People like to be scared.
At least, that’s the theory that – since the opening of Disneyland – has kept Disney Imagineers sending us through dark forests, haunted mansions, creepy caverns, villainous lairs, and ancient tombs. Those who associate Disney with tepid family fare fit for toddlers certainly don’t know that – when called upon – Imagineers are experts in “chills and thrills.” That’s why, here, we’ve collected just twelve of the outright scariest attractions at Disney Parks… rides and experiences that are known to leave kids (and sometimes adults!) quaking in their boots.
Counting back from mild spooks toward outright terror, take a look at the attractions we’ve chosen in this countdown and see if you agree… what rides at Disney Parks scared you most as a child, or even today? Where are hidden fears brought to life in the happiest place on Earth?
12. Snow White’s Scary Adventures
Image: Disney
Location: Disneyland Park, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris
Some families mark their child’s growth with a notch in a doorframe. For Disney Parks fans, though, a child’s growth is most clearly measured by how they react to Snow White’s Scary Adventures. Positioned right atop our list, the ride serves as a class in “Disney Scares 101” for most families.
Concealed innocently enough among Fantasyland’s classic, carefree dark rides, something sinister stirs within the Evil Queen’s castle. In fact, the nimble dark ride sends guests darting through the darkness toward non-stop encounters with the Queen (often in her Wicked Witch disguise). Gnarled forests, snapping alligators, grimy dungeons, and one dark and stormy night intentionally highlight the darker elements of the grim European fairytale.
It’s enough to leave even the most stalwart young prince or princess buried in their parent’s shoulder. Though Magic Kingdom’s version of the attraction was closed to make way for the park’s New Fantasyland expansion, we were sure to immortalize in its own Lost Legends: Snow White’s Scary Adventures feature that walks through the ride’s horrifying history and its dark demise.
11. Pirates of the Caribbean
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Location: Disneyland Park, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Shanghai Disneyland
As adults, Disney Parks fans know Pirates of the Caribbean as perhaps the greatest classic dark ride on Earth. Clocking it at nearly seventeen minutes, the Californian original is twice as long as its next oldest sister, and fills each minute with enough atmosphere, nostalgia, and wonder to be worth the price of admission alone. Guests drift through a firefly-lit bayou alongside a real plantation party, meander through ancient water-carved caverns stuffed with loot, and sail through an active siege on a Caribbean port town populated by a cast of 120 Audio Animatronics figures.
As kids, most of those same fans were left shaking through the whole experience. Blasting cannons, skeletons, dark tunnels, talking skulls, unexpected drops, burning towns, and general piratical plundering make Pirates a frightening proposition for most kids, and a memorable first ride to fear.
10. Mission: SPACE
Image: Disney
Location: Epcot
A very different kind of scariness exudes from Mission: SPACE…
It’s not only that Mission: SPACE is daunting, shrouded in mystery exacerbated by a ride system most guests find inexplicable … it’s not just the continual warnings issued again and again in the queue reminding you that you’re headed for an ultra-intense and tryingly physical experience… it’s not only the urban legends (some tragically true) that circulate online about how the ride makes guests lightheaded, queasy, weak, or worse…
Wrapped up in the drama, disorientation, and apparent danger of such a raw, intense experience, nerves and anxiety run high throughout the queue, and you can cut the tension with the a knife. Then, locked into a claustrophobic compartment and strapped in tight, Mission: SPACE simulates a real life rocket launch. And to hear actual astronauts say it, the “artificial” sensation the technological ride produces is pretty darn close to the real thing. In other words, the ride provides a physical sensation that most guests will have never experienced before in any significant capacity, so it’s nearly impossible to prepare for.
Of course, a generation of Imagineering fans finds Mission: SPACE horrific for a very different reason… it was one of the first signals that Epcot was changing forever, as the (admittedly, flashy but brainless) thrill ride replaced what some consider the anchoring “thesis” attraction of EPCOT Center: a Lost Legend: Horizons. Whether it’s Mission: SPACE’s fault or not, the ride certainly did mark a new modus operandi for a park once dedicated to education, optimism, and classic dark rides.
9. Fantasmic!
Image: Disney
Location: Disneyland Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Tokyo DisneySea
“Nothing is more wonderful than the imagination, for in a moment, you can experience a beautiful fantasy or an exciting adventure. But beware… nothing is more powerful than the imagination, for it can also expand your greatest fears into an overwhelming nightmare…”
Since 1992, Fantasmic has been giving Disney Parks visitors an inside glimpse at the dreams running wild in Mickey Mouse’s mind in a sincerely show-stopping nighttime spectacular. Powered by perhaps the most infectious, triumphant score ever developed for a theme park, Fantasmic is a psychedelic, musical, magical journey through “tales of enchantment, beauty, and romance.” We’re talking fireworks, dancing fountains, pirate ships, princesses, and more.
