Movies” era was born. Suddenly, Disney parks were catapulted back into pop culture thanks to new attractions borrowing from the stories, characters, and settings that mattered to modern audiences. But the capstone of Eisner’s first decade must’ve been Walt Disney World’s third theme park.
Image: Disney
But the concept of The Disney-MGM Studios wasn’t just Eisner’s pet project. It was a preemptive strike against rumblings that Universal Studios was interested in opening a purpose-built, theme-park-stylized version of their long-running Hollywood studio tour right in Disney World’s backyard. Eisner must’ve imagined that Disney’s fast-tracked announcement, construction, and 1989 opening would be enough to ward off Universal.
It wasn’t. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, positioning the two “movie studio” parks just over 10 miles from one another. Aside from the fact that neither Disney nor Universal’s “studio” park managed to live up to its promise of being a “real, working” studio, the two shared something massive in common.
Image: Disney
Both naturally combined the features you’d expect of a studio backlot: photorealistic (but vacant), city facades paired with big, boxy, exposed, beige studio “soundstages.” A radical departure from Disney’s earlier work, the “studio” aesthetic presented executives and designers with something Disney wasn’t known for in the past: a shortcut.
In a “studio” park, it’s absolutely fine to have mis-matched intellectual properties mashed together as neighbors; to have exposed lighting and sound systems in expansive concrete plazas; to leave shelled facades supported by scaffolds; to erect billboards advertising your latest feature film… After all, half the fun of being in a “studio” is seeing behind the scenes! (And in fact, the inherent “cheapness” of the “studio” park model is what inspired Warner Bros., MGM, and Paramount to open their own “studio” parks throughout the ’90s!)
Image: Disney
But times change. Even by the latter half of the 1990s, the mystique of moviemaking was fading. VHS was making its exit as DVDs brought “behind the scenes” into our living rooms; social media and the rise of tabloids made the once-unthinkable lives of the stars into everyday news; the practical effects touted by Disney and Universal’s parks were becoming outdated remnants of yesteryear as digital effects became the leading choice.
Indeed, the 21st century left the public to take a second look at the Disney-MGM Studios and Universal Studios (and their backlot-stylized peers like the true Declassified Disaster: Walt Disney Studios Park, above) for what they really were: low-budget, catch-all, cop-out parks. Lacking the magic of Disneyland or the ambitions of Epcot, the “studio” concept looked inherently dated as audiences approached the New Millennium.
Tastes were changing, and Disney had just the plan in place to reinvent the theme park experience.
A New, Fantastic Point of View
Image: Disney
Which brings us to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and its 1998 opening. Less than a decade after the opening of the Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom was built-out, big budget, ambitious, and truly alive. Industry followers point to the opening of Walt Disney World’s fourth park as a watershed moment… And just imagine the departure it signaled! This park felt like a reinvention – a purposeful pivot from the mass-produced “studio park” era that preceeded it. And it was!
Image: Disney
Animal Kingdom took all that had made Disneyland so unique in 1955 raised its cinematic standards to never-before-seen levels of realism and immersion. Crafted with absolute love, the park is artistically deep, culturally sound, and magnificently evergreen.
Now, that’s not to say that Animal Kingdom is perfect, or even the best of Walt Disney World’s parks. But years before DisneySea would gain international acclaim for it, Animal Kingdom dispatched its visitors into a realm of true exploration and photorealism: lived-in African villages, immense, crumbling Asian temples, a detailed paleontological dig, and vast, endless expanses of wild, investigable pathways, waterfalls, ruins, outposts, trails, and animal experiences.
Image: Disney
What you wouldn’t see at Animal Kingdom? Showbuildings; lighting rigs; “behind-the-scenes.” Animal Kingdom was a creative departure that cast us not as studio extras, but as explorers encountering the unknown. However, for guests who visited Animal Kingdom during its first decade or so, one particular land stood out…
Camp Minnie-Mickey
Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)
Maybe you could’ve imagined Camp Minnie-Mickey as the Toontown equivalent in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As the park’s lone cartoon oasis for kids, the land was quaint and charming, populated by meet-and-greet huts, babbling brooks, “summer camp” kiosks, and sweet vignettes of characters camping. However, the other obvious thing about Camp Minnie-Mickey is that it wasn’t really on par with Animal Kingdom’s other lands.
Image: Disney
The land featured only two attractions – both shows – housed in theaters clearly made for temporary use. Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends was a hidden gem; really an animal demonstration show (common at zoos and animal parks) here featuring Pocahontas herself introducing the audience to real possums, snakes, raccoons, rats, porcupines, and birds.
The second show, Festival of the Lion King, was a quick re-purpose of some old parade floats from Disneyland with metal bleachers in a makeshift theater (which went on to become a fan-favorite).
While most of Disney’s Animal Kingdom was built-out, immersive, and alive, Camp Minnie-Mickey felt decidedly less… permanent. That’s because it was never meant to last.
And in fact, it’s what was supposed to fit on that piece of Animal Kingdom’s property that had Disney fans salivating… and that’s the start of the path to Universal’s Lost Continent. Don’t believe it? Read on…
Image: Dave and Margie Hill, Flickr (license)
Camp Minnie-Mickey was a placeholder, never meant to stick around at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
As for what was supposed to go there…? Well… Look no further than the official dedication set forth by Michael Eisner at Animal Kingdom’s 1998 opening:
“Welcome to a kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.”
As well intentioned as Eisner’s dedication might’ve been, it was also a lie. Looking high and low, you wouldn’t find any “imagined” animals in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Unless, of course, you count the carved dragonhead above the park’s ticket booths, the Unicorn parking lot, or the dragon prominently featured in its official logo.
