If you look closely, you can find a lot of connective tissue across Disney rides…
Some connections are obvious, like the way Soarin’ Over California at Disney’s California Adventure and Soarin’ Around the World at Epcot are essentially the same attraction retooled for different parks. Other connections come when one ride is built on top of another, like Epcot’s Frozen Ever After (built atop Maelstrom) or Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout (built atop California’s Tower of Terror). A third type comes when rides in Disney’s overseas parks reimagine classic attractions. A great example can be found tracing the relationship between the Haunted Mansion, Disneyland Paris’ Phantom Manor, and Hong Kong Disneyland’s Mystic Manor.
However, there are some attractions where the connections are a little more subtle. These aren’t rides that are directly linked. Some may share technology, but the connective tissue of mythology, theming, or history runs deeper. Some of these pairings include what some might call “spiritual successors”—creative works with significant common threads. Others are simply what we would call “cousins”.
There are a lot of these connections to be found throughout Disney parks history. We wanted to focus on a few highlights rather than give an exhaustive survey, so to keep things simple, we eliminated a few categories:
- Rides that are purposeful “copies” or close retoolings of another ride (e.g. the two Soarin’ versions)
- Rides that share a ride system in common but little else (e.g. all dark rides are related)
- Rides that are simply built on top of the bones of an older ride (e.g. Mission: SPACE and Horizons)
- Overseas attractions (this list would merit an article all its own!)
With that in mind, did you realize these Walt Disney World and Disneyland attractions were connected? Some may surprise you…
1. Matterhorn Bobsleds (Disneyland) & Expedition Everest (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)
This is definitely one of the more obvious ones on the list, but it’s also probably the best example of the “spiritual successor” concept. Disneyland’s Matterhorn Bobsleds have been a mainstay at the Happiest Place on Earth since 1959 (just four years after the park opened). It was the first tubular roller coaster ever constructed, and the Matterhorn of yesteryear was much different from the one we know today. The bobsleds required some rather intimate seating (hope you brought a buddy!), the mountain interior was hollow, and the infamous peak was pocked full of holes for the Disneyland Skyway to pass through. Most significantly, the Yeti did not yet exist.
In 1978, the ride underwent a major overhaul which saw the addition of the Yeti and the transformation of the interior to the tunnels we know today. In 1994, even more changes were added, including filling in the holes for the Skyway (which had closed—more on that later). In 2012, the cars were transformed to give each guest a single seat (no more Matterhorn spooning), and it wouldn’t shock us if more upgrades were to come in future years.
In the 80’s and 90’s, it was long rumored that Disney might bring a copy of the Matterhorn either to the Magic Kingdom or, more likely, Epcot for the introduction of a Switzerland pavilion (Disney even drafted concept art for it). Instead, Disney Imagineers did something bolder—they upgraded the Matterhorn in nearly every way by applying its themes to the biggest, baddest mountain on Earth.
Expedition Everest opened in 2006, eight years after Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It didn’t take long for guests to start spotting connections between the two mountain attractions. While the backstories of Expedition Everest and the Matterhorn aren’t directly related, they share a surprising amount of connective tissue. Both rides take place on infamous snowy peaks beloved by climbers (ironically, Expedition Everest doesn’t take place on Everest proper but rather on an imaginary peak called “The Forbidden Mountain”). Both also involve thinly-plausible vehicle choices for their home region– you’re as unlikely to find bobsleds on the real Matterhorn as mine trains on the real Everest. Both involve expeditions gone awry, right down to abandoned adventurer’s equipment, and both involve a harrowing chase through ice caverns by the terrifying Yeti.
Matterhorn Bobsleds remains an amazing attraction—the Yeti, in particular, remains almost as scary as the day he debuted. Expedition Everest, however, improves on the Matterhorn in a number of ways. It’s a great coaster across the board, and even if the Eddie the Disco Yeti has suffered some serious malfunctions over the years, Everest’s Yeti is absolutely terrifying for his monstrous size. It’s also worth noting that the Yeti hails from Himalayan mythology rather than Alpine lore, meaning the Matterhorn Yeti is quite far from home.
