For Philkid: Abandoned Disney
by benmor78 on Sep 10, 2011 1:34 AM CDT
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Dark Roasted Blend has had a bunch of neat photo essays featuring abandoned places. I came across this though and thought of Philkid, putting on his mascara and makeup at the haunted mansion while there's a goddamned cursed Disney island that's haunted by fucking, no joke here, vultures. The wretched descendants of the vultures that Disney tortured by cramming up to 70 of them into an unventilated, windowless shed.
There's some other abandoned Disney stuff at the link, but none of the other ones appear to be haunted by vultures. So there's that.
If you want to see some non-philkid related abandoned places, here's the link to the others.
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I went there before it was abandoned. I have no memories of if, though.
We still have lots of vultures. They are EVERYWHERE in Animal Kingdom, but the cast members won’t talk about them because they’re not part of the show (as in they are not African animals, and you are supposed to be in Africa).
So you get this weird thing where you’re on a truck with a guy pointing out every animal and talking about them, except for the animal that is most prevalent.
Also: I want to know how he got there.
I have vivid memories of Image Works. It was my second favorite spot in Epcot, and it’s really pretty sad it’s closed. Unlike Discovery Island, I know tons of people who have been up there recently. I’ve heard varied reasons why it closed, all actually credible. My guess is it might be an all of the above thing, but I really miss it. I’d still probably hang out there any time I would go to Epcot to this day. As you can see, it’s actually largely intact.
The other half of Pop Century is weird. I had no idea about it when I went to visit a friend and we walked around. Suddenly, we’re at the middle of an incomplete bridge with scary abandoned buildings on the other side. I didn’t know WTF the story was.
Like it says, though, those are getting finished now. Though they’ll be a completely different theme than originally intended.
I have vague memories of River Country. Which terrifies me now. Brain eating amoebas are serious crap.
The show prior to Food Rocks was Kitchen Cabaret, and it had an animatronic called Mr. Ham. One of the women I work with is married to Mr. Ham’s designer, and after the show closed, they stashed the animatronic (sans eyes and mouth) in a closet in the Haunted Mansion. One of my first days of work, I walked in and saw a giant ham person with no eyes and just about crapped myself.
As far as retro art, that’s actually become a huge deal for merch lately. I’ve always thought it was interesting that we would sell things that were basically ads for attractions that don’t exist anymore.
Thanks, Ben. That was cool.
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Let it be known for anyone who cares that I do not condone snooping on private property for interesting pictures.
They are, however, interesting pictures.
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I would like to know more about these things.
But I’m obsessed with abandoned buildings. Like I said below, the combination of what these places were at one point with what they are now fascinates me.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
I would like to tell you more about these things, but I wouldn't know where to start.
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Just start.
I want to know everything.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
The tunnel ("utilidor") under Epcot is not an abandoned thing, it's still used.
The concept of the utilidor is a diminishing idea in the company. Originally, it was part of Walt’s grand vision for communities, where the roads and dirty work and such would all be under the city itself. They brought that to the Magic Kingdom, where we have an extensive and (very) busy system under the park. It’s actually the first floor, not under ground. The park is the second story of a massive building.
Epcot more than a decade later was already when we were less interested in things Walt and Roy would do because it fit their vision, and more not doing things that wouldn’t directly help profits. So it has a utilidor, but it’s very small and very quiet. It’s mostly only used for a handful of maintenance purposes. Mostly what’s under Epcot is a drainage system that collects water and dumps it in to the lagoon.
Those pipes you see on the ceiling are another Walt idea. The garbage topside is all dumped in to huge vacuums, and then sucked through these pipes to a central location. So, you’ll be walking through the tunnel and hear stuff clattering over your head in those pipes. It’s trash. There is a large, loud, central compactor right under the Tiki Room. I don’t know where Epcot’s is, but I’d imagine under Spaceship Earth.
That is pretty much what our tunnel looks like, just with fewer people.
MGM and Animal Kingdom were both built without utilidors, so you’ll see people who don’t fit the theme of an area walking to another area to get to work, like a Tower Hotel bellhop walking past Star Tours.
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What is that AT&T thing in Epcot, PK?
Have you ever seen that before?
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
I did, but I don't remember it very well.
