20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was an attraction at the Magic Kingdom theme park. It officially opened on October 14, 1971. Though the attraction was a guest favorite and remained popular throughout its existence, it was expensive to maintain, as well as having a low hourly loading capacity for an attraction of its size and expense. It was closed on September 5, 1994, without advance notice, for what was outwardly termed a temporary maintenance period, but in 1996 the closure was officially made permanent. It was replaced by Pooh's Playful Spot.
The Voyage
Despite the extensive 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea overhaul the attraction was given, essentially it was still the same as its Californian counterpart Submarine Voyage, in both its underwater show scenes and narration, except for a few occasional differences.
The adventure began as the guests made their way down into the back of the submarine, bending to miss the low-level raised rear hatch, and finding a place on board. Throughout the voyage, an eerie organ version of the Disney film's main theme would play on a never-ending loop, allowing for a narration backing as well as a piece of stall music if required. Following the standard Disney-style introduction and safety notes from the helmsman, the narration would be switched on and the voice of Captain Nemo.
With the submarine clear of the dock, the diving sequence would begin, with hundreds of air bubbles filling the porthole view, creating the illusion of descent. Once clear, the Captain introduced himself to his passengers, and then introduced them to the underwater plains around Vulcania. In the lagoon, guests could see moray eels, crabs, lobsters, sea bass, clams and turtles as well as a host of smaller, tropical fish.
Minutes later, in another tribute to the Disney film, an "underwater party" of divers would come into view, as animatronics wearing replicas of the Harper Goff-designed deep sea diving equipment worked kelp beds and wrangled with rebellious turtles.
With the bubbles from the waterfall at the cavern entrance simulating a surface storm, the Captain would order the submarine down into the depths as a precaution, and the guests enter the show building section of the attraction. Within minutes, the devastation such natural phenomenon can create was made clear with the ominous Graveyard Of Lost Ships, with shipwrecks from various centuries littering the sea bed, guarded by the silent, gliding figures of sharks.
Leaving the destruction behind, the Nautilus would reach the South Pole, circumnavigating the Polar Ice Cap from below the surface, and narrowly avoiding large icebergs stabbing through the water. Venturing deeper, the Nautilus entered the eerie world of the Abyss, where guests viewed examples the many weird and strange species of deepwater fish that thrive in such an environment.
Rising slightly, one of the final discoveries made is the ruins of Atlantis, along with a typical Disney-fied sea serpent, accompanying mermaids, and a treasury bursting with jewels and gold. With the ruins of the ancient civilization soon left behind, the Nautilus would enter the final phase of its journey, with a tribute to the most iconic and memorable part of the 1954 Disney film: The attack of the giant squid. After seeing a much smaller sister Nautilus trapped in the clutches of one such creature (Curiously marked XIII on the tailfin), the passenger submarine would be attacked itself by long, thrashing tentacles.
With a final push to the surface, the Nautilus would clear the caverns of the dangerous squid, and enter the safety of the tropical lagoon, on its way towards the dock.
Post Closure
After closing, several vehicles were left stationary in the lagoon and by the dock, before the entire fleet was eventually pulled from the attraction in 1996. The submarines were regularly moved around to different locations in Walt Disney World backstage for several years, until eventually being stripped and buried in a landfill in 2004. Three of the vehicles were saved from the fleet's demise. Two were shipped to be sunk in the snorkelling lagoon at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. Here, the two submarines were placed in various areas of the snorkelling lagoon and covered with cargo netting to help sealife and microbial corrosion cling to them. As of 2008, only one of those two Nautilus submarines still exists, but both its wheelhouse and dorsal fin have been destroyed by hurricane weather. The third submarine sits in a lot behind Disney's Hollywood Studios. It can be seen in the "bone-yard" section of the Backlot Tours next to some props fromStar Wars or Pirates of the Caribbean. The submarine is in a fair condition, with no damage visible to those who pass by. The fiberglass top of one Nautilus sub now resides behind Soarin' in Epcot, along with an old Jungle Cruise boat.
(photo credits: Google Images) (info credit: Disney Wiki)
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