In his early days as CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner quickly realised that guests could possibly spend weeks at a time at the Florida theme parks and resorts but only a day or two at the company’s original park in California. He asked his Imagineers to come up with ideas for something to keep Californian tourists (and their money) on Disney property for a much longer period of time, giving the designers the simple instruction to “Amaze me”

They produced impressive and innovative plans for two parks: WESTCOT, which I’ve described in detail in the earlier parts of this series, and Port Disney, a huge complex to be situated on the Californian coast at Long Beach. As it was initially announced in July 1990, Port Disney would cover 360 acres and include a brand new kind of theme park - DisneySea. DisneySea would have explored man’s relationship with the oceans around him in fact as well as in fiction. It would have shown what’s really out there under the sea, and what authors and adventurers have dreamed up over the centuries.

So what exactly would visitors have seen at DisneySea?

Well the most striking thing about the park was its centrepiece, the six bright blue glass domes of Oceana. This would have been unlike anything the Imagineers had ever produced before and would contain an entire ‘land’. But in keeping with other Disney parks, DisneySea would also have had it’s own Princess’ castle, and of course it’s resident Princess would have been Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Also in Oceana would have been a massive “Oceanarium”. – a two storey series of aquariums featuring marine habitats and ecological systems from around the globe.

The Mysterious Island “land” of DisneySea would have been housed entirely inside a huge hollow volcano which would dominate one side of the park. The two headline rides here would have been The Lost City of Atlantis and Captain Nemo’s Lava Cruiser, a rollercoaster ride which would have suspended riders beneath the track and hurtled them through the caverns of the underwater volcano, eventually erupting in a blast of steam.

Pirate Island was a children’s adventure area where, with a little help from attendant buccaneers, they could follow clues which would lead them to buried treasure.

Guests would also have been able to observe and interact with real oceanographers and marine scientists working at the Future Research Centre. Just like Epcot’s Living Seas, these scientists would be carrying out real research as well as answering guests’ questions. If visitors found this area to educational for them, there would also be an underwater exploration simulator ride.

A full sized Egyptian galley ship would sit on the water as part of the Fleets of Fantasy area, as would a mysterious Chinese Junk. Other unusual boats would fill the water with more rides as well as shops and dining.

Heroes Harbor would be the land where myths and legends of the sea come to life. At its entrance would be the Aqua-Labyrinth, a maze with walls that were constructed purely from sheets of running water. The voyages of Ulysses and Sinbad would form the backstories of two rides in this part of the park.

Steel cages would allow the more intrepid visitors to descend into shark infested waters, while the less brave could wade through fish-filled pools. There would be a snorkelling area where guests could explore sunken ships for pirate treasure, or they could simply enjoy reproductions of some of the beaches of the world beside Venture Reefs. These Greek, Asian and Caribbean themed areas would house DisneySea’s main shopping and dining areas.

Traditionalists would be happy to note that this most untraditional of Disney parks would be served by a brand new monorail loop, and just like the other Disney sites around the world, every day at DisneySea would conclude with a huge fireworks display.

But that only covers DisneySea, the theme park section of the proposed development. Outside the DisneySea gates would be the rest of Port Disney, an entire district of entertainment. Port Disney would feature the mix of shops, clubs, restaurants and cinemas we’ve come to know through the Downtown Disney developments, as well as five themed hotels for guests to stay in.

And true to its name, Port Disney would be an actual working port, a home berth for the fleet of newly-proposed Disney Cruise Line ships. There would also be a new 400 berth marina for private use.

Further along the waterfront a spectacular Boardwalk Fun Fair section would evoke memories of the post-war years. Its big draw would be an old-style coaster with exposed criss-cross beams and similar carnival attractions. Much of this would eventually be included into the design of Disney’s California Adventure. For example concept art for Port Disney clearly shows a Sun Wheel, exactly the same as the one eventually built at DCA.

Disney also owned two other attractions in the area. In fact this was the reason that they first considered Long Beach for development. They had recently taken over the running of the Queen Mary cruise ship, and she would sit proudly at the edge of the Port Disney development. Right next door to her was the company’s second recent acquisition, Howard Hughes’ massive aeroplane The Spruce Goose, housed in its beautiful dome.

Port Disney would have been a massive undertaking and would have required approximately 250 acres of Los Angeles’ San Pedro Bay to be filled in. Sadly, this alone made it highly unlikely to come to fruition in its original form.

The concept was eventually dropped as the company announced it would instead be investing in the WESTCOT expansion of Anaheim’s original Disneyland. As ever though, good ideas never die. Many of the Port Disney plans were eventually incorporated into the designs for Tokyo DisneySea in Japan. That park opened in September of 2001 and includes Mysterious Island and a Sinbad’s Seven Voyages ride, both originally designed for Long Beach. There’s also a transatlantic-style steamer called the S.S. Columbia that looks incredibly like the Queen Mary.

Disney had designed the Port Disney plans and, at least in the beginning, apparently had the inclination to develop this part of the Los Angeles coastline. Sadly it never got beyond that initial stage.

In my next column I’ll try to explain some of the reasons why both this (and WESTCOT) were eventually scrapped.