Extinct Disney

Magic Kingdom Extinct Attractions

With Magic Kingdom being the oldest theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida (opening October 1, 1971), many lands and attractions have come and gone over the years.  Here are some memorable extinct lands & attractions we miss!

Liberty Belle Riverboat & Tom Sawyer Island

The attraction and Rivers of America closed permanently on July 7, 2025 to make way for the largest expansion in history at Magic Kingdom with a new Cars attraction. The Liberty Belle was a steam-powered riverboat ride vehicle that toured around the Rivers of America at the Magic Kingdom.  A steam-powered sternwheeler replica, it was the second boat ride vehicle to be introduced in this attraction and originally was named after the late Disney executive, Richard F. Irvine.

Snow White’s Scary Adventures

Based on Walt Disney’s 1937 masterpiece, this attraction was a dark ride in Fantasyland that took you through the daring, and sometimes scary adventure of Snow White’s story.

Originally when this ride opened, you never actually saw Snow White, as the attraction was supposed to be experienced by you, through her eyes. During 1983, the ride was updated to include Snow White and the name changed to warn parents of the dark, frightening scenes.

This attraction was permanently closed in May of 2012 and became Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland.

Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)

The original Tropical Serenade created by Walt Disney was replaced in April of 1998 to feature Zazu and Iago from Disney’s smash hit movie, Aladdin. This “Under New Management” version of the Tiki Room featured all of the same audio-animatronic birds, flowers, and Tiki gods, but now included Iago and Zazu, plus a new evil Tiki goddess named Uh-Oa, who disrupts the usual Enchanted Tiki Room storyline after Iago upsets her. In total, the show used 225 Audio-Animatronics.

In January 2011, a small fire broke out in the attic of the attraction, damaging the Iago animatronic.  As well, the sprinkler system is rumored to have damaged many of the other animatronics, and thus, the attraction was closed.  In August of 2011, the show was re-opened as Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room – a shorter, edited version of the original 1963 show from Disneyland.

ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

As part of Walt Disney World’s “New Tomorrowland” renovations in the mid-1990’s, this dark attraction was created in the space that previously housed the Mission to Mars attraction.  Guests would enter the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center to learn about new teleportation technology from X-S Tech. Unfortunately, due to a calamity of mishaps, a large, carnivorous alien is accidentally teleported into this round theatre in the dark, leaving destruction and gorey death in its wake.

This attraction featured many celebrity characters including Kevin Pollak, Kathy Najimy, Jeffrey Jones and Tim Curry.  Eventually this attraction’s popularity dwindled as it was just too scary for younger audiences.  In 2003 the attraction was replaced with Stitch’s Great Escape which used a lot of the same gimmicks but in a much more family-friendly presentation.

Ariel’s Grotto

Years before the current “Ariel’s Grotto” was opened, there was a completely different area of the Magic Kingdom.  Originally the park featured a large water lagoon in Fantasyland (about where Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is now) where you’d find the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ride.  When it closed the water lagoon mainly sat empty, except for a few sprinkling fountains and a statue of the Little Mermaid’s King Triton.

Nearby was a small water play area and a meet & greet with Ariel in her cavern full of wonders.  Eventually this entire area would be razed to create the New Fantasyland we know today.

The Legend Of The Lion King

From 1994 to 2002 this stage re-telling of the Lion King animated film featured large life-sized puppets.  This adorable presentation was located in the theater where you currently find Mickey’s Philharmagic.

Diamond Horseshoe Review

Frontierland’s Diamond Horseshoe restaurant used to feature an actual song & dance show with cowboys playing guitar! Guests would clap along to funny old western songs while dining in this two-storey theater. Nowadays an old player-piano fills the stage of this buffet restaurant, but the good ole’ days of strolling cowboys will never be forgotten!

Mickey’s Toontown Fair

Originally opened as Mickey’s Birthdayland in 1988, changed to Mickey’s Starland in 1990, then finally Mickey’s Toontown Fair in 1996, Toontown closed for good on February 11, 2011 to make way for the New Fantasyland Expansion.  In 2012, Storybook Circus opened in its place, and features circus-themed attractions The Barnstormer Featuring the Great Goofini – which was rethemed from Toontown Fair.

INTERCOT Fun Fact:  Goofy’s Barnstormer was designed by the same company that designed Rock n’ Rollercoaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Monorail Captain’s Cabin Ride

Believe it or not, you used to be able to request a seat with the Captain on the monorails at Disney! This provided amazing views that you would never get elsewhere on the monorail.

Horizons

This slow-moving attraction was a look at the 21st century through the eyes of visionaries from the past. This ride took you through the life of a family of the future. The wrap around projection screen scenes were not to be missed. You felt as if your car was literally floating in space! You also got to choose your own ending to the ride by selecting from the choices on the panel that illuminated in front of you.

In September 1998, we were the last riders for the night and were able to record the entire ride on video.  Without a doubt, this was our favorite attraction and is sorely missed.  Horizons was closed indefinitely, then replaced with Mission: SPACE in 2003.

The Living Seas

When The Living Seas opened in 1986, it was the world’s largest salt-water aquarium, holding 5.7 million gallons of water.  Prior to Nemo & Friends moving in to the pavilion in 2006, this attraction was supposed to take you deep under the ocean to Sea Base Alpha.

