The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
Heathers and Mean Girls.
The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride.
Jumanji and Zathura.
The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.
The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.
The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror.
Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
How are the two films in each of these pairings connected? Well… they’re not… at least, not on paper.
And yet, these pairs of films do share a relationship! Even if they don’t have a single character in common, a shared setting, or a similar storyline, these pairs are connected “in spirit.” That’s why they’re commonly known as spiritual sequels, tied together not by a continuous story or common character, but by their shared elements, themes, and styles that make them feel connected. In some cases, the connection – however indirect – is intentional, crafted by the same behind-the-scenes creators or imitating them. In other cases, these pairs simply show how timeless tropes evolve over time, taking on new life as concepts, pop culture, and technology grow.
Whatever the reason, the unusual “spiritual” connection between these films makes us wonder… what “spiritual sequel” pairings exist across Disney Parks? Rides that – while they may not even be set in the same universe as one another – could be considered stepsiblings in story and style? While many, many connections exist, we found ten stellar examples of what happens when a ride is reborn “in spirit!”
1. The Haunted Mansion -> Mystic Manor
Image: Disney
Scary? Surprising? Silly? It’s difficult to say exactly what genre the Haunted Mansion fits in. From grim, macabre, and unsettling first notes to a grinning, goofy, sing-along finale, the ride is simply one-of-a-kind. Whether you ride it in Disneyland’s New Orleans Square (1969), Magic Kingdom’s colonial Liberty Square (1971) or Tokyo Disneyland’s Fantasyland (1983), the largely plotless ride whisks guests past unexplainable vignettes and how’d-they-do-that special effects aboard the uniquely brilliant Omnimover ride system (which, by the way, we list among our Seven Modern Wonders of the Theme Park World).
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In 1992, Disneyland Paris opened, putting a new, story-centered, European twist on classic Disney rides, and the Haunted Mansion was no exception. Paris’ one-of-a-kind version – a Modern Marvel: Phantom Manor – is located in Frontierland (continuing the tradition wherein the ride never appears in the same land twice) and tied into a land-wide literary tale that connects it with Big Thunder Mountain. But Phantom Manor is more of a “reboot” than a sequel.
When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, the itty-bitty park didn’t have a Haunted Mansion at all, and by process of elimination fans suspected that one might eventually be built in Adventureland. Instead, Hong Kong Disneyland upped the ante with a brand new, original land called Mystic Point.
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The misty, distant jungles of Papua New Guinea hide the eclectic Mystic Manor – the estate of Lord Henry Mystic, a worldwide collector and philanthropist who’s part of Disney’s elaborate cross-continental frame story of S.E.A.: The Society of Explorers and Adventurers. The ride is commonly cited as a pinnacle of Imagineering, on par with modern wonders like the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones Adventure, as guests board Disney’s trackless, LPS-guided “Magneto-Electric Carriages” to tour the international collections of the kindly Lord Mystic.
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The only hiccup comes when his mischievous pet monkey Albert pulls an “Abu” and opens an ancient music box whose music is said to grant life to the lifeless. In the madness and chaos that follows, guests see modern evolutions of many concepts originally designed for an early version of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion known as the Museum of the Weird! We told the full story of Hong Kong’s must-see mansion and its “haunting” origin in a full, standalone feature, Modern Marvels: Mystic Manor. With a musical score composed by Danny Elman (a frequent Tim Burton collaborator), the ride is absolutely astounding in every way, and represents a new leap forward for the “haunted house” concept.
2. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -> Journey to the Center of the Earth
Image: Disney
In 1959, a radical redesign of Walt’s original Tomorrowland saw the opening of the Submarine Voyage, a cutting-edge look at the wonders that waited in the ocean’s depths. By time Magic Kingdom was being developed for Florida, submarines weren’t the stuff of “tomorrow” anymore; so famed Imagineer Tony Baxter was tasked with redesigning the ride for Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland. We told the entire story of the resulting masterpiece attraction in its own standalone feature, Lost Legends: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Submarine Voyage.
Brilliantly, Baxter had recast the ride as a fantasy adventure themed to the 19th century novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, part of Jules Verne’s Voyages Extraodinaires series (alongside Around the World in 80 Days and From the Earth to the Moon to name just a few) and Disney’s 1954 film adaptation.
