If you’ve been wowed by footage of the new Tangled ride posted on social media over the past few days, you’re not alone. Disney recently shared several sneak peeks of a new ride called Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival, which opens next month in the new Tokyo Disneyland Fantasy Springs expansion. So what exactly is this new attraction? Let’s dive in!
Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival brings guests into the world of Tangled
This ride is an all-ages boat ride with indoor and outdoor show scenes that include memorable moments from the Tangled film. Guests will ride by Rapunzel in her tower, singing “When Will My Life Begin” and then will pass by Flynn Rider, on the run from clever horse Maximus. All of these outdoor show scenes use advanced animatronics to really bring the world of the film to life, but it is the inside part of the attraction that really has fans buzzing.
The boats head indoors the action of the film gets going as riders pass by scenes from the “When Will my Life Begin” reprise, the “What Once Was Mine” glowing hair scene, and then finally, the show-stopping “At Last I see The Light” scene, where riders are surrounded by dozens of glowing lanterns in the air as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider sing the film’s romantic tune.
The ride’s expert use of lighting, advanced animatronics, and immersive storytelling put this attraction in a class of its own. It’s no wonder US-based fans are lamenting the fact that nothing like this exists at Walt Disney World or Disneyland (we don’t talk about the Tangled toilets). You can take a virtual “ride” on this new attraction via the video below and see for yourself what a special attraction it truly is:
This new ride is just one part of the major new Fantasy Springs expansion
This new attraction is part of Tokyo Disneyland’s new Fantasy Springs expansion, which brings four new attractions, a hotel, and food and shopping options to an immersive new land inspired by some of Disney’s greatest fairy tales, including Tangled, Frozen, and Peter Pan. This new area officially opens at Tokyo DisneySea on June 6, but soft opening and press previews have been ongoing in advance of this land’s official debut.
While it’s unlikely that Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival or any of the other attractions in this new expansion will ever make their way to the United States, hopefully stateside fans will have something to cheer about after this summer’s D23 Expo, where it is widely expected that new attractions based on Encanto and Indiana Jones will be announced for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, plus new information about a long-gestating Magic Kingdom expansion will finally be revealed.
However, we can’t help but feel a little jealous when watching not only the Tangled ride footage, but the new Frozen ride as well, as it looks like the OLC (which develops attractions for Tokyo Disneyland in partnership with Disney) is operating on a whole different level.
