Category: Lost Legends

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KONGFRONTATION: The Reigning King of Universal Studios’ Lost Classic Creature Feature Attractions

Imagine it: it’s been a long day at work. You come home, kick up your feet, and turn on the TV. But wait… your regularly scheduled programming has been interrupted by a blaring warning from the Emergency Broadcast System. Natural disaster? Severe weather? An act of war? No, no, and no. Would you believe that a raging 40-foot tall ape is rampaging through town leaving a trail of destruction in its wake? Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and this unimaginable scenario played out day after day in the streets of New York at Universal Studios Florida with you caught in the middle of the mayhem.

Every month, our library of Lost Legends grows as we ride through the complete stories of fabled, fan-favorite classics to preserve their tales before they’re lost forever. We’ve asked you to help us by reliving your memories, all in hopes of helping a new generation of theme park fans understand why these lost rides matter.

Image: Universal

We recently chronicled the in-depth stories of two of Universal’s best rides ever in itheir own entries, Lost Legends: JAWS and Back to the Future: The Ride – both must-reads for industry fans. But today, we have an even bigger fish to fry. We’ll make our way through the ravaged remains of New York City and tackle the might of the king on KONGFRONTATION, the ride whose closure literally changed Universal Studios Florida forever. Today we’ll trace the tale that leads to that closure and ask you to share your thoughts on the “sequel” that replaced this awesome ‘90s classic.

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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JAWS: The Lost Universal Legend That Scared a Generation Out of the Water

“Amity Island had everything. Clear skies. Gentle surf. Warm water. People flocked there every summer. It was the perfect feeding ground.”

When it comes to Lost Legends, we’ve tackled some giants before. From getting tangled up with a giant squid aboard 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to escaping a rampaging T. rex on Jurassic Park: The Ride; surviving a bloodcurdling Alien Encounter to facing the rage of the gods aboard TOMB RAIDER.

Image: Universal

But to take on the creature in today’s story, let’s just say we’re gonna need a bigger boat… Today, we’ll dive deep into the history of Universal Studios Florida’s JAWS, the sensationally terrifying ride that represented the best of Universal’s action, storytelling, and signature special effects; a twisted take on a Disney classic, this complex attraction lived multiple lives before sinking forever in favor of a magical replacement.

Let’s relive the astounding story of this headlining ride that outlived most of Universal’s classics by exploring its history, riding through its signature scenes, and seeing where it lives on today…

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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If You Had Wings: A Flight Through Disney World’s Dark Ride Ode to the Wonders of Aviation and Eastern Air Lines

“If you had wings, you could do many things; You could widen your world if you had wings!”

When you think of Disney’s most classic, beloved dark rides, which come to mind? More than likely, what you’re picturing falls into one of two broad categories: the fantastical storybook adventures common of Fantasyland (rides like Peter Pan’s Flight, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and “it’s a small world” or Lost Legends: Snow White’s Scary Adventures and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride) or the grand, elaborate, inspiring adventures of EPCOT Center (from Spaceship Earth and Universe of Energy to another set of Lost Legends: Horizons, World of Motion, and the celebrated Journey into Imagination).

One you may not consider, however, is one that perfectly bridges the gap between the two styles… a gentle, whimsical, sing-along family ride through the wonders of air travel. Often overlooked amid the collection of closed classics, If You Had Wings in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland was no less magical than Fantasyland’s best, and no less educational than EPCOT’s headliners. In fact, this free-flying family ride – one of the first ever installations of a cutting-edge Disney ride system – actually shaped the fate of EPCOT’s originals!

Today, our Lost Legends series takes flight to explore a beloved-and-lost favorite that spent two decades at Magic Kingdom before falling to a “cartoonification” that mirrored the fall of the EPCOT rides it inspired.

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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HORIZONS: A Look Back at EPCOT’s Imagineering Masterpiece and its Glimpse into the 21st Century

UNDER REFURBISHMENT! You know I love to keep things fresh around here, and as a result, this feature is currently under construction! As I finish up edits over the next few days, you may encounter outdated information, repeated or disjointed sections, or “past perspectives” that refer to current events in the future tense. If you don’t mind sifting through some rough edges, I think you’ll still enjoy it… and check back soon for a fully refurbished story!

Horizons 1 is now departing. Our final destination today: the twenty-first century.

