Disney’s Imagineers dream up new projects all the time. Many of these never see the light of day. Some exist only in the minds of a handful of Imagineers, while others exist on paper in the form of concept artwork. Very few projects actually move forward into serious development, and even then they are still liable to be canned for a variety of reasons. This is a normal development process, and not very controversial.
But WestCOT was different.
Here was a project that was supposed to transform the Disneyland Resort, turning it into a large-scale, multi-day destination resort to match Florida’s Walt Disney World. There would be new hotels, futuristic transport systems and dozens of shops and restaurants.
Most significantly, there would be a West Coast version of EPCOT Center, one that would rival and even surpass the original in terms of its scale and ambition. The project was announced to much fanfare, and the details had Disneyland fans salivating in anticipation.
Then it was gone – snatched away when it seemed just within reach. In its place was Disney’s California Adventure, one of the least ambitious (and least expensive) theme parks Disney had ever built.
And this is why.
The plan for a resort came before the plan for WestCOT
Image: Disney
Ever since Michael Eisner became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 1984, hotels and resorts were at the forefront of his mind. An expansion to the Walt Disney World Resort came first. The Golf Resort was renamed the Disney Inn in 1986, and 150 rooms were added. In 1988 both the Grand Floridian Resort and the Caribbean Beach Resort welcomed their first guests. The Yacht and Beach Club Resorts were ready in 1990. Even more hotels were built and being planned for construction.
Adding hotels to California, however, was a more difficult proposition. In 1954 Walt Disney had to plead to friend and business owner Jack Wrather to pay for a hotel for his then-risky project Disneyland. Jack Wrather ended up agreeing, but only in return for exclusive Disney naming rights to all hotels until 2053. The Disneyland Hotel was a gigantic success, with over 1100 rooms and a convention center, attractions, shops and restaurants. Disney quickly wanted to buy the hotel and Disney naming rights away from Wrather, but he kept declining their offers.
Only after Jack Wrather died in 1984 would Disney have a real shot at reclaiming what they’d given up, and even then it required what Donald W. Ballard, author of Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years, 1954-1988 referred to as a subtle threat. In 1987 another company, Industrial Equity, was vying for ownership of the Disneyland Hotel. Disney implied that they’d make the renewal lease for the monorail very, very expensive for new owners. Industrial Equity didn’t back down, though, so Disney partnered with them to purchase Wrather’s holdings. Disney bought out Industrial Equity soon after, ultimately getting what they wanted but for a heftier price than they probably expected.
The hotel and naming rights cost Disney over $250 million in total, but it was well worth it for them. The company now had the ability to build a resort like it had in Orlando in California. Now that the Wrather problem was solved, Michael Eisner moved on to thinking about a second California theme park for their upcoming resort. He ultimately decided on WestCOT Center in Anaheim over DisneySea in Long Beach, largely because the Anaheim authorities were offering better incentives.
The proposed budget for WestCOT was massive
The budget given for WestCOT was huge, and a big reason Disney didn’t move forward with the project. It was projected to cost an estimated $3.1 billion, a gigantic sum even for a company as powerful and profitable as Disney, especially given the fact that theme parks tend to go over their original projections. Even though the additions were expected to attract 25 million visitors a year by 1998, with WestCOT Center drawing 10 million alone, $3.1 billion was hard to justify.
Beyond WestCOT was the Anaheim Commercial Recreation Area
Similar to the Reedy Creek Improvement District in Florida, Disney wanted its own special assessment district in California to house Disneyland and all the future projects they had planned. Plans for the area included WestCOT Center itself and a lot more, including:
- Disneyland was supposed to receive money for improvements to attractions like the Indiana Jones Adventure and the creation of Toontown.
- The Resort Hotel District would have added around 4600 more rooms to the Disneyland Resort.
- A new 800-room New Disneyland Resort Hotel was going to be based on the Hotel Del Coronado, the same as the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World.
- There would have been a renovation to the Disneyland Hotel.
- The Disneyland Plaza would set up an advanced transportation system and walkways for pedestrians. At seven acres it was an attempt at a “world-class public space.”
- A Disneyland Center would connect the Resort Hotel District and Disneyland Plaza. This plan would morph into Downtown Disney.
- A 5000 seat amphitheater called the Disneyland Bowl was supposed to be built outside of the park gates.
- There were to be three expansive parking structures on the perimeter of the resort.
- A boardwalk was going to be added to Disneyland Center that would have outdoor dining.
Some of these things would eventually happen in various forms, such as the aforementioned Downtown Disney, but not in the ways Disney originally hoped.
Expanding and improving the EPCOT concept
WestCOT Center was the cornerstone of the project. It was to be a new take on EPCOT at Walt Disney World, celebrating culture and diversity as well as our humanity, our history and the world we live in. But it wasn’t just going to be an EPCOT clone. The Imagineers had some innovative new ideas for the theme park, some of which we might still like to see at Epcot. Check out some of the coolest preliminary plans for WestCOT Center.