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When Tokyo DisneySea opened in 2001, it featured an entire land dedicated to Verne’s famous oceanographer Captain Nemo and his literary voyages. The iconic Mysterious Island land contained a new, technologically-advanced, 21st century version of the 20,000 Leagues ride, but it also added another… in its own right a Modern Marvel: Journey to the Center of the Earth (likewise based on another of Verne’s novels) is the park’s headliner… a stunning E-Ticket that contains an unspeakable creature we rank high on our must-read Countdown of the Best Animatronics on Earth.)
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The subterranean adventure takes the fantasy, science, and otherworldly setting of 20,000 Leagues and creates the most simple, elegant, and thrilling modern dark ride in Disney’s portfolio, singlehandedly-turning DisneySea into a Mecca for theme park fans. Equally adventurous, similarly scientific, and fittingly “fantastical,” the two rides share a spirit of literary adventure.
3. Carousel of Progress -> Horizons
Image: Disney
Originally debuting at the 1964 – 65 New York World’s Fair as a showcase of General Electric’s household appliances, Carousel of Progress has since been located at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The unique revolving theater show traces the changing daily lives of one American family as innovation promises (and delivers) a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.
Image: Disney
Steeped in both nostalgia and futurism, the ride is a celebration of optimism, Americana, and the electrical age. Walt Disney himself proclaimed the Carousel of Progress as his favorite attraction and decreed that it should never cease operation – and aside from a few switches to seasonal operation during Disney’s more desperate years, it hasn’t. In fact, it’s humorously (but truthfully) said to have the most performances of any stage show in the history of American theater!
Twenty years after the Carousel’s debut, a ride called Horizons opened at EPCOT Center, also sponsored by General Electric. While each of EPCOT’s pavilions was dedicated to a single topic of science and industry (transportation, oceans, agriculture, communication, innovation, energy, and the human body), Horizons intentionally incorporated them all, making the Omnimover-led dark ride a sort of “thesis statement” for the whole of the park’s Future World. It’s also why an entire generation of Disney Parks fans know Horizons as the best of EPCOT Center’s already-revered dark rides.
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If Carousel of Progress looked back at one American family’s life in the 20th century, Horizons was imagined as a literal sequel, looking ahead to imagine the same family’s life in the 21st century! In their futuristic urban dwelling in Nova Cite above, do you recognize the husband and wife? What about their dog?
We explored the making of both attractions and the cross-century relationship between them in standalone, in-depth features for each – Modern Marvels: Carousel of Progress and Lost Legends: Horizons… absolute must-reads for Disney Parks fans.
4. Storybookland Canal Boats -> Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
Image: Disney
A Disneyland original, the Storybook Land Canal Boats is an unassuming, leisurely cruise tucked away in Fantasyland wherein guests board canal boats and sail along a narrated cruise. Along the meticulously-landscaped banks of the gentle waterway, riders pass miniature sets representing stories like The Three Little Pigs, Peter Pan, The Seven Dwarfs, The Wind in the Willows (a reference to a ride still zooming around at Disneyland but a Magic Kingdom Lost Legend: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride) and of course Pinocchio as they sail through the iconic mouth of Monstro.
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Truly a throwback to Walt’s time, the attraction has been gently updated over the years with miniatures from Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and (you guessed it) Frozen but remains, at its core, a tranquil reminder of an era before E-Ticket. Plus, it’s hard not to be impressed by the care and detail given to the tiny sets, the finely manicured miniature landscaping, and the secrets dotted throughout.
Fans were curious when the reinvented, totally rearranged new take on the Disneyland concept – Shanghai Disneyland – was announced to feature a never-before-seen ride called Voyage to the Crystal Grotto. Ostensibly, the new ride sends guests on a quest to discover the namesake grotto locked away beneath the park’s Enchanted Storybook Castle – the wellspring from which Disney’s stories flow.
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In practice, the ride is best understood as what would happen if Jungle Cruise were relocated to Fantasyland. Guests sail past full-sized – but highly stylized – vignettes from Disney’s animated films, which come to life through music and water as the boats sail past. (It’s a great introduction, you might note, for the park’s Chinese clientele who’ve been cut off from American pop culture and film releases for decades by the country’s highly censored media.)
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Frankly, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto ended up being the least noteworthy of the much-anticipated Shanghai originals (as we explored in our walkthrough, In-Depth: Shanghai Disneyland) but the ride still stands as a unique “spiritual evolution” of the Canal Boats that date back to Walt’s day – a new take on an old idea.
5. Temple of the Forbidden Eye -> Temple of the Crystal Skull
Image: Disney
In 1995, Disneyland changed forever with the opening of Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. An absolute pinnacle of storytelling, special effects, theming, and technology, the explosive attraction is easily among Disney’s best ever, with a scope so vast, the rest of the park’s Adventureland absorbed its time period, setting, and atmosphere into one overarching continuity – a lost river delta in the 1930s, with us as nouveau riche Europeans drawn by the promise of fortune.
