If you believe that themed attractions can be art, as I do, then it’s important to remember that art can sometimes have meaning the artist didn’t intend. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – Anton Chekhov believed his plays were comedies, for instance – but what it suggests is that even something as low-brow as a themed attraction can be part of something larger than just what was intended by its designer.
Looking at Walt Disney Imagineering’s collected works together, it’s impossible not to draw connections between certain rides built years and even decades apart. Some attractions are, essentially, sequels of others – deeper explorations of similar themes, using better technology and adjusted for modern audiences.
Let’s take a look at some of those spiritual sequels that aren’t necessarily literal continuations, but seek to tell a similar story as the original.
6. Rocket to the Moon and Mission: Space
Rocket to the Moon opened at Disneyland in 1955 and ran relatively unchanged until the late ’60s, when it was renovated as Flight to the Moon at the height of the space race. The attraction used a circular theater, with projection screens embedded in the floor and ceiling to simulate a spacecraft’s journey from the Earth to the Moon. But in 1969, that seemingly-impossible idea became a reality, and in the mid-’70s, Disney updated the ride (and its duplicate at Walt Disney World), changing the destination to Mars and updating the name to, appropriately enough, Mission to Mars.
But, the technology of the ride hadn’t markedly changed. It was still, essentially, two screens in a room and as a result, both attractions closed in the early 1990s. Disney’s voyage through our solar system was effectively over.
But then, in the late 1990s. Disney announced a plan to replace the aging Horizons building at Epcot with a brand new, state-of-the-art, space-themed attraction. The ride, opened in 2003, was Mission: Space – a motion simulator that takes guests on a quasi-journey from Earth to Mars – just like the old Mission to Mars.
The attraction uses an unbelievably complicated centrifuge system, combined with a traditional flight simulator to create what can only be described as one of the most authentic spaceflight experiences around – other than, you know, flying in space.
And while the technology is different, the ride ultimately serves the same purpose as Flight to the Moon all those many years ago – to take guests to beyond the Earth and back again.
5. Matterhorn Bobsleds – Expedition Everest
One of the things that made Disneyland’s Matterhorn Bobsleds so special when it debuted is that it was the world’s very first steel roller coaster. Without that innovation – the idea to use tubular steel in place of wooden track – Expedition Everest (and pretty much every other steel roller coaster) would simply not exist.
The world of roller coasters has changed dramatically since then, with rides like Gatekeeper at Cedar Point and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios completely redefining the genre. And so, when a throwback ride like Expedition Everest comes along, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to the iconic Disneyland attraction.
Of course, there are storytelling similarities between the two as well. On both attractions, riders journey to a snowy peak before careening down the mountainside, and both attractions involve an encounter with an audio-animatronic version of the Abominable Snowman (on Everest, technically, it’s the Yeti).
But while the Matterhorn Bobsleds are iconic in their nostalgia, Expedition Everest pushes the idea of a themed-roller coaster to the limit. It’s transporting and it’s visually stunning. It’s far more ambitious than the Matterhorn, but it owes everything to it – just like a sequel.
4. The Haunted Mansion – Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
If you were to poll 100 Disney nerds and ask them “what’s the greatest themed attraction of all time?”, you could rest assured that these two rides would be among the top vote-getters.
The Haunted Mansion transcends the word “classic.” Its perfectly playful tone and eerie imagery have made it uniquely and wholly influential in the theme park industry. All modern dark rides owe at least some debt to The Haunted Mansion, but none more so than The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
The reason why the Tower of Terror is a sequel more than just another spooky ride is because of its commitment to storytelling – from the moment you get in line to the moment you leave its gift shop. The queue is immaculately themed, looking perfectly abandoned, yet lived-in. There’s dust everywhere, the fountains are old and unkept, yet there’s 1940s music playing and cups of tea left out on the coffee tables. It’s complete and it’s unrelenting in its detail.
But perhaps its biggest nod to the original king of spook at Walt Disney World are its morose and deeply unsettling Cast Members, who relish the opportunity to creep out any guests waiting to board the attraction. They add to the experience, creating a more fully realized world and bringing the story to complete, immersive life – all while honoring the ride that blazed the trail it now follows.
3. Carousel of Progress – Horizons
OK, so I’m cheating a little with this one, but bear with me.
Walt Disney debuted the Carousel of Progress at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, and by all accounts, it was one of his favorite creations. The attraction’s Sherman Brothers-penned theme song, There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, embodied the spirit of Walt Disney and his aspirational view of the future.
But, despite the bold proclamation about the beauty of tomorrow, Carousel of Progress was mostly a trip through history – looking at how the American family has changed since the turn of the 20th century. Why not take that same idea, but go the other way with it – exploring the possibilities of the future?
Eventually, Walt Disney Imagineering did just that when they built Epcot’s Horizons. Other than remakes like Star Tours: The Adventures Continue or rides built off franchises like Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Horizons was the closest Disney ever got to giving a ride an official sequel.
Structurally, the ride was slightly different than Carousel of Progress, focusing on one family member’s future at a time, rather than checking in with the whole family every few years. But the thematic similarities – exploring the future of mankind, celebrating the ingenuity of humanity – were programmed into the DNA of the attraction … literally. In one scene, guests could hear a song playing in the background that, to some, might have sounded awfully familiar. That song?
There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.
2. Circle-Vision 360 – Soarin’
Walt Disney debuted Circle-Vision 360 at Disneyland in 1967, and it’s still in use today at Epcot’s Canada and China pavilions. If you’re unfamiliar, the idea of Circle-Vision was to create an immersive film-going experience, surrounding viewers with projection screens on all sides.
The effect of watching a Circle-Vision film is that, often, the theater itself can feel like it’s flying through whichever beautiful vistas happen to be caught on film. It’s kinetic, scenic, and visually stunning.
But when Disney’s California Adventure opened Soarin’ over California in 2001, Cricle-Vision met its equal.
Soarin’ is a sequel because it takes what Circle-Vision did well (showcasing beautiful scenery in a thrilling way) and ups the ante. Now, not only can you watch a film about a gorgeous part of the world, but you’ll also get to experience what it feels like to fly through it. And much like some sequels, while the second version is better, there’s always a nice time and place for the original.
1. Jungle Cruise – Kilimanjaro Safaris
The Jungle Cruise opened with Disneyland in 1955 (and Disney World in 1971), and over the years, it’s experienced quite a few upgrades and renovations. One upgrade it never got, however, were real, live animals.
Not only would it have been prohibitively expensive to stock the Jungle Cruise with actual animals, it would have been hugely impractical. Many animals portrayed in the attraction sleep during the day, so it would have been impossible for Walt Disney Imagineering to give guests a true jungle experience. Thus, the Imagineers opted for animatronic animals, and we got the ride we all know and love today, complete with the silly skipper spiel.
But eventually – a long, long time after the Jungle Cruise’s debut – the technology finally existed to make Walt Disney’s dream of a theme park safari come true.
Enter: Kilimanjaro Safaris, an incredibly intricate and perfectly recreated African safari featuring actual, bona fide animals.
Disney was able to use special habitats, feeding techniques, and heated areas to keep the animals in site of the passing safari vehicles, thereby creating the consistently excellent experience Walt Disney always wanted. Guests, for the first time, could encounter actual animals – not just animatronic ones.
So, in a way, Kilimanjaro Safaris is the ultimate Disney sequel, for it took an idea that was once thought impossible, and used innovation and progress to build on it in a way that made that idea not only possible, but unique and truly breathtaking.
Like they say in that other great sequel – if you can dream it, you can do it.
