From their very inception, the Disney Parks have blazed new trails in entertainment, transforming the very concept of theme parks and taking the idea to a whole new level. That spirit of innovative dreaming has continued across generations, and there are always new plans in the works at the Disney Parks.

Check out the latest from Disney California Adventure Park’s newest land, Avengers Campus!

That said, some Disney dreams never became reality. Here are a few cases of magical Disney Parks ideas that sadly never came into fruition.

 Muppetland

A creative genius with a knack for comedy and a deep understanding of human emotions, Jim Henson’s pioneering of puppetry made him and his works into key cultural icons of the 20th century, the most notable being his Muppet franchise.

From having ballet dancers perform sketches with pigs to giving an opera singer a country music song, the Muppet Show took the concept of a variety show and then cannonballed it in crazy, amazing directions, and that was just the beginning. The Muppet Movie, for instance, is preserved for posterity in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry as a cultural treasure, and both Jim and his most famous puppet Kermit are honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

So it comes as no surprise that Disney sought to buy the rights to the Muppets and bring Jim and his talented crew on board for even more creative projects.

The Muppet merger with Disney was ambitious from the start, with plans that would not only create a new section of attractions at the Disney Parks, but also transform Disneyland Anaheim entirely. Had things gone as planned, at the end of Disneyland’s 35th anniversary celebration in 1990, Mickey and the gang would have “taken off” the following year for a much-needed vacation, with the Muppets pitching in to keep the park running. The park would have been renamed “Muppetland” in 1991, and the Muppets would spread their zany chaos across the park. 

Kermit’s face would replace Mickey’s at the flowerbed by the front gate, the Matterhorn would turn green, and the Muppets would become stars in new daily parades. Even on individual rides like Small World or Pirates of the Caribbean, you could have seen a Muppet or two slipping in to make cameos. This sort of park makeover would have been an incredible experience and an intense way of introducing the Muppets into the Disney family.

 Of course, Disneyland would have returned to normal in 1992, but that was going to be just the beginning for the Muppets at Disney. The Muppets’ area at Hollywood Studios would have been much larger and featured multiple attractions, most notably the Great Muppet Movie Ride. Drawing on the Muppets’ affinity for chaotic, hilarious comedy, the ride would have parodied the classic Great Movie Ride and taken guests through multiple movies like Frankenstein and Peter Pan — only, in each case, the Muppets mess things up and everything goes bonkers; through it all, you’d also hear the infamous hecklers Statler and Waldorf mock the botched movie-making. This would have been terrific, as some of the best comedy in the Muppet Show was all the backstage shenanigans. And that ride was likely going to be just one of the many attractions.

Muppets instead of Dorothy and her pals?  [The Walt Disney Company]

Tragically, Jim Henson, whose bright vision of life brought laughter and happiness to countless people, died on May 16, 1990. With Jim dead, negotiations for the merger with Disney stalled, and while the Muppets still eventually became part of Disney in smaller ways, Disney’s interest in “Muppetland” waned. There would be no big publicity stunt like the takeover of Disneyland, and the Muppets’ area at Disney World was much smaller and focused around a single attraction: MuppetVision 3D. The Muppets still bring plenty of fun and silliness to the Disney parks (through Great Moments in History and deliciously at Regal Eagle Smokehouse), but it’s a faint glimmer of the great dream that almost came to be.

Beastly Kingdom

The area of Animal Kingdom that now hosts Avatar-themed Pandora and was previously home to Camp Minnie-Mickey had initially been meant to feature a much different land, one that would complement and contrast with the real-world settings of the park’s other major areas. For while places like Africa, Asia, and DinoLand paid tribute to the Earth’s diverse animals, both alive and extinct, the Beastly Kingdom would have focused on mythical, fantasy creatures that have only ever existed in our imaginations.

Fantastical animals like unicorns and dragons, which fueled our human curiosity to explore the natural world around us to discover new wonders, would have called the Beastly Kingdom home. In fact, the dragon seen on many early Animal Kingdom memorabilia was meant to represent this fourth area of the park, showing just how important is was considered to be during the park’s creation.