The newly-uncovered Temple of the Forbidden Eye was an ancient altar to the lost god Mara who promised any pilgrims who came to his temple one of three gifts: eternal youth, early riches, or vision of the future. But, one glance into the double-dealing deity’s eyes and you’d take a detour to doom!
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Of course, what follows is a wild, off-roading journey through the booby-trapped temple to escape the wrath of Mara. With four-story sets, unthinkable special effects, and unsettling appearances by cobras, rats, insects, the corroded Mara, and – of course – a menacing rolling boulder, the Temple of the Forbidden Eye is absolutely, positively amazing. Uncharacteristically dark, deeply exciting, and wildly fun, the E-Ticket ride also marked the introduction of Disney’s EMV or Enhanced Motion Vehicle.
Famously, Disney World did receive its own EMV ride (it made our must-read list of Disney Clone Pairs You May Not Recognize), but the installation in Florida is a world (and about 65 miles years) away from Indiana Jones.
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Instead, true to Indiana’s typical continent-hopping sequels, the next installment of Indiana Jones Adventure opened at Tokyo DisneySea in 2001. There, Temple of the Crystal Skull (unrelated to the film, which debuted in 2008) sends guests on a race through a brand new temple with a handful of completely original sights, sounds, and scenes that expand upon the Disneyland original. The ride here is set in the South American land, Lost River Delta, and the imposingly silent Crystal Skull guards the legendary Fountain of Youth. As such, the ride is filled with dripping caverns, ancient stone traps, and a three-story tornado.
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Given that nineteen years elapsed between Indy’s third and fourth films, we may still see third unique entry in the Indiana Jones Adventure series one day, too… Especially given that a third version was planned but never built at Disneyland Paris…
6. Autopia -> World of Motion -> TEST TRACK -> TRON Light Cycle Power Run
Image: Disney
Disney’s connection to car culture dates back to the opening of Disneyland. While its placement in Tomorrowland is often derided today, Autopia was sincerely futuristic when Disneyland opened in 1955, as President Eisenhower had not yet signed the Interstate Highway Act into law! To allow guests – young and old – to drive their own cars along the meandering highways of the future was a thrill (and honestly, it remains so today for many children).
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With EPCOT Center’s distinctly celebrational approach to the evolution of industry and technology, a ride about transportation was assured, and General Motors’ Lost Legend: World of Motion was a wonder standing among the best of EPCOT Center’s hallowed originals. The classic dark ride toured guests through the history of transportation, especially highlighting the arrival of car culture and the freedom it afforded – a pinnacle of Americana.
As Epcot’s trajectory shifted, educational masterpiece dark rides of old gave way to modern thrills, and GM upgraded World of Motion into TEST TRACK, a cutting-edge dark ride that left history in the dust to instead show us how modern GM cars are tested for safety. In a modern vehicle testing facility, TEST TRACK was a fun, frivolous, laugh-out-loud ride through braking tests, hot and cold environmental chambers, hairpin turns, and more.
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Between Disney and GM, someone decided that even this updated 21st century thrill ride wasn’t adequately time-tested, so it evolved. Now a Lost Legend, TEST TRACK was redesigned into TEST TRACK Presented by Chevrolet. A floor-to-ceiling rebuild turned the ride into a STEM-focused engineering interactive where guests in line create their own custom cars that – connected via MagicBand – follow them onto the ride.
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The original TEST TRACK became its own sequel, turning the disconnected industrial tests into a glowing, neon SimTrack, pitting riders’ prototype cars against one another on tests measuring Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness, and Power.
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Guests quickly noted that the digital world that had arisen in the new TEST TRACK looked like something out of Disney’s cult classic ’80s hit TRON, and in 2016 we knew why – Shanghai Disneyland opened with a totally new type of Tomorrowland, and to the surprise of many, it was not lorded over by a Space Mountain. Instead, the Shanghai-premiered, Florida-bound Modern Marvel: TRON Lightcycle Power Run is a launched roller coaster whose innards closely resemble the neon landscapes of the new TEST TRACK.
Over literally fifty years, the simple concept of Autopia evolved – one step at a time – creating connection after connection until a TRON launched coaster came out the other end!