Oh, and one more place…
Real, Ancient, and Imagined
Image: Sam Howzit, Flickr (license)
Disney left few clues to the supposed original intention of Camp Minnie-Mickey’s real estate scattered about, but the most famous was visible only via the otherwise infamous Discovery River Boats. This short-lived opening day attraction at Animal Kingdom was a simple transportation ride (not unlike the Friendship Boats at Epcot’s World Showcase) meant to shuttle guests from the park’s entrance to Africa.
The leisurely cruise would carry guests around the park’s central icon, the Tree of Life, and, along the way, provide a sort of “preview” of the adventures that waited within each land branching out from the hub.
Image: Sam Howzit, Flickr (license)
So for example, a hot springs and geysers outside of Africa would bubble and erupt, with a waterside goat exhibit on Harambe’s shore…
Image: Sam Howzit, Flickr (license)
…and in a secluded grove in the waters along the edge of Dinoland, the boat would pass by a towering, playful animatronic Iguanodon – the very one riders aboard the Lost Legend: Countdown to Extinction had brought back from the Cretaceous (and set loose in the Dino Institute).
And outside of the placid waters of Camp Minnie-Mickey, the boats would sail past gnarled, twisted, jagged volcanic rocks and a dark cavern where a plume of flames and a guttural, echoing roar would signal something sinister inside…
…Wait a minute…
The Discovery River Boats didn’t last long. When Animal Kingdom opened, it featured only four rides (including the River Boats and the Wildlife Express transportation train), which meant that lines quickly grew to an hour or more, with guests expecting a Jungle Cruise style adventure. As a mere means of transportation from one end of the gargantuan park to another, the River Boats were sunk.
They were hastily renamed the Discovery River Taxi (to make it clear that it wasn’t an attraction in and of itself) before being oddly repurposed as the Radio Disney River Cruise for a short second life.
That also spelled the end for the unusual and cryptic flame throwing display. Obviously, it wasn’t meant to act as a preview of Camp Minnie-Mickey. In fact, it was supposed to be a sign of things to come.
Beastlie Kingdomme
From the earliest concepts of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, executives and designers had agreed on one very important thing: if Disney hoped to charge Disney Park prices, it had to be abundantly clear to visitors that this new addition to Walt Disney World was much, much more than a zoo.
And that makes sense, given that most visitors to Walt Disney World would be coming from within an hour’s drive of a local or regional zoo of their own, and that even the best zoos in the entire world couldn’t have justified carrying Disney’s admission price.
So Disney’s coup for making Animal Kingdom a clear theme park experience infused with Disney storytelling was two-fold: as the park’s dedication noted, it would include more than real animals… it could have ancient and imagined ones, too.
Image: Disney
For the latter, you’d have to look no further than Beastly Kingdom, an entire themed land dedicated to creatures that inspire legend, story, song, and myth. Crossing the bridge over the Discovery River, guests would enter into a fantasy world rules by good and evil. A forking path in a dense wood would lead to two opposing realms.
To the right, a fanciful path would lead into a beautiful marble oasis of fountains, arches, columns, and dancing water. This peaceful kingdom would feature two standout attractions. First, a family dark ride (the park’s first) would be a leisurely boat ride through the ornate gardens featured in the “Dance of the Hours” segment from the 1940 classic Fantasia, including encounter the film’s dancing hippos, ostriches, and crocodiles.
The real would-be wonder from Beastly Kingdom would’ve been Quest for the Unicorn, a groundbreaking walkthrough attraction. Guests would’ve been released into a truly boundless hedge maze, making their way through fantastic realm to awaken four bronze creatures, each of whom protected one piece of the four part code used to unlock the Unicorn’s Grotto. Only those who dutifully collected each piece of the code would be rewarded with an ethereal, unforgettable face-to-face encounter with the Unicorn and its tranquil cavern…
Meanwhile, having chosen the path to the left back at the land’s entrance would lead guests through a darkened, lantern-lit forest. It would weave and twist, leading to a desolate medieval village of torch-lit stone pubs with the deteriorating ruins of a long-abandoned castle on the hill overhead.
This half of the land would be a scorched battlefield where anxious peasants would be in constant fear of the malicious dragon, roosting in the castle’s vaults.
Guests would gather before this crumbling fortress to see hints of the mysterious dragon that bartenders at the local pub and inn spoke of. And like clockwork, the dragon would remind gathered guests of his presence by appearing, masked in shadow, with massive claws gripping the castle’s edge. With a bellowing breath of fire, the barely-seen figure would set a waterfall aflame, sending scorching plumes reining down the castle’s facade.
And therein would reside the land’s headliner, and a new anchor for the entire park: Dragon Tower, a dark ride / coaster combo through the heart of the castle for a one-on-one encounter with the towering dragon himself.
Image: Disney
Beastly Kingdom would be the next evolution in Disney’s storytelling. This incredible land would take the photorealism of Animal Kingdom’s Africa and Asia and infuse it with fantasy, creating a living, habitable world that just happened to include unthinkable creatures and unimaginable adventures. In one fell swoop, Beastly Kingdom would double Animal Kingdom’s attraction lineup and provide it with both a high-capacity family dark ride, a thrill ride beyond anything Disney had created before, and a new mythology that could grow and evolve. Larger than life, the land would be emotional, moving, and quite literally legendary.
And just like that, it was cancelled.
Canned
Image: Disney
Early on in the development of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the gargantuan cost for the cutting edge park ballooned. Executives had underestimated the price for behind-the-scenes zoological ammenities, fencing, exhibit design, and animal acquisition and care (all things the average park goer wouldn’t notice, mind you) making the already-skittish Eisner rethink the park’s grand scale.
