There are a lot of abandoned attractions and buildings across Disney World, and some are hidden in plain sight.
The Wonders of Life Pavilion
EPCOT is home to the abandoned Wonders of Life Pavilion, and now behind Hollywood Studios lies the abandoned Star Wars hotel, The Galactic Starcruiser. And who can forget about the abandoned NBA Experience sitting in Disney Springs. We recently were curious about an abandoned attraction that Disney tried to hide with a different kind of version of Go-Away-Green over at Animal Kingdom.
Did you know that Magic Kingdom is not the only park that is home to a train? There is actually a train hidden in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom that will take you on a one way trip to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and Conservation Station.
Take the Train!
This train is better known as the Wildlife Express and will drop you off at Rafiki’s Planet Watch wear you can get up close and personal with animals in the Affection Section which is a petting zoo.
Conservation Station
The Conservation Station is also home to the Animation Experience at Conservation Station. Here you can participate in a 20-minute experience where you can animate some of your favorite animal Disney characters. You can also get an inside look at what animal caretakers are working on as there is viewing glass around Conservation Station.
Animation Experience
While all of these attractions are still available for you to visit and enjoy, there is one attraction that is hidden in plain sight. Remember when we mentioned Go-Away-Green? Well, this version of Go-Away-Green is ferns.
What is behind those ferns?
Behind those ferns lies an abandoned attraction. Grandmother Willow used to narrate the Song of the Rainforest. This show was a Binaural Sound Show located in the sound booths located at the Conservation Station. If you were wondering who Grandmother Willow is, she is from the 1995 film Pocahontas.
Sound booth
It is no secret that Central Florida is home to a lot of rainstorms and sometime in 2011, lightning actually struck Conservation Station. This ended up frying the computer system that was used to run the show. So what about backup? Well, there was not any. The show was run on Windows 98, so it was never backed up. Which meant the show could no longer run.
Tips and Tricks for Surviving the Rainiest of Days at Disney World
Due to this, the sound booths now sit abandoned in the Conservation Station. Last year we saw some Grandmother Willow representation in the parks when Disney released this pin for World Wildlife Day in 2023.
Grandmother Willow World Nature Day Pin
While there is no word on whether Disney will use these booths to create another experience, we wonder why they have kept them for the past 13 or so years. Regardless, it is still cool that there is a piece of Disney history hidden in plain sight.
Conservation Station
As always, keep following the Disney Food Blog for more fun Disney secrets like this one!
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I remember it! Wish they’d build more based on original, older movies and shows than all the new ones, most of which do not have the magic we grew up with. Wdw is turning into a place that seems to have forgotten Walt!
Truthfully, Disney could rebuild this attraction using a modern technology platform, if they wanted to. It just hasn’t reached a high enough ranking on their priority list, I imagine. I agree with Norma’s comment about Disney’s creative releases of today have forgotten about Walt. Said another way, Bob Iger has directed the creative teams to purposefully ignore Walt and all that he and Roy stood for. It breaks my heart. You see Iger’s vision reflected in the less-than-stellar business results Disney has realized, as their new releases are mostly just so-so. Iger’s 2nd run at CEO has been particularly disappointing.
Norma I agree some older movies,classics are lost I don’t think Walt would be happy.
We visited this attraction at least a couple of times. It was very soothing, a great place to sit down, cool off, and listen to relaxing sounds. There were a lot of different things to hear, as I recall, and I’m not sure we ever got to experience them all. I get that in this case, what caused the closure was not planned, but it’s still disappointing that they haven’t done anything with the space. In 12-13 years ( !! ), they could have come up with something, even if it wasn’t the original show. And Disney aboslutely had the corporate tech know-how to know that there should have been 1) lightning protection and 2) a back up for the system. It’s just sad. But thanks for the memories!