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Planned but Cancelled


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There are some GREAT pics of Heritage U.S.A. HERE including some of the proposed rides, shows and attractions that the park would have featured- had it survived.

 

What a great site with tons of images! Thanks for posting the links! I saw ads for Heritage years ago but never visited the place. I've been over there in more recent years but little evidence of the waterpark still exists. Buildings and grounds are being used for other ministries currently... so some renovation seems to have taken place, but a long way to go for complete restoration... or replacement. I always remember photos of people riding the speed slide(s). There's a famous image of Jerry Falwell riding it in a suit because of a promise he'd made. It's a photo I'm sure tons of people have seen, or that has been linked to many times, but can be found HERE. Anyway, thanks again for the link post... great defunct park photo TR.

 

 

Back on topic... the proposed Disney project up in Northern VA would have been pretty interesting. I'm going to botch any details about it so I'll let this link fill in some specifics. Sometime in 2003-2006 span the Boy Scouts acquired the land that was originally going to facilitate the Disney park. The "National Capital Area Council" of the BSA turned it into a summer and activities camp/reservation. I wonder what Disney could have done with the place?

 

Re: Heritage U.S.A. - I love Urban/Modern Archeology- and Heritage U.S.A. fits the bill perfectly of what happens in a short 22 years since failure- save the recent attempts by MorningStar Indust... er Ministries to renovate and turn the park into "G-d's Work" again... (Insert Twilight Zone Music here!). There are some great areas that are yet to be done- especially with regards to parks and related!

 

Re: Disney's America- I made the trip to the expo centre in Haymarket, VA back in 1994 (June of) with the model of the expected park's finished results- and I'll be gosh-diddly-arned if the park wasn't taken elementally piece by piece to Disney's Construction Adventure in California- down to the 'Looping Boardwalk Coaster' and other signifigant elements. Sadly, we have yet to see the "Inverted Industrial Revolution" coaster built- nor some of the better ideas for Ride-throughs. Perhaps this will eventually be the Fifth Gate for WDW...

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I've heard rumors that Goliath at SFOG was orginally planned for SFSTL.

 

I've heard that one several times too. As I remember, the station was going to be where Evel Knievel is currently. It was suppose to go over where you pay to park, around the entire parking lot and then turn around and come back to the station.

 

 

Anyone remember Garfield's American Adventure ?

 

http://www.negative-g.com/Entercitment/garfield1.html

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There was a wild rumor at my home park of KINGS DOMINION many years ago about putting a coaster in that unused area that sat behind the ANACONDA and the good ole REBEL YELL. The area I'm talking about was were the wild African animals were roaming around. And for years, it sat dormant. Then a rumor started spreading about putting a coaster back there that would be unlike anything the world has ever seen. In fact, the rumor even suggested that it would be a pair of dueling steel coasters that would intertwine with each other. I think I also remember the coaster might have the name Ravens in it.

 

Oh, I didn't tell you the year when this rumor surfaced - 1996!!!

 

So we had to wait until 2010 before they finally put a coaster back there: THE INTIMIDATOR 305!!!

 

"I've got one: I'm lonely in my bed all the time because a certain someone is busy posting threads. If that person will come to bed, then I'll cancel that rumor.

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Re: Disney's America- I made the trip to the expo centre in Haymarket, VA back in 1994 (June of) with the model of the expected park's finished results- and I'll be gosh-diddly-arned if the park wasn't taken elementally piece by piece to Disney's Construction Adventure in California- down to the 'Looping Boardwalk Coaster' and other signifigant elements. Sadly, we have yet to see the "Inverted Industrial Revolution" coaster built- nor some of the better ideas for Ride-throughs. Perhaps this will eventually be the Fifth Gate for WDW...

 

Whoah! That is a great memory-snipe to share. Way cool that you went there and actually saw some plans and models! (any pics or links to pics for models, promo sheets, ads, etc. of Disney's America from your visit... or during that time?!) Also blows my mind that they (potentially) took all/most of the plans and plopped 'em on earth IRL out in Cali.

