Disneyland's Submarine Voyage - 1998 Closure (& Finding Nemo Subs)

Disneyland's Submarine Voyage attraction opened in June of 1959, and closed in September of 1998.

Since this month marks the 26th anniversary of the attraction's closing, let's take a look at some related items.

This button was handed out to guests who rode the Subs, on the very last day of operation. 

Prior to that last day, several newspaper articles were written about the impending closure. This article was from the "Business" section of The Los Angeles Times and was published July 30, 1998, five weeks before the closure.  According to a Disney spokesman, the Submarine Voyage was closing "to make way for a new, snazzier attraction to debut in 2003."  Well, that didn't happen!  A new attraction didn't actually debut until 9 years after the Subs' closing.  But then on a similar note, the Carousel Theater actually remained closed for 10 whole years, with a sign out front stating, "We're Closed to Imagineer a Brand New Attraction," and that didn't happen either!

Speaking of the Carousel Theater, this part of the article claims that the Carousel of Progress got the boot, for the 1998 renovation of Tomorrowland.  It had actually closed 25 years earlier.  Do your proper research, people!!!

This Los Angeles Times article was published on September 3, 1998, only five days before the closure.

This one informed readers that the Submarine Voyage was one of the first three attractions given an "E" ticket designation, back in 1959.  The other two attractions were the Matterhorn and the Monorail, which opened on the same day as the Subs.

The journalist included some quotes from Shannon Baughmann, a former "live mermaid" at Disneyland.  The quotes originally came from David Koenig's book, "Mouse Tales."

And this one is also from The Los Angeles Times, and is dated September 9th, 1998, the day after their closure.  The article mentions that the wait for the Subs on the last day of operation, was at times, up to 90 minutes.

All three articles quoted Disney spokespeople, stating that guest surveys showed the public wanted a more "thrilling" ride.....supposedly.  But I wouldn't put it past the Disney spokespeople to be lying to the reporters, and the real intention was just to save the company some money by shutting it down.

I took these next three photos, the very last time that I rode the Submarine Voyage. The photos are date stamped "November 1998" on the back, but since they closed in September of that year, I must have waited a couple months to have this roll of film developed.

This first one was taken just as a Sub had pulled up to the dock. In the bottom left hand corner, you can see the boarding ramp for guests, which cast members would lower down over the front and back ends of the subs.

The same ramp can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of this pic. The ramp led to a staircase, which spiraled downward into the sub. The pilots of the subs would board the vessels prior to the guests.

I took this next pic of the empty sub, after everyone had already disembarked. Notice the little "air blower" vents in each of the portholes.

Going back one year earlier, I was taking many pictures in an attempt to document all aspects of the attraction. At that time, I didn't know for sure that it was eventually going to be shut down. However, a "remodeling" of Tomorrowland had already been announced and I knew there was a chance.....a very likely chance, that they were going to ruin the attraction, if not remove it altogether.

These next pics were taken in Spring of 1997. Note the fencing and tarp along the PeopleMover track. Work had already begun, to convert it to one of the biggest flops in Disneyland's history, the Rocket Rods.  Okay, maybe the Rocket Rods are actually "tied" with Light Magic!

These sea turtle pics were actually taken while standing on the walkway, between the Matterhorn and the Submarine Voyage, looking down into the lagoon.

Now, let's take a ride on the Submarine Voyage!

"Among these coral reefs, you'll see various species of marine life, feeding among the seaweed and unusual rock formations.  There are lobsters, crabs, and sea turtles."

"These reptilian patriarchs of the deep, are the amphibious descendants of the dinosaur, and have changed little in the past 200 million years."  (I believe this is one of the sea turtles we saw from above the surface of the water.)

"Roaming the coastal sea bottoms in search of food, are the Groupers, or Giant Sea Bass."

"And speaking of giants, the giant clam has a fluted shell that can weigh up to a quarter of a ton."

Here are a couple "silent sentinels of the deep"; an octopus battling a young shark.  And speaking of "silent"....."the fish world has always been considered a silent habitat, but now thanks to remarkable advances in marine technology, we can use instruments such as our sonar hydrophones, to actually hear the fish talk."

This one is saying, HEEEELP MEEEE!!!

Quality photographs couldn't really be achieved, once the Subs were inside the ride's show building/caverns....at least, not with my camera. So instead, I decided to take a picture of the inside of the submarine.  Oh, and there is "NO smoking, please!  The smoking lamp is out!"

This is a shot (from Wikipedia) of the last scene before exiting the caverns.  "It...it looks like a....it is, it's a sea serpent!"

Here are two more exterior shots:

After the Subs reopened in 2007, as the new "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage," I tried to replicate the shot above, for a "before and after" comparison.  They had changed the exit and entrance ramp for the Monorail station, so now it is located very close to where the subs exit the caverns.  The new ramp can be seen on the far right.

Construction on the "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage" began in 2005, after the lagoon had just sat there for 7 very long years.  A construction wall went up around the lagoon, along with artwork announcing what was coming, and when.

As the opening date got closer, a sign appeared out in the Esplanade, in front of the park.

Banners also appeared on the lampposts in both the Esplanade and Downtown Disney.

Inside the park, a countdown sign was posted at the entrance to the attraction, displaying the exact number of days until opening.

Before the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage officially opened to the public, Disneyland Annual Passholders were given a chance to "sea" it early.

As a part of the attraction's new "Nemo" theme, a large buoy was added to the lagoon.

Three animatronic seagulls sit atop the buoy.

Every so often, the seagulls will open their mouths, and start saying the one and only word they ever spoke in the film, "Mine!  Mine!  Mine!" 

I've been on the new version of the attraction many times now, but I've only taken a few pics during the actual ride.  Here are those shots:

"DIVE!  DIVE!  Take her down easy!"

A giant sea bass, very similar to the originals, returned to the lagoon.

Colorful coral:

The two battling crabs vignette returned, but now they are standing over the grate of an underwater pipeline.  According to Wikipedia, they are supposedly just "pinching bubbles."

I hope everyone has enjoyed this "adventurous voyage through liquid space....our last frontier on the planet Earth!"

****UPDATE - October 7, 2024****

Here are two Disneyland guides from the Summer of 2007.  Both were announcing, "The Subs Are Back!" on their covers.

And both guides featured this description, inside.