The failure of Walt Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire was a tragedy for animation fans, but it also robbed us of what could have been some spectacular theme park rides!
In the annals of Disney animation, 2001’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire has an odd place. In its time, it was a box office flop, $186 million off a reported $120 million budget. Its failure was seen as the turning point for Disney animation, and, combined with the following year’s bigger failure of Treasure Planet, it resulted in the death of 2-D animated features.
In the nearly quarter-century since its release, Atlantis has been re-evaluated by Disney fans as an underrated gem. It’s been praised for its animation, its story and wonderful characters and deserved a better box office fate.
What’s overlooked is that Disney really had hoped this movie would be their next big animated hit. They were even beginning an animated series based on the film, but when the movie underperformed at the box office, it was canceled and became a poor direct-to-video sequel.
Yet the theme parks were going to boast some great Atlantis-themed rides, which would have been an amazing spark for the parks!
The Atlantis sub voyage
The first planned use for Atlantis was obvious. In the 1990s, Disneyland’s long-running Submarine Voyage looked a bit long in the tooth and a revival was needed. The ride closed in 1998, pushed by the massive amount of maintenance it needed. Disney had planned to rework the ride to use Atlantis.
The ride was shut down, and signs were put up stating “Atlantis Expeditions.” Plans have come up at various sites, and they would have included putting up a giant volcano as a backdrop with the storyline of the subs taking guests through Atlantis.
This would have gotten rid of the Autopia and a new mountain right by the Matterhorn. It reportedly would also have given guests a chance to explore Atlantis itself, a precursor to areas like Galaxy’s Edge or World of Pandora.
It was delayed because Disney had put most of its resources into California Adventure. The movie’s box office failure ended those plans. It took until 2007 for the Submarine Voyage to be revived with the Finding Nemo theme to save the subs, which is more than could be said for Walt Disney World.
The amazing Fire Mountain coaster
As fun as the Disneyland Atlantis ride would have been, Walt Disney World would have outdone it. They had closed their 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride in 1994 (which is a story unto itself) and left the lagoon area open. So it was logical they’d make an Atlantis ride there.
Instead, Disney Imagineers conceived Fire Mountain, an attraction set in Adventureland. It, too, would use a volcano theme with the storyline of Preston Whitmore, the eccentric millionaire from the movie, revealing Atlantis to the world with special expeditions. The “base camp” would be the basis for the queue area.
Of course, like any classic Disney ride, the “simple tour” goes awry. The train cars holding the guests would have to take a “shortcut” through a fiery mountain, encountering various monsters along the way.
The ride would have been groundbreaking for its time. It’d start as a standard roller coaster with twists and turns. At the halfway point, it would hook up to a special overhead tram to send guests flying over the lava fields and monsters.
This would have transformed Adventureland with the Railroad going through the mountain and the idea of altering the Jungle Cruise so guests would be dropped off at the Atlantis base camp.
Once more, the movie’s box office failure ended any ideas for an expensive E-ticket ride. Yet, in a way, the ideas for an Atlantis adventure would live on.
How DisneySea got a take on Atlantis
It’s often joked that Disney Imagineers never throw anything out and ideas for unbuilt attractions somehow pop up elsewhere. That seems to be the case with Atlantis.
Tokyo DisneySea opened in September 2001 after Atlantis opened so it didn’t use the movie. Yet it’s not hard to see how some top rides have some influences on those never-built Atlantis attractions. Mysterious Island is based on the works of Jules Verne, who was a key inspiration for the design of Atlantis’s technology.
Its Journey to the Center of the Earth ride takes guests on a wild volcano journey that encounters monsters. Meanwhile, their 20,000 Leagues ride uses an overhead track for a trip through a world of mermen and other creatures.
The rides really sound amazing, and one has to wonder what would have been possible if Atlantis had been the hit Disney wanted. Imagine seeing these awesome volcanoes rising up in the Magic Kingdoms and the cool rides inside. Fire Mountain could possibly still work for an Avatar ride and the ability to explore Atlantis would have been a cool idea.
It’s among the many reasons why the failure of Atlantis still hurts, as the movie was ahead of its time in its adventures and story. It could have opened a new avenue for Disney animated films and inspired its own franchise.
It also would have provided the Disney parks with some awesome new rides. Instead, as with so many Disney attractions planned in this period these voyages only exist in our dreams.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire streaming on Disney+.