Ventureport
This was to be one of the main areas of WestCOT. Described as a futuristic gateway, it would have contained a lobby which would take you to various destinations. One of those destinations being…
Spacestation Earth
The signature icon of WestCOT would have been a gold version of Spaceship Earth that, at 300 feet, was to be even larger than EPCOT’s 180-foot geodesic sphere. As big as a 23-story skyscraper, it would have been the tallest structure in Orange County. The name for it was SpaceStation Earth, and it was going to be on a green island that guests could travel to via a bridge under a waterfall. Inside the giant SpaceStation Earth would be an all new attraction: Cosmic Journeys. Some reports suggest that this would have been a much-updated version of Disneyland’s classic Adventure Thru Inner Space dark ride.
Future World
The three Future World Pavilions combined with the four parts of the World Showcase made up what were referred to as “The Seven Wonders of WestCOT,” and oh boy did they seem wonderful. The Future World Pavilions were to contain The Wonders of Living, The Wonders of Earth and The Wonders of Space. All of them were going to be indoors. Here is a look at each of the Future World Pavilions.
Wonders of Living Pavilion
This pavilion was to be devoted to the human mind and body. It would have been home to attractions guests of EPCOT are familiar with such as Body Wars, Cranium Command and The Making of Me, as well as a new attraction based on the Powers of Ten documentary films that depict the relative scale of the Universe based on a factor of ten. Perhaps most exciting, though, was the possibility of a unique version of Journey Into Imagination!
Wonders of Earth Pavilion
The Wonders of Earth pavilion would have taken visitors through some of the most exciting environments our world has to offer, including the jungle, the desert, the deep sea and the Arctic.
Wonders of Space Pavilion
From what we know this seems like it was the least developed pavilion, but surely the Disney Imagineers would have figured out an exciting new way for guests to explore the Cosmos.
World Showcase
A World Showcase, also known as the Four Corners of the World, would have featured regions of the world instead of individual countries. The four realms would be Asia, Europe, The Americas and Africa. Here’s a look at each of them.
Americas Pavilion
Also known as The New World, the Americas pavilion was going to continue the theme of Main Street, U.S.A. at the nearby Disneyland. Very nearby, as the parks would have been facing each other, separated by a plaza. The Americas pavilion would have included a copy of The American Adventure from Epcot, a First Nations Spirit Lodge show in the Canadian section, an indoor Mexican area with a fiesta show and restaurant and a spirit show featuring the cultures of the Inca and Aztec civilizations.
Europe Pavilion
The Europe pavilion would have had a new Circlevision film, as well as a Greek amphitheater and Tivoli Gardens playground. The marquee attraction would have been a simulation of a chase on Europe’s railroads in the style of James Bond films, in which you’d pass famous European structures. Its name was the Trans-European Express.
Asia Pavilion
The Asia pavilion certainly had a number of countries to choose from for inspiration. The Imagineers ultimately decided to imbue it with mainly Chinese and Japanese elements, along with the addition an Indian palace. Ride the Dragon was a planned steel roller coaster that would have run through something called Dragon’s Teeth Mountains, with vehicles designed like the Chinese lion-dragons often seen in festivals. Another planned attraction was a carousel with mythical Asian animals.
Africa Pavilion
The Africa Pavilion would have hosted a farming exhibit, African Drummers for outdoor entertainment and a white water river-rafting attraction down the Congobezi River. Imagineers even had a second phase plan for what was described as “a grand Egyptian palace.”
World Cruise
The extraordinary World Cruise boat ride would have been the longest ride ever built by Disney. Passing around the entire World Showcase area and through each of its pavilions, it would have included audio-animatronic scenes depicting the world’s cultures and would have taken a full 45 minutes to circumnavigate (riders would be able to hop on or off at ports in each of the pavilions).
Special Features of WestCOT
The Imagineers seemed extremely invested in the WestCOT project, wanting to offer things that theme park fans already love along with innovations that will bring them new kinds of excitement and entertainment. Here are some ways they wanted to innovate.
You would have been able to stay in WestCOT overnight
One of the most exciting elements of WestCOT would have been the ability to stay overnightinside the park. Each of the World Showcase’s buildings would have featured six floors, with the top three featuring hotel rooms as part of the “Live the Dream” program.
Transportation
Disney has always been concerned with how their guests get from one place to another. In this case the Disneyland Plaza would have been the transportation hub for the California resort. The plan was considered very in-depth and widely hailed as one of the most impressive aspects of the whole project. You would have been able to get to the front gates by walking, taking the monorail and using elevated PeopleMovers from parking structures. The parking structures would have been on the edge of the resort, designed so that the trip to the moving sidewalks that would bring you to the PeopleMover system was still relatively short. The PeopleMovers would bring you to Disneyland Plaza. From there, you could travel the Monorail to different sections of the resort.
District design standard
Even back in the 1950s with Disneyland Walt was concerned with the view guests had of what was outside the park. The reason he bought so much land in Florida (and thank goodness he did!) was because it allowed Disney to control the look of almost everything visitors of the park could see at Walt Disney World. So it makes sense that, in the 1990s, Disney was greatly concerned with making the whole community surrounding WestCOT and Disneyland a sight to behold. Funds for improvements to the location were at the forefront of Disney executives’ minds when planning the expansion.