According to insiders, the blown budget and Parisian pressures put Eisner in a bind. He was faced with the nearly impossible choice of choosing either Beastly Kingdom or Dinoland to open on time alongside Animal Kingdom’s grand opening. To his thinking, both of the would-be lands served to elevate Animal Kingdom beyond what could be found in a typical zoo, but only one could be financed in time.
Image: Disney
The other, it was presumed, would open in a “Phase II” expansion after the park recouped some of its initial cost, coming online when the park needed a resurgence of public interest.
Ultimately, the team designing the park’s Dinoland was given the go ahead. It made a great deal of sense to all involved for a number of reasons:
- The merchandising potential behind dinosaurs was enormous, especially in the wake of Universal’s own Jurassic Park that had integrated dinosaurs into pop culture.
- Eisner’s gut feelings (wrong as they had been in the past) and his laser-like focus on pet projects he deemed his own told him that the 2000 film DINOSAUR would forever reshape animation and filmography. Dinoland would be the perfect companion to prime audiences for the big screen iguanodon family adventure, and later to accompany it.
- The team designing the park’s Dinoland made an unbeatable concession: they could combine the high-speed roller coaster planned for the land with the tranquil family dark ride through the age of dinosaurs into one attraction. Better yet, that Lost Legend: Countdown to Extinction would re-use the technology and even track layout developed for Disneyland’s brand-new Indiana Jones Adventure, saving big bucks on research and development.
Image: Disney
So Dinoland was built, and a portion of the land set aside for its companion, Beastly Kingdom, was temporarily turned into the placeholder Camp Minnie-Mickey. Would Beastly Kingdom ever come about? Was it even really an option? When a fan asked at what point in the park’s design Beastly Kingdom was cut, the park’s lead creative designer, famed Imagineer Joe Rohde commented:
Well before capital authorization to build the project…Which means … well before it was a real project. https://t.co/HQvQx9Eq6v
— Joe Rohde (@Joe_Rohde) December 15, 2019
That wasn’t good enough for Imagineers. Though rumors swirled that Beastly Kingdom and an expansion to Dinoland to include the wild Excavator roller coaster might happen (just not soon), the monumental loss of the project allegedly caused a major shift at Imagineering…
Jumping Ship
Image: Disney
While you can certainly see that the pieces are in place to understand how Disney unintentionally built the Lost Continent, it’s important to know how Imagineering works.
While many of the household names Disney Parks fans recognize remain the same for decades and decades, the truth is that Imagineering (and its peers, like Universal Creative) are fluid spaces where contracted workers ebb and flow from project to project, in effect going where the jobs are. That’s industry standard.
For example, many of the experience designers, storywriters, engineers, and construction firms that Disney contracted for the five-year rebuild of Disney California Adventure were then laid off (amicably and expectedly), and might’ve moved north to Universal Studios Hollywood to facilitate the multi-year expansion there. And once that capped off, many doubtlessly moved back to Disneyland for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge while others may have migrated on to PANDORA, Skull Island, Volcano Bay, and onward…
Image: Disney
But the ‘90s were a particularly frustrating time for those in themed entertainment. We’ve spoken at length about the financial failure of Disneyland Paris and its catastrophic result, and how Eisner placed a stop order on any and all large-scale projects across the Parks division. Closures of classics ran rampant and mismanagement crippled the Disney Parks for decades – the origin of many of our Lost Legends (and a few ensuing Disaster Files, too).
So while the opening of Animal Kingdom would’ve seen many designers move on anyway, the rate here was unprecedented enough to spark rumors that, for many Imagineers – even high-ranking ones – the cancellation of Beastly Kingdom was the last straw. . After years of declining investment from Disney and a growing landfill of abandoned and downsized projects with no end to the penny-pinching regime in sight, Imagineers were fed up. So they collected up their designs and headed out into the world to try to find a theme park operator who would be willing to bring their hard work to life.
In this case, they found a willing creative ear just a few miles north of Animal Kingdom…
Changing Tides
So we’ve been chasing two threads there:
- By the mid-1990s, the “studio” park concept was already showing its age, and plans for Animal Kingdom helped redefine what the next generation of parks would look (and most importantly, feel) like.
- When Eisner axed Beastly Kingdom from Animal Kingdom’s lineup, Imagineers considered it the last straw after an era of cost cutting and fled the company, taking their cancelled designed with them.
Here’s where our two plot lines seem to converge.
Image: Universal
Though Universal Studios Florida had opened in 1990, it seemed doomed to be nothing more than an aside. If Universal was lucky, it could draw guests away from Disney World for a meager day trip. And to be fair, Universal didn’t try very hard to court Disney’s demographic anyway, mostly relegating its ride lineup to blockbuster disaster rides where earthquakes, apes, sharks, and dinosaurs attacked mercilessly.
And just like at the Disney-MGM Studios, the fall of the “studio” theme had hurt Universal. Even less than a decade from opening, its park was feeling stale creatively and in terms of content, with rides that recalled movies from the ‘70s and ‘80s growing increasingly less “pop” to modern crowds.
But Universal had a plan.
Image: Universal
Though industry fans may have been quick to write Universal off as a non-issue, fated forever to operate nothing but “studio” parks filled with boxy showbuildings and second-class dark rides, Universal’s ambitions were a little more adventurous. They had plans to transform their single, solitary studio park into one piece of a much larger, master-planned resort. Sure, they’d add a handful of concierge-level resort hotels, a dining and shopping district of their own, and mega-infrastructure to tie it all together, but the pièce de résistance would be simple: a second theme park.
Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Just as the design and development of Animal Kingdom ramped up, Universal was hard at work on designs of their own for a never-built park called Cartoon World. But when Beastly Kingdom went belly-up, the story goes that Universal greeted Disney’s disdained Imagineers with four industry-changing words:
Build it here instead.
Image: Universal
Universal’s Islands of Adventure was dreamed up, designed by, and built by Imagineers who’d fled Disney’s cost-cutting ways. And in this second gate for Universal, they would prove what they could do with a little faith and trust… no Pixie dust required.
There, Universal would dispense entirely with the cop-out “studio” style, soundstages, lighting rigs, and behind-the-scenes motif. Their second gate would meet, match, and – in places – exceed Disney’s standards, crafting immersive, cinematic themed lands. Rather than seeing how movies were made, at this new theme park guests would step into timeless stories, becoming adventurers thrust into the adventure, action, comedy, thrill, wonder, and whimsy of books, comics… and legends.
Click and expand for a larger view. Image: Universal
And anyone who’s been to Universal’s Islands of Adventure can tell you: it truly is an amazing park. From the frantic streets of Marvel Super Hero Island (featuring a ride so prolific, it earned its own in-depth entry here – Modern Marvels: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man), to the dense jungles of Jurassic Park; the pastel shores of the delightfully-designed Seuss Landing and the comic pathways of Toon Lagoon…
In Islands of Adventure, Universal had assembled a world-class lineup of intellectual properties (and most importantly, all timeless and sought-after ones) that could coexist in a new prototype park layout (“islands” arranged around a lagoon) that now feels as second nature as Disneyland’s hub-and-spokes format. Endlessly adaptable, Islands of Adventure feels fittingly “classic,” “current,” and “forward-thinking” all at once.
Image: Universal
Perhaps guests’ first inclination that this park would rival Disney’s creative dominance begins at the very gates with the park’s entry land – its “Main Street” equivalent – Port of Entry. A kinetic seaside port village composed as if by all cultures of the world coming together, this trading outpost is so packed with detail, it would take a day to take it in.
It also happens to feature what may be one of the most gorgeous and thoughtful park icons ever: the towering Pharos Lighthouse, composed of ancient red brick and a slight slant, looms over the port, its vibrant beam circling the park each night.
Port of Entry would be the perfect fit for this park – one of dissimilar parts coming together to form a complete piece. But even it wouldn’t be the landmark creative icon of a new, 21st century park… So what was?
The Lost Continent
Seuss Landing, Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, and Jurassic Park each bring to life the stories, settings, characters, and adventures we recognize from picture books, comic books, the Sunday funnies, and feature films. But the sixth land at Universal’s Islands of Adventure was a bit different.
As you leave the whimsical waves of Seuss Landing behind, a bridge over an arm of the Great Sea appears ahead. It’s made of dark wood bolted with metal rivets and chains – a distinct departure from the curving, cartoon world of the Sneeches. And across that bridge stands a stone sentry: an unusual creature with the head and wings of an eagle, the gripped claws of a lion, and the coiled, scaled tail and fins of a fish. A flaming torch embedded in the guardian’s pedestal draws the eye to this unique land’s name: The Lost Continent.
Image: Jesse Means, Flickr
Uneven planters made of red rock spill over with wild plants and shrubs that give a decidedly untamed look to this entry plaza. But now, the path curves to the left. The Lost Continent is divided into three distinct realms of legend, and the path from Seuss Landing leads to an amazing sight in the first.
Are you ready to experience the three fantasy realms of The Lost Continent? Our walkthrough begins on the next page…
The Lost City
Image: Universal
The Lost City is the most mystical of the Lost Continent’s realms, clearly an ode to the ancient gods of old. Rounding the corner, you’ll get your first glimpse of this amazing land: an otherworldly sandstone cliff reaches five stories high, eroded and carved by wind and rain with unnatural geometric peaks and carved ornate ancient domes. Most amazingly, the rock face is believably alive with a host of ancient carved faces, with waterfalls gushing from their mouths, tumbling down the cliff and splattering into pools below.
This incredible mountain range houses Mythos, an award-winning full service restaurant whose interior is nearly as impressive as the exterior. Inside, the restaurant appears to have been shaped by centuries of wind and water, creating crystalline rock formations, waterfalls, and still more carved faces. The dining room has its own detailed mythology and reason for being, explaining each nook and cranny with unbelievable commitment.
Image: Universal
What’s most amazing is that following the rocky exterior around to its lagoon-side, you’ll find an elegantly-carved stone Atlas holding the mountain on his back as, all around him, waterfalls roll into ponds filled with fish. This vantage point also provides for an unparalleled view of the various islands scattered around the sea – a truly remarkable quality that each land offers in its own way.
Click and expand for a more detailed view. Image: katsuhiro7110, Flickr
As impressive as Mythos may be, it’s nothing compared to the Lost City’s icon: the Temple of Poseidon, a sincerely staggering ruin that – like many natural wonders – photographs simply can’t capture. The size and scale here is so massive, even those who’ve visited before tend to be impressed upon seeing the building in person again. The “weenie” here is an eighty-foot-tall Trident, still gripped in the stone hand of a toppled statue that must’ve been five hundred feet tall.
Image: Theme Park Tourist
The Temple itself houses one of the park’s claims to technological fame: the Declassified Disaster: Poseidon’s Fury. You may hear it called a “dark ride,” a “walkthrough,” or a “special effects show.” The truth is a combination of all three. We’ll say that Universal’s Islands of Adventure was billed as “the most technologically advanced theme park on Earth” at its opening, and a portion of that title is thanks to what awaits inside Poseidon’s Fury.
The ruins of this lost world are worth admiring, but we’ve got to move on. The Lost Continent contains many stories, and the next is a world away.