Image: Disney
The problems arise once the Disney Villains catch wind of all the excitement and decide they’ll derail Mickey’s dream and turn his visions fantastic into a “nightmare fantasmic.” The entire second act of Fantasmic plays like a horror movie as the Evil Queen, Ursula, and the Chernabog summon Maleficent, who transforms into a towering dragon. As the animatronic – one of the most spectacular on Earth – rises, she cackles and blows fire, setting the Rivers of America aflame.
Of course, by the end, all is set right and “happily ever after” triumphs in what’s almost certainly the most stirring, tear-inducing, epic finale of any theme park show ever, but along the way, Fantasmic is loud, dark, and in-your-face.
Though some Disney Parks fans reject the “Las Vegas” cheesiness of Fantasmic or revolt against its stranglehold on Disneyland’s entire west side every night, most Disney Parks fans will remember it as the spectacle that made them fall in love with Disney while simultaneously scaring them half to death.
8. Journey to the Center of the Earth
Image: Disney
Location: Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea at the Tokyo Disney Resort is commonly agreed upon as the best theme park in the world, and at least some piece of that title is thanks to its headlining attraction. Hidden within the collapsed volcanic caldera of the park’s 189-foot tall icon – Mount Prometheus – is Mysterious Island – the living laboratory of Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo. It’s also the departure point for Journey to the Center of the Earth, considered by many to be Disney’s best attraction ever.
We traced the history of rides inspired by Jules Verne and dug deep into Tokyo’s one-of-a-kind E-Ticket in its own feature, Modern Marvels: Journey to the Center of the Earth, but here’s what you need to know. This wild, off-roading dark ride through the layers of the planet leads through subterranean seas, bioluminescent forests, and stunning crystal caverns.
It’s an inside-this-world fantasy adventure… until an Earthquake blocks the only route forward, diverting riders into an unexplored deep earth cavern filled with slimy, oversized eggs… it’s a molten nest populated by something horrific… the unimaginable encounter must be seen to be believed, but suffice it to say the ride’s climax includes a face-to-maw encounter with a fearsome creature that tops our must-read Countdown of the Best Animatronics on Earth. Altogether, Journey to the Center of the Earth is a spectacular, literary, living legend… and perhaps one of the most intimidating rides in Disney’s entire portfolio.
7. Expedition Everest
Image: Disney
Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Expedition Everest isn’t just one of the tallest, fastest, and wildest roller coasters in Disney’s typically-more-timid coaster portfolio… it’s also one of the most mysterious. If fear of the unknown is at the heart of so many of the attractions on this list, Everest would be a master class in the phobia. Looming over Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the amazing Himalayan mountain range is further underscored by distant chimes, the chilling sound of the winter wind, and occasional distant roars.
On board, guests are seated in trains once used to transport tea leaves down from the mountain and make way for base camp at Everest via a new shortcut through the Forbidden Mountain pass. Things… don’t go as planned. What follows is intense – a forward/backward roller coaster through the pitch black innards of the peak, an 80-foot dive, and a face-to-paw encounter with the dreaded guardian Yeti. We dissected the truth behind this cryptid, the making of Everest, and the ride’s problematic antagonist in its own in-depth feature, Modern Marvels: Expedition Everest. But just know that the impressively forboding ride ranks among the most harrowing, wild adventures in Disney’s portfolio… A true masterpiece of fright.
6. Phantom Manor
Image: Disney
Location: Disneyland Paris
Even before a shovel of dirt had shifted on Disneyland Paris’ construction, the French had outright rebelled against the very idea of an idea as tied to American culture, commercialism, and consumerism moving into their back yard. So when designers set to work on developing Disneyland Paris, they knew that they’d need to throw out the rulebook and reinvent Disneyland’s rides – even classics – to suit a new, romantic, European story and setting.
Forget grim, grinning ghosts, silly spooks, or happy haunts.
Phantom Manor is a deeply operatic, dramatic, literary take on the Haunted Mansion. Brilliantly, it’s wrapped up into a larger continuity that covers the entirety of the park’s Frontierland (here, the village of Thunder Mesa), giving Phantom Manor an actual story that we see unfold.
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In this one-of-a-kind ride, we learn of the miserly Mr. Ravenswood – proprietor of the Big Thunder Mountain Mining Company – and his beautiful daughter, Melanie who lived in a grand chateau overlooking Thunder Mesa. But when Melanie fell for a lowly miner, Mr. Ravenswood vowed to stop their wedding if it was the last thing he ever did… and it was. Upon his death, a mysterious Phantom appeared, hanging Melanie’s fiancé from the rafters and fracturing the once grand home from the rest of Thunder Mesa, cursing Melanie’s spirit to forever wait for her lost love.