The project as a whole had seven specific guidelines
The very best Disney designs and concepts are often driven by specific rules and ideology that are set beforehand. The WestCOT project would have continued that trend. Here are the seven principles that were supposed to be followed for the initial design of the theme park and beyond.
I. Project Unity: The park as a whole was intended to be more than a sum of its parts. Design was considered a big component to making that possible. Imagineers would create attractions and structures that complemented the surrounding area, so that the attractions, shops, restaurants and whatever else would blend together.
II. Integration: Disney intended to work closely with the Anaheim Commercial Recreation Area so that the surrounding community would also get a number of benefits if WestCOT was a big success.
III. A Dramatic Entry Sequence: The entrance, in WestCOT Center’s case Ventureport, was going to immediately immerse you in the experience.
IV. Parking on the Perimeter: The Imagineers wanted the resort to be able to hold tens of thousands of cars to handle all the people they anticipated would visit their parks.
V. Transportation Linkages: Ever since the Monorail (maybe even before), Disney has innovated when it comes to getting its guests around their parks. The intention was for WestCOT to continue that trend, in the methods laid out earlier in this article.
VI. Pedestrian Orientation: As any theme park fan knows, a visit to a Disney park tends to require a whole lot of walking. Disney wanted to make that process as pain free as possible.
VII. Diversity of Guest Activities: The Disney Imagineers were planning a wide variety of attractions and activities so that they could appeal to the broadest demographic possible.
Many of these guidelines were probably subconsciously followed for a lot of Disney theme parks, but they were specifically laid out for WestCOT. You can see by the plans laid out earlier in this article how these principals greatly influencing the initial designs of WestCOT Center and the Anaheim Recreation Area.
SpaceStation Earth… an eyesore?
The Master Plan for WestCOT was released publicly on May 8, 1991. On the surface level the whole thing seemed like a win for Anaheim. It would have led to over 25,000 new jobs and around $40 million in direct tax revenues for the city. However, the project had its share of detractors. Citizens of Anaheim were dreading WestCOT for reasons including SpaceStation Earth being an eyesore and increased traffic. Some local businesses were surprised to find that their buildings were part of what was supposed to be the Disneyland Resort. In fact, Disney would have needed Anaheim to acquire around 100 acres of land in the city.
Disney started facing some serious heat from a committee called the Anaheim Homeowners for Maintaining the Environment (“Anaheim HOME”), which was founded by local business owners Curtis Sticker and Bill Fitzgerald and rose to prominence in the spring of 1992. With their 1500+ members they did a lot of damage. For example, they set up a picket line in the Disneyland parking lot during Christmas of 1993, handing out leaflets explaining the downsides of WestCOT for Anaheim.
A really fascinating way they hurt Disney was by creating a scandal out of free Disneyland tickets that had been given out for a long time. For almost forty years, Anaheim city employees who worked in the Mayor’s office were offered free tickets to Disneyland. When Anaheim HOME found out about this, they argued that it was a form of bribery, influencing the local government to be in favor of adding another park which they would presumably also get free tickets to. As a result of what some say was a worthy outrage and some call a witch hunt, the free tickets for city employees went away.
There were also issues with freeways, carpool lanes and parking structures that Disney tried to address by going to the United States Congress for $400 million. That attempt didn’t end up being fruitful.
Disney vaguely addressed the problems they faced in an announcement that was released on December of 1991. It stated:
“[O]ur excitement about the decision to proceed with the Disneyland Resort is tempered by the realization that many hurdles remain. Developing a project of this magnitude in southern California is expensive and extremely complex.”
And:
“[A] variety of local and regional approvals are required and the fundamental economic feasibility of the project has yet to be proven.”
These problems might not have been insurmountable, but the abject failure of Euro Disneyland made things even more difficult. By 1992 Disney executives started making cuts. The Americas were at one point going to have a Hollywoodland section, but that was removed from the drawing board. Two years later things were even more dire, with Disney cutting the amount of new hotel rooms in half. By the beginning of 1995 the WestCOT project was completely dead in the water, to the chagrin of many Disney park fans clamoring for its debut.
Some WestCOT plans were transferred over to California Adventure
Disney’s California Adventure was ultimately built in WestCOT’s place, at a much-reduced cost of around $600 million. It included a number of elements planned originally for WestCOT Center. The team of Imagineers working on both projects was even largely the same. Still, many Disney fans were let down. Disney historian Jim Hill probably put it best:
“Conversely, wouldn’t you be disappointed if you were to learn that — after years of hype — the same company had decided not to construct the elegant restaurant, but were opting instead to build a McDonalds on that site?”
The small budget and less ambitious concepts culminated in what was, for many, a disappointment. While it didn’t exactly open to rave reviews, Disney did manage to turn California Adventure around to become a fairly popular park – but only after a $1.1 billion expansion and remodeling program.
Based on what you’ve learned from this article, do you think you would have preferred WestCOT Center and the Anaheim Commercial Recreation Area to what we ended up with? Please let us know on our Facebook page and in the comments below!