7. Matterhorn Bobsleds -> Expedition Everest
Within the dark, icy caverns of a towering, snow-capped peak, you’ll come face-to-face with a roaring, mythological mountain guardian before your train races down the mountainside. What ride comes to mind? The ride you’re picturing right now likely depends on which Disney Parks resort you call “home,” because that description fits two attractions: Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland and Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
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Indeed, the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland (debuted in 1959, alongside that same Tomorrowland growth spurt that opened the Submarine Voyage) was “moved” to Fantasyland in time for a 1978 redesign that added Bavarian chalet stations, icy caverns, and appearances by the feared Abominable Snowman.
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We listed Matterhorn among our Countdown: Peaks of Imagineering as the original Disney Parks mountain – and the only one ridden by Walt himself. For a time, a copy of the ride was planned for a Switzerland pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase, but it only ended up being built in our Possibilityland: Un-Built Disney Mountains feature.
Instead, a “spiritual sequel” opened in 2006, when Expedition Everest joined Animal Kingdom’s ride lineup.
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The elaborate and built-out ride (reportedly costing more than $100 million – easily the most expensive roller coaster on Earth) takes guests into the heights of the Himalayas for a runaway train ride through the Forbidden Mountain Pass that locals say is protected by the ancient Yeti. We traced the entire behind-the-scenes story of the mega E-Ticket in its own standalone feature, Modern Marvels: Expedition Everest. Everest takes everything that worked on Matterhorn and makes it bigger, louder, and more detailed… and yes, that includes the imposing Yeti, who scored high on our must-read Countdown of the Best Animatronics on Earth… with some fine print.
8. “it’s a small world” -> Sinbad’s Storybook Voyages
Image: Disney
Whether you’ve ridden it in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo, Paris, or Hong Kong, your voyage on “the happiest cruise to ever set sail” has been an international journey through calm canals sailing past animated figures representing the vast cultures, languages, traditions, and garments of the world presented in a glowing, ethereal, “storybook” style.
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A sort of epitome of family attractions, the gentle, bright, kinetic ride is inarguable and well loved.
When Tokyo DisneySea opened in 2001, it featured a ride that borrowed the basics – the gentle canal cruise “around the world” through scenes populated by knee-high figures. But the Seven Voyages of Sinbad was very different. The ride sailed guests through the infamous voyages of the legendary sailor from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, making the doll-sized animatronics here were quite a bit more… aggressive… We’re talking green-skinned sirens trying to lure you to your doom, a Roc bird attacking, a sinister towering giant dangling Sinbad and his men over you, an angry island-whale, and a literally horrifying finale with black-eyed, erratic monkeys threatening you at every turn. Frankly, the ride was a horror, likely to leave kids quaking with heads buried in parents’ laps.
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Thinking quickly, Disney Imagineers made a change. Soon after the park opened, Sinbad was shuttered. Every element of the ride was recast in a new light thanks to two simple additions: first, Disney Legend Alan Menken (composter of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and countless others) was brought in to create a song called “Compass of Your Heart,” a sing-along wonder that follows you throughout the voyage, looping and growing like “it’s a small world.” Second, Sinbad was joined by a new companion – Chandu the tiger cub, who’s since become a veritable icon of DisneySea on par with Epcot’s Figment.
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The re-emerged Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage then told a new tale… Now, the sirens are helpful, guiding mermaids; Sinbad and his men protect the Roc bird and its babies from invading pirates; they use the giant feather the grateful bird provides to free the Giant, who sings along to “Compass of your Heart” as he cheers them on; the angry whale has become a guide, leading them across stormy seas; and those (still scary) monkeys now shake musical instruments rather than spears and try to pry bananas onto our boat instead of a boulder.
What’s so unusual is that Disney had already put in place the structural pieces of a “small world” sequel, with a gentle cruise past simple animatronics. But only once they recast the ride as a light-hearted musical journey did Sinbad really take off, cementing the ride as a spiritual successor to “small world.”
9. Tom Sawyer Island -> Fortress Explorations
Image: Disney
At most Disney Parks, it can be tough to find a place untouched by time, and the longer it’s been since a park’s opening day, the more difficult it becomes. At Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland, Tom Sawyer Island is a retreat from the madness and pressure of the three highest-attended theme parks on Earth. Natural playgrounds, caverns, waterfalls, mills, and forts abound as families can climb, crawl, jump, and hide.
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With just a little imagination, families could spend an entire morning or afternoon on Tom Sawyer Island. It’s a self-contained outpost for exploration.
