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Submarine Voyage
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The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Designed to look like Navy nuclear submarines, the attraction opened on June 6, 1959 as the Submarine Voyage (one of the first rides to require an E ticket). Part of a major expansion of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, which also included the Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster, an expanded version of Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, and the Motor Boat Cruise, the attraction was originally planned to feature glass-bottom boats.
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Encyclopedia
The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Designed to look like Navy nuclear submarines, the attraction opened on June 6, 1959 as the Submarine Voyage (one of the first rides to require an E ticket). Part of a major expansion of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, which also included the Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster, an expanded version of Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, and the Motor Boat Cruise, the attraction was originally planned to feature glass-bottom boats. It closed on September 9, 1998, with then-Disneyland president Paul Pressler promising that a new attraction would open in 2003 (purportedly based on Disney’s 2001 animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a box-office failure); it never did. The attraction reopened in June 2007 with a Finding Nemo theme, and is called the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
The attraction
As initially conceived, the Submarine Voyage was to feature real fish and other sea creatures, though the idea proved to be unfeasible. A major portion of the ride simulated the voyage under the Arctic Ocean's polar ice cap undertaken by the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) on August 3th, 1958. During the summers of 1965–1967, female cast members dressed in mermaid costumes could be seen sun-bathing themselves and performing synchronized swimming and underwater stunts for about four hours each day. Disney ended this live mermaid feature in 1967 after several ladies reported health concerns related to the submarines' diesel exhaust fumes and the highly chlorinated water.
The vehicles
The hulls (eight in all) for "one of the world's largest peacetime submarine fleets" were fabricated at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, then transported to the "Disneyland Naval Yard" in Anaheim for outfitting under the direction of retired Admiral Joseph Fowler. Technical data and advice regarding the design were provided by General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division, builder of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered submarines. The vessels were painted in military gray livery until 1986, when the attraction was updated and the exterior color of the submarines was changed to bright yellow.
The vessels were not actual submarines as they did not submerge, but were in fact boats, where inside the 39-passenger seating area was positioned below the water level. Portholes along the sides allowed guests to view the many underwater sights. Above the seating area was the conning tower, where the operator stood and controlled the sub's speed. The "diving" effect was made by bubble screens and using the waterfalls at the entrance to the caves that led the submarines into the cleverly disguised show building. The bubble jets can be seen from outside if one were to look just pass the loading dock. Atop the building, which still remains, are the majority of the Autopia tracks, some monorail tracks, trees and the currently derelict Rocket Rods/PeopleMover track.
The Closing and Re-opening
On September 6th 1998, the attraction closed and the lagoon stood derelict, filled with water, but otherwise empty. Many rumors went around over the years, saying that a proposed attraction based on the Disney aniamted film Atlantis: The Lost Empire was going to replace Submarine Voyage. Another rumour was that the lagoon was going to be destroyed in a similar fashion to the submarine lagoon of Walt Disney World's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But in 2005, the lagoon was drained and construction began on a new attraction: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Original nuclear submarine names (1959–1986)
Nautilus302 Seawolf303 Skate304 Skipjack305 Triton306 George Washington307 Patrick Henry308 Ethan Allen
Exploration submarine names (1987–1998)
Nautilus302 Neptune, formerly Seawolf303 Sea Star, formerly Skate304 Explorer, formerly Skipjack305 Seeker, formerly Triton306 Argonaut, formerly George Washington307 Triton, formerly Patrick Henry308 Sea Wolf, formerly Ethan Allen
Auctioning
In 2005, an auction took place at the Disneyland Resort, where several pieces of the original attraction's scenery were sold, such as the sea serpent, the shark fighting with the octopus on a rock and two fighting lobsters. They were removed from the lagoon prior to the auction so new scenery for the updated Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage could be built into the lagoon.
Similar attractions
The successor of this attraction was the Jules Verne themed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The attraction was given a Nautilus theme and a narration by Peter Renaday, whose voice was similar to that of actor James Mason, who portrayed Captain Nemo in the 1954 Disney film. The attraction was closed in 1994 for a "rehabilitation" period, but never reopened. Management felt that continual maintenance of the attraction was simply too costly. In 2004, ten years after closure, the water was drained and the lagoon area was paved over to create new land for Fantasyland.
A similar voyage attraction now exists at the Tokyo DisneySea in Japan, using the same Nautilus theme from Florida, except instead of boats in water, it is a dark ride through a show building, in enclosed suspended cars ("mini-subs"). There was a walk-through of the Nautilus sets from the 1954 film at Disneyland from 1955 until 1966, when they were destroyed. However, an updated version of the walk-through was built in 1994 in Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris, known as Les Mystères du Nautilus, along with the construction of Space Mountain. The attraction involves not only an accurate recreation of the Nautilus interiors, but a mock attack from a large animatronic giant squid.
In popular culture
- In the sing along songs video Disneyland Fun, during "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", the "Argonaut" was briefly seen.
See also
External links
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