tinkbutt
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2008
- Messages
- 2,431
For 10 years the lagoon lay fallow (a statue of King Triton from The Little Mermaid was installed but that doesn't count), decorative wooden crates appeared on the loading docs and camouflage netting was hung over the cavern entrances. The robots in the lagoon were removed, but most of the sets and props in the caverns just sat there rotting away in the cold, dark water. How creepy cool is that image!
The waiting area was used as a meet-and-greet where you could get your photo taken with Ariel and other Disney characters called the "Fantasyland Character Festival". During these years there were numerous letter writing campaigns and everyone kept their hopes alive that the ride would return one day.
However, in 2004 a green wall went up around the lagoon, and in July it was drained and demolition began. The coral, the sets, and most of the animatronics within the lagoon and caverns were smashed to bits, although many items were saved by Disney employees, such as the sharks, one of the squids, a viking ship, and the serpent's heads. Demolition continued throughout the remainder of the year, as the lagoon was leveled off, filled in with dirt, and concreted over. Large amounts of Foliage began to be added, and in mid 2005 a rather small playground called 'Pooh's Playful Spot' was opened. Most of the large area that was 20k was simply covered by foliage. 20K was not completely forgotten thoughthe designers put a small, barely noticable green knot above the door to Pooh's house which resembles the Nautilus!
http://www.20kride.com/history.html
The waiting area was used as a meet-and-greet where you could get your photo taken with Ariel and other Disney characters called the "Fantasyland Character Festival". During these years there were numerous letter writing campaigns and everyone kept their hopes alive that the ride would return one day.
However, in 2004 a green wall went up around the lagoon, and in July it was drained and demolition began. The coral, the sets, and most of the animatronics within the lagoon and caverns were smashed to bits, although many items were saved by Disney employees, such as the sharks, one of the squids, a viking ship, and the serpent's heads. Demolition continued throughout the remainder of the year, as the lagoon was leveled off, filled in with dirt, and concreted over. Large amounts of Foliage began to be added, and in mid 2005 a rather small playground called 'Pooh's Playful Spot' was opened. Most of the large area that was 20k was simply covered by foliage. 20K was not completely forgotten thoughthe designers put a small, barely noticable green knot above the door to Pooh's house which resembles the Nautilus!
http://www.20kride.com/history.html