 

(oh... and nice Flanders nod... I see what you did there)

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Although it is not a theme park, Disney had originally planned to open a ski resort in Central California called Mineral King in the late 60s. It would have been in the south part of Sequoia National Park and would have been only a 3.5 hour drive from where I live. It was to have underground heated parking at the entrance and a train/tram/monorail of some sort that took you a mile further to the ski area where they where lifts on several peaks, a hotel, and nighttime activities such as indoor shows and a cinema showing Disney pictures. It probably would have revolutionized the skiing industry in ways one can only imagine but the whole thing fell through after Walt Disney died as Sierra Club and others fought against its development and the land got annexed into Sequoia NP in the 70s. I would have a world class ski resort only a few hours away from me if this would have gotten built instead of having to drive 7 hours to Lake Tahoe or Mammoth and I wouldn't have to settle for China Peak (formerly Sierra Summit) for a day snowboard/ski trip.

 

Here's a couple of links on Disney's Mineral King:

http://micechat.com/blogs/samland/1749-slope-nope-walt-disneys-mineral-king.html

http://www.bigbrian-nc.com/wdw-pc25.htm

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Back on topic... the proposed Disney project up in Northern VA would have been pretty interesting. I'm going to botch any details about it so I'll let this link fill in some specifics. Sometime in 2003-2006 span the Boy Scouts acquired the land that was originally going to facilitate the Disney park. The "National Capital Area Council" of the BSA turned it into a summer and activities camp/reservation. I wonder what Disney could have done with the place?

 

 

Totally forgotten now but Disney's America despite the fact that the project didn't happen actually had played a MAJOR role in bringing legal casino gambling to nearby Charles Town, West Virginia.

 

A few months before Disney pulled out of the project, the voters of Jefferson County, WV ( Charles Town ) voted against the idea of slots at the local Charles Town Racetrack even though they were warned that the track was in deep trouble and would close if the slots were voted down. The reason many voted no was that the voters had this idea that if Disney would dump their project in Virginia...then Disney would head to WEST VIRGINIA !! Now why would people believe such stuff is ..well who knows !! But anyway the day after it was announced that Disney would NOT build in Virginia, Jefferson County did approach Disney about giving them the land of Charles Town Races for their park. Ah it didn't take very long for Disney to tell Jefferson County..NO to their idea. With Disney saying they weren't interested in the Charles Town Racetrack a few years later the vote to allow slots came up once again to the local voters but then time they voted YES !!!

 

Today The Charles Town Races is now called The Hollywood Casino at the Charles Town Races. Local gamblers can thank Disney's decision to pull out of Virginia for this.

 

http://www.hollywoodcasinocharlestown.com/

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Back on topic... the proposed Disney project up in Northern VA would have been pretty interesting. I'm going to botch any details about it so I'll let this link fill in some specifics. Sometime in 2003-2006 span the Boy Scouts acquired the land that was originally going to facilitate the Disney park. The "National Capital Area Council" of the BSA turned it into a summer and activities camp/reservation. I wonder what Disney could have done with the place?

 

 

Totally forgotten now but Disney's America despite the fact that the project didn't happen actually had played a MAJOR role in bringing legal casino gambling to nearby Charles Town, West Virginia.

 

A few months before Disney pulled out of the project, the voters of Jefferson County, WV ( Charles Town ) voted against the idea of slots at the local Charles Town Racetrack even though they were warned that the track was in deep trouble and would close if the slots were voted down. The reason many voted no was that the voters had this idea that if Disney would dump their project in Virginia...then Disney would head to WEST VIRGINIA !! Now why would people believe such stuff is ..well who knows !! But anyway the day after it was announced that Disney would NOT build in Virginia, Jefferson County did approach Disney about giving them the land of Charles Town Races for their park. Ah it didn't take very long for Disney to tell Jefferson County..NO to their idea. With Disney saying they weren't interested in the Charles Town Racetrack a few years later the vote to allow slots came up once again to the local voters but then time they voted YES !!!

 

Today The Charles Town Races is now called The Hollywood Casino at the Charles Town Races. Local gamblers can thank Disney's decision to pull out of Virginia for this.

 

http://www.hollywoodcasinocharlestown.com/

 

Actually- that wouldn't have fit- at all. Disney wanted a base of 6,000 acres- and having been up to Charles Town Races (And slots- from the VERY beginning, as in: 500 slots, the the temporary building, the paddock slots, etc.) the site wouldn't have been nearly big enough to hold the park- let alone the other 5850 acres of park space needed.

 

Would Disney have used all 6,000 acres? No- not at all. In the end, there were plans for Disney's America, plus a Water park, six hotels, and a second-gate park (DLVA anyone?) plus numerous other small facilities. I remember watching the land around the site jump up in value overnight- with most of the major hotel coporations walking onto the land- and snapping it up as fast as they could.