The Beastly Kingdom would have been in fact two conjoined kingdoms, representing the light and dark sides of the human imagination. On the right upon entering the kingdom, the light half of the area would have featured bright, European-styled gardens. This would have included a hedge maze where guests would search in a scavenger hunt to find mythical animal statues like a griffon, which would unlock the way to a mystical grotto where the noble unicorn – the Light Kingdom’s symbolic animal, would greet them as an animatronic marvel. Plus, the land would pay tribute to Fantasia, with even a ride through the famous hippo-crocodile ballet scene.

In contrast, the left side of Beastly Kingdom embodied darkness, in a foreboding but adventurous way. Its symbol, which would also be a symbol for Animal Kingdom as a whole, was the mighty dragon, lorded over the domain from a castle and would intermittently appear to shoot out flames. Those brave enough to venture to the Dragon Tower would find a fun and exhilarating roller coaster ride in which mischievous bats asked for your help to raid the dragon’s treasure vault.

This section of Beastly Kingdom would have also included a spooky forest, a classic medieval townscape, and a Stonehenge-themed plaza. Overall, the duality of the two areas, combined with its contrast to the live animal parts of the park, would have made it a unique and intriguing place to explore.

Due to budget cuts at the time, though, Beastly Kingdom was stalled indefinitely, even as the rest of the park opened in 1998. Ultimately, the plan for Beastly Kingdom was scrapped.

This is sad, because in many cases, our visions of mythical beasts come from taking real-life animals and using our imaginations. For instance, scholars believe that rhinos inspired tales of unicorns and dragons likewise were inspired by dinosaur fossils. A fantasy realm would have had great synergy with the real-life animals in the other areas.

Get even more Beastly with our deep dive into the Animal Kingdom land that never was here.

WestCOT

Before Disney California Adventure Park was created to complement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, there were plans for a much different park in California: WestCOT, a West Coast counterpart to Disney World’s Epcot. It was an ambitious idea that would not simply recreate Epcot but innovate it into something unique and spectacular. In doing so, Disneyland’s popularity would be boosted, and Disney’s California properties could finally stand as an equal to the rapidly expanding parks in Florida.

Plans for WestCOT included some of Epcot’s key features, like Spaceship Earth and World Showcase, but the overall theme and set-up would be very different, drawing inspiration from World’s Fairs and Walt’s initial vision for EPCOT. Most notably, Spaceship Earth would be upgraded into the much grander SpaceStation Earth: a 300-foot golden globe over 1.5 times the size of Epcot’s 180-foot original.

There would be three equivalents for Epcot’s Future World attractions, but the Wonders of Life, Earth, and Space would be enhanced and fully enclosed within indoor complexes, letting Disney control the environment like a theatrical stage. As for World Showcase, rather than having many small areas, there would instead be the Four Corners of the World: the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Each pavilion would include elements from multiple countries in the respective continent(s) and unique rides that often drew inspiration from the region as a whole. Europe’s corner, for example, would have had a chase along Europe’s railroads, all the while passing by famous landmarks as you zipped from country to country.

Disney had even more ideas for WestCOT to create a unique, immersive experience for visitors. The park would have directly engaged audiences and made them participants, not bystanders, in the amazing stories and adventures around them. The Four Corners pavilions would have each had special hotel rooms that would let guests actually spend the whole night in the park. In addition, there was going to be an entire transportation network of monorails, moving sidewalks, and PeopleMover vehicles, letting people travel all across the entire Disneyland Resort complex with barely any walking – even to just a couple minutes from your car in the parking lot. 

However, Disneyland has the continual issue of being surrounded on all sides by Anaheim, and issues over space dogged the WestCOT project. For one, Anaheim citizens disliked the fact that SpaceStation Earth, even taller than Epcot’s massive ball, would tower over everything in the area and present an eyesore. Plus, even with plans to use the former Disneyland parking for the new park, WestCOT would need additional land currently held by Anaheim residents, and many did not wish to move or sell. These conflicts, combined with budget costs across Disney as a whole, ended the plan for WestCOT, leading to California Adventure as the alternative.

Get more WestCOT here!

Unfulfilled dreams can be disheartening at times, as the bright potential we see in the faint glimpses of the projects makes us yearn for much more. Even so, while we may regret that these ideas never came to be, they empower our curiosity and creativity, encouraging us to dream up even more great ideas and work to make them happen. The many bright dreams of Imagineers, both realized and unrealized, help us appreciate the creative effort of Disney’s team and make us wonder what their next amazing idea will be. 

What’s your favorite land that didn’t come to life? Let us know in the comments. 

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