Sinbad’s Bazaar
Image: Universal
Themed to the Middle Eastern legends of Sinbad the Sailor from One Thousand and One Nights, the waterlogged wonders of the Lost City melt away into this Arabian marketplace of fire-eaters, serpents, ornamental rugs, and grilled meats. Sinbad’s Bazaar is populated by artisans and princesses… an exotic and distant world.
Image: Theme Park Tourist
The would-be headliner here is the park’s stunt show, dressed neatly in an Arabian amphitheater, The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad. It’s got your typical theme park stunt show flair, dressed in a legend of Sinbad and his motley sidekick Kabob as they race to rescue a princess from the evil witch Miseria. The truth is, the designers who cooked up Islands of Adventure designed the stunning stage before a script was written, so Sinbad would easily rank near the bottom of theme park stunt shows even if its flame effects (including an actor set ablaze before leaping down a waterfall) are impressive.
Image: Theme Park Tourist
But what’s got to be the most fun in Sinbad’s Bazaar is an unassuming sideshow: The Mystic Fountain is an all-knowing oracle trapped within a magical statue at the entrance to the theater. Through live digital puppeting, the spirit of the fountain interacts with guests in real time with hilarious conversations, surprising insight, and ancient wisdom. But seeing as it’s a fountain, it also has some tricks up its sleeves… And dozens of hidden spray nozzles ensure that even if you think you’re safe, you may be in “the splash zone.”
But now, it’s time to press onward into the heart of the Lost Continent to step into a third story, this one yet another world away.
Merlinwood
From Grecian ruins to the Middle East, the final “chapter” in the epic adventure story of the Lost Continent resides in a misty Medieval forest where tales of sorcery, magic, and mystery await. The village of Merlinwood is an outpost of thatched-roof huts, cobblestone streets, torch-lit pubs, and ancient rune stones scattered throughout town. Like something from World of Warcraft, this explorable hamlet feels like a living, breathing remnant of the tales of King Arthur.
Unsurprisingly, the story of Merlinwood is something like a spin-off of The Once and Future King, as in this chapter, we find Merlin – Arthur’s sorcerer and guard – aged and powerless after the deception of Nimue, retired to the sleepy hamlet. There’s just one problem… a menace has appeared, roosting in the decripid castle just outside of town…
But even with dark creatures looming, local villagers can be found in the town’s pub.
Image: Universal
The Enchanted Oak Tavern looks as if it might indeed have been the result of a magical spell of some kind, its gnarled branches and bulging bark taking on the shape of Merlin himself, as if encased in the tree. Inside, the Tavern offers grilled and smoked meats and pub-fare – exactly the kind of place to kick up your feet by the fire and recount tales of daring. The surprising hollowed-out interior also offers a gorgeous stained-glass window as a ceiling.
Attached is the Alchemy Bar. But the real storytelling coup for themed entertainment fans (and evidence of Imagineering’s DNA) is out back, along the Tavern’s waterfront. There, a tremendous root of the tree has crawled across the village’s stone steppe to the water, as if supplying the magical tree from the park’s central lagoon.
The Flying Unicorn, set just outside of the village in a forested nook, is a family coaster (your standard fare, technically identical to Magic Kingdom’s Barnstormer) that zooms along the hillside. Its trains – armor-plated, with a mechanical look and a horn atop the lead car – are evidence of an intricate backstory about a magical wizard-inventor who assembled the trains from leftover armor, bringing them to life with the enchanted unicorn horn that lets them fly. The coaster was added in 2000, when early criticism of the park held that it didn’t offer enough for families.
For thrill-seekers, though, Islands of Adventure offers a one-of-a-kind roller coaster experience – a crown-jewel in the park’s moniker, “the most technologically advanced theme park on Earth.” Just past Merlinwood’s central village plaza stands a towering monument to an age-old battle: fifty-foot tall carvings of battle-scarred dragons. Pyrock (carved in carnelian red stone, coiled around a pillar of flames) and Blizzrock (carved of cobalt, clawed onto a pillar of ice) serve as the entrance to Dueling Dragons.
Image: Universal
Gazing between the pillars, guests would witness a most astounding site: the interwoven red and blue tracks of inverted roller coasters, spiraling over each other in aerial combat. A wooded path along the twisted tracks of the dragons’ battlefield leads to a derelict, vine-covered, foreboding castle that serves as the roller coaster’s queue. Just inside, stained glass windows come to life, narrating the unusual tale of this once-palatial place:
Image: Universal
“Shattered glass. Crumbled stones. What is now hallowed and ruined was, in distant days past, a castle, so fair beyond words, that a sorcerer of great renown here settled to pass in peace in the twilight of his years. Until they came; descended like a winged curse; a twin plague of demonic dragons. The king’s army quickly fell, and then, in desperation, the entire kingdom turned to the sorcerer.
Alas, he was too old to long oppose fiends so fierce and powerful. And so the castle fell, its riches plundered, its land scorched, and its people scattered like ash upon the wind. To this day, the dragons remain – and so too, the sorcerer – to discourage foolish knaves such as yourselves, yearning for a chivalrous challenge, such as a ride upon dueling dragons! How do I come to tell this tale? My name is Merlin...”
The intricate queue – easily on par with Disneyland’s famed Indiana Jones Adventure – was no less than half a mile, touring through the castle’s dilapidated remains… and past the remains of knights who dared try to disturb the dragons’ dogfight. Through scarred and burnt chambers lit by flickering candles and the scorched remains of would-be heroes to chilled, misty chambers with knights forever frozen, to winding catacombs the dragons had burrowed, and finally, Merlin’s Tower. There, with Merlin’s spellbook at hand, guests would face ominous instructions.
