4) Lights of Winter
In 1994, The Lights of Winter started at Epcot during the Christmas season, and the final display was in 2008. The lights were an archway on the path between Future World and World Showcase, and were accompanied by Christmas music. These lights are still beloved by guests, and there are a number of people who would love for Disney to bring them back. Unfortunately the likelihood of the Lights of Winter ever returning is extremely slim. According to an article written by Kathy Werling, Thomas Smith from the Disney Parks Blog said in a tweet in 2009 that “Yes…the Lights of Winter canopy has been enjoyed for years. But the technology to operate the lights is obsolete, prompting us to retire the lights and find a new experience.” The transition to LED lights would be too costly for Disney, and so as Thomas Smith said, the Lights of Winter have been retired. While the Lights of Winter will probably never return to Walt Disney World, I’m still holding out hope that the Osbourne Lights find a new home in Walt Disney World someday in the future.
3) Horizons
Attractions at Walt Disney World have come and gone. Many of the closed attractions are even forgotten about, but Horizons is certainly not one of those attractions. Horizons was a dark ride on an omnimover track in Epcot (then EPCOT Center). The attraction showed depictions of what the future might look like. Many guests considered it the sequel to Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. Opening in 1983, Horizons quickly became a fan favorite. It had a fairly short history as it closed in 1999. In my opinion, the closing of Horizons was tragic, because it wasn’t an attraction that had run its course yet. When it closed it was mainly due to structural issue, and had to closed due to safety. I’d love to see a return of Horizons, but the high cost makes me believe it is extremely unlikely. The Disney Parks rarely make attractions that can’t be themed to one of their new popular intellectual properties, so sadly we will most likely never see Horizons again.
2) SpectroMagic
In 1991, the Main Street Electric Parade was replaced by SpectroMagic, which was introduced as a celebration of the Magic Kingdom’s 20th anniversary. The SpectroMagic parade was unique from most parades in that it told a story. The story was of Mickey Mouse, and the SpectroMagic Spectromen, who create the power of SpectroMagic. It sounds bizarre, and it kind of was, but that bizarreness was also part of its charm. In 1999, SpectoMagic closed for the first time, but then returned to the Magic Kingdom in 2001. It then closed again in 2010. Many fans assumed since it had closed and returned once before that maybe it would come out retirement again. Unfortunately, Disney has confirmed that SpectoMagic will not be returning. Many believe that the SpectoMagic floats were rusted away, and were eventually trashed. It has been officially reported by the Disney Parks Blog that the Main Street Electrical Parade will be leaving the Magic Kingdom on October 9th 2016, and many Disney park fans are now wondering what will take its place now that SpectoMagic is retired. All signs point to the Paint the Night Parade, but that seems almost too good to be true.
1) Disney’s River Country
For fourteen years, Disney’s River Country was largely abandoned. Not demolished, but abandoned. This left Disney fans wondering if there was a possibility of it ever would returning in some form or another. Obviously the lake water wouldn’t have been used for a multitude of reasons, mainly the alligators, snakes, and the amoeba. But Disney’s unwillingness to demolish the remains of the water park left Disney park fans thinking that maybe, just maybe Disney would bring Disney River Country back. Well, it is time to dispel any of those rumors, because it has been officially confirmed that Disney is draining and filling in the pool at Disney’s River Country. This seems to be the first action in what will eventually be a complete demolishing of the water park.
Photo: Yesterland.com and all other photos labeled for reuse