When Tokyo DisneySea opened, it came with its own modern equivalent. Or… maybe an ancient equivalent. Fortress Explorations is – in some ways – one of the most iconic elements of the park. The beautiful Renaissance fortress is set along the park’s entry lagoon, sealed into the cooled lava flows of DisneySea’s icon – Mount Prometheus. A sprawling complex of sailing ships, domes, bridges, arches, cannons, fountains, and more, Fortress Explorations is simply stunning.
But it’s what’s inside that really piques the interest of Disney Parks fans. The Fortress is – put simply – a full museum of arts and sciences. Yes, it’s four stories of explorable turrets, spiral stairs, stone catwalks, and more, but inside it houses a three story Foucault pendulum, a Navigator’s Hall of remote-controlled ships sailing the ancient world, a real camera obscura, a seismic recording station embedded in Mount Prometheus, galleries of Renaissance artwork and illusionary lenses, and Flying Machines.
Image: tdrfan.com
Perhaps the Fortress’ most iconic feature, though, is the full-sized Chamber of Planets housed in its largest golden dome where, with ancient cogs and cranks, you can bring to life the orbit of the planets.
Click and expand for a larger view. Image: Disney
Along the waterfront is docked the Renaissance Spanish galleon sailing ship, totally open for exploration, and the Explorers Landing docks surrounding are a veritable playground of cargo nets and climbing crates. All of these wonders make it no surprise that Fortress Explorations, too, is indelibly tied to Disney’s cross-continental secret society storyline, The Society of Explorers and Adventurers – S.E.A.… As a matter of fact, the Fortress is the Society’s headquarters!
With all of the open-inquiry exploration of Tom Sawyer Island, Fortress Explorations creates a world-class museum inside of the world’s most sought-after theme park. Though one takes place in the Mississippi River delta and the other at a Renaissance fortress, there’s no denying that these two attractions are spiritual successors, and both are marvels.
10. If You Had Wings -> Soarin’
Image: Disney
“If you had wings, you could do many things! You could widen your world if you had wings!” So sang the theme song of a Magic Kingdom exclusive, the venerable Lost Legend: If You Had Wings. When the ride opened in 1972, it was a freewheeling celebration of the commercial Jet Age, the grandeur and magic of flight, and – primarily – the wonders of the world opened to those who chose to fly on Eastern Air Lines. (Case in point, the ride’s finale: “You do have wings! You can do these things! You can widen your world! Eastern: we’ll be your wings.”)
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By far the ride’s most memorable moment was the oft-employed “speed room,” where an ellipsoid-ovoid screen wrapping entirely around the slow-moving Omnimover was projected with 70mm film producing the sensation of flight and speed! Though If You Had Wings folded (followed closely by Eastern Air Lines), it celebrated aviation in the same way World of Motion celebrated transportation in general. It was a remarkable if overlooked dark ride as well suited for Tomorrowland in 1972 as Submarine Voyage had been in Disneyland’s in 1959.
In January 1998, the final derivative of If You Had Wings (by then having nothing in common with the 1972 original except the speed room) closed to make way for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, but Disney went only three years without a ride to simulate free flight.
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In 2001, Disney’s California Adventure opened. Though the original version of the park didn’t inspire much celebration, it did have one hit: Soarin’ Over California was a cutting-edge simulator-style ride perfectly poised at the dawn of the 21st century, using a domed screen and an ingenious ride system to send guests hang-gliding over the wonders of California from redwood forests to rocky Pacific coasts; from vast deserts and San Diego naval bases to the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. So acclaimed was this stunning ride, it was duplicated in Epcot’s The Land pavilion (renamed simply Soarin’ despite the fact that the ride film continued to feature only Californian landscapes).
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Eventually, the Over California ride gave way to the more global Soarin’ Around the World that tours over international manmade landmarks (despite the fact that, technically, that’s a worse fit for both The Land and Disney’s California Adventure). We chronicled the full story of the ride and its replacement in its own standalone feature, Lost Legends: Soarin’ Over California.
In any case, the simple conceit of making guests feel like they’re flying evolved as quickly as Disney’s Imagineering technology did, and the spirit of If You Had Wings does live on… even if neither it nor Eastern Air Lines does.
Sequels and Successors
The rides and attractions we’ve looked at here are only the start of a worldwide study into “spiritual sequels.” Across Disney Parks (and beyond), common elements, themes, and styles make it clear that even attractions set worlds apart can be cut from the same cloth. Without a single character, setting, or story in common, the ride relationships here are clever, thoughtful, and connected.
Use the comments below to tell us – what other Disney Parks rides are related “in spirit,” borrowing common themes, emotions, and styles? How does the often-unspoken relationship between certain rides make them stronger?
