The theme park rides which were never built – including Universal’s Batman rollercoaster and a Disney NASA attraction
THERE are some exciting new rides and rollercoasters opening this year, including a whole Marvel attraction at Disney.
However, there are some rides which were never built, despite exciting plans and designs.
Redesigned by , both Disney and Universal had other grand plans for the theme parks.
A number of rides were themed around Batman during its peak popularity in the 1990s.
Sadly, many of them were scrapped either due to clashes between the park and the film studios or due to just being too unrealistic.
Here are some of the planned rides which were never built.
Disney World - Space Jetpack ride
The failed Disney Horizons attraction, which was originally at the Epcot land but closed in 1999, was nearly turned into a NASA-themed space ride.
Visitor would be able to hang from overhead rails with space jetpack replicas of NASA's Manned Manoeuvring Unit.
Passengers would then do a two-mile "space walk" using the pack to explore the Horizons building.
However, this was scrapped due to the complicated track design, and visitor capacity wouldn't be able to meet the demand.
Universal - Batman vs The Penguin
Following the popularity of Penguin in the 1992 Batman film, featuring Danny DeVito, Universal began plans of a themed ride.
The themed ride would feature two duelling rollercoasters, where passengers could pick if they were the hero or the villain.
Guests would either fly on the BatWing or PingWing, emerging from their underground lairs before flying through Gotham City.
It was scrapped due to conflicts between Universal and Warner Bros, with the designs similar to the former Harry Potter Duelling Dragons ride - which is now a new Hagrid-themed ride.
Universal - Joker's Madhouse
Another DC ride which was nearly built at Universal was Joker's Madhouse.
Passengers would ride a rollercoaster which starts by going through a huge Joker face, before travelling through his warehouse.
The ride would be a psychedelic trip through Gotham before getting to a "dead end" where the track appeared to break off.
Also meant to be part of the Island of Adventure, it never went ahead due to Universal's collaboration with Marvel instead.
Universal - Superman - Project X
Currently at Universal is the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, located at Islands of Adventure.
However, Islands of Adventure was originally planned to be a DC attraction, not a Marvel one.
The current Spider-Man ride was originally designed to be a Superman ride, with many designs simply shifted - instead of the Marvel Daily Bugle, it is the Daily Planet.
On the ride, passengers would sit in an 18-person pod, looking through the Daily Planet telecopter, before being attacked by Lex Luther.
Disney World - Fantasia Gardens
One of Disney's biggest plans which was scrapped was the Beastly Kingdom which was meant to be part of the Animal Kingdom land.
This included a ride based on Fantasia, called Fantasia Gardens back in the 1960s, and nearly replaced the swan boats at Magic Kingdom.
However, it was never created due to the land never being designed.
Instead of the Beastly Kingdom is the Pandora: The World of Avatar attraction.
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