Phantom Manor isn’t just touching… it’s scary. Dilapidated halls lead past Melanie’s spirit as she gradually ages and decays; the disfigured, cackling Phantom follows throughout, even burying riders in a fresh grave to join rotting corpses and desperate skeletons… We descended into the unthinkable history of the Haunted Mansion and the experience of the standout French ride in its own dedicated feature, Modern Marvels: Phantom Manor – a must-read for Haunted Mansion fans… But be warned: it’s enough to keep you up at night.
5. Stitch’s Great Escape
Image: Disney
Location: Magic Kingdom
There’s plenty that scares Disney Parks fans about Stitch’s Great Escape.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention its predecessor, which just fifteen years would’ve topped this list easily. Strapped into seats encircling a massive glass tube, guests became spectators for the grand demonstration of Martian company X-S Tech’s new interstellar teleportation technology. There’s just one problem: when a bloodthirsty alien intercepted the signal and materializes in the tube instead, all hell broke loose. Smashing free and plunging the theater into darkness, 3D audio and sensory effects had guests drooled on, stalked, and even splattered with blood.
We chronicled the terrifying true story of Disney’s scariest attraction ever in its own must-read in-depth feature, Lost Legends: Alien Encounter, but you can guess the finale: parents were petrified that Disney had dropped such a grisly, genuinely horrific experience into the otherwise G-rated Magic Kingdom and practically lined the block around City Hall with complaints.
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Disney’s quick fix was to drop the furry, mischievous alien from Lilo and Stitch into the attraction right at the height of his popularity. Stitch terrorizes guests in the dark in a different way: bouncing painfully on their shoulders, spitting on them, and burping chili dog in their face. The problem is that Stitch’s Great Escape is still too intense for kids, while now being too juvenile for anyone else. It’s a wholly unpleasant, uncomfortable experience that earned its own in-depth feature in the much less celebratory series, Disaster Files: Stitch’s Great Escape.
Stitch’s Great Escape was switched to the ominous “seasonal” status in 2016, but is slated for permanent closure in January 2018… which means it will have lasted nearly twice as long as its revered predecessor.
4. “it’s tough to be a bug”
Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney California Adventure
From Epcot’s Spaceship Earth to Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Lost Legend: The Great Movie Ride, attractions housed inside park icons are typically given a prominent position for a reason. More often than not, they’re considered “thesis” attractions, summarizing the mission of the park in one grand showcase. That’s probably why the Imagineers behind Disney’s Animal Kingdom allegedly intended for the Tree of Life to house a production based on The Lion King with its “Circle of Life” sentimentality. But the park’s opening just months before the debut of Pixar’s A Bug’s Life gave Michael Eisner pause, and he decided Animal Kingdom ought to cross-promote the new film.
It’s unlikely that designers intended “it’s tough to be a bug” – ostensibly, a prequel to the G-rated family film – to be (to our count) the fourth scariest attraction currently operating at a Disney park, yet here we are. Sure, 4-D films always inspire anxiety (when am I going to inevitably be sprayed? Blasted with air?) but “it’s tough to be a bug” takes it to the next level. Our hero Flik invites us to his showcase of insect adaptations, meant to give us some overdue appreciation for the creatures so many of us detest… Nevermind that that includes a termite spraying us with “acid,” a tarantula launching “poison quills” at us, and a stink bug stinking up the theater…
As if that’s not bad enough, soon the villainous Hopper arrives (in the form of a grotesque, larger-than-life animatronic). In an instant, he fills the massive auditorium with noxious “bug spray” (in one of the most impressive pressurized fog releases in the industry), directing wasps to sting us in the back and sending black widows rappelling from the ceiling to within inches of guests. In most every showing, families can be heard scrambling for the exits as chaos and cries overtake the entire theater.
3. Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Image: Disney
Location: Disneyland
Take a stroll through Disneyland’s Adventureland and you’re likely to see at least a few kids with their eyes closed tight. That’s because they’ve heard the legend of the lost god Mara, said to grant any who descended upon his temple one of three gifts: timeless youth, earthly riches, or visions of the future. The catch? If you so much as peek into the dark and corroded eyes of Mara, you’re done for.
It’s a surprisingly visceral, dark, and dramatic storyline for a park with a pink fairytale castle, but Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye is unequivocally the must-see 21st century E-Ticket of Walt’s original Magic Kingdom, envied by other Disney Parks across the globe.