 

The site was donated (As a tax write-off no less) to the BSA for future use- after the project was cancelled. I was upset by this- but it wasn't the first park to have occupied that EXACT SAME SITE...

 

Remember Marriott's Great America? The third park in the chain would have been located in the same place- but never was able to get beyond the NIMBY audience there.

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Actually- that wouldn't have fit- at all. Disney wanted a base of 6,000 acres- and having been up to Charles Town Races (And slots- from the VERY beginning, as in: 500 slots, the the temporary building, the paddock slots, etc.) the site wouldn't have been nearly big enough to hold the park- let alone the other 5850 acres of park space needed.

 

 

I knew that from day one. To this day I still laugh at how anyone would had believed that Disney would even consider about West Virginia. But then again back in those days the local airwaves around Charles Town, WV had the infamous local radio talk show host Tom Tucker on WRNR-AM 740. Tucker was more/less famous or infamous about saying stuff over the air without checking out the facts first such as in this case with Disney or more recently non-stop flights to Denver & Phoenix from Martinsburg, West Virginia's airport...that has yet to happen and chances are never will.

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Funny all the planned, but never built concepts you hear in chat.

 

Fiesta Texas planned a dive coaster to be built off one of the cliffs. The land was being cleared before that was shot down.

 

GAdv was supposed to get a custon Tatsu-sized flyer, but had problems with the water table. A lot of other plans were shot down by Jackson township because the township is strict with tree-removal. Projects that did get built were narrowly voted in by the township.

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Heide Park Giga Coaster =(

 

 

I think we can tell by this picture that umm...yeah...Heide probably missed out on having the number one coaster in the world.

 

As far as my contribution, I'll just mention my hometown's failed concept (which very close-by Lake Winnie has not yet capitalized upon). Splash Valley waterpark in East Ridge, TN. The land still sits cleared and dormant.

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That planned Schwartzkopf Racer for Alton Towers can be seen here

 

 

The ride was cancelled when Tussauds (with their young designer John Wardley) took over the park in 1990 and was replaced with the plan for Nemesis. (I believe there was a cancelled plan for a pipeline on the same site as nemesis too but never seen a photo)

 

There is a quote from John Wardley from an Old ECC interview below

This ride was a twin track racer, where you would leave the station and race the train that left before you and then do the track and go up a parallel lift hill and race the train after you. The idea was flawed because it assumed you could dispatch trains without any delays, however this is not always the case. When we bought Alton Towers the project was ready to go ahead and we had to choose whether to press the button or not. Thankfully we decided not to build it, it would have been an operational disaster.
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If I remember correctly, when Drachen Fire was in it's SBNO stage, I heard they were supposed to replace the train's OTS restrains with lap bars for a smoother ride. Instead they tried selling, then decided to tear it down.

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That planned Schwartzkopf Racer for Alton Towers can be seen here

 

 

The ride was cancelled when Tussauds (with their young designer John Wardley) took over the park in 1990 and was replaced with the plan for Nemesis. (I believe there was a cancelled plan for a pipeline on the same site as nemesis too but never seen a photo)

 

There is a quote from John Wardley from an Old ECC interview below

This ride was a twin track racer, where you would leave the station and race the train that left before you and then do the track and go up a parallel lift hill and race the train after you. The idea was flawed because it assumed you could dispatch trains without any delays, however this is not always the case. When we bought Alton Towers the project was ready to go ahead and we had to choose whether to press the button or not. Thankfully we decided not to build it, it would have been an operational disaster.

 

Schwarzkopf.coaster.net talks about this ride that didn't come to fruition- and it is to me quite sad- in length, it would have been one of the world's longest rides- and was considered to be the last true SpeedRacer that Anton Schwarzkopf designed. (Technically, Lisberbanen is the last of the 'true' Speedracer class to be built)

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The former owners of Michigan's Adventure (the Jourden family) had planned on building a 210ft hypercoaster in the early 2000s, and even had a height ordinance exemption for the ride, but the Cedar Fair buy-out stopped it. It was referenced in an m-live article in 2001, but the article is no longer live on the internet.

 

Every time I'm reminded of this it makes me sad. Sigh. Maybe someday.

