Creator Kevin Perjurer is bringing Disneyland to life in VR, one digital attraction at a time.
It was all the way back in 2017 that Defunctland, a YouTube channel covering the history of dead theme parks and entertainment centers, announced plans for a digital interactive theme park brought to life using VR technology. Much like the channel itself, this virtual theme park would be composed of numerous rides and attractions that have since shut down, allowing users to explore a bit of entertainment history from the comfort of their homes.
After nearly four years of radio silence on the project, Defunctland creator Kevin Perjurer surprised users this week with the release of the virtual parks first interactive attraction, Disney World’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Based on the classic 1954 film, the roughly 20-minute ride first launched in 1971 at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World. Visitors would ride in a mechanical submarine as they explored an exotic lagoon filled with various sea life as well as mermaids. Unfortunately, the ride closed in 1994, leaving many classic nautical-lovers high and dry.
Defunctland VR brings the infamous underwater attraction back to life, letting you to explore a fantastical undersea environment littered with all the cheesy animatronics you’d expect from an earl-70’s theme park ride. Perjurer even included the audio from the original ride, just in case you were concerned about authenticity. Trying the virtual ride out for myself, I was genuinely impressed by the level of detail featured throughout the experience. Everything from the carefully-constructed environments to the somewhat-unsettling animatronics left me with an intense feeling of nostalgia.
A free alpha of Defunctland VR is available now to all PC VR users. The channel has also uploaded a 360-degree video of the experience to YouTube, allowing those without a headset the opportunity to relive a bit of history.
Image Credit: Defunctland