Image: Universal
“Choose thy fate. Past this point of no return, your own choice is freeze or burn.”
Dueling Dragons, of course, was not one, but two B&M inverted roller coasters interwoven in eternal battle over the marsh outside of Merlinwood. While the Fire Dragon and Ice Dragon might share side-by-side 125-foot-tall lift hills, the two coasters then dive in opposite directions, diverging into entirely separate rides with unique elements, different speeds, and separate features.
But here’s what makes Dueling Dragons different from any other coaster you’ve ridden: before being dispatched, both trains were weighed via a patented computer system that would then slightly adjust skid brakes along the ride’s course. Even if the Fire Dragon and Ice Dragon have entire unique layouts, precisely calculating their weight to adjust their speed meant that at three key points along the rides’ courses, the two dragons would attack, with combat moves that placed the Fire and Ice Dragons within eighteen inches of each other.
Imagine, racing headlong toward another train, with both pulling up and looping at the last possible second…
Elsewhere, the Fire Dragon would leap over the Ice Dragon as it spiraled upside down…
Image: Joel Rogers, CoasterGallery.com. Used with permission.
Dueling Dragons was a must-see… a thrill Disney couldn’t touch, with just the right touch of storyline. And, if you’re keeping notes, you might notice that it (and the rest of Merlinwood) had a lot in common with Beastly Kingdom.
As the winding, forested path weaves out of Merlinwood, you’ll pass another griffin sentry, identical to the one we passed on the way from Seuss Landing. Now, its twin tells us that our time in this legendary Lost Continent is coming to a close. The evergreen forests of Merlinwood give way to a bridge over the Great Sea where, across the water, the tropical rainforests of Isla Nublar and Jurassic Park begin adventures anew.
Three Tales
Image: Universal
The brilliance of The Lost Continent was in its audacity to feature three entirely separate stories, together. From the ancient ruins of a waterlogged lost city to the mystery and intrigue of the Middle East and finally to the Medieval village of Arthurian legend, the Lost Continent may indeed have been the most jaw-dropping themed land in Florida. From Poseidon’s Fury to Dueling Dragons, this epic land of adventure was an original creation… even if it wasn’t all of Universal’s design…
Even if The Lost Continent was a gem in Islands of Adventure’s ambitious lineup – a Disney-quality land of unthinkable sights and unimaginable technology – it was also doomed.
We’ll seal this legend’s fate and finish out the tale on the last page… Read on…
Potterwars
Though discussions were shrouded in secrecy, the popular theory is that, in the mid-2000s, Disney was intent on securing the global rights to incorporate Harry Potter into its theme parks. Negotiations between Disney, Warner Bros. (the films’ distributing studio) and series creator and author J.K. Rowling, were said to be pretty far along… until Rowling made some demands that Disney simply couldn’t sign onto.
Image: Mary McCartney, J.K Rowling
While no one involved in the alleged discussions is talking, we have our hunches.
We suspect that Rowling wanted in writing that Disney would give her Potter characters reverence and exclusivity… And one need only look at Disney’s prior treatment of George Lucas’ Star Wars to see why. Once Lucas provided Disney with the rights to Star Wars, Disney’s marketing machine started selling action figures of the Muppets dressed as Star Wars characters and had Darth Vader dancing to Michael Jackson at Disney World’s Star Wars Weekends. (Interestingly, once Disney bought Star Wars outright, such silliness was stopped immediately in favor of reverent, respectful treatment of the brand… Hmm…)
It could also have been that Rowling (rightly) refused to have her Potter characters relegated to a showbuilding at the Studios park where Disney needed the boost.
Image: Scholastic
We also know that Rowling required the “real” world to stay far away from any Harry Potter themed lands (as in, no Coca-Cola in the restaurants, no LEGO sets in the gift shops, and no meet-and-greets with actors playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione), and it stands to reason that Disney balked at such a power play so antithetical to their method of operation.
Disney and Rowling apparently parted ways. Undoubtedly, Disney believed that Rowling would shop her idea around to other theme park operators before eventually finding that no one could bring her ideas to life to the level she demanded. She’d relent and come crawling back to Disney, right?
Except, she didn’t have to.
The Wizarding World: Rough Draft
When Universal and Rowling entered into talks to bring the literary fantasy world of Harry Potter to life, it was obvious that Islands of Adventure was the place to do it. And even better, a simple redress of the Lost Continent’s Merlinwood would create the perfect spot.
The concept art found in the archives of Universal Creative reveals that these initial plans would’ve taken mainstays, sights, and structures of The Lost Continent and given them a light overlay to create Rowling’s sorcery-filled story world.
From the Enchanted Oak Tavern to the iconic entry of Dueling Dragons (now casting both dragons in stone rather than fire and ice), this Wizarding World would look familiar to frequent Universal guests, even if new roving characters and specific Potter merchandise would be all new.
A parcel of land within Merlinwood had even been set aside for a cutting-edge E-Ticket ride based on the 2004 film Van Helsing, but when the movie failed to make an impression, the ride (and its cutting edge robo-arm ride system) were cancelled, leaving the perfect plot of land for Hogwarts to rise over Merlinwood.
But Rowling must’ve pushed farther.
Hogsmeade Rises
Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
With Universal, Warner Bros., and Rowling on board with the concept. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – an entire seventh island at Islands of Adventure – was announced. And this new Wizarding World would overtake the Merlinwood section of the Lost Continent entirely… But rather than absorbing it, Potter would level it. A bypass bridge was constructed between Sinbad’s Bazaar and Jurassic Park as Merlinwood disappeared behind construction walls never to be seen again.
