Weirdly ABANDONED Attractions in Disney World

Disney World has been full of new life and attractions lately.

Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana is set to debut later this year. Splash Mountain is turning into the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, opening in 2024 — have you seen that new water tower? And, from  Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya to Eet by Maneet Chauhan, there is a slew of new restaurants in the works. But certain areas of Disney World are looking a little less lively these days. Some attractions have been weirdly abandoned — come take a look!

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is an attraction in the Animation Courtyard area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios — but it hasn’t been open since before the COVID-19 closures in 2020!

Live actors, puppets, and special effects would come together in this 17-minute show to retell the story of the classic animated Disney movie. When the parks reopened in 2020, much of the live entertainment remained closed, so it wasn’t much of a surprise to see this attraction on hold. But soon after, we noticed the billboard had been removed.

Apparently, Disney was just refurbishing it, however, because it returned shortly after.

Updating the billboard seems promising, so it felt like maybe we would hear some news about this show. But, 3 years later, we still haven’t heard any updates of its return, so what could come of this attraction? Only time will tell.

Stitch’s Great Escape

In Magic Kindom’s Tomorrowland, Stitch’s Great Escape once invited guests to help the Galactic Federation Grand Councilwoman provide additional security for the captured Stitch.

This replaced the old Alien Encounter and was meant to be a less scary update to that attraction. Unfortunately, many of the elements that scared kids before remained — darkness, screaming, and harnessed — but this time there were Stitch burps.

Alas, this iteration of the attraction closed its doors in 2018, and elements of this spot were slowly removed in the following years.

Disney officially confirmed it was gone for good in 2020.

River Country

Another area of the property that has been abandoned is River Country — and this one has been abandoned for years. River Country was Disney World’s first water park, opening in 1976, and it sat near the grounds of  Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.

What was unique about this water park was its water filtration system. It used freshwater from Bay Lake, which was then cleaned and used in the water attractions.

Unfortunately, as Disney expanded and added more water parks, River Country couldn’t compete. Typhoon Lagoon (which opened in 1989) and Blizzard Beach (which opened in 1995) were added to the lineup, and in comparison, the first water park seemed modest.

In 2001, River Country closed for good, and for a while it sat, abandoned. It wasn’t until 2016 that Disney began tearing it down, and in 2018 they announced that a new hotel would be taking over this spot.

Reflections – A Disney Lakeside Lodge vacation club resort was supposed to be constructed on the site, but it has since been removed from Disney’s D23 Expo announcements and we haven’t heard anything about it in years.

NBA Experience

Over at Disney Springs, the NBA Experience opened in 2019. According to Disney, this attraction let “everybody who loves the game, live it.”

During the opening ceremony, Mickey and Minnie cheered as confetti rained down on them, welcoming guests to a 44,000 square ft venue with 13 different basketball-related activities. But the future of this experience wasn’t quite so promising.

This spot which took the place of the old Disney Quest shut down in 2020 with the rest of the COVID-19 closures but never returned. In 2021, Disney confirmed it was gone for good.

Play! Pavilion

As part of EPCOT’s major transformation, the park was set to get a new addition dedicated to fun. According to Disney, the Play! Pavilion would be  “built on the power of play” and would introduce “an immersive and interactive ‘city’ where you can explore, create and interact with some of your favorite Disney characters.”

This new experience was to take over the old Wonders of Life Pavilion, which itself had been abandoned before being used as a festival pavilion. Once Disney had announced that it would turn into the Play! Pavilion, we had been watching it carefully to note any progress. But, unfortunately, it seems like progress has halted.

Back in February of 2023, we noticed a few things that suggest this might be the next abandoned Dinsey project. When new maps made their way to the parks, where it had once said “Future home of Play!,” that symbol was missing. Here is what it looked like before…

…and here is what it looks like on the new map.

In addition, the braille maps around the park also have had this label removed.

There also doesn’t seem to be much happening over in this area of the park, so we’re not sure how promising the future of this project will be.

So, while Disney has been bringing a lot of new experiences to the parks lately — quite a few areas seem to have gone by the wayside. We’ll keep an eye out for any updates, so stay tuned to AllEars for more!

Things You’ll Do for the Last Time in 2023 in Disney World

Which of these attractions do you wish would come to life? Let us know in the comments below!

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