Originally Posted By brotherdave We used to never have much of a problem waiting for 20K. We'd arrive when the park opened, headed straight for Space Mountain, then 20,000 Leagues. Wait was usually no more than 20 minutes, and usually a walk-on then. Then we'd hit all of the Fantasyland dark rides. By then, we had ridden most of the park's 'bottle neck' attractions. Of course, this was in the 70s before Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. Once Big Thunder opened, we'd head for it right after the Fantasyland rides. Wait was around 45 minutes or so, but not too bad. The other good time to ride 20K was in the evening, usually during the fireworks or the hour or so just before closing. Riding it at night was actually better as your eyes were more adjusted. Great classic "Walt-era" (not really, but similar enough to his old Submarine attraction at DL) attraction that I truly miss now...
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 It was most definitely a "walt-era" ride. It was slightly corny, but in the Disney magical sort of way. I dunno. I really like that 20 K site though. Really informative. And sad on all the demolition pics.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<One of the pictures on the link explained it all. Looong lines of people waiting for a hard-to-cycle ride. Lots of people not in stores buying stuff. No off-load trinket shop for tie-in merchandise. High maintenance expense on lots of property. Bottom-line ...20K ws doomed.>> And yet, the subs returned to DL
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<One of the pictures on the link explained it all. Looong lines of people waiting for a hard-to-cycle ride.>> At the time it was the longest I'd ever waited for an MK ride (though I've exceeded it now during peak times.) At any rate, I was in line for over 90 minutes. I finally get to the sub and discover that I REALLY don't like being in tightly enclosed spaces. So now I’m dealing with a long wait PLUS claustrophobia. As soon as a calm myself from the closed in feeling a wave of nausea comes over me as I smell a smell from my past. It seems so familiar, but what is it?? NOW I've got it!! It is High School Boy's Locker Room smell. Probably the most noxious smell on the face of the earth. I keep telling myself to just wait... the ride will be really cool. Ignore the long wait in the hot sun. Ignore the claustrophobia. Ignore the noxious smells of dozens of sweaty tourists trapped in a tightly enclosed space. It will all be worth it!! But it wasn't. I'll forgive Disney for a BUNCH of things. I am a Disney apologist of the first order and darned proud of it. But I will NOT overlook cheesy underwater effects where you can SEE the lines holding the effect in place!! I will not forgive Disney for that. I was not sad to see the attraction go. It might be interesting to see what more modern technology could do with it. On the other had, I've heard that after the opening crush, the new 20K at Disneyland has shown itself to be a big yawner. I would guess that the Nemo ride at the Living Seas in Epcot is probably more popular than the Nemo subs at Disneyland. What can I say? It was a loser attraction then. It is a loser attraction now.
Originally Posted By nats 31 I can still see the submarines in my dreams. It's a shame that 20,000 was never updated. We lost 20,000, COP and the original Imagination ride. Walt must be turning over in his grave seeing what his creation has become.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 <<<The inside of the subs were claustrophobic and smelled of stinky tourist. The effects were cheesy and laughable.>>> I'm with you RoadTrip! Maybe if they redid it using modern technology... But that old one was so phoney and unimpressive to my thinking, and it was always leaking.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 I was on COP last year, but it's "seasonal" and sometimes closes after 5 PM.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 I haven't been since the subs were taken out. I can't even imagine what Fantasyland is like now without them.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: It's just a barren wasteland, Rsey103, duckling-- ORGOCH: --with a pile a pooh in one corner!!!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <The Pooh Playground isn't any better, but I'm not sure it is much worse either. At least it doesn't stink. < it raises STINK to a whole new level -- I miss the subs - one of my faves when I was a lot younger.....
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I always looked forward to going on 20,000 on ever trip. Fantacyland just isn't the same without them. Having riden the subs at DLR last summer, I now understand just how much more could have been done to upgrade 20,000 Leagues. It was a Disney classic, Walt himself was involved with placing them in WDW. So as far as I'm concerned Fantacyland is a little less "Walt" and a lot more about selling Pooh plush. I enjoyed the "low" tech appeal of 20,000 Leagues at the time. I just enjoyed the attraction. It appealed to me.
Originally Posted By Wingman1969 Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who misses this attraction. When I was much younger and more impressionable I recall it being one of my favorite rides even though it broke down one of the first times I went on it, right outside the Giant Squid part (ok, to my young mind the squid really HAD gotten ahold of us). After I grew up quite a bit and realized how hokey it was, I still made it a point to go on it at least once every time I visited the Kingdom of the Mouse. When I first saw the empty lagoon I wanted to cry. I remember thinking that if they were going to close such a great attraction, what others were next (I was almost afraid they were going to take away the Haunted Mansion or the Speedway).
Originally Posted By Wingman1969 Oops continued... The only nice thing I can say about what has taken it's place if my little boy loves playing in the tree and giving his poor old dad a much needed break.
Originally Posted By nats 31 COP is just about gone. Disney bigwigs said that it is in disrepair and it does not pay to repair it. ( liked that attraction because it reminded me of life as I was growing up. Being a senior citizen it depicted life as I remember it.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^^^^^^^^ the day they close CoP will be very sad. God forbid our kids might learn something while having fun... take the money spent on that embarassment Poo playground and put it into CoP.....really ticks me off
Originally Posted By dgustavs As cheesy as it was 20k was great as a kid and as an adult. The only good thing about the new Pooh playground is it has the best (coldest) water fountain in the park. Also the MK would never be the same w/o the CoP. It must stay. They already took the Toad from us, keep CoP.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>On the other had, I've heard that after the opening crush, the new 20K at Disneyland has shown itself to be a big yawner.<< News to me. The line remains anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours on a daily basis. We would ride it more often, but as APs we won't wait longer that ten minutes for ANYTHING. I never had the pleasure of experiencing 20K at the MK. Based on the photos I've seen, it seems cheesier but more charming than the DL version. I have always thought it was a very shortsighted move to shutter it. You may know the "real" reason it was targeted for closure (on both coasts) is because it was labor intensive. Since it required an operator for each vehicle, it had to go. I believe the only other attraction in the MK that is in the same category is Jungle Cruise, which they simply cannot remove. At DL, it is Jungle Cruise and Storybook Land, two attractions that are virtually untouchable. Fortunately, we had Nemo to save our submarines. Sorry that destructive forces prevailed in Florida.
