What seems less commonly known, however, was that DisneySea was originally intended for California. Specifically, it was going to be built at the Port of Long Beach, integrated with a port for the Disney Cruise Line. A lot of what ended up being built in Tokyo-- such as the giant volcano with a Jules Verne E-ticket, and a harbor with a large passenger-liner type ship--was already planned out and ready to be built in Long Beach.
As it turns out, my friend's parents actually worked on this DisneySea project, doing concept artwork. Unfortunately, no known copies of their art have been released to the public online, and they had to give all of their copies to Disney as part of the project (The last they heard, their oil painting of a cruise ship in front of Long Beach and DisneySea was in the gallery above Pirates of the Caribbean... which is now gone). Still, they kept a Preliminary Master Plan executive report, dated July 1990, and graciously let me read it and scan it, along with some of their sketches and their copy of the public press announcement.
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| The front cover |
Maybe this is all old news, but it was fun to dive through all this information, despite a lot of it being rather mundane discussions of water usage plans, public infrastructure concerns, and the like. I figured I'd share some of the meatier, more parks-oriented bits I found. It's a dive into the origins of both one of the most acclaimed Disney parks, and one of the most notorious ones.
[Note: In case you're wondering, my sources say they didn't have to sign any NDAs regarding this, and even if they did, this is a long-dead, long-cancelled project Disney likely doesn't care about. Plus, most of the Preliminary Master Plan was published to the public as part of the press announcement of the park.]
Alright, starting off: that date. July 1990. That's the month when the project was officially announced to the public, to mixed response. As Anaheim would probably tell you, Disney has a BIG impact on a city, for better or worse. It's telling that Disney World essentially made its own government (the Reedy Creek Improvement District) to avoid working with another authority. Disputes between Disney and Long Beach were what eventually killed Long Beach's DisneySea.
The first section is the Executive Summary. It names the entire resort as Port Disney, and it was set to include not just the DisneySea theme park, but also five hotels, a shopping district, new marina slips, and a port for the Disney Cruise Line. The inclusion of the shopping district predicts the addition of both Downtown Disney in Anaheim/Florida and the construction of Ikspiari at Tokyo Disney Resort. In fact, the setup of a second resort, hotels, and a shopping mall seems to have been directly ported (heh) to Tokyo in 2000-2001.
Up next is an aerial site map of the proposed new construction, which would have been reclaimed from the bay--same as Tokyo DisneySea's construction.
After that is a photo of a 3D render of the new park. Doesn't that volcano seem familiar? We'll get there in a minute.
Last in this section is this pretty painting of fireworks above the park. I haven't seen this circulated widely; it's always nice to see some "new" concept art.
The next tab, Port Disney Description, is where fun begins.
Let's start off with a section entitled "Overall Development Concept." This was the era in which Disney really started to push towards being all-inclusive resorts that tried to keep guests on-property, but notably this section went out of its way to mention a "need to link Port Disney to other Southern California amenities", integrating the resort with the town of Long Beach (to "continue Long Beach's recent efforts towards revitalization"), and suggesting access to water shuttles to places like Catalina Island. These passages seem an attempt at placating Long Beach's concerns about the resort, and it's an odd feeling reading them while knowing that the city and Disney eventually failed to compromise.
This section also mentions "project unity", which it defines as "All elements of Port Disney...should be experienced by the guests as one interconnected project. Therefore, uniformity of landscape, signage, lighting, and other means of developing a consistent image are highly desirable." That certainly does describe the eventual Tokyo DisneySea, and as a fan of well-themed design I certainly enjoyed seeing that line officially in print. However, it also stings due to the fact that Port Disney's cancellation eventually led to the notorious uncoordinatedly-themed California Adventure.
Speaking of California Adventure's rocky start, this section also says that "retail should be the connective element" in the plan of the overall resort. I couldn't help but draw a parallel to the complaint that early DCA had too few attractions and too much retail/dining.
Up next is another layout of the site plan. There's not much I can really comment on, but I do find it interesting that the vaguely triangular shape of DisneySea has similarities to the eventual shape of the Tokyo version.
