20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

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About 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

A Lost Magic Kingdom Attraction



Listen to the attraction soundtrack during your visit SOUNDTRACK or, maybe a selection by Capt. Nemo playing his pipe organ NEMO

The 20K ride at Disney World opened October 14, 1971, and was one of the original flagship attractions. It had twelve amazing 38 passenger subs, the huge water tank held 11.5 million gallons of water, and it took up 25% of the real estte in Fantasyland. And it's astounding to think that ride was only a third of the size it was originally planned to be! (The victim sub in the grip of the giant squid is marked as XIII on the fin, making it the 13th nautilus in the fleet. The fact that there was an unlucky sub number XIII on both sides of the track may be why the ride is sometimes sited as having 14 subs.)

The 20K ride was a very close cousin to a ride in Disneyland California called "Submarine Voyage" which opened in 1959 (and in 1998 was shut down as well, I guess it just hasn't been a good decade for submarine rides). The two rides shared many of the same elements and animatronics; I believe that's how the bizarrely out of place mermaids and goofy sea serpent ended up in 20K. However close examination will show how 20K was tweaked and improved in almost every respect. Even the attraction's posters were nearly identical. The Disneyland Submarine Voyage is currently being rehabilitated into a Finding Nemo themed ride.

As one of the original E ticket attractions, 20K ride was a smashing success. The crews of 20K and of Jungle Cruise often competed for which attraction could dazzle more visitors in a day, and 20K always kicked their ass. The ride wasn't for everyone, but for the young and the imaginative it was all the spark they needed to light their dreams on fire. The life of the ride is best depicted with photos and videos, and in the stories of the men who ran it, so it'll leave it at that here.

The 20K ride was abruptly "temporarily closed" for "renovations" on September 5, 1994; which as it turned out was just a nice way to say, "We're shutting down the Best Ride in the World forever."

Actually a inside source tells us that at the time it was not in fact intended that the closing would be permanent. Apparently Disney was seeking a corporate sponsor for 20K to raise money for it's rehabiliation (as in, "Brought to you by Chicken of the Sea!"), which clearly didn't come to pass.

It wasn't until early 1996 that it they actually admitted that the 20K ride was closed forever. The tragic shutdown shocked, angered and saddened thousands of people, young and old. Thankfully there were no suicides.

Still, the 20K ride had had many good years of operation; touching and inspiring thousands with its bubbles, fake looking fish and amazing giant squid.

There are many rumors as to why the 20K ride was closed. Some say it was because of its very high maintenance costs, others because it was difficult for the handicapped to access, and yet others because the spotty air conditioning sometimes let it get too hot inside the subs and people would faint. Of course, it was fear of the giant squid that sent those people down, not the heat. The giant squid was too much for weak people to take and that's why they closed the ride.

A 1995 ride over FantasyLand on the Skyway shows no boats in the water. No 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. No happy landlubbers lining up for a fantastic submarine ride with Captain Nemo.

In 1995 the waiting area and boat staging area were still there, giving fans hope that it might come back. But now all that is gone. The waiting area has turned into a character greeting spot. Once again, rumors abound, this time about a thrill ride being put there. By many fans definitions, 20k was a thrill ride, but Disney's definition is more toward the high speed climb, drop and roll rides.

Is there a loss of vision here? While Disney now says it wants to compete with other parks, is it forgeting it earned its reputation and popularity by being unique and not just another amusement park?

The loss of an underwater ride has dulled Disney's uniqueness and has cast 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea into the realm of nostalgia. Disney says that most Walt Disney World visitors have never been there before and won't understand nostalgia. I respectfully remind you that most of Disney/MGM Studios is about nostalgia. It has its place.

As Captain Nemo said, "steady as she goes and keep your eyes and mind alert."

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