History
The original Submarine Voyage thru Liquid Space was built in 1959 as part of the "new" Tomorrowland. It closed on September 9, 1998. At that time, Disneyland president Paul Pressler promised that the attraction would reopen with a new theme by 2003.
One of the first attempts to resurrect the subs was contingent on the success of the 2001 Disney animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire. However, when Atlantis flopped, an "Atlantis"-themed photo spot was placed in front of the lagoon and plans for an Atlantis re-theming were shelved.
The lagoon became a scenic viewpoint. The submarines were stored, unmaintained, inside the show building. Pressler left, and the attraction's announced 2003 reopening date passed without action.
When Matt Ouimet became the President of Disneyland Resort in 2003, there was new activity in the Submarine Lagoon. Neptune, one of the original eight submarines in the fleet, was moored at the old Submarine Voyage station dock for inspection by Walt Disney Imagineering in 2004.
The submarines were tested to see if new animated show scenes would be visible from the portholes. Rumors quickly spread over the Internet that an attraction based on the Disney/Pixar animated film Finding Nemo would finally replace Submarine Voyage. After months of speculation, on July 15, 2005, two days before the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was officially announced at the new Turtle Talk with Crush attraction at Disney California Adventure Park by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts President Jay Rasulo.
The attraction was a huge success when it opened, with queue-line times sometimes reaching four hours. In 2010, line times had fallen to around 45 minutes. Wait times are expected to decrease further when the new adjacent Tomorrowland attraction, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, opens.
Read more about this topic: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
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