For Walt Disney Imagineering, it was a destination a long time coming: the future. Since the cast of designers who would create Disney’s theme parks was formed in 1952, great effort has been spent imagining (and then re-imagining) what tomorrow could bring… And more often than not, Imagineering’s visions of tomorrow have been surprisingly prescient!

But all glimpses into the future conjured by Disney’s designers paled in comparison to the ride that – for many fans of classic Imagineering – reset the standard and the timeline. For fans of the original EPCOT Center and the heady, intellectual, reflective, and progressive values it stood for, time is measured before and after HORIZONS.

Image: Disney, by Herb Ryman

Today, we’ll glimpse the future as envisioned by EPCOT Center on a round-trip, time-traveling journey that starts in the past. Even today – long gone from park maps – it ranks among the pantheon of Disney Parks’ most ambitious, elaborate, and massively-scaled E-Tickets ever created.

But even more, Horizons was a grand, ambitious landmark of what EPCOT could be and what Imagineering could do; a project reflecting the greatest intuitions and impressions of a graduating class of designers passing their skills on to the 21st century. And in the minds of many thematic design aficionados, it was as close to a masterpiece as Disney’s ever been, standing alongside Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones Adventure, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

What made Horizons a ride that’s transcended into the upper echelons of Imagineering’s most beloved projects? To glimpse the future as envisioned by EPCOT Center on a round-trip, time-traveling journey, we’ve got to start in the past…

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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The Great Movie Ride: Behind the Epic Curtain Call of the Disney-MGM Studios’ Starring Cinematic Spectacular

Now playing: “A Spectacular Journey Into the Movies!” A cast of thousands! A sweeping spectacle of thrills! Chills! Romance!

Almost unbelievably, the curtain has fallen on another epic, classic Disney dark ride. And so, our Lost Legends series gains a new entry. Park Lore is all about digging into the in-depth stories behind the industry’s most-missed classics. We’ve explored why Magic Kingdom sunk its classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, saw why Disney’s cancelled Beastly Kingdom became Universal’s legendary Lost Continent, checked into California Adventure’s closed Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, braved the perilous streets of New York aboard Kongfrontation, and literally dozens more.

Image: Disney

Through telling these in-depth stories, we hope to collect your memories and thoughts to preserve these ride experiences for a new generation of Disney Parks fans who just won’t understand what the big deal was about The Great Movie Ride. That’s why – today – we’ll explore the history of this cinematic wonder and tell the almost unbelievable story of how it came to be; then, we’ll take a ride through its hallowed halls, dissect the places it was almost duplicated, and look to the future of Disney World’s Hollywood-themed park.

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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From Mineral King to the Magic Kingdom: Startin’ Up the Country Bear Jamboree

“Howdy folks! Welcome to the one and only, original, Country Bear Jamboree — featuring a bit of Americana, our musical heritage of the past. And right now, I give you a sordid assortment of executioners of music and song…!”

One of the most exceptional attractions ever to come from the minds at WED Enterprises, the Country Bear Jamboree was truly a sensation. Opening alongside Magic Kingdom in 1971, this Audio Animatronic ursine adventure captured the imagination of a generation of Walt Disney World’s first guests, and continues to be a family favorite to this day. But would you believe that it was never meant to play at Disney Parks?

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Captain EO: Inside the $17 Million Michael Jackson Music Video that Changed Disney World Forever

Legend. That’s not a title to be thrown around lightly. In our time, true legends are few and far between. Legends defy expectations; they reshape pop culture; they become immortal icons remembered forever, their stories passed down through time. And that’s exactly what we’re here for.

As you know, Park Lore exists to chronicle the stories of industry legends, from Test Track to Adventure Thru Inner Space; Maelstrom to  JAWS; Snow White’s Scary Adventures to If You Had Wings. These are the stories that define eras of Imagineering. But even still, it’s rare for an Imagineering legend and a pop culture legend to collide… Today, our series heads to the stars for one of our most spectacular entries yet.

Captain EO was “here to change the world…” and he changed Disney World along with it. Michael Jackson’s biggest music video ever was unprecedented; an unimaginable collaboration of stars created specifically to reinvigorate Disney Parks when all hope seemed lost. In so doing, EO set the stage for a revolution, redefining Disney’s relationship with pop culture, film, and celebrity. Today, we’ll look behind-the-scenes of this industry-altering film and see exactly how – and why – it came to be.

