We all live in a Grey Submarine???

Before starting I would just like to say I am a huge Disneyphile, only one thing beats Disney in my house and that is Ghostbusters. As a geek and fan I would like to send out my deepest sympathies and prayers to Harold Ramis' family. I may never have met Mr. Ramis, but Dr. Egon Spengler and I have been great friends for 30 years. R.I.P. 1944-2014.  

Hello once again from Past the Utilidor. This time it’s another withdrawal from my Disney memory bank. One of my favorite rides in the Kingdom was always 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I was enveloped in a underwater adventure with sea life, serpents, Atlantis, a struggle with a squid, who wouldn’t love this. Back to that in a minute. The Ride opened in the Magic Kingdom on October 14, 1971, just 13 days after the park opened. It was in Fantasyland right as you came out the castle you saw it just passed Dumbo and the Carousel.

                

Above is an old pic of the park, Dumbo is in the front there and sky buckets above. The open water was the ride. Now mind you this is all from memory since the ride is now defunct. As I remember it was an outdoor que, the decoration was green brass looking so it seemed it had been there for awhile. Once you got to the loading dock the Nautilus would dock and you were allowed on board. It was a front loading vehicle that you walked down into, there was a divider inside and you either went left or right. Against the divider were seats facing the portholes that sat up and had to be pulled down like toilet seats (this is the best way to describe the seats). When you sat you were facing a porthole with an air vent. As the ride started the captain came on and told you about your voyage. First you passed by local sea life crabs, fish, sea weed, followed by Divers in the ocean dressed like the Harper Goff designed suits in the movie. After that you entered the waterfall disguised show building by being told that we were diving due to a storm. That was done by air bubbles blowing outside your porthole  so you felt like you were going down. Next was the graveyard of lost ships with shipwrecks and shadowy figures of sharks, then followed the polar ice caps and the ship avoiding icebergs before heading into the Abyss! This was always a bit frightening for younger kids, it was dark and everyone and a wile lights would hit a weird unknown fish or two.

Now we see the lost city of Atlantis in ruins amongst it’s columns a sea serpent slumbers, is that another ship caught in its clutches?  Yes it was and the captain tells us we need to rise and get out of here, more bubbles another waterfall and we ride to the dock. It was great you want to get right back on, but very busy back then and no fast pass.

Unfortunately it has not sailed since September 5 1994 when 20,000 leagues closed permanently. With huge popularity and no notice the ride closed suddenly. All that was left was nice picture taking spot of the lagoon. That is until 2004 when the water was drained and the lagoon and show building demolished, making way for Pooh’s playful spot. Now it is home to the new Fantasyland with Beauty and the Beast area, Ariel’s Under the Sea ride and Pete’s Circus. A cool thing is if you are in the que for Ariel’s ride look to the walls of the waterways, you may find a familiar sub.

 3 of the ride vehicles actually made it passed the scrapping. 2 were taken to Castaway Cay the Disney Cruise line island for snorkeling views, only 1 remains and that one has had severe hurricane damage. The last one is on the bone yard part of the Back Lot tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Another top fiberglass part of the vehicle is behind Sorin’ at Epcot next to an old Jungle Cruise ride vehicle. So if you wanna have this same experience you have got to go all the way to Tokyo Disney Sea, in their mysterious island are because it is the last place is still running. Well let me get back to the Utilidors until next time.