In its place, the Scottish village of Hogsmeade would rise, recreated painstakingly from its look and feel in the Harry Potter film series. The snowcapped village would include only shops and restaurants featured in the “real” Hogsmeade, all built to their “real life” scale rather than to theme park proportions. The unimaginable creative choice (which could’ve been another sticking point for Disney) meant that the cramped, tiny, bauble-filled shops are authentic.
Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
They feel as if you’ve stepped into the “real” Hogsmeade, not the up-sized theme park version of it. So believable and sought-after is the experience, guests regularly wait in lines to get into gift shops to buy interactive wands, fish and chips, house robes, Butterbeer, and other in-universe goods… without a LEGO kit or Harry Potter action figure in sight.
Dueling Dragons was absorbed into the new mythos. The skewered knights were removed from the queue, as were any references to fire & ice. No one would’ve argued that the coaster or its queue looked custom-built for the new Wizarding World (after all, they weren’t), but at least it left two cutting-edge steel coasters wrapped around one another…
That said, even fans were quick to admit that the bare steel coasters on the edge of Hogsmeade were a major detractor in the land’s otherwise staunch committment to immersion and reality.
Image: Universal
Still, the coasters continued roaring along. But now, waiting guests would by the Tri-Wizard Cup from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In that novel, one of the three challenges faced by the wizards selected for the Olympics-style Tri-Wizard Tournament is a race to outwit dragons, so the renamed Dragon Challenge would be an excusable mismatch with riders now selecting the Hungarian Horntail (blue) or the Chinese Fireball (red) to tame.
Unfortunately, a 2011 incident – after the coasters’ renaming and absorption into Potter – forced Universal’s hand, and they announced that the dragons would “never duel again,” meaning the two trains would henceforth dispatch at opposite intervals. The loss of the “duel” was akin to the removal of the loop from another infamous coaster Lost Legend: Son of Beast…
The dragons only lasted another six years in their neutered form before Universal (admittedly, wisely) decided to scrap the steel behemoths entirely in favor of a well-themed, purpose-built Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. They took their final flights on September 4, 2017. It was the first time ever that a B&M steel coaster (much less two at once) had been permanently removed, and also signaled one of the last remnants of Merlinwood (and by extention, Beastly Kingdom’s DNA) to remain.
Except…
Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
The Flying Unicorn family coaster was relocated and renamed Flight of the Hippogriff, with riders now passing by Hagrid’s Hut in the queue and then gliding past a bowing Hippogriff animatronic before the coaster’s lift hill… a rare remnant of Merlinwood in a reinvented land.
Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
By far the land’s anchor is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, a groundbreaking dark ride that somehow exceeded the technological prowess of the unbeatable Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, indeed using the technology and space once planned for a Van Helsing ride. Forbidden Journey also added another world-class dark ride to the park, featuring all manner of mythological creatures from dragons to acromantulas and the dreaded Dementors.
Lost?
When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010, industry experts were sure that what remained of the Lost Continent – Sinbad’s Bazaar and the Lost City – would follow Merlinwood at Universal’s earliest opportunity. After all, an expansion of the Wizarding World was all-but-assured, but the remains of the Lost Continent would prove to be the perfect parcel of land to bring to life the Forbidden Forest on the edge of Hogwarts.
(And note to any Universal Creative team members who might be reading: it’s true that we’d all collectively enjoy an Omnimover-led dark ride through the Forest on a “field trip” with Hagrid, passing by animatronics of magical creatures good and evil for a rare screen-free, family-friendly dark ride!)
Click and expand for a more detailed view. Image: Universal / Warner Bros.
But what was left of the Lost Continent was salvaged – at least for now – because Universal’s unavoidable expansion of the Wizarding World did something unbelievable… it jumped parks.
The second “half” of the land, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, opened at Universal Studios Florida next door. In retrospect, it’s so obvious that the park-spanning mythology of the Wizarding World would be split in such a way… Now, Universal Studios Florida simply has a London streetscape (that fits perfectly amongst its New York, San Francisco, and Hollywood “set” style lands) that conceals the magical street of shops featured in most every Harry Potter film.
And think of the brilliance here: guests now can begin their magical journey in Diagon Alley, hidden from Muggle eyes. There – just like Harry and friends – they can peruse shops, buy their wands from Ollivander’s, purchase house robes, procure galleons and sickles at the Gringott’s Money Exchange, and join our heroes on Diagon Alley’s headlining E-Ticket, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (a marvelous and must-see family adventure in its own right).
Image: Universal
Then, it’s just a few steps back to Muggle London and into Kings Cross Station, where the Hogwarts Express waits at Platform 9¾. The Hogwarts Express, as you’d hope, is a D-Ticket wonder unto itself, shuttling guests between the two theme parks – an unprecedented ride that offers a different experience based your departure and destination.
Just like real Hogwarts students, guests then disembark – with Diagon Alley purchases in hand – in the enchanted, magical, evergreen forests of Islands of Adventure, where mystical rocks and mysterious runes signal arrival in Hogsmeade, with Hogwarts itself reining overhead.
Click and expand for a more detailed view. Image: Universal
It’s brilliant and conceptually mind-bloggling to consider the narrative woven through the two parks, creating what truly is a mini-Potter theme park… two beautifully themed lands containing a cutting edge 21st century dark ride, an immersive E-Ticket roller coaster (soon to be two), a family coaster, enough one-of-a-kind shopping and dining to fill a mini-vacation, and a must-see family ride to connect them both. And for Potter fans, especially, the Wizarding World as a whole may be the best example yet of a truly immersive theme park experience that lets you live out your favorite story.