It began with a short film called “The Sea” in a comfortable theater, followed by an incredibly immersive “Hydrolator” ride to the sea floor.  From there, you could explore the sea base and its various interactive exhibits, or board a Seacab vehicle and ride through the Caribbean Coral Reef!

El Rio del Tiempo (The River of Time)

This river ride was housed where the Gran Fiesta Tour is currently located, inside the Mexico pavilion in World Showcase.  While a lot of the same show-elements can still be found today, the theme of the ride was to showcase different stories and scenes from Mexico’s history.  The ending of the ride was essentially a promotion on why you should take a vacation in Mexico!  With its catchy tune, this ride was a toe tapping, cheerful experience at EPCOT.

Body Wars (Wonders of Life Pavilion)

The Wonders of Life Pavilion was located in Future World, between the Universe of Energy (now Guardians of the Galaxy attraction) and Horizons (now Mission Space).  This gold domed building housed a number of fun attractions centered around the human body.  One of these attractions was a flight simulator ride called Body Wars.

Similar to the Star Tours attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you would board a large ride simulator, to be miniaturized and beamed to the inside of a human body.  Your mission was to study the effects of the white blood cells on a splinter inside the left index finger of a volunteer. Of course, the mission gets a little out-of-control and you end up seeing a lot more than you bargained for!

Test Track

This land originally was home to World of Motion – but in 1999 it was re-themed to a more thrilling attraction sponsored by General Motors. Test Track was themed to a vehicle testing laboratory, where you would be used as a test dummy to ensure the cars coming off the factory line were safe!

While the current ride has a similar theme to this first version, it definitely didn’t have the “futuristic” Tron-style effects we see today.

Journey Into Imagination

Since this attraction opened at EPCOT, it has gone through a number of changes.  From 1983 to 1988, the original attraction was sponsored by Kodak and featured a funny purple dragon, Figment, and his creator The Dreamfinder. In 1988 when Kodak ceased to sponsor the attraction, it was completely refurbished and called Journey Into YOUR Imagination (from 1989-2001).  The reaction to this version was not great as it no longer featured Dreamfinder, and the beloved Figment character was reduced to only a few cameos.  So in 2002 they brought back Figment as part of Journey Into Imagination With Figment – the third and current attraction we have today.

Below you can see BOTH the original (and in our opinion, the best!) version of the ride… as well as the second iteration.

Maelstrom

In 1988, the new Norway Pavilion at EPCOT needed an attraction, and this cross between a dark ride & a log flume ride was opened. Originally called SeaVenture, it eventually was named Maelstrom and featured a number of animatronics that told the story of Vikings and trolls in Nordic culture.

Guests loved how the ride would go backwards in parts, almost exiting the building down a waterfall, and it’s long flume hills with splashing waves! As the ride ended in a small fishing village, guests were invited to watch a short film in a Scandinavian theater about Norway’s history up through modern-day times.

Food Rocks

You may have heard of EPCOT’s hilarious food-themed attraction called Kitchen Kabaret, that starred a number of singing and dancing foods, hosted by an animatronic named Bonnie Appetit.  This theater was located in The Land pavilion, and while the original show was popular, in 1994 it was updated to feature more contemporary music and characters in the new “Food Rocks” animatronic show.

The host was Fūd Rapper (voiced by 90’s rap star Ton Loc) and offered up musical acts like The Peach Boys, Chubby Cheddar, Pita Gabriel. In 2004 this attraction closed to make room for Soarin’.

Soarin’ Over California

In 2005, the Food Rocks theater closed in The Land Pavilion at EPCOT to make room for Soarin’ Over California – a flight simulator which was the twin of the same attraction at Disney’s California Adventure at Disneyland.

Just as you do today in the current attraction, you were whisked up and towards a large circular screen where you gently tilt and lean as you flew over iconic skylines – however in this iteration, you only visited Californian landscapes. Scents that complemented the scenes were also injected into the air streams blowing on riders. Occasionally, EPCOT rotates this older film with Soarin’ Around The World, so you may still see this version from time to time!

Tapestry of Nations & Illuminations: Reflections of Earth

Tapestry of Nations was a nighttime parade at EPCOT that ran around World Showcase Lagoon from 1999 to 2001. It featured massive puppets, stilt walkers and drum kits.  This evening entertainment was often followed by the fireworks presentation, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.  This fireworks extravaganza stayed for several years and won many awards for it’s powerful storyline and musical score.

Star Tours 3D Media Fireworks

When Star Tours became a 3D experience, INTERCOT was invited to view some special fireworks at the Grand Opening Media Event.  This video was shot May 19, 2011.

Countdown To Extinction

This was an opening day attraction for Animal Kingdom, and was considered a dark thrill ride.  Built on the same track & ride system as the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, this intense ride transported you back to the time of the dinosaurs where you narrowly escape the asteroid strike that rendered our dino pals extinct!  Most of this attraction has remained untouched to today – however better special effects have been added since its opening.  In 2000 the name of this ride changed to “DINOSAUR!” to coincide with the name of the Disney animated film of the same name.

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade

Disney’s Animal Kingdom used to be home a traveling, interactive island street party, featuring Disney characters “on expedition” and a tribute to their animal friends. As the procession meandered through the park, a menagerie of abstract animals came to life in handcrafted theatrical designs, with a rousing musical beat!