Stay Connected“Unbuilt: An Unrealized Theme Park Podcast” is hosted by Ryan O’Reilly and Ryan Dorman as they explore attractions and rides that you have only heard existing on paper. Come aboard a journey that is only limited by your imagination!
Brand new episodes every other Friday! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/support
Copyright: © Ryan O'Reilly
In this epilogue episode of our show, we look back on the 75 main feed episodes we have produced and glean any insights we have made since we started in 2021. In addition, we look at the cutting room floor of various projects we considered discussing, and select our favorite unbuilt ideas!
This is the conclusion of a three-and-a-half year project, and we hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening. You can reach us on various social media. We'll meet again, some sunny day...
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHappy holidays!
You didn't think we weren't going to torture Dorman one more time, did you? In this final holiday episode, we look back on O'Reilly's childhood memories with "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" and unlock a truly wretched piece of Christmas coal that we're certain many people are bizarrely fond of. Nostalgia's a hell of a drug!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn this final yuletide archive ep, Dorman and O'Reilly discuss their favorite holiday specials growing up.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportFrom a year ago, Ryan explores the Vegas Sphere and sees the Darren Aronofsky film Postcards from Earth in all of its crazy glory!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn our series finale, we take a look at one of Walt Disney's final failed dreams: an indoor theme park in St Louis filled with attractions you may recognize.
Stay tuned in the future for our epilogue episode and more archive releases!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHi folks! Enjoy this special early archive episode! Tomorrow we release the series finale of Unbuilt, but in the meantime enjoy this look back at Knott's Scary Farm 50 and a discussion of the Haunted Mansion Parlor.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn Sept 2023, Ryan O'Reilly did a mega Orlando trip including Disney World, a cruise and Retro Magic! Hear all about it!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportFollow the compass of your heart along with Ryan O'Reilly to Japan as he takes you on a three hour long PLUS journey to Tokyo Disney, Universal Osaka and beyond!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn this archive episode, both Ryans look back on the theme parks of their youth!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn this archive episode, we look at the then-found artwork of unbuilt attractions from Marcelo Vignali and more!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportRemember the 2023 Haunted Mansion movie? No? Well to celebrate the spooky season, here's a reminder as we review it, and in some cases... not review it.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportNew York, New York!
We travel to the heart of Times Square to look at several attractions that are quite, let's just say, commercial.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn this SUPER-SIZED, nearly three-hour-long podcast, Ryan Dorman recounts his 2023 trip to Japan including a visit to Tokyo Disney Resort!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWhat's that? You've never heard of this? Well this is an Unbuilt EXCLUSIVE about a ride slated to replace Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin at Mickey's Toontown based on the 2017 DuckTales reboot!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWelcome landlubbers, today we explore the time that Disney bought a boat and a plane and sought to use that into a plot to take over an entire California city, that was also likely part of an extortion plot to convince the city of Anaheim to do their bidding! Also, there was a whole theme park!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportKa-Chow! It's a bonus 90 min episode EARLY where we go OFF about the D23 Horizons Parks Panel! Whether it's Lightning McQueen filling in the Rivers of America or Mike Wazowski yeeted the Muppets out of their courtyard, from Avengers to Villains, from Indy to the Madrigals, from various overseas Marvel projects to overpriced lounges, we got all the discussion!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportAs we look ahead to D23 2024, we look back at last year's announcements with this previously bonus-only look at Destination D23!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we have a split episode for you: first, Ryan Dorman talks about his trip to Aulani and we catch up on several news items, then we discuss some unexplored concepts for the Tokyo Disney parks!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThis year, Ryan Dorman enlists us to watch five short films on Disney+:
Le Pupille
May the 12th Be With You
Growing Fangs
Twentysomething
The Little Matchgirl
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportAn episode roars back from the dead this week to make up for the lack of a new episode this week!
From August 2021, we discuss the crazy ideas that Bob Stupak and his ilk had to attach to a 1000ft tower he was building in Las Vegas!
We also discuss the then closure of the NBA Experience.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportFrom June 2023, we begin our bonus episode release, previously never before released to the public! Here Ryan O'Reilly tells us about his trip to Six Flags Over Texas plus more!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we take a look at a redo of DCA's Paradise Pier where the Disney Villains would've taken over California Screamin!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportFrom March 2023, Ryan O'Reilly gives his report from Super Nintendo World and MORE!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe dive under the sea to explore the original version of The Little Mermaid ride which suspended guests under and above the fathoms below!
