ABANDONED DISNEY Series

UPDATED 1-10-10 (with additional photos and text)

Announcing:  A new ongoing series featuring the parts of Disney theme parks we grew up loving, left to rot and decay.
 

We already featured ABANDONED DISNEY: River Country [Part 1] and [Part 2] and look forward to Part 3.

We welcome any photos you may have that fall into this category.  We are looking for photos of abandoned rides, ride vehicles props, animatronics, etc.

Don't worry- there will always be a never-ending supply of the 'abandoned'.   We all know about the ever more powerful attractions chopping block with a line-up of classic, world-changing, fantastic rides just waiting their turn on this theme park death row.  It really warms the heart.

-----------------------------------------

To officially get this series going, we present to you some abandoned animatronic figures from our favorite futuristic adventure, Horizons (a ride abandoned only long enough to pull up the wrecking ball).

 

 
 

Where are they now?  These naked animatronics are piled up under The Carousel of Progress.  Yep, in the basement of the C.O.P building directly under one of the stages.  The Carousel of Progress in it's round building is divided into 6 pie-shaped pieces- one for each of the 4 acts plus 2 small stages for load and unload.  Under these stages are pie-shaped maintenance and storage rooms.  Remember, the center portion of the building is stationary.  Only the outer portion with seating rotates.

One (somewhat) redeeming part of this story is the fact that these figures are not completely abandoned.  Their parts are used for the C.O.P family.  I imagine some of these pieces are from other attractions.  If you think you recognize any of the parts, let us know!

Photo of Horizons dad decorating cake courtesy of Mesa Verde Times.  Thank you Hoot and Massimo for identifying some of the above animatronics!

Look for more 'Abandoned Disney' post coming soon.

HORIZONS MURAL, "The Prologue and the Promise" [ High Res ]

click to enlarge

Remember leaving Horizons and seeing this Robert McCall highly detailed masterpiece?  Boy, the future sure looks great.  I can't wait to wear tight-fitting jump suits with my wife and kids and our dog, standing on a grass hill overlooking our cool-looking city.

Click on the image below for a high resolution version of this image.  It may take a couple of minutes to fully load, for it is pretty large.  I have yet to see another image of this mural on the web at such high quality.  It's a scan from a print I once borrowed from a friend at WDI who has an amazing collection of EPCOT Center printed materials.

Here you see Robert McCall in action.  It appears he has some help.  I just noticed in the above high res image there are two signatures.  One from Robert T. McCall and one from Louise McCall (his wife).  Check out the smaller canvas of "The Prologue and the Promise" behind Louise- used for reference, no doubt.  Anyone know where that smaller one is today??

Related links:
http://www.mccallstudios.com/index.html  
http://mesaverdetimes.blogspot.com/ 
http://futureprobe.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-of-bob-mccall.html

HORIZONS the way you wish you knew it.

You have to check out what these guys did just before the the doors to future-living were shut forever at Epcot's masterpiece attraction, Horizons.  Hoot and Chief did what we all have wanted to do but never dared.  They jumped out of moving Horizons vehicles and experienced the elaborate sets and animatronic figures up close and personal- not once but multiple times.  Masa Verde Times showcases their amazing story with incredible (and hilarious) videos and photos.

 

http://mesaverdetimes.blogspot.com/