Why do we like scary things? It’s one of those great questions about humanity that we may never have a definitive answer for. Considering how fear governs so much of our lives – fear for our safety and the safety of our loved ones, fear of our security, financial and otherwise – it seems surprising that we’d willingly seek out experiences designed to make us feel afraid.
And yet, not only do such experiences exist, those who create them make a lot of money scaring people.
Personally, I don’t think it’s the scary things that really, truly attract people. On the surface, it might seem that way, but that feeling is just so unpleasant, I can’t imagine too many thrill junkies are actively looking to live through it. I think what people love, more than anything, is that feeling after they’re afraid – the moment when they’re able to look around and realize that everything is going to be OK.
Now, Walt Disney World may not be the biggest purveyor of frights (surely Universal has them beat on that front), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some top scares at the Vacation Kingdom.
Let’s look at a few:
5. Haunted Mansion – the Stretch Room
As you’ll see as this list goes on, there are different kinds of frights that feature in Walt Disney World attractions. And while there are only a few “peekaboo”-style gotcha moments on the Haunted Mansion, the entire attraction exudes a sense of spookiness and trepidation.
But there is one moment that stands above the rest in terms of fear, and it happens to come right at the beginning. To fully appreciate it, you really do need to take a step back and understand how the Haunted Mansion tells its story in total.
As guests approach the Mansion’s exterior, it has already begun its storytelling. Between the gothic architecture, the faint howling, and the foreboding queue area, guests are treated to a kind of ordinary uneasiness – the same feeling you might get when you’re home alone, or when you have to get up in the middle of the night.
In the queue, guests see gravestones and other typically-morbid sights, but ultimately, nothing inherently metaphysical.
It’s not until the guests move into the famous stretch rooms that the show truly gets underway, and it is in this moment that the Haunted Mansion delivers its most terrifying beat. With guests primed and on-edge following the extended storytelling action of the exterior and the queue, the stretch rooms do their stretching and the Ghost Host does his hosting – all culminating in that one breathtaking thunderclap, the illumination of the overhead skeleton, and the blood-curdling scream (as well as the screams of the fellow guests).
It’s the first supernatural encounter visitors to the mansion have, and it’s easily the most frightening. In terms of singular moments of fear at Walt Disney World, that’s tough to top.
4. It’s Tough to Be a Bug – Hopper’s Attack
But, let’s try!
What never ceases to amaze me is how many people are completely unprepared for the experience of It’s Tough to Be a Bug at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. And so, for anyone thinking about enjoying this attraction alongside your children, here’s a word of warning: This is a very, very intense show. There are in-your-face effects unlike what you might see in a 3D movie at your local multiplex. It’s even too intense for many adults.
But while termites and tarantulas are freaky, the most insane moment of this attraction has to be when Hopper, the Pixar film’s antagonist, sets his army of hornets and spiders to attack the audience.
On his command, the lights go dark, loud buzzing sounds emanate from the theater’s soundsystem, enormous black widow spiders descend from the ceiling, and it all culminates in a pricking sensation in your back – simulating a hornet sting.
Does that sound unpleasant? Probably! But many things sound unpleasant when written out in plain language like that. Rest assured, however, it is quite terrifying – and most certainly one of the scariest experiences on Disney property.
3. Dinosaur – Confronting the Carnotaurus
Image: Disney
Dinosaur used to have that far-more-awesome name Countdown to Extinction, which more accurately describes the experience guests have on-board this intense enhanced-motion attraction. “Dinosaur” evokes a relaxing ride surrounded by slow-moving and graceful species of some of the most fascinating creatures ever to walk this earth. “Countdown to Extinction” sets the stage for a race against the clock with the highest stakes imaginable.
Why this matters is that the ride is framed such that you, the guest, must make it back to the present in a certain amount of time or face death by either an asteroid, an enormous dinosaur, or both. Leaving the fact that you’re literally completing this journey in a time machine, making the “countdown” aspect somewhat dubious, the ticking clock adds a level of tension to the entire experience.
And so, with the clock nearly reaching zero (spoiler alert!), and with the deadly Carnotaurus bearing down on you, it should surprise no one reading this to learn that this attraction’s climax is as scary as they come.
But I’m going to give you a special bonus version!
If, for whatever reason, the ride vehicles fall out of sync (usually due to a guest needing extra assistance boarding or disembarking a ride vehicle) the ride scenes can either play on a slight delay or completely shut down for a moment or two. On one of my most recent times on this attraction, that happened just before the climactic showdown with the clock and the Carnotaurus, resulting in a brief pause in the action as we sat completely still in the pitch-black darkness. After sitting a few seconds in the dark, without warning, the attraction started up again, launching us directly toward the jaws of the dino and toward our possible asteroid-fueled demise. I screamed louder than I have ever screamed on a ride before.
I cannot recommend such an occurrence enough. It was easily the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had at a Disney park.
2. Mission: Space – the Moment Before Launch
Much like the Haunted Mansion, Mission: Space uses its queue to prepare you emotionally for the trip you’ll be embarking on. Unlike the Haunted Mansion, however, Mission: Space does this largely by reading a series of increasingly-intimidating legal notices to you, in a transparent attempt by Disney to avoid any possible legal action that might arise following your enjoyment of the attraction.
That is … disconcerting at best.
Now, I love Mission: Space. I do. While it has its flaws, I think it’s a dramatically underrated attraction. However, a repeating warning that amounts to little more than, “please, no matter what happens, don’t sue us” doesn’t exactly make you feel super comfortable before you ride. If anything, it creates an illusion that doesn’t exist on other Disney attractions: That, yes, you really should be scared.
And so, once the 10,000 pre-shows are over and you’re finally being loaded into your enclosed dark space capsule, you have a moment of silence just before the ride itself begins. You’re sitting there, probably not talking much, amazed at the level of detail of the cockpit in front of you. It seems almost peaceful, except for the fact that Disney has spent the past 40 minutes preparing you for this moment by saying to you, in no uncertain terms, do not close your eyes.
Of course, once the ride takes off, it’s all gravy from there. But that moment’s pause before the ride starts, where its just you and your imagination going through the myriad attraction warnings again and again, is really quite scary – even though it’s all in your head.
1. Tower of Terror – the Drop Sequence
What if you were to take everything I just described – the creepily-themed queues, the foreboding exterior architecture, the physical thrills, the darkness, the possibility of legal action – and rolled it all into one attraction. What would you get? The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
And, specifically, you’d get the drop sequence.
What’s particularly funny about this scary moment is that Disney does pretty much everything in its power to tell you it’s coming. It’s right there on the box – as you approach the attraction, you can see and hear guests being flung about on the haunted elevator. And, even once you’re on the ride, the abrupt shift from the climate-controlled portions of the attraction into the hot-and-humid drop section is as obvious a telegraph as you’ll find on any Disney ride.
And yet, no matter what, that first moment when you’re flung into the air inside your service elevator car will freak you out – whether it’s your first time or your 100th time.
How? Well, the same way everything else does: With fantastic theming, excellent cast members, and a compelling story that engrosses you so much, you forget exactly what it was that drew you toward that attraction in the first place.
Well, you forget until – very quickly – you remember. Unfortunately, that usually happens while you’re screaming your face off.
