ikar01
I was talking to someone I knew that worked at Disney World when they took out the 20,000 leagues ride. He said the subs were taken to their island where they stayed, until a hurricane washed them all out to sea. They are now somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic. It somehow seems to be a fitting end.
As cool a story as that is -- and I'd be the first to admit I don't know, because I wasn't there -- the tale I heard was rather more prosaic...and corporate-revenue-centric. I offer this synopsis, as told on the themeparktourist.com website:
"After sitting idly in the lagoon for years, the submarines were pulled from the water and moved backstage at Walt Disney World. There, their portholes were popped out and sold at the Disney Store for $125 a piece.
"Two of the subs were sent to Castaway Cay, the private island Disney stops at along its Disney Cruise routes. There, the Nautiluses were sunk in a snorkeling lagoon and covered with rope so that oceanic organisms and creatures could grow along its exterior.
"One of the subs is still there, so any guest visiting Castaway Cay on a Disney Cruise can snorkel out to it and examine just how massive the 40-person ride vehicle is. (But be warned: the enormous sub is located quite a way off the shore in a distant corner of the acres-large snorkeling area, so it’s an exhausting trip to see it, best undertaken only by skilled swimmers.)
"Most of the subs were auctioned off to a scrap yard, which picked the Jules Verne ornamentation off the fiberglass shells and reportedly crushed and buried the remnants in a landfill."
Not trying to pick a fight...just thought I'd pass it along. 