August 3, 1955 – The 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Exhibit Opens in Disneyland
Image Credit: Vulcaniasubmarine.com
On August 3, 1955, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Exhibit opened in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, and lasted until August 28, 1966. The exhibit came about purely by accident; as the date for Disneyland drew near, Disney realized that he’d fallen behind on Tomorrowland. The film, released December 23, 1954, was immensely popular, so it was decided that the sets from the film would be used for a walkthrough attraction. This stopgap attraction proved to be more popular than expected, and lasted 11 years.
The sets were brought out of storage again in 1989 at the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida, and continued to be a popular attraction. Based on the resurgence in popularity, a similar attraction was built for Disneyland Paris in 1994, known as Les Mystères du Nautilus.
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