The Walt Disney World That Never Was: Stories Behind the Amazing Imagineering Dreams That Never Came True

by Christopher E. Smith

The Imagineering Graveyard

On an alternate earth, Walt Disney World guests are taking in the thrills of Thunder Mesa, braving the Beastly Kingdom, marveling at Villains Mountain, and staying the night at Disney's Persian Resort. Want to join them? This is your guidebook to the theme park that Disney never built.

In this unique, extensively researched book, Christopher Smith discusses the many attractions, shows, and resorts that were planned for Walt Disney World, from opening day to the present day, but that exist only in the minds of Imagineers.

You'll find old "favorites" such as Thunder Mesa and Beastly Kingdom, as well as those lost to the pixie dust of time, like Dick Tracy's Crime Stoppers, the Enchanted Snow Palace, and Buffalo Junction. Smith looks at the politics and internal struggles behind the decision to shelve each concept, and imagines what guests might have experienced.

Every park at Walt Disney World—Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios—has its hidden cache of "lost" attractions. They're all here, along with the many resort hotels that Disney intended to build, but didn't.

Put aside those guidebooks of the Walt Disney World that is, and come to a vacation kingdom that you can visit only if you find the second star to the right and then keep straight on till morning.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

173 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Ronald J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at all the ideas Walt Disney World Imagineers came up with that never got built. Some of them would have been incredible. Highly suggested for all serious Disney fans.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting look at Disney plans that never came to be. And this is just the ones that made it to the planning stage! World Showcase “might have beens” are most fascinating.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Disney fan of any level, this book is a fascinating read. Reading about the proposed attractions that never made it to fruition certainly leaves one wondering what could have been. Check it out!

[Chrissi · Rating 5 out of 5]

In depth, well-researched, and clearly so full of passion and love for Disney park lore. It’s one thing to be a Disney fan; it’s quite another to be devoted to the magic behind the curtain. My copy of this book is so worn and full of post-its from all the notes I made and all the times I brought it with me somewhere so I could continue reading. I knew about a few of the projects mentioned, some only a little, some a lot, and some I didn’t know at all or hadn’t even heard of. It’s nice to have all these “what could have been”s in one place, with sources, something to refer to. Christopher Smith also takes care to mention what became of each concept, why it fell through, and where you might find remnants of it today.

I will now continue to mourn the Roger Rabbit Hollywood Studios we could’ve had.

[Beck Thompson Was Kingsnorth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating read. I love learning about theme park history, and this book talks about all sorts of projects at Walt Disney World that never saw the light of day for various reasons. It’s obvious that the author is a huge fan and has researched this carefully. If you’re a fan of the Disney parks too, you’ll enjoy this.

[Keith Flint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating stories!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great start to the new year! I haven't visited Disney World since January 2020 (in person, I've definitely taken a few trips in my mind) but I've been reading up to prep for my next trip at the conclusion of this month. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed this little book! I pride myself on knowing a wealth of Disney World history but the author presented quite a few gaps in my knowledge that were interesting to learn about. I liked the shorter paragraphs and colloquial writing while sharing a good amount of information. The author relied a lot on one kind of report (shareholders) and often repeated similar information as a lead-in for others which got repetitive. I can't wait to exasperate my parents on our next trip with all these tidbits! 4/5

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really quite interesting. I tend to judge this sort of Disney book on whether or not I learned something new from it, which I suppose is becoming an increasingly unfair standard. This has been one of the most informative Disney minutia book I've ever read, with a wealth of detail about unrealized projects that are fairly well-known (Thunder Mesa, Beastly Kingdom) and the more obscure (a Sleeping Beauty dark ride in the Magic Kingdom).

[Brandon G. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book read as I prepare for my Spring 2019 Disney trip, this was another fun read. I have heard about many of the never built concepts in this book, like Beastly Kingdom, Thunder Mesa, and Roger Rabbit’s Hollywood. But, especially in the case of Thunder Mesa, it’s the first time I’ve really read in detail about what these were to look like. It’s very fascinating to read about what might have been.

[Joe Lanier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and easy read

I found this book to be very interesting and easy to read. Many books in this category are written in a manner that only appeals to the most fanatic followers of Disney. I was impressed with the smooth flow of the book and the approach that proves interesting to any fan of Disney history.

