BACKSTORY: Fantasyland at WDW had a number of attractions similar to those in Anaheim, including Mr. Toad' Wild Ride and Snow White's Scary Adventures. Both of those attractions became victims to "progress" and paved the way for other attractions. Mr. Toad lasted from 1971—1985, when it was replaced by a Winnie the Pooh attraction. Orlando's version of Toad was unique because it featured two sides to enter from, with varying scenes, allowing guests to encounter exciting near-crashes. Snow White’s Scary Adventures closed on May 31, 2012 and was replaced by Princess Fairytale Hall as part of the Fantasyland expansion.
The Mickey Mouse Revue (1971—1980, pictured below) was an indoor stage show acted by 81 audio-animatronic performers in Fantasyland and was one of the three original attractions on its opening day. The show resembles a concert orchestra with Mickey Mouse as the conductor, and 23 Disney cartoon characters playing musical instruments, including Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Humphrey the Bear, Baloo, Kaa, King Louie, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Dumbo, Timothy Mouse, Gus-Gus, Jaq, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, Abner the Country Mouse and Monty the City Mouse. Mickey was an extremely complex audio animatronic figure that had 33 body actions inside his 42" high body. Parts of famous songs from Disney films are performed by Snow White, the Three Little Pigs, the Fairy Godmother, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, and the Three Caballeros. 73 characters are represented. Songs include "Heigh Ho," "Whistle While You Work," "When You Wish Upon A Star," "Hi Diddle Dee Dee," "Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf," "I'm Wishing," "The Silly Song," "All In The Golden Afternoon," "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," "So This Is Love," "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," and "Mickey Mouse Club Alma Mater." Contributing Disney Imagineers were John Hench, Bill Justice, and Wathel Rogers.
In a 1962 interview, Walt Disney talked about his new audio-animatronic technology in The Enchanted Tiki Room and the still untitled haunted house attraction. He said that he had similar plans for "I have in mind a theater, and [all the Disney characters] will not only put on a show, but be sitting in the boxes with the visitors, heckling." On October 1, 1971, the Mickey Mouse Revue show opened as an 'E' ticket attraction in Fantasyland, in the Magic Kingdom, Florida. The original theater at Walt Disney World sat 500 park guests, but the pre-show area only had room for 300 guests, a planning goof. Fantasyland Theater also showed Disney cartoons and occasional employee film festival events. The show ran until it was closed on September 14, 1980 and was replaced with the Magic Journeys 3D film. The Mickey Mouse Revue was then moved to Tokyo Disneyland. After Magic Journeys closed, the Legend of the Lion King show took its spot, and then Lion King was replaced in 2003 with Mickey’s Philharmagic.
Another casualty was the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea attraction (1971—1994) which was similar to the Anaheim Submarine Voyage. The main difference was that the 12 Orlando vehicles were patterned after the Nautilus from Disney's 1954 classic, "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea."They were built by Tampa Shipyards and made up a portion of the Walt Disney World Navy, considred the world's fifth-largest Navy back in 1971. Each sub was 61' long and weighed 58 tons apiece.
It has been anounced that this attraction will reopen once again, as "Under the Sea — Journey of The Little Mermaid."
Like its Anaheim counterpart, the Skyway attraction (1971—1999) was also removed. The 5 minute trip from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland was a guest favorite, soaring 60' over the park.