It was the “post show” of Spaceship Earth; a set of interactive exhibits meant to show off the future of communication, according to AT&T. It changed a lot, and all its various versions are merged in my head. Plus, I usually just walked through it.
Over the years, it changed in bits and pieces, but was mostly the same thing. The pictures there, I believe, are when it was under a futuristic Alice & Wonderland theme. I’m pretty sure that coily thing was one of these trees:
It would be neon and black lit to give off that creepy look.
There were all sorts of games and weird activities that taught you about communication. Ways to call people, a cheshire cat who would respond to you (primitive automated response listening program, which I’m sure has a name I don’t know). There was also a huge planetarium, I remember that.
I know there was a kiosk where you could make dinner reservations by talking on a webcam with a Guest Relations host, who was actually stationed in the GR office right across the path. Still, that was really cool at the time. Webcams! They abandoned that at some point for simply a touch screen where you didn’t have to bother talking for a person (and we didn’t have to bother paying a person). I made use of that a couple times, actually.
It closed a couple years before I started with the company when Spaceship Earth lost its sponsorship, and it looked like this from the outside:
You’d get off the ride and there would just be walls up and darkness. It was weird, because you knew there was unused space, but couldn’t see it. Finally, when Siemens bought in to SE, they (mercifully) took down the wand and re-opened the post show. Even though SE is no longer just about communication, the post show still mostly is, with a huge map that shows where everyone riding the ride that day is from, a way to send pictures to friends, and some games I’ve never actually played. I think virtual ping pong is still there to this day.
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Quick research tells me the compass thing was a camera tour of Epcot you could control.
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My fiancee says she remembers the Alice & Wonderland stuff well. I'm going to hand the computer over to her.
There used to be an Alice in Wonderland interactive video you could do as a family. There were multiple rooms where you’d go in and select different options and the story would go from there. The cheshire cat would ask you questions and you’d answer to move the story along. There was another room show next to the Wonderland ones, but I cannot remember what it was. Over the years they changed the rooms little-by-little until they were finally taken out altogether. My dad and I used to spend so much time down there and EVERY time my mom stayed in Indiana instead of coming on vacation we’d call her on one of the “big phones”, which was my favorite part. They were cell phones (think like 1990 giant cells) that were about 8 or 9 feet tall with huge buttons. They had their own enclosures and acted like pay phones. For young me, hitting the buttons which were bigger than my hands, was something incredible. Now, the weird wire tree, hand compass thing I believe allowed you to see people. If I’m remembering correctly, you look in the hole and someone at another hole would see you. Pretty sure you could talk to each other too, but I’m not positive on that.
[I know at the time, there was a modern Alice & Wonderland show on the Disney Channel. This may have been a synergy thing. -PK3]
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That is cool that we have a Disney CM on here.
My family and I are big Disney fans. In fact, I became a Disney-centric Travel Agent to help others plan their Disney vacations (and to help me save money on my trips and tax write-offs.)
"It helps if the hitter thinks you're a little crazy." - Nolan Ryan
"Every hitter likes fastballs just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's how you feel when (Nolan) Ryan's throwing balls by you." - Reggie Jackson
were you already a travel agent?
and then specialized or something?
Some see a glass half empty, some a glass half full. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be. - George Carlin
No, jumped in as a Disney-specialized agent
because of my Disney knowledge (not that I have a ton, but more than the average person wanting to travel to a Disney destination) and trip planning research. I just love planning Disney trips for my family and a lot of my family and friends would ask me to help with their planning. So I took the next step.It is pretty easy to become an independent agent – you just need to find a Host Agency to hook up with. I don’t actively work it too much, but I probably should.
"It helps if the hitter thinks you're a little crazy." - Nolan Ryan
"Every hitter likes fastballs just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's how you feel when (Nolan) Ryan's throwing balls by you." - Reggie Jackson
Fucking love this stuff.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
I love this picture.
Crazy, overgrown, abandoned jungle area, with the lit-up Contemporary hotel in the background. A little forgotten piece of real estate with a busy, active area visible a short distance away.
Also, they did this quite some time ago. Construction began on an expansion to the hotel that would have been visible as early, I believe, as 2008.
I still really want to know how they got there.