Plus, we talk Tiana's Bayou Adventure in a discussion that surely everyone will agree with and be very normal about.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportGet ready for a real Scamifornia Adventure as we look at the Spirit of California project slated for Tracy, California in 2012, which totally didn't rip off a failed Disney theme park.
Also, Ryan O'Reilly gives his trip report to Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn this archive release, the two Ryans finally meet in person and discuss classic family-friendly Vegas!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportA Monday Unbuilt release?! Yes unfortunately I had to rebuild this episode which meant a delay but there will be another archive release on Friday! Lucky you!
For now: we head to the D23 Expo in 2022 to ruthlessly mock it and all of the inane blue sky wonder that is and will forever be Beyond Big Thunder.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we triumph thru Ryan's head cold to examine Stan Freberg's quirky Inventions pavilion pitch featuring a queue that's a ride, a giant light bulb and a singing Thomas Edison!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportNext on our archive series we head back to August 2022 to hear Ryan O'Reilly's trip report to Northern California and experiencing the Walt Disney Family Museum, and so much more!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we follow up The Disney Cancellation Special with Universal! Join us as we look at various ideas such as a James Bond stunt show, a Potter VR broomstick ride, a noisy Seuss walkthrough, an Apollo 13 roller coaster and much more!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportContinuing our archive series with a look at a very boring film that helped inspired a very not-boring unbuilt land, Discovery Bay!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday is a double episode: first, I recap my tour of Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, then we explore various never-made themed resorts at Walt Disney World including the east coast version of New Orleans Square!
Once again, I apologize about the audio issues as our recording software captured the wrong microphone. I will do my best to ensure this does not occur again.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportEarly on in the podcast, we had the unique and wonderful chance to interview the former VP of Knott's Berry Farm Creative, Robin S Hall! This is a very fascinating interview, please enjoy.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportJaalin Harvey returns to discuss another Atlantis-themed attraction, this time the infamous Fire Mountain, a transforming coaster wrapped inside a volcano that would've towered over Adventureland.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThis week, the archive series continues with our Muppets Haunted Mansion review!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn a totally not-transparent attempt to discuss the world's largest Bass Pro Shop in a pyramid, we explore an alternative plan to put a theme park in the guts of the infamous Memphis Pyramid!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThis week in our archives dive we go back to 2022 and Ryan O'Reilly tells Dorman about his trip to RetroMagic and more!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we head into the Enchanted Forest and discover Jay Rasulo's original, meet-and-greet intense version of Magic Kingdom's New Fantasyland. Prepare to make a lot of birthday cards for Princess Aurora!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIt's archive time again, and this is our last Building Upon episode where Dorman recounts a recent visit to both Disney World and Disneyland.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we check out Ron Logan and Rick Silanskas' "dream" park that was "funded" by con man Bryan Robinson, filled with some of the worst theme park ideas you've ever heard.
Ryan Dorman also delivers some piping hot takes about his recent trip to Orlando.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportOur archive series continues with this episode from August 2021 where we review season one of "Behind the Attraction"!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportAmerica's favorite frontiersman actor tried to capitalize on his fame with an educational family fun park and failed twice! Come explore the history of Fess Parker and his wide-eyed dreams with us!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportAs we begin our final year of Unbuilt, we are going to release our bonus material, previously paywalled, every week the podcast is off for your enjoyment.
In this first archive episode from August 2021, Dorman discusses a Disney trip he's about to take.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe continue on with part two of our look at Main Street offshoots, this time looking at the twisty alleyways of International Street and the unimaginable size of Hollywoodland.
Plus, we talk about the closure of the original Country Bear Jamboree.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe're back from hiatus with a brand-new episode about two Main Street expansion both planned by Walt Disney: Edison Square, with a familiar-sounding show sponsored by General Electric and Liberty Street, featuring a wax hall of Presidents!