Image: Disney
From its astounding queue – nearly a mile, wrapping through the exhaustingly detailed temple’s antechambers, caverns, and altars – to the mile-a-minute dark ride, every second spent on Indiana Jones Adventure is a spectacle and a living, breathing example of the feats Imagineering can accomplish when freed of budgetary limitations and given the chance to give it their all.
Most astoundingly, the ride vehicle – the enhanced motion vehicle or EMV – is the Temple’s star, as it simulates rough terrain, banks around corners, climbs over debris, and more. Each troop transport, in fact, is programmed with its own subtle “personality,” with each reacting to darkness, sounds, or surprises by bucking, sliding, or stalling altogether! Along the route through the temple, riders teeter over roiling lava pits, face scorpions, snakes, darts, rats, and spiders, float through collapsing chambers, and rumble over a wooden suspension bridge before Mara’s corroded 40-foot tall face. Indiana Jones Adventure turns one of Disney’s darkest legends into one of its most harrowing, intimidating, downright scary adventures yet.
2. DINOSAUR
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Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom
As the price tag of Disney’s Animal Kingdom ballooned, a team of Imagineers was hard at work on the concept of a land dedicated to dinosaurs – still at the height of their popularity in the years following Jurassic Park, and an obvious way to make Disney’s animal park feel like more than a zoo in the eyes of guests. When the land was almost cut to instead fund the never-built Possibilityland: Beastly Kingdom, the dino-focused designers made Michael Eisner a deal he couldn’t refuse: they promised that Animal Kingdom could cheaply double-dip from the technology developed for the brand new Indiana Jones Adventure, simply restaging the ride as a thrilling prehistoric adventure.
The result was Countdown to Extinction, a wild, off-roading adventure in the very last moments of the Cretaceous. Our goal? To locate and retrieve an Iguanodon from the brink of extinction. Our problem? One very mean, very terrifying Carnotaur (that’s Latin for “meat-eating bull,” mind you…) a day-glo predator with a mean roar, a pair of wild eyes, and a surprisingly fast sprint.
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While the ride is an almost-identical clone of Indy’s track layout (with just a few… eh hem… cut corners), Animal Kingdom’s ride places guests in perpetual darkness, bounding left and right among lightning flashes and too-close encounters with dinosaurs. The paper-thin, uneven plot (sometimes self-serious, sometimes corny to the point of frustration) is really just an excuse to race through the Cretaceous, ricocheting between encounters with dinosaurs (which themselves range from impressively engineered animatronics to literal static mannequins bolted to the ceiling… Look, no one’s saying it’s a masterpiece…).
In any case, in 2000, Countdown to Extinction was renamed DINOSAUR to promote the film of the same name released that year (which, oddly enough, also revolved around an Iguanodon and Carnotaur, though demonstrably not the same ones in the dark ride). Expecting that the new tie-in would draw younger guests, a few deliberate details were put in place to try to make the ride less intense… but c’mon… a rough, off-roading vehicle racing through prehistoric jungles where terrifying, screaming reptiles are leaping out of the darkness as a flaming meteor hurdles toward Earth? Loud, bold, and frightening, DINOSAUR remains one of the scariest attraction’s Disney has ever designed, even in its “relaxed” form.
1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Image: Disney
Location: Disney’s Hollywood Studios
There’s simply nothing that’s not scary about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. People of all ages have been known to avert their eyes from the 200-foot-tall gothic citadel of sunset tiled roofs, twisted columns, and Neo-Mediterranean minarets looming ominously over Sunset Blvd. Even if its exterior weren’t lightning-scarred or its once-grand neon sign not sparking and dislodged, the lost Hollywood Tower Hotel would be a fortress for Tinseltown’s elite.
That’s to say nothing of the ride inside – a staggering thrill in its own right wrapped into an eerie, atmospheric, unsettling shell. From cracked, dry fountains and old time jazz standards echoing eerily through long-abandoned gardens to cobwebbed-covered libraries, steaming boiler rooms, and one particularly feared maintenance service elevator, the dark history of the Hollywood Tower Hotel is one of the most clever original stories ever devised for a Disney Park. And the thirteen story faster-than-gravity freefall doesn’t hurt either.
Image: Disney
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is, in many ways, a pinnacle of Disney Imagineering. Those looking for the inside story on how and why Disney designed a drop tower at all will find it in the in-depth feature published here on the unexpected and almost-unbelievable closure of Disney California Adventure’s version of the ride, Lost Legends: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. From psychological chills to free-fall thrills, the ride lives up to its name… and then some.
Now, we want to hear from you. Did we miss any of Disney’s scariest attractions? What rides or shows left you shaking as a kid or even an adult? What phobias do Disney attractions play on? Do you agree with our top three picks?
