Only Disney Experts Will Remember These Extinct Billboards!

There are so many different definitions of what a ‘Disney Expert’ truly is. For some people that means someone who knows not to rope drop the most popular attractions during their trip to Disney World (Flight of Passage, we’re looking at you) or it means someone who remembers that Cinderella Castle was once TPed by Stitch for the opening of his attraction (R.I.P. Stitch’s Great Escape, you were a real one).

I like to think of a Disney expert as someone who loves all the niche things that made Disney World so amazing. This is why, if you recognize these ICONIC and now-extinct Disney World billboards, you are an official Disney expert in my book.

The Tower of Terror Billboard

If I close my eyes and really, truly think about it, I can practically see the towering billboard as my family and I cruise through the Disney World bubble for our annual Disney trip. The nostalgia hits hard for me with this billboard, but that aside, it’s arguably the coolest sign that has ever existed.

The billboard showcases an elevator shaft that includes riders being flung outside of The Hollywood Tower Hotel. The riders inside of the elevator were created in a way where they looked 3D (I truly thought they were real when I first saw it) and the elevator itself actually moved! This billboard enticed guests to brave the Tower of Terror attraction inside of Disney’s Hollywood Studios (or MGM Studios depending on how you remember it.) And though I was not brave enough to do so (and still am not, btw), this billboard was one of my favorite parts of entering through the Disney World gates.

Sadly, it was demolished a couple of years ago and the wound is still fresh. It now lives on in our memories and on the internet, but it will forever be iconic in our hearts.

It’s Tough To Be A Bug 3-D Billboard

Listen, Disney was at the top of the billboard game and the one created for this underrated (but truly amazing) attraction is no exception. Built to advertise It’s Tough To Be A Bug over at Animal Kingdom, a billboard displaying a giant Flick along with a Stink Bug adorned the sky. And if two giant bugs towering over your tiny car wasn’t enough, the Stink Bug released smoke to give the full effect! How cool is that?!

With the tagline ‘Catch a 3-D Flick’ displayed on the side (we see what you did there Disney) this sign was as fun as it was eye-catching and truly lives rent-free in my memory. Unfortunately, this billboard is also no longer with us (I guess the ‘extinct’ part of the title makes total sense now), but it will forever be a fave from Disney’s advertising past.

It’s also probably a good and terrible time to mention that It’s Tough To Be A Bug will also become extinct fairly soon…but that’s a story for a different day.

If there’s one thing Disney has taught us is that great things don’t last forever. Sometimes it’s to make room for even greater things, but other times…we’re not sure why they’re gone in the first place. Still, we’re glad these billboards existed and that some of us got to experience them for ourselves. And for those who haven’t, trust us, it was great.

Stay tuned as we bring you even more Disney blasts from the past as well as all the latest here at All Ears!

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Do you remember these Disney World billboards? Let us know in the comments!

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