Plus, we have some news about the future of Unbuilt.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHappy holidays! This year we look at two episodes from different eras of bad Simpsons: season 15's "Tis the Fifteenth Season" and season 31's "Bobby, It's Cold Outside". Which one is worse? Hint: it's the season 31 episode. C'mon. Duh.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe travel into the unknown and encounter Marc Davis' Enchanted Snow Palace, a 1977 concept where guests would take an icy boat ride to meet the Snow Queen! No, not Elsa, but there are a lot of goofy snowmen who may or may not like warm hugs!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThis ride would've been FIRE! We travel back to the 90s and take a look at a pitch from MTVN Recreation involving a portable Beavis and Butthead simulator.
You can find the glossary materials here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/x1h7646y12peoyz/Beavis_and_Butt-Head_-_The_Ride.pdf/file
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportOur longest episode yet!
We roar into Animal Kingdom with a look at Joe Rohde's Fantasyland, that of Beastly Kingdom where we search for unicorns, glide to classical music and face off against a fire-breathing dragon!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe take a peek into the possibility of Mel Brooks running the Hollywood Tower Hotel with this early iteration where comedy ruled instead of screams! Hop on an elevator and catch a movie monster or two as we see what happens when Michael Eisner tries to ensnare the master of parody with a semi-spooky E-ticket attraction!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe visit Casper the Friendly Ghost and his uncles the Ghostly Trio to check out Universal's unbuilt Whipstaff Manor dark ride based on the 1995 Casper film, where guests could ride on beds and choose their own route!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThe east winds take us to a lovely London town and along with us we encounter Tony Goldmark of Escape from Vault Disney! In today's ep, we examine the various unbuilt Mary Poppins attractions in Disney history from Tony Baxter's Jolly Holiday ride to EPCOT's cancelled UK pavilion expansion!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe journey to Murcia, Spain and examine an unbuilt bottom-up Paramount theme park with attractions based on movies you've heard of like Mission Impossible and Grease, and also based on films you've never heard of like Stardust and FairyTale!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn our fiftieth episode, we take a look at a myriad of Disney World projects that were never meant to be, but still announced by the company. Topics include: the Main Street Theatre, the Epcot Festival Center, Hyperion Wharf, Pop Century's Legendary Years, Reflections A Lakeside Lodge, the Play Pavilion and Spaceship Earth's most recent tabled redo!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe are joined with Garfield cartoonist and expert Ryan Estrada to explore a never-made Indiana theme park called Garfield's American Adventure! Does the fat cat get represented well or should this be shipped in a box to Abu Dhabi? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/support
Merry Julymas!
Once again we let Ryan Dorman chose a film for us to discuss, and this year he has chosen David Lynch's 1977 surrealist body horror Eraserhead! How much about parenting will we learn? Find out today!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we look at Disney's attempt to create a Harry Potter land, filled with completely underwhelming rides and attractions! Also we check out Universal's Villain Con: Minion Blast!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThis Fourth of July week we take a look at Marc Davis' original 1975/1976 concepts for The American Adventure, including an omnimover ride with an original song!
To purchase bonus episodes or gain early access to episodes, check out our Ko-Fi page: https://ko-fi.com/unbuiltpod
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe dive in to Atlantis as we look at the proposed thrilling redo of Disneyland's Submarine Voyage: the Atlantean Encounter, based on 2001's Atlantis the Lost Empire. Will thrill-seekers escape the clutches of the Leviathan? Will we address the recent Titan Submersible incident? Well, the answer for that last one is no since the episode was recorded several weeks prior. That we just call bad timing!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe chopper back over to Islands of Adventure to take a look at the many possible replacements for the public domain land The Lost Continent! Could it be Rudolph, Harry Potter or even Willy Wonka?
Thanks to Alicia Stella of OrlandoParkStop.com for the information for today's show. You can check out her original article here: https://orlandoparkstop.com/feature/unbuilt-attractions/5-never-built-replacements-for-the-lost-continent-at-islands-of-adventure/
Orlando ParkStop is currently running a Stop Hate charity campaign for the month of June. Donations accepted towards The Trevor Project here: https://orlandoparkstop.com/charity/
Special Thanks to Jerry Skids for providing the voice of Construction Worker in our cold open sketch!
Early access and bonus episodes available at our Ko-Fi page now: https://ko-fi.com/unbuiltpod
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIt's the epic conclusion to our episode on Disney's America! Jaalin Harvey from A Podcast For All Things, But Mostly Disney continues to join us as we discuss why the history theme park was never built, the political controversy and fallout, as well as imagining the alternate reality where it came to be.
