Subsonic Radio

Does anyone know why the submarine and sky ride were closed and taken down at Disney World. I know that Disneyland has brought back a submarine ride.

Thanks

SAG746

I know there were alot of rumors for the submarine ride. I'm not sure Disney ever gave an "official" explanation. 20,000 Leagues closed October 14, 1994. My guess is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was difficult to maintain, had a history of constant ride breakdowns, loading difficulties (the subs were not handicapped-accessible), long lines, and the high costs of maintenance.

he Skyway closed on November 10, 1999. Once again i don't think there was an official explanation. My guess is it was not a key attraction, and was also not handicapped-accessible.

Rich

Thanks

The sky ride could have been made wheel chair accessible. However, the submarine ride couldn't.

Before we moved down to Miami, we used to live in Oak Ridge New Jersey, near Lake Hopatcong, off of Rt. 80 and/or 23.

Steve

20,000 Leagues was hugely expensive to maintain, as it was designed...A major overhaul would have been necessary, and there were other "bigger" plans for that area, which sadly have yet to come to fruition. There was talk that the Skyway frankly was too dangerous, considering some of the accidents before closure...Again a major overhaul would have been necessary, and the RoI was just not there....

Our Keys to the Kingdom tour guide said that the sky ride closed because Disney could not get parts to repair the ride if needed--they were obsolete.

Of course, I would have bought anything he said because he looked a lot like John Travolta.

The skyway always had impossibly long lines too, as I recall, so I imagine low ride capacity was a factor (like the subs). I do remember the whole 'jumping between the buckets is fun!' crowd though; I assume that safety features, or the overhauls required to put them in place, was part of it.

I was sad to see them go but not sad when they finished taking down the supports for them. Those were pretty ugly, especially toward the end. Now they just need to think of something decent to do with the load/unload areas, rather than just part time meet and greet.

20,000 Leagues closed October 14, 1994

Holy cow, it's been almost 14 years? Hands up everyone who feels old now.

while i was working there i was told a different story, and this was from a manager, which I confirmed with anoth manger. They told me one of their older cast members, around 65, had his clothing get caught on one of the skybuckets. He fell and got severly hurt, later passing away at the hospital. Disney pauid a settlement and puhed it under the rug.

How sad to lose someone so tragically. But that's probably a big reason for closing the ride and not giving much of an explanation for it.

Both hands up!

yes there was a CM that was hurt/killed on the skyway. See snopes

Not being able to get parts seems a bit far fetched to me, As they have all the shops they need to produce anything they want. And anything they don't feel they have the experts to produce in house, they can contract out.

I would guess, it's like anyother call, it was a combination of factors. Old equipment, the death, hard to maintain discretely (you can't really put up blue plywood walls 100' in the air.)


johno

We'll never know the real answer to why the Skyway closed unless Disney officially explains it. CM's have been injured and killed on other attractions and they are still open. Seems to me, its a combination of liability and cost to maintain the attraction.

As for 20,000 Leagues, I miss that!!! 14 years??? OMG. That is one attraction I wish my girls could have seen.

I heard that the traffic use for the Submarine ride became almost non-existant. But, I do like what they did for the ride at Disneyland. There's a great video on youtube. It's similar to what they did for the Living Seas with Nemo, but only more extensive and I have to admit it is fun to watch. Not likely that will happen at WDW since they filled in all the land where the submarine track was.

The skyway, if i can remember that far back WAS an incredibly long wait, and for the distance traveled, didn't seem much worth it. Of course I am saying this through an adult's eyes now, whereas, back then, I was much shorter and EVERYTHING took forever!

Wasn't the WDW skyway the first skyway to feature a 90 degree turn? Or was that busch gardens?

Good question...I am not sure...I never really like it because I am not too keen on heights, so I probably spent the time on it with my eyes closed.