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Although it is not a theme park, Disney had originally planned to open a ski resort in Central California called Mineral King in the late 60s. It would have been in the south part of Sequoia National Park and would have been only a 3.5 hour drive from where I live. It was to have underground heated parking at the entrance and a train/tram/monorail of some sort that took you a mile further to the ski area where they where lifts on several peaks, a hotel, and nighttime activities such as indoor shows and a cinema showing Disney pictures. It probably would have revolutionized the skiing industry in ways one can only imagine but the whole thing fell through after Walt Disney died as Sierra Club and others fought against its development and the land got annexed into Sequoia NP in the 70s. I would have a world class ski resort only a few hours away from me if this would have gotten built instead of having to drive 7 hours to Lake Tahoe or Mammoth and I wouldn't have to settle for China Peak (formerly Sierra Summit) for a day snowboard/ski trip.

 

Here's a couple of links on Disney's Mineral King:

http://micechat.com/blogs/samland/1749-slope-nope-walt-disneys-mineral-king.html

http://www.bigbrian-nc.com/wdw-pc25.htm

 

I can only imagine riding through those upper bowls that you can spot in those photos. It probably would have turned out like Squaw Valley with Zermatt-like beauty and a very Disney family friendly atmosphere. It's a stunning concept and it blows my mind that this would have the door shut on it. I can only imagine one or two winter Olympics being held in this place. The closest I can get to Disney at a ski area is a Sugar Bowl and that's limited to one peak and a trail or two. Seriously, Disney quality at a ski resort!

 

As for Drachen Fire, I too heard about the possible lap bar conversion. It's a shame they didn't do this as its unique layout, along with the success of the improved Flight of Fear, could have saved quite a major and missed attraction.

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Oh, man, what a GREAT THREAD! I love this stuff.

 

Forgive me if I missed any prior mentions, but I don't recall:

 

The Wizard of Oz theme park? With the "Flying Monkeys" inverted coaster?

 

"Aero World?" A history of aviation theme park that was going into San Diego, I think, back in the late 70s?

 

"Space World?" I think they actually broke ground for this park, outside of Boston? Also late 70s/early 80s?

 

The Strat's Arrow fishhook... man, I'd KILL to ride that. And the giant mechanical Kong that was going to climb up the tower?

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Not particularly obscure, but Arrow seriously considered putting that corkscrew onto a suspended coaster.

 

EDIT: Could someone fix the Youtube link for me? I can't seem to get it to work.

 

ADMIN EDIT: You got it.

Edited by cfc
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Slightly digressed from topic... BUT after reading the post about the proposed Disney-developed ski resort I recalled the following project planned for the Western NC mountains at one point...

 

the "Canton Wintersports Center" - is/was to be the first, year-round (365 days/year), indoor wintersports facility. Several slopes were originally planned (maybe 5?). Looks like that dropped to possibly two.

 

It originally appeared in the early millennium years under a different name with some different images. I called the number at one point a few years ago to get details about location and recall driving around that area trying to locate any signs of development (at any level), but saw nothing.

 

A newer website still exists with more extensive and different renderings... but I've heard nothing about the project going forward. The more recent site contains '07 and '08 dates, yet no mention of any current plans.

 

Here are a few images gathered from the site (which can be found by clicking HERE):

1508970069_CWC-Aerial.jpg.b06f5e4249ae7300af6660f4eb7507ce.jpg

Canton Wintersports Center - Aerial Rendering

466667578_CWC-MasterplanampSlopeLayout.jpg.d0e60b1156b14e79ed97a53374123e39.jpg

Canton Wintersports Center - Master Plan & Slope/Resort Layout

399408940_CWC-SlopeViewRendering.jpg.516ee5ccebfbb5dce5d4d11cb799fa43.jpg

Canton Wintersports Center - Slope Detail Rendering

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The ones that spring to mind for me were the Garfield's American Adventure theme park that was supposed to go up in Indiana (never made it past land clearing) and a pair for Connecticut - one being the Utopia Studios project that never went anywhere (it was planned to go on the site of an abandoned mental hospital: YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP) and the planned Six Flags scratch built park at Foxwoods Casino's site, which was slated to get a Superman The Escape clone. That got terminated due to the Premier buyout of SF.

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If my memory serves me right. Kennywood was rumored to have signed a 3 coaster deal with CCI. Boulder dash being the first of the three.

CCI isn't CCI anymore and Kennywood is Palace now. But from what I remember the rumor was a wooden coaster being built on the backside of the park on the hillside (similar to boulder dash) And the name was suppose to be Cliffhanger.

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Orlando Thrill Park

 

 

On a more serious note, I believe that Elitch Gardens originally planned to move the original Mr. Twister to the new site, but (for whatever reason) the attempt was unsuccessful and Twister II was built.

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