Also announcing our Ko-Fi "Unbuilt Unlimited", where you can enjoy bonus episodes and other exclusive content such as early access to episodes. Check it out here: https://ko-fi.com/unbuiltpod/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIt's an EPIC, slightly, kind-of patriotic two-parter as Jaalin Harvey from A Podcast For All Things, But Mostly Disney joins us to talk Disney's America! In the first half of the episode, we discuss how Disney's America, a failed Virginia history-based theme park, came about and what was to be included in it.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWhat happens when George Lucas is on top of the world? He gets his own enormous fully-indoor multi-level theme park expansion, that's what! Crystalline domes, rocket jets, many girders and beams, Alien Encounter and a massive Star Wars roller coaster with multiple tracks?! Celebrate Star Wars Day with this look at a project that could only exist in the 1980s!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe return to Dubai and take a look at several parks that were going to be a part of Dubailand, including an F1-themed park, a Marvel Superheroes park and even... Waterpark City?!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe drive from Hollywood to Sin City as we return to Las Vegas to check out some never-built resort oddities such as a tacky recreation of the Titanic, a hotel shaped like cowboy boots, various cities and even the Moon! It's an insane grab-bag of bizarre ways to ensnare your wallet!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe conclude "Hooray for Hollywood" with a look at the original plans for EuroDisneyland's second gate, Disney-MGM Studios Europe! Today a dumpster fire sits on what was planned to be more akin to a grander, more fulfilling vision of Hollywood excess, but French!
Plus: we discuss the recent Haunted Mansion movie teaser and stick around to the end for some bonus Star Wars chatter!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe'll conclude our Hooray for Hollywood miniseries next week, but today enjoy a couple of hilarious outtakes from our last few episodes!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIllusions abound as David Copperfield teams with Michael Eisner to create a magic-themed restaurant on the border of Disney-MGM Studios as we continue our Hooray for Hollywood series!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportNothing can stop us now! We continue to proclaim Hooray for Hollywood as we check out another unbuilt Disney-MGM Studio attraction, "Mickey's Movieland", where guests got to experience the making of a Mickey cartoon. Interactive exhibits, museum pieces and a bizarre dark ride along with a complete recreation of Disney's old Hyperion studio were the highlights!
Plus: we discuss the recent opening of Disneyland's version of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHooray for Hollywood continues as we drive thru the tunnel into Toontown with a proposed Roger Rabbit expansion to Disney-MGM Studios! Rideable trolley cars, a wild motion simulator bus ride, a Baby Herman dark ride, roller coasters, bars, clubs, mallets, weasels, toons, Jessica Rabbit and more! We also talk about the recent closures at Universal parks!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe have a bonus outtake from yesterday's episode with a five-minute discussion about Ryan Dorman's recent Disneyland visit, and a surprising take on a divisive attraction! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/support
Hooray for Hollywood! We begin a brand-new series of episode dedicated to all things Disney-MGM Studios and what could've been! Today we explore the never-realized concept for taking a Burbank mall and turning it into a colossally insane film-themed headache with streetmosphere, E-ticket rides, underwater steer and over-the-top nightclubs alongside your standard Gap and Hot Topic.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHappy Holidays! It's our last episode of the year, and we roll out the CRT into the classroom once again before our winter break! This year we tune into "Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas", where all our "favorite" prehistoric "friends" make us "laugh" with their "hysterical" Christmassy "hijinks" guest-starring some unfortunate people! It's an animated Scrat-astrophe! WINTER BREAK FUN DAY SONG Music and Lyrics by: Ryan O'Reilly Produced and Arranged by: Bing Glenn --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/support
It's the holiday season, so this year we're heading over to Universal's Islands of Adventure to examine an unbuilt roller coaster based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Get ready to careen down Mount Crumpit with the-the-the... THE GRINCH!