After that is another concept art, showing the view from the entry drive, looking southeast. Notable in the background, through the palm trees, is a cruise ship next to a spherical building (which would have been the park's icon, like Epcot) and the Journey to the Center of the Earth volcano.
The next section, entitled "DisneySea", is perhaps the single most exciting page in the whole document. I'll tackle it paragraph by paragraph.
"The centerpiece of the proposed master plan is a new ocean-oriented theme park concept, tentatively called "DisneySea", that combines a wide variety of Disney-style rides, shows, and attractions with activities directed towards developing a better understanding of the sea. Disney's Imagineers have focused their efforts on exploring the myths, romance, challenges and mysteries of the ocean--the world's last great frontier. Both fun and educational, DisneySea would break down barriers between our guests and the sea.
While the theme park is currently in the early stages of development, some of the concepts under consideration are briefly described below."Obviously, the theme park eventually would end up being named DisneySea. What's unique here is the emphasis on education. It seems, at this time, loftier educational goals (as seen in early Epcot) were still on Disney's mind. It's also notable that Port Disney would have been near the Long Beach Aquarium, possibly fueling this educational feel.
"Oceana, the architectural focal point for the park, would rise up from the center of DisneySea in a series of futuristic bubbles, luring guests to a fascinating evolutionary journey through the world's seas. Guests would walk through a state-of-the-art, two-story aquarium. The curious would journey into the 21st century, visiting a working Future Research Center where scientists from the world's leading institutions would come together to conduct oceanographic studies, in much the same fashion as researchers now gather at the Living Seas and Land Pavilions at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World. Adults and children alike would learn about the ocean and its diverse marine life in a hands-on exploratorium."Well, there's our answer to the round building next to the cruise ship earlier! The Epcot influence is directly stated here, with the focus on education and the futuristic architecture making this sound like an ocean-focused west-coast Epcot, or if the Living Seas became a park. What I find both humorous and tragically short-sighted is this emphasis on the future and journeying into the 21st century when this was already being announced in 1990. As in, only 10 years before the actual 21st century happened. To me, this perfectly encapsulates the shift between Disney's lofty educational phase (best demonstrated by 1980s Epcot) and it's more current, quick-turn-around entertainment phase (California Adventure). They're still preaching about the future here, while ignoring that the "future" in question is on its way fast.
"At Mysterious Island, Guests would discover the lost City of Atlantis on a modern version of a Disneyland "E" attraction. Children could follow clues to buried treasure on Pirate Island, while the more intrepid might dare to board Nemo's Lava Cruiser and careen suspended through dangerous caverns."Well, this paragraph more or less happened, albeit a bit scrambled around. Tokyo DisneySea has the Mysterious Island, complete with volcano. Guests can encounter Atlantis in a suspended vehicle on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or outrun some lava on the thrilling volcanic E-ticket Journey to the Center of the Earth. Families can also have fun exploring a fortress and ship at Fortress Explorations, near Mysterious Island. While Fortress Explorations isn't technically pirate-themed, Jack Sparrow does do meet and greets there.
"Aqua-labyrinth, a challenging maze with walls made only of water, would serve as the entrance to Heroes' Harbor, where they myths and legends of the sea come to life. Here guests would find rides themed to the adventures of Sinbad, Ulysses and other storied adventurers from the past."Well, the Sinbad ride happened, albeit placed in the Agrabah-like Arabian Coast section instead.
"On the edge of the Bay facing downtown, a boardwalk would recreate the nostalgia of the Long Beach oceanfront in its heyday. Nearby at Fleets of Fantasy, a harborful of fabled and fanciful ships, including outsized Chinese junks and Egyptian galleys, would disguise exciting rides and dining and entertainment experiences."Paradise Pier, is that you!?!? I've read criticism of the Paradise/Pixar pier concept as being one of the poorest Disney themes, due to intentionally mimicking the kind of unthemed amusement park that Disneyland generally replaced. It's exceptionally odd to read about the "weak" boardwalk theme being originally intended for DisneySea, of all places.