[Hattie Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy read and super informative. A great book for people that love the Disney parks, my sole purpose i have a job is so I can afford my annual Disney World trip. Imagination runs wild due to great descriptions of the rides, lands and resorts that never came to be.
Great read for any Disney fan.

[Hots Hartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many shelved projects described in well-researched detail, from the Thunder Mesa to Japan's Mt. Fuji attraction.

The book would benefit from some visual aides: drawings, sketches, and images. As it stands in 2020, the book is entirely text, with much of the design left to the reader's imagination.

[Helios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Objectively good, fascinating as a concept and undoubtedly well-written, a tiny bit repetitive in some parts but I blame that on the need of the author to have each section make sense in itself, even repeating concept that had been previously stated earlier in the book. I recommend it to fans of Disney Parks and to fans of the entertainment industry gossip in general.

[Claire Fudge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, fun read with a mixture of well known concepts and some perhaps more obscure. Whilst intentionally a WDW-centric book I would have enjoyed further discussion of the application of discarded concepts to other parks and attractions later on.

[Alyx Kohut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good! As someone who knows a whole lot about theme parks and disney theme parks there were even a couple things i had no idea about in this book. Great light and interesting read for anyone who is interested in theme park history or disney park history!

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounding down because I found the writing style a little hard to follow. I liked it, I just wanted more! Everyone knows about the Pop Century Legendary years, but it would've been great to learn more about Wilderness Junction.

[Gef · Rating 4 out of 5]

while I knew of many of the sites and things shared I did not know all nor all the tidbits and facts....

[Hettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of stuff I didn't know, fun to read

[Lee Cochenour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic look at Walt Disney World attractions and resorts that were planned but never built.

[Bill Gagliardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for any Disney fan. The writing style is direct and informative. The stories are interesting and researched.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun and light read with an author who’s so wonderfully passionate and personable. It’s also really nice to see a Disney park book centered on the World parks for once.

[M.R.W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely look at what Disney had in store. Fascinating to see how the background workings failed to pull through but some how hints are always there.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read if you are a Disney World fan. Makes you sad that somethings never came to be, but reminds you that Disney is a business.

[Kaitlyn]

Now there are so many attractions that I want to see which will never be.

[Geoff Hunton]

Awesome

Great read about the list projects of Disnet. This book was we
L researched and presentec . I enjoyed it very much

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting read. It might have been improved by the inclusion of photos and artwork that the author instead has to describe.

[Chelsea Flint · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. If you're a fan of the parks you already know most of this

[Merythapy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had so much fun reading this book, and it's amazingly easy to read. I found all the alternate possibilities and history fascinating, and I'm looking forward to talking people's ears off about it the next time we're waiting in lines at Disney World.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a hardcore Disney World nerd, this is a fun book with lots of great stories about planned attractions, rides, and resorts that were never built. If you're not a hardcore WDW nerd, this is probably Not For You.

[Jeff Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a few nit-picky items kept me from giving this book five stars, because this book is RIGHT up my alley...history of the Walt Disney World Resort.

- No illustrations or pictures. No, I don't need them to understand, but if you are writing about lost/abandoned/forgotten ideas, I'd like to see some concept art. Maybe it's a rights issue, maybe it's Theme Park Press' policy...but I know the art exists...I've seen it in other books covering similar topics

- References. The author does a great job of pulling information together from other sources. A list of sources that he used, even a short one, would feed my love of reading about Disney history

Those are my only complaints. Now, what did I like about this book? EVERYTHING ELSE!

Did I mention that I really enjoy reading about the history of WDW? Yeah? Thought I remembered doing that. (Sarcasm fully intended). There's something about discovering new and different stories from the design and building of my favorite vacation destination that gets my blood racing!

I love how this book can be read in no particular order. Yes, it's organized very nicely...but you can open it to any chapter and not have to know anything else from any other part of the book. And the chapters are short...bathroom reading, if you will

For a Disney fan, there's not a lot new in this book (but there were SOME things I'd never heard before); what makes this book different is how the author pulled information about a subject from multiple sources. One-stop reading, pretty much

I would definitely recommend this book to any Disneyphile...and, in fact, loaned it to a Disney Fan co-worker the same day I finished reading it

More, please! And thank you!