Also, Dorman tries to steal the MCU, it's a whole thing.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA?! We could've, if only Universal Studios Beijing went with their plan to construct an indoor SpongeBob land! We discuss this idea, plus IAPPA and wrestling with the very idea whether or not Bikini Bottom is somewhere one would want to visit!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportLive long and prosper with this brand-new episode of Unbuilt where we are joined by Chandler Desrochers from Podcast Without a Cool Acronym discussing Landmark and Downtown Las Vegas' crazy plan to construct a LIFE-SIZED Starship Enterprise! Guests would've climbed aboard and live their Star Trek adventure in a mighty monument to nerdiness.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe conclude EPCOT Month with a look at the unbuilt WESTCOT Center, the west coast's equivalent of EPCOT with a condensed Future World and World Showcase, along with a 300ft variation of Spaceship Earth? Is Figment ready to start California Dreamin? Do the residents of Anaheim realize they may be shooting themselves in the foot with their protests? Do we play the DuckTales theme way too much? Find out on this epic finale to EPCOT Month!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe head back to World Showcase and look at individual attractions proposed for various pavilions such as the Rhine River Cruise, an Italy boat ride, the Matterhorn (but not as you know it) and several ideas for Japan including a Mt Fuji coaster! May also contain a long argument about the DuckTales franchise! Aufiderzen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportToday we're taking you to the land, air, sea and... the bloodstream?! In this week's installment of EPCOT Month, we look at various rejected concepts for Future World pavilions such as the original plans for The Land, The Living Seas and the Life and Health Pavilion.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHabari, shalom, hola and hello to another episode of EPCOT Month! Today we sail to four different unbuilt World Showcase ports from Africa, to Spain, to Israel and even one you may not see coming!
Please consider donating to charity to help with Hurricane Ian rebuilding efforts in Central Florida:
https://www.feedhopenow.org/site/TR?fr_id=1340&pg=entry
https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2022/red-cross-responds-to-hurricane-ian.html
https://www.volunteerflorida.org/donatefdf/
In our first EPCOT Month installment, we look at Project Gemini, a proposal to reinvigorate Epcot with a rollercoaster inside Spaceship Earth, an Autopia, an internet cafe and a whole lot of trees! We'll be back next week!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportCue the annoying laughter of Woody Woodpecker as Alicia Stella of Orlando ParkStop joins us to examine multiple never-built concepts to replace KidZone at Universal Studios Florida! We go into deep freeze with Ice Age, put on noise-cancelling headphones with the Smurfs, travel thru warp pipes at early Nintendo concepts, go on a safari looking for Pokemon and so much more!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHowdy, partner! Saddle on up to a wild new episode of Unbuilt where we take a deep dive into Marc Davis' long-lost classic Western River Expedition, which was slated to become the east coast's variation of Pirates of the Caribbean until guests asked... "hey, where's Pirates of the Caribbean?" Find out all about it with a side of cornbread, beans and uncomfortable racism!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportMerry Julymas! I offered Dorman to force me to watch a movie so he chose the 2007 Walt Disney Pictures-co-produced Chinese film "The Secret of the Magic Gourd" with a really awkward English dub starring High School Musical's Corbin Bleu.
CHRISTMAS IN JULY SONG:
Music and Lyrics by: Ryan O'Reilly
Arranged and Produced by: Bing Glenn
Start your engines, y'all! This week we bear and grin it with a look at Critter Country 500: a plan by WDI in the mid-90s to salvage Disneyland's Country Bear Jamboree with a racing dark ride retrofit based on Hanna-Barbera's Wacky Races! Plus we discuss Disneyland's 67th birthday!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportPull down on your over-the-shoulder restraint, today we take a look at several unbuilt roller coaster concepts, including a figure-eight loop, a gyro coaster, a surfing zipline and even a towering monstrosity named the PolerCoaster! Plus we chat about the recently (barely) opened Lost Island Theme Park!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWhat's up, doc?
We wrap up looking at the first version of Islands of Adventure by exploring an entire packed land filled with the wacky characters straight from outta Termite Terrace alongside a Popeye dinner show, a crazier version of Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and... a Mr. Magoo bumper car ride?! I say, boy, I say, you better listen!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportThe first part of a two-part series where we step into the second gate at Universal Orlando before Islands of Adventure: Cartoon World aka Tooniversal studios, where Universal was seeking to mine the IP of Warner Bros! In this installment, we discuss about the DC Comics attractions including a Superman motion simulator with a twist, a BatWing attraction and an absolutely mind-boggling indoor special effects-laden stunt show where the Joker entraps an audience and makes awful puns!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportTravel in time with us to 2055, or more specifically, 1992 when Imagineers were planning on reviving Tomorrowland at Disneyland into a crystal-laden, alien-supernatural wonderland featuring Alien Encounter, the Timekeeper and an animatronic show full of bizarre extraterrestrials! Tyler Green joins us to discuss the never-made revamp Tomorrowland 2055!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportMay the Fourth Be With You!
