Mountain themed rides have been a staple at Disney Parks ever since the Matterhorn Bobsleds opened in Disneyland in 1959.

The Magic Kingdom located in Walt Disney World has three distinct mountain rides, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. But one of Walt Disney’s other parks, Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow) Center never got one despite having two mountain rides slated for the World Showcase.

Also Read: Walt Disney Wanted To Build A Ski Resort And Nearly Did

The Japan pavilion was initially designed to include am indoor roller coaster housed inside a gigantic replica of Japan’s Mount Fuji. The Roller Coaster was set to feature a Godzilla-like lizard scaring patrons. The ride would have been one of the top attractions of the park, but the project was put on mothballs after Kodak, one of Epcot’s largest sponsors, objected to Disney building a ride with a name so similar to that of Kodak’s biggest competitor, Fujifilm.

 

The other Epcot mountain would have been located in the never-built Switzerland pavilion. The pavilion would’ve had a Matterhorn themed ride located between Germany and Italy in Epcot’s World Showcase. The ride would have been an East Coast version of Disneyland’s popular Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster. Negotiations with the Swiss government fell apart in 1987, and Disney was unable to secure a commercial partner to help fund the pavilion.

The look and draw of the World Showcase would have been much different if Disney had gone through with the construction of these two massive installments. As it stands today, there are only to rides in the World Showcase, both are boat rides, the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros in the Mexican pavilion and Frozen Ever After located in the Norway pavilion.

 

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