Walt Disney World’s Rumored ‘Moana’ Roller Coaster

Walt Disney Imagineering is an exciting place. It’s where dreams for engineers and artists come true. But it’s also a place where dreams die. And it’s a place where rumors may grow…sometimes in the form of a Moana ride.

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Before diving into the rumors regarding a Moana-themed roller coaster, we must first go back to its origins…which predate the animated movie by nearly 20 years. It started in the ’90s when then-CEO Michael Eisner wanted to increase the number of thrill rides in the Disney theme parks.

This was the time when there were such developments as the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom Park, and Test Track at EPCOT.

But there was another major roller coaster Disney was planning to build in Magic Kingdom Park.

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Fire Mountain History

Eisner was attempting to amp up the theme parks to compete with Universal’s new Islands of Adventure theme park (which wasn’t open at the time). Part of this was the plan to revitalize Adventureland in Magic Kingdom Park.

The idea was to theme a new area to Vulcania, based on the mysterious island from the works of author Jules Verne.

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The thought process being that Walt Disney World Resort had recently closed the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage attraction at Magic Kingdom. So why not try to incorporate that IP into a new attraction to keep the spirit of it alive?

And set in this New Adventureland expansion was to be an E-ticket attraction: Fire Mountain. The new roller coaster would have been a new “weenie” in the park, helping draw guests into the new area.

Fire Mountain was initially intended to be located near the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean (similar to how Indiana Jones was integrated into Disneyland Park).

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Atlantis Themed Roller Coaster

But as it was being planned at Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Studios was in the process of releasing its newest animated feature, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (1999).

So naturally, the ride theme was changed from Jules Verne…to Atlantis. However, the concept of keeping it a roller coaster in Adventureland remained.

But something that was truly unique about Fire Mountain was that it was designed to be a hybrid roller coaster.

It would begin like a standard roller coaster, but part way into the mountain, it would switch to become a suspended coaster as you soared over lava. This would have also turned guests so they would be lying face-down as if flying.

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This would have been synchronized with the effect of the volcano erupting, shooting your train out of the volcano.

Why Fire Mountain Was Cancelled

As always, many attractions from Disney Imagineering don’t ultimately make it into development. Unfortunately, three significant obstacles shut down Fire Mountain.

The first was the fact that Atlantis: The Lost Empire severely underperformed at the box office. Although some don’t consider it to be an official box office bomb, it was far under what the Walt Disney Company was hoping for.

Second was the issue of cost. It was expensive because Fire Mountain was incorporating two ride systems to create the flying effect and required major construction in Adventureland.

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This was also at a time when the Walt Disney Company was started to suffer some other financial loses like Euro Disney, Disney’s California Adventure, and mixed movie success.

So, as costs soared, Fire Mountain got axed. Although Disney did continue to build new attractions, none were on the same scale.

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And finally, among those challenges was the sudden decline in tourism following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The entire travel and tourism industry saw sales plummet, which caused Disney (and other companies) to cut budgets, cancel projects, and battle to stay in business.

Moana Roller Coaster Rumors

The Walt Disney Company never truly throws out an old idea. Plans and drawings for Fire Mountain are likely still in existence.

In fact, the concept of Vulcania actually made its way into Tokyo DisneySea as the park’s major E-ticket attraction in the middle of the park. Although it isn’t a roller coaster like Fire Mountain was initially intended, it did borrow from the Vulcania concept.

When Moana (2016) hit theaters, it was praised by critics and was a commercial success for the company as well. As such, many wanted Disney to greenlight a Moana ride (roller coaster or not).

Although we currently have a walk-through Journey of Water attraction at EPCOT, it was once rumored to be a successor of Fire Mountain.

Presumably, rather than being themed around a Journey to the Center of the Earth or a lost city, the Moana ride would have used the fire elements to depict Te Ka. However, specific details regarding the rumor are sparse.

However, the land that was initially designed to house the Fire Mountain/Atlantis/Moana ride is still undeveloped. And considering Disney has signaled plans to invest billions into the theme parks over the next decade, maybe we’ll get a surprise. You never know…