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I can look around for you; I know there is a thread about this in the members only section on UER.ca
But that’s basically rule #1 of urbex— you don’t give coordinates and you don’t give access info.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
The one that fascinates me is Paris
the NY subway art thing is cool
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/arts/design/01underbelly.html
But the Paris stuff is a trip
the “secret” party train
http://gridskipper.com/archives/entries/58746/58746.php
the cinema and catecombs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/08/filmnews.france
http://gizmodo.com/5780189/unlocking-the-mystery-of-paris-most-secret-underground-society
by thedudeabides on Sep 13, 2011 3:00 PM CDT up reply actions
We stayed at the Contemporary in April.
I wondered what was that was across the lagoon.
There's one word that describes baseball - `You never know.' - Joaquin Andujar
I just realized I'm wrong about where Discovery Island was.
I thought it was in the Seven Seas Lagoon, but it’s in Bay Lake. So that picture is the complete opposite side of the Contemporary from what I thought you’d see from the island.
By the way, the central hub of Animal Kingdom is now called Discovery Island.
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is that pic near the Polynesian resort?
Some see a glass half empty, some a glass half full. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be. - George Carlin
No, other body of water.
The Poly is situated on the Seven Seas Lagoon. A little channel next to the Contemporary runs from the Lagoon to Bay Lake, which is a large body of water on the other side of the Contemporary.
In Disney World’s infancy, the whole resort revolved around these two bodies of water. Their were tons of water activities and shows, and the Lake had the water park and island mentioned here, and serviced Ft. Wilderness (still does). The original concept was you ditched your car entirely and just did everything around the resort, both in and outside the theme park.
While we still have lots to do outside the park, Bay Lake is mostly dead, and the Lagoon is mostly just a “curtain” for the show that is the Magic Kingdom, but most guests take to just be an inconvenience they have to get around to get in to the park. And what there is to do on property — as you know — is now very spread out, so it’s not a contained little world with everything to do right outside your resort.
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I see
that’s the body of water our rooms looked out on, then, when we were there in January. We stayed in the new Bay Lake tower looking away from the Magic Kingdom. We had a good view of the electric light boat show, and could see the Epcot fireworks in the distance.
Some see a glass half empty, some a glass half full. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be. - George Carlin
I didn't realize the show went on the lake until I stayed in the Wilderness Lodge.
Just hanging out in the room at night, and suddenly there’s music outside. That was pretty neat.
But yeah, you’d be able to see Discovery Island, then. Not that I’d have known that before this thread.
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From one of the other links on that Dark Roasted Blend page...
Stuff like this. This is what I’m talking about when I say it fascinates me. 
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
Saddam Hussein's yacht in 2003.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
It's too bad we didn't seize this ship, modernize it, and convert it to a superyacht for the President.
I think the POTUS deserves a superyacht.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
this
why the hell did we4 have to blow it up?
by thedudeabides on Sep 13, 2011 3:02 PM CDT up reply actions
I bet wandering around in there...
would be like living a Fallout game.
"Blalock in the cleanup spot makes gives me agita." - Dustin
Pretty much.
http://www.water-mir.spb.ru/news/new-0003.shtml
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
x
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
That's a great pic.
There was a photoblog I came across a number of years ago, a girl that drove her motorcycle around in the Chernobyl closed zone and took pictures, I wish I could find it again.
"Blalock in the cleanup spot makes gives me agita." - Dustin
I think I know which one you're talking about.
Ever been in a boardroom, or a gang fight? Ever save a life? Ever won a court case against the odds? Ever held a dying buddy in your arms?.- jackanape on "perspective," 11/8/2010.
"do you a jet ski rental place would work here" - Mike E, 5/10/2011, in response to me saying I would rather face the Thunder than the Grizzlies in the WCF.
When I saw the new Breaking Dawn trailer last week I actually thought of this photo
The wedding there looks like it takes place in a very similar setting.. what it would look like before being left for dead.
"Look if you want a journalist hire a UT grad. If you want a doctor you pick a Baylor grad. If you need a vet you see an Aggie grad. And if you need a pizza you call a Tech grad." -BUBacker
Thanks for the very entertaining link.
I checked out photos and got lost in the links for a bit. :D
~Chicks dig unhittable sliders and sick changeups.~
love this shit
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"Baseball's all that's real" - JB
Here are some other abandoned Disney pictures that I found
after looking around.