We celebrate Star Wars day by, well, looking at never-made Star Wars rides, of course! We look at a roller coaster that splits in half to take you either down the light side or the dark side of the force, an unmade Episode I version of Star Tours and some rejected Galaxy's Edge ideas!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe take a trip to the middle east, Dubai in the UAE to be specific! Today we gander at three cancelled Dubai theme parks all from some of the top names in the industry... but not all created by them! We'll be exploring more cancelled Dubai theme parks in 2023!
After today's episode, the show will be taking a brief hiatus for the rest of April, but will return in early May.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHow else do you follow up a silly episode with some silly outtakes! Listen to us poke some fun at Disney's America, a topic that rest assured, we will get to someday, as well as briefly discuss Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2005 magnum opus CHICKEN LITTLE. We'll back with a new episode next week!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportBY POPULAR DEMAND! We finally take a look at the sadly never-built Ursula from the Little Mermaid-themed spinner attraction that was to be at Disney's California Adventure. Join us as we get emotional and introspective over this heartbreaking loss of themed entertainment.
Enjoy this exclusive, never-before-seen concept art of the attraction: https://imgur.com/sIpiD6r
There also might be stuff after the topic, but it's not that important. Not nearly as important as the crown jewel of unbuilt attractions!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportCalling Dick Tracy! Head back to 1990 when Michael Eisner thought the yellow trenchcoat-wearing detective would be America's hottest new action hero, and was planning an E-Ticket ride that armed tourists with tommy guns!
In addition: we talk about the new immersive Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience!
Today's episode is ad-free in solidarity with the current LGBTQ protests due to both harmful legislation and corporate indifference, namely that of The Walt Disney Company. We encourage you to donate to one of the following charities:
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
https://zebrayouth.org/
https://donate.glaad.org/
https://www.eqfl.org/
https://action.aclu.org/
Woo-hoo! TheRealJims (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealJims), Simpsons expert joins us today as we examine three different unbuilt Simpsons rides and lands! This brand-new cromulent episode is sure to embiggen your souls as we seek a Simpsons satirical dark ride, an alternate idea for Universal's "The Simpsons Ride" and even an entire unbuilt Simpsons land!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportFollow the yellow brick road to our conclusion to the Frontierland expansion series as we get swept up by an idea from Tony Baxter to build the land of Oz, specifically based on the 2013 Sam Raimi-directed, James Franco-starring film "Oz: The Great and Powerful". Would it have been popular if built, or is there truly no place like home?
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHowdy! We continue our Frontierland Expansion series with a look into Geyser Mountain, a Tower of Tower-style thrill ride that was going to tower over Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, where guests would take drilling machines deep into the Earth, only to rocket out via an enormous geyser!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportOur Frontierland Expansion series continues as we look at Tony Baxter's unbuilt (masterpiece?) work "Discovery Bay"! A land with a literal mountain full of backstory and plethora of attractions, it includes a suspended dark ride based on "The Island at the Top of the World", an animatronic show with a magical man and his dragon, a river ride full of dinosaurs, roller coasters, and even a fireworks factory! Come explore this unknown world with us as we try and figure out if it was a tragedy or better off undiscovered.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHappy new year! We start out the year with a prologue to our Frontierland Expansion series, looking at the land that was meant to serve as the transition between Fantasyland and a whole new land that we will discuss in our next episode. Dumbo's Circusland was going to be a wacky, joyful new area with multiple dark rides, an elevated Dumbo spinner and even a (gulps) clown-themed restaurant. (beware of Toodles)
Join us as we run away to the circus on today's episode!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportMerry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and happy Winter Solstice!
In our last episode of the year, we roll out the CRT TV into the classroom and do something different before our winter break: watch a bad Christmas movie and riff on it! This year, we endure "Jingle All the Way 2" starring everybody's favorite tow truck voicing comedian, Larry the Cable Guy! In this "hilarious" "sequel", Larry is a put-upon dad who's trying to get his child of divorce a stuffed talking bear when his ex-wife's new husband tries to foil him at every turn! And there's a random wrestler! Ho ho oh dear god, no!
WINTER BREAK FUN DAY SONG
Music and Lyrics by: Ryan O'Reilly
Produced and Arranged by: Bing Glenn
Happy holidays!
Today we take a look at Imagineer Christopher Merritt's student portfolio concept for a suspended dark ride based on the 1993 Tim Burton classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas"! Is this concept better than Haunted Mansion Holiday could ever imagine?
PLUS: we talk about how we enjoy spending the holidays in the theme parks, and even around our own homes!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWe'll be back with our holiday episode next week, but for now enjoy a collection of outtakes from last week's extra-long Epcot-centric episode!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIf you can dream it, you... probably still can't do it, but we're going to imagine!
Today's episode takes us back to 1996, when a proposal was filed to turn Epcot's aging Horizons attraction into a brand-new experience based on space. Yes, that eventually happened, but nothing at all like this! Follow us onto the Speculator as we speculate about "Space: A Journey Beyond What Is Known" for an extra-long, extra-Epcot episode!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportKnott's Berry Farm... Branson? Sacramento? Japan?! Good grief!
Today we grab our fun buns over to a wild exploration of the grand vision that the Knott's family had in the 1990s, imagining a world where boysenberries and roller coasters could be enjoyed together worldwide with a brand-new theme park franchise! In addition, we also take a peek at a master plan to take the existing Buena Park location and turn it into a multi-day resort destination!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHappy Halloween!
Today we look at seven pitches for the world-famous Haunted Mansion during its nearly two-decade-long development, plus Rolly Crump's brilliant unrealized Museum of the Weird. Together we unearth creepy concepts such as gruesome story-driven walkthroughs, a truly terrifying pitch by Marc Davis and the Haunted Mansion... as a boat ride?! Start the campfire as we get into some awesome ghost stories just in time for the spookiest night of all!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHooray for Horrorwood!
Today we take a look at Kevin Rafferty and Cory Sewelson's bonkers idea for an animatronic spectacular called "The Creatures' Choice Awards", allowing audiences the chance to watch a kooky, spooky awards show filled with monster robots such as Eddie Frankenmurphy, Elvira and even Godzilla...'s legs. Is it terrifyingly terrific or a monster bust of an idea?
PLUS: we review the newest Epcot attraction, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportRyan O'Reilly is on vacation this week, so enjoy this special outtake where we have a laugh over all of the golden statues... and what golden statues we would've liked to see.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportIn the immortal words of Ray Stantz from the 1995 classic "Casper": "Who you gonna call? Somebody else."
Today we take a look at the mid-80s attempt to bring Ghostbusters to the Six Flags theme parks with Sente Technologies and Roger Hector's "Ghostbusters: The Hauntington Hotel" shooting dark ride, a first-of-its-kind prototype at the time. Is it a big twinkie, or a complete bust, and how does it compare to the Ghostbusters attractions we eventually got?
PLUS: we take a nostalgic look back at Walt Disney World's opening for its 50th anniversary and preview its early unbuilt attractions and hotels!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportHi ho, listeners! Today we are joined by Blake Roark (@NeilNevins) to discuss the (kind of) never-built land Muppet Studios, featuring the Great Gonzo Pizza Pandemonium Parlor, the Swedish Chef Cooking School and the amazing Great Muppet Movie Ride! It's a can't miss discussion of alternate Muppety universes!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWelcome, to Unbuilt Jurassic Park! We take a look at various attractions that were planned for the Jurassic Park land at Universal's Islands of Adventure, including Jeep Safari, HelicopTours, Raptor Racers and an Amber Mine B&M Hypercoaster!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportCome aboard onto our maiden voyage as we discuss Jim Cora and Mark Hickson's absolutely insane idea to build a floating Disney theme park on the top of a supertanker! Plus, we talk about recent changes to the Jungle Cruise!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportWelcome to Unbullt: An Unrealized Theme Park Podcast!
In this introductory episode, we break down how the show will be, our philosophy and what we hope to accomplish! Come back for a grand sail on the S.S. Disney on Friday!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/supportEnjoy this promo for "Unbuilt: An Unrealized Theme Park Podcast", debuting August 2021!
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-oreilly0/support
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