"Shoppers and diners will be intrigued by DisneySea's themed environments--a Grecian village, an Asian watermarket, a Caribbean lagoon. Here guests might be seen surfing, snorkeling, or wading through tropical reefs teeming with fish. Some will experience the ultimate underwater adventure--being lowered in a steel cage into a tank full of sharks."Interestingly, none of the themes in this paragraph ended up in the final DisneySea. If you're wondering, Tokyo DisneySea has lands based on Italy (Mediterranean Harbor), Jules Verne's novels (Mysterious Island), The Little Mermaid animated film (Mermaid Lagoon), the Middle East (Arabian Coast), South American jungles (Lost River Delta), and New York City (American Waterfront), as well as the SEA headquarters fortress and the steampunk/sci-fi Port Discovery.
It's arguable, though, that the surfing and snorkeling type attractions eventually ended up expressed via Castaway Cay on the Disney Cruise Line.
Then there's the last paragraph:
"At the rim of the American continent and the Pacific Ocean, DisneySea will be a place of magic and wonder offering a unique entertainment experience."DisneySea totally ended up on the rim of the Pacific Ocean... on the other side of it.
This was followed by the two most familiar artworks from this project. I've seen these widely circulated as WESTCOT concept art, or even Tokyo DisneySea concept art. Here they are in their true context: artwork for a Californian DisneySea that never happened.
The rest of the text and figures in the document are pretty dry and cover practical matters about assuring Port Disney's road changes won't negatively impact the city, that they'll comply with shoreline access laws, etc.
The last point of interest I found about the parks were figures 10 and 11, which showed a color-coded overview of the whole resort. At the time, Disney owned both the Queen Mary and the Spruce Goose, and planned on incorporating them into the Port Disney resort.
The SS Columbia, a large passenger-liner shaped attraction building at Tokyo DisneySea, looks suspiciously like the Queen Mary, and was likely included in the Tokyo version as a modification of the original Long Beach plans. Coincidentally, in 1997 there were plans to potentially send the Queen Mary ship to Tokyo. As of 2019, the ship is still in Long Beach, albeit no longer owned by Disney.
To announce PortDisney to the public, Disney published a modified form of its Preliminary Master Plan in the Long Beach Business Journal. As explained in the introduction on the front of the announcement, it's almost identical to the internal document, aside from some different illustrations.
The most significant alteration was the inclusion of a letter from the Walt Disney Company to the Directory of Community Development of Long Beach and the Director of Port Planning of Long Beach. Most of it was rather standard "we're confident this project will be well received, will be mutually beneficial to the city, and have thought out the practicalities of transportation" spiel, but one paragraph near the end sticks out like a glaring red beacon. It read as follows:
"As you know, we are also in discussions with the City of Anaheim concerning an alternative project adjacent to Disneyland. A final decision will not be made for come time, and will ultimately be based on several factors, including community support, governmental approvals, public sector participation, and theme park and resort economics."
Ah, the birth of the notorious DCA.
Here's the whole letter if you wish to view it. It was difficult to scan due to the size of the newspaper (it had to be done in sections and digitally stitched together), so I apologize for any difficulties in viewing:
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| Click to view |
Page V included a new artwork of a view of the marina from the proposed hotel.
Page VII also included a new section clarifying the proposed fate of the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose. The Queen Mary would have been moved 700 feet to accommodate construction of a hotel. Meanwhile, the Spruce Goose was "not included in the master plan", with Disney promising to figure out a use for the plane if the Port Disney project got the green light.
The Spruce Goose is now at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon, having been sent there in 1993.
The last tidbit of California DisneySea I have to share with you are these marker sketches by the artists who shared all this material with me. Done on newsprint, they depict the cruise ship docks for PortDisney. These are the only pieces of their DisneySea work that they still have.
And thus ends my exploration into one of the great What Could Have Beens of Disney Parks. The Oriental Land Company took over the DisneySea idea when Long Beach rejected it, leading to the brilliant park that stands today. Meanwhile, Disney went ahead with that Anaheim project, to, well, results of varying quality. In all honesty, I can't say I'm disappointed in how history played out. While I would have loved to have had DisneySea as one of my local Californian parks, I doubt that it would have been made into the absolute masterpiece it is had it not been built in Tokyo. Given the eventual time frame of DisneySea and DCA's openings, we would have gotten a DisneySea built by the decisions and budgets that led to California Adventure.
We dodged disaster on that one.
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