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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BODY WARS: An “Inside” Look at EPCOT’s Abandoned, Pulse-Pounding Voyage Through the Human Body

Over the past few years, we’ve been working hard to build a library of Lost Legends, telling the in-depth behind-the-scenes stories of beloved-and-lost rides from around the globe. We’ve survived Disney’s scariest attraction ever, Alien Encounter; ventured 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to revisit the sunken Magic Kingdom classic; taken flight to relive the lost experience of Soarin’; toured the skies of Walt’s Tomorrowland aboard The Peoplemover; we’ve even merrily raced along to Nowhere in Particular aboard Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Across the site, keep your eye out for links to other Lost Legends, or set course for your favorite.

But today, we return to what may be the international capital of closed classics: EPCOT. It seems that rides at this uniquely ambitious park are doomed from the start, and a number of our Lost Legends resided here once upon a time. Today’s entry earned its place in Disney Parks’ history books by being the first thrill ride at EPCOT; a unique fusion of education and entertainment in a shuttered pavilion.

This can only be the story of BODY WARS, the would-be classic that nauseated a generation en route to an unfortunate and unusual closure. Even today – a decade after its closure – Body Wars is sealed away behind closed doors, rusting and awaiting its own demolition. In today’s in-depth entry, we’ll explore the history of the doomed Wonders of Life pavilion, the experience of its headlining thrill ride, and what became of it. Brace yourself, because this ride is not for the feint of heart… or stomach.

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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Big Bad Wolf: The Classic Coaster That Huffed, Puffed, and Blew a Generation Away

Granny, what big eyes you have… What big teeth you have… What big drops you have! Once upon a time, a legend lived in the darkest woods of Williamsburg… Like the fairy tales carried from the Old Country, the legend that lurked in the misty, moonlit forests of Virginia is today spoken about like a myth, surviving only by the stories whispered from one generation to the next. But trust anyone who grew up calling “the world’s most beautiful theme park” home: the Big Bad Wolf was real.

You’ve been part of our Lost Legends series, where we dive deep into forgotten attractions to immortalize their stories. We’ve set out to capture the truth behind the tales – how they were born, what they were like, and why they’re gone today. It’s your comments and memories that keep Alien Encounter, TOMB RAIDER: The Ride, VOLCANO: The Blast Coaster, and Son of Beast alive, to name just a few.

Image: Joel Rogers, via CoasterGallery.com (Used with permission)

Gazing up at this ferocious family coaster, you might’ve been among the generations of riders who called the Big Bad Wolf their first “big” coaster; those who recognize it as the ride that would kick start a quarter-century of thrill seekers before disappearing at the height of its popularity. This spectacular, suspended swinging coaster helped redefine what a family coaster could be, thrilling young and old as it raced through the woods of Virginia “at the speed of fright.” And today, its legend lived on…

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and recieve an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

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BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE RIDE – How a Trip to the Past Propelled Universal into the Future…

Cutting edge technology, cinema-ready storytelling, a beloved intellectual property… For a generation of themed entertainment fans, it truly may get no better than Back to the Future: The Ride. Considered by some to be the best ride Universal has ever designed, Back to the Future was indeed a hallmark and anchor for the brand-new movie park, a pinnacle of late-‘80s-early-‘90s entertainment, and – quite literally – the reason Universal Studios Florida exists at all.

And that’s why it’s earned its own in-depth entry here in our Lost Legends library, where we trace the complete histories of forgotten fan-favorites from around the globe… We defied the gods aboard TOMB RAIDER: The Ride, sailed the frozen fjords on Maelstrom, followed California Adventure’s Soarin’ success around the world, watched Disney cut production on The Great Movie Ride, marveled at the microscopic worlds of BODY WARS and Adventure Thru Inner Space, and so many more.

Image: Universal

And likewise, today we’ll learn the unlikely story behind Back to the Future’s creation, take a virtual “ride” through time, and see what replaced this closed classic. Fittingly, the too-true story of Universal’s maybe-magnum-opus requires that we rev up our engines, put pedal to the metal, and hit that sweet 88 mile-per-hour mark, tearing through time and space to return to the past where it all started…

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