Image: Universal
Even if Universal spared what remained of the Lost City and Sinbad’s Bazaar in favor of a park-hopping Wizarding expansion, that doesn’t mean that the Lost Continent is safe. Indeed, while it may be an impressively-scaled original concept that stands among the most well-designed lands in Orlando, its contents – Poseidon’s Fury and Sinbad – are both woefully dated, tired, and in need of revival or replacement. Now, what’s left of the Lost Continent serves mostly as a thru-path to get to Hogsmeade, which is a sincere shame…
In fact, even fans have noticed that – outside of Marvel and Potter – Islands of Adventure is… well… aging. Look no further than our must-read list of Rides Universal Needs for ideas.Seuss Landing needs a new E-Ticket of its own (a long-rumored Mount Crumpet family coaster?) and a full reskin of the 20-year-old Cat in the Hat ride (which should be a Disney quality family dark ride, but isn’t); Toon Lagoon has been stagnant since opening; Jurassic Park is an ambitious land that contains only one ride; and the Lost Continent… welll…
In an era of back-to-back-to-back-to-back screen-based, IP-infused simulators, The Lost Continent would be the perfect place for Universal Creative to prove it’s still “got it,” and that Universal’s designers can still come up with ambitious original concepts. Certainly Greek mythology and 1001 Arabian Nights are wonderful source materials from which to build Orlando’s next starring attraction, hopefully with practical special effects, cinematic sets, and Audio-Animatronics at the forefront.
Meanwhile, Back at Animal Kingdom
Obviously, Disney’s Animal Kingdom never did get Beastly Kingdom… Once Islands of Adventure opened, that ship had sailed lest Disney look like the copycat.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom did finally gain an imaginary creature with the 2006 opening of Expedition Everest in Asia, featuring the infamous Yeti who made our must-read Countdown of the Best Animatronics on Earth… though, with a caveat.
The “temporary” Camp Minnie-Mickey meant to hold Beastly Kingdom’s place survived for 16 years – lasting longer than Epcot’s Lost Legend: Horizons or Universal’s Kongfrontation, if you’re keeping track. On January 5, 2014, the entire land closed.
Image: Disney
Festival of the Lion King was relocated to a more permanent theater in the park’s Africa, and construction walls went up to block the bridge from Discovery Island.
Of course, that’s because in 2009, Disney secured the international, worldwide exclusive rights to build themed lands and attractions based on James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar. Ironically, insiders say that, upon realizing Universal’s Wizarding World was going to make Universal a long-term contender, Disney simply panicked and snatched up the rights to something – maybe, anything! – Potter-sized…
And in 2009, that was Avatar, which had just broken box office records. (Never mind that in the decade since, it’s been largely forgotten and left barely a blip on the pop culture radar despite Cameron’s laughable and pop-culture-pun worthy promises that, like it or not, no less than FOUR sequels are on the way… Whoops…)
So in 2017, the bridge that would’ve connected to the forking path through the forest of Beastly Kingdom instead became a portal to Pandora – The World of AVATAR.
Image: Disney / Lightstorm
To be clear, the land is elaborate, detailed, beautiful, and astounding. Like Cars Land, its scale simply can’t be captured in photographs. It’s wild and awe-inspiring and breathtaking. Pandora is the next evolution of the immersive, photo-realistic environment pioneered by Disneyland, reinvented in Animal Kingdom, and refined in Islands of Adventure.
(Though, in the spirit of full disclosure, fans still can’t seem to settle down with the notion that James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi action flick deserves a permanent land at a Disney Park… In other words, praise for Pandora is, in general, in spite of the concept and not because of it… The best of a bad choice. All the well-deserved praise aimed at the land is thanks to the hard work of Disney Imagineers.)
Disney-Designed and Destroyed
So for those keeping track, Disney’s Beastly Kingdom was supposedly canned, with the concept migrating to Universal Creative, who adapted it into The Lost Continent. Then Disney turned down Harry Potter, so Universal leveled part of the Lost Continent to build Hogsmeade… which in turn made Disney buy up the rights to Avatar, and build a land based on it where Beastly Kingdom would’ve gone!
Image: Disney
If you follow that logic, it stands to reason that if Disney had just built Beastly Kingdom to begin with, the Islands of Adventure we know, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and PANDORA might never have even happened. And THAT is an intertwined destiny if we’ve ever heard one.
And thus ends the first of our Lost Legend entries to deal in the messy business of an entire forgotten land – half absorbed by the Boy Wizard, and half left to rot. But the unusual case of the Lost Continent is really notable for way it exemplified the relationship between two competing themed entertainment powerhouses.
Image: Disney
With Islands of Adventure, Universal set out to build their best impression of a Disney theme park, and succeeded wildly in that regard. To do it, they needed to look no further than Disney’s own dissatisfied and dejected ranks… scores of Imagineers were so tired of Disney’s delays and cuts, they happily took their designs to Universal where they flourished and were given a new lease on life.
But if Disney unintentionally designed Universal’s best themed land, they also accidentally demolished it… Their alleged hard-nose rejection of J.K. Rowling’s standards sent her catalogue into Universal’s arms, sinking a third of the Lost Continent and putting the other two-thirds on notice: “your time is short.”
Though the story of this Lost Legend may be in flux, our In-Depth Collections Library houses the stories of dozens of other forgotten, closed classics. Make the jump there to choose your next adventure.
Now we want to hear from you. What do you remember of the Lost Continent? Was this oversized themed land really Disney-quality, or have our memories been blurred by time? What do you think is the next step for the remains of this land? Should it be overtaken by Potter? Or do the original stories and myths of the gods have a place in a park otherwise packed with intellectual properties? What other closed classics and fan favorites would you like to see our Lost Legend series cover?
