“Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” – Walt Disney
If you’ve been to any Disney Park more than once, then chances are you’ve probably experienced the closing of one or more attractions. Since my first visit as a child to Walt Disney World in 1972, I’ve witnessed the closure of several attractions including two of my childhood favorites, Skyway to Tomorrowland/Fantasyland and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I’ve yet to visit the Magic Kingdom without reminiscing about these and other “gone but not forgotten” attractions and feeling a little sad that they are no longer part of the magic.
Photo taken on one of my husband’s childhood trips in the 70’s.
When Disney announced that they were going to be removing an entire land due to the Fantasyland expansion, it was almost too much for me to comprehend. I mean, just like the skyway and submarines of my childhood, there were attractions in Mickey’s Toontown Fair that have been part of the lives of my own children that they will not be able to revisit with their children one day. Curiosity soon replaced nostalgia and excitement began to build as details emerged with sketches of new places to visit in this new area. It helped that the Dream Builder signs on the retaining walls in Fantasyland reminded us in Walt’s own words that Disney must move forward and focus on the future. No Disney park is a museum enshrined in the past, but an environment that must keep growing and changing with the times and with technology. That means we have to let go a little of the past to make room for the future.
As memory keepers, we have our own special way of coping with change by documenting these attractions so we can keep their memory fresh in our minds. There are many ways to document attractions in your scrapbook that are closed or are scheduled to be closed. A scrapbook layout can be made of pictures taken at or on the attraction throughout the years. Another way to document the change is to include pictures of the attraction before it closed and then another picture in the same spot after it has been replaced with something new. I made the following layout after our trip in 2010 when we knew it would be our last trip to Toontown to document all the years we visited Mickey’s Toontown Fair.
This column will be used to discuss and reminisce about favorite Disney attractions, parades, restaurants, etc. that are no longer in existence. We hope to inspire you to preserve your own memories of not just these things but for all of your Disney memories.
‘We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney