Why Disney’s Iconic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Ride Is Still Beloved 30 Years After Its Closure

Do you often find yourself longing for defunct Disney World Rides?

It’s tough to talk about Disney World without factoring in nostalgia. As the parks continue to change and evolve, we can’t help but think back on old attractions, especially after their absences are felt. One ride in particular, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage, still garners passionate discourse to this day.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was a submarine ride at Magic Kingdom that opened in October 1971 and took passengers on an underwater adventure based on the 1954 Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The ride was a retheming of the Submarine Voyage ride at Disneyland. and showcased scenes of adventure, sea life, and mythical creatures during a journey through the lagoon.

Despite the ride being incredibly popular, it closed for good in 1994 and was replaced by Ariel’s Grotto, Pooh’s Playful Spot, and the current Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Despite the attraction disappearing 30 years ago, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is still beloved to this day, and we think we know why.

Right off the bat, we have to acknowledge that rose-tinted glasses wrapped up in nostalgia absolutely play a part. When things change, it’s natural for people to long for what once was, especially when it comes to Disney. We see this all the time with more recently closed attractions like The Great Movie Ride and the soon-to-be-closed DINOSAUR.

But to say that people miss 20,000 Leagues simply due to nostalgia and resistance to change would be lazy and incorrect. Instead, there are several factors as to why the ride is still loved.

First, let’s start with the obvious: it was absolutely loved while it was open. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea wasn’t an attraction that was closed due to poor reception. In fact, it was so popular that wait times were frequently abysmal due to low loading capacity. The loading issues, maintenance issues, and running costs ultimately led Disney World to remove the attraction but to say the ride wasn’t as loved then as it was now is likely a fabrication.

The ride provided a sense of adventure and exploration, treating passengers to wonderous scenes packed with heroism, fright, and creativity. You would dive around underwater volcanoes, see all kinds of sea life, experience storms, travel through the Graveyard Of Lost Ships, get spooked by sharks, visit the North Pole, make your way through the ruins of Atlantis, outrun a sea serpent, meet mermaids, fight off a giant squid, and have the experience of a lifetime. We get it — the ride was brilliantly cool.

It also doesn’t help that Disney World took 20 years to replace this E-ticket attraction with another one. Although it was a priority for Disney to get a major ride built in its place (the rumor was a Fire Mountain roller coaster), nothing came to fruition until Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in 2014. That’s a lot of time to ruminate about a defunct attraction.

The 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride was one of Disney World’s first big attractions, earning tons of interest and fandom. Within the Disney fandom circles, it’s taboo to mess with the classics and a big no-no to remove them altogether. Could you imagine the uproar if Magic Kingdom took out Space Mountain? To many, removing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was something akin to that.

To add insult to injury, Disneyland was able to repurpose its Submarine Voyage ride into Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, an attraction that does have its issues (claustrophobia complaints have hurt its ratings among fans), but still honors the classic ride and, most importantly, allows it to live on through a spiritual successor. Disney World enthusiasts likely see that and wish Magic Kingdom had done something similar.

Lastly, we can’t hype up the ride enough. The creativity of the ride and the spirit of imagination and adventure it invoked is tough to replicate, IP-based or otherwise. Maybe they just don’t make them like they used to or maybe 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea captured lightning in a bottle. Either way, we understand why so many people loved it and why many of you still miss it. It’s hard to see amazing attractions leave Disney World and once we get a taste of something as spectacular as this attraction, it can be difficult to let go.

Like you, we greatly appreciate 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea, but we’re also excited to witness how Disney World tries to outdo itself with all of the future lands and attractions it plans on building. For the latest developments on these expansions and makeovers, stay tuned right here at AllEars!

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Do you miss 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage? Share your favorite memories of the ride in the comments below!