River Country
Discovery Island
Here is some from an island in the Bahamas that was visited by Disney Cruises until it became too expensive to maintain
And last some shots from the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride, after it was shutdown through to demolition and build of a new property.
My laughter is more important than quality metaphors.
stooped at the island back in 2000
when we went on a Disney Cruise. It was OK. Nothing that couldn’t do without.
That 20k site is awesome, I've read every inch of it.
I completely understand why it’s gone. It was a maintenance nightmare, very expensive, and caused serious water damage below (I used to walk by an old locker room destroyed by the leaks every day, and my locker has water damage around it). It was also horrible for efficiency, and not very accessible for many guests with disabilities. Plus, by the 90s it was kind of low-tech. The reality is that it made no sense to keep it open.
Unfortunately, I loved the Disneyland version, never got to do 20k, and a lot of guests did love it. And the lagoon added something special to the area. I’m sad it’s gone, even if it makes sense.
The area is just now getting used for the Fantasyland expansion.
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One of my coworker's husbands used to work 20k and has made himself like the world's foremost authority on it.
He’s cited several times on that site.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth - Christopher Fittz is better than porn!
Oh my god, those people swam to DI?
Would not even consider that. Gators, cotton mouths, nasty water, boats zipping around. No sir, do not want.
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth - Christopher Fittz is better than porn!
?
We were all pretty strong swimmers and had no idea about the issues with gators and bacteria, so we didn’t think it was too big a deal.
Bacteria, okay. They had no idea about gators? How do you not have any idea about gators?
SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth - Christopher Fittz is better than porn!
I swam with gators in ranch tanks around Athens while on week-long boy scout horseback trips at camp cherokee
I was told it was not that big a deal (they pretty much avoid noisy groups of kids). I was about 12 but I thought it was pretty stupid
by thedudeabides on Sep 13, 2011 3:05 PM CDT up reply actions
We saw a bunch of them in June swimming across the lake.
Since they changed the name the trading post had all the old shirts on sale but to a lot of folks it will always be Camp Cherokee.
What are we at the park for except to win? I'd trip my mother. I'd help her up, brush her off, tell her I'm sorry. But mother don't make it to third. ~Leo Durocher
Wait, they changed the name?
Why? Sounds like if they still have t-shirts it was recent
by thedudeabides on Sep 13, 2011 3:34 PM CDT up reply actions
So TRJ
donated enough to have it named after him, I wonder what that cost. 3 billion buys a lot
by thedudeabides on Sep 13, 2011 3:38 PM CDT up reply actions
They sunk a ton of cash into the place.
New mess hall with A/C, bathhouses, pavillions with power and running water. It was hot but nice.
What are we at the park for except to win? I'd trip my mother. I'd help her up, brush her off, tell her I'm sorry. But mother don't make it to third. ~Leo Durocher
Obviously your odds of getting killed are not high.
It’s just too terrifying for me to want to do it for just about any reason.
Also, gators activity is way up from those days. We had something like four deaths just in central Florida a couple years ago.
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this post brings back some memories
Went to River Country as a teen in the late 70s. Thought is was fantastic. Probably because it was one of the first waterparks in Central Florida. It may even pre-date Wet’n’Wild.
Went to Tom Sawyer’s Island (that is what I know it as) in 2000. It was a good place to get out of the sun. Really not alot to do on the island. Disney does need to do something with it.
The AT&T thing really showed it’s age back in 2000. Too expensive to keep up with technology.
Tom Sawyer's Island is actually in the park.
It’s a heavily themed playground (for lack of a better term) you get to from rafts in Frontierland.
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coool thread
"Look if you want a journalist hire a UT grad. If you want a doctor you pick a Baylor grad. If you need a vet you see an Aggie grad. And if you need a pizza you call a Tech grad." -BUBacker
More people should rec it so it stays on the front page.
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I tried but it doesn't seem anyone is interested by us
My laughter is more important than quality metaphors.
Exploring a different type of abandoned wasteland...
exploring abandoned social networks….
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/09/the-ruins-of-dead-social-networks/245397/
"Blalock in the cleanup spot makes gives me agita." - Dustin
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