On a side note, you could theoretically connect both of these attractions to two other runaway mine train attraction: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!
2. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) & The Indiana Jones Adventure (Disneyland)
This was actually the first connection that got me thinking about this article. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is quite the hot topic among Disney fans right now, to the point the ride has single-handedly altered established crowd trends at Disney’s US parks. It’s a blasted difficult ride to get onto these days, and I found myself struggling to describe the experience to friends and family who weren’t likely to try it anytime soon.
That is, until I stopped and realized Rise of the Resistance holds a lot in common with another Disney / Lucasfilm classic ride…
Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure (aka Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye) opened in 1995 and has remained a guest favorite ever since then. The ride was a marvel of technology, and in its own way, it kicked off the ultra-immersive adventure attraction craze we all get to benefit from today. Walt Disney World fans are still wishing upon a star for Florida to get their own version.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is brand, spanking new—so new, in fact, that Disney still hasn’t ironed out all the kinks to keep the ride functioning at maximum capacity. It is undoubtedly Disney’s most ambitious attraction to date, seamlessly interweaving multiple ride systems including a simulator, Pepper’s ghost effects, an interactive walking segment, a trackless vehicle adventure, and a few more secret systems into one cohesive experience. It’s a whopper of a great attraction, one that defies description in many ways.
The best way I can describe Rise of the Resistance to someone who’s never been on it is to imagine two rides fused together. The first part I would describe as Star Tours with no seats, but the larger portion of the attraction I would compare directly to the Indiana Jones Adventure. Indeed, you could say Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is basically The Indiana Jones Adventure with no track inside a Star Destroyer. The ride vehicles are even shaped similarly, despite one having a sleek black Star Wars overlay.
There really are quite a few connections between the two rides. Both have Lucasfilm origins. Both feature strong theming in their queue areas, including secret activities guests can engage in while waiting—for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, this involves playing the Star Wars Datapad game to help Finn through a preliminary mission. For the Indiana Jones Adventure, guests who visited the attraction early on were given special cards to help them decode the cryptic writing scrawled throughout the temple walls. Both attractions feature a pre-show that fills in important details setting up your adventure, and both follow similar beats throughout the high-speed adventure portion of the ride. Both even involve… erm… perilous objects protruding from the ceiling…
Interestingly, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance isn’t the only attraction which carries an Indiana Jones Adventure connection…
3. Dinosaur (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) & The Indiana Jones Adventure (Disneyland)
Dinosaur at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was once, hands down, one of the scariest rides at Walt Disney World (second only to the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, which in turn connected to The Great Movie Ride due to the Alien segment). Disney’s Dinosaur film wasn’t out yet—the ride opened in 1998 as Countdown to Extinction, and it was an absolute thrill-fest. The ride interior was much darker, the effects were insanely loud, and a meteor even nearly plowed directly into your vehicle. After Disney’s Dinosaur was released, the company decided to rename the ride and tone back the scariness a little bit.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that Dinosaur and the Indiana Jones Adventure share similar ride systems and vehicles. However, the connection between the two rides runs all the way down to the bones…
Dinosaur is built in an exact clone of the track for the Indiana Jones Adventure from Disneyland.
This is a little different from the Maelstrom / Frozen Ever After scenario—Walt Disney World has never had a version of The Indiana Jones Adventure. They built a complete copy of the track from scratch. The set dressing is different, and the ride is programmed to follow slightly different pacing, but the tracks are the same. Both rides feature strong thrill elements including near death by a looming reptile, flames and death all around, and inspiring pants-peeing terror across generations. The biggest difference is that as Dinosaur has waned in popularity, the Indiana Jones Adventure remained a fan favorite. Many have speculated that Disney may one day take the plunge and simply convert Dinosaur into a Florida version of The Indiana Jones Adventure, but these rumors have remained unsubstantiated so far.
4. Soarin’ (Epcot and Disney’s California Adventure) & Avatar Flight of Passage (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)
This is another one that I realized after trying to describe the ride to a friend. If you stop to think about it, Avatar Flight of Passage really is almost like Soarin’ if your hang glider were replaced with a banshee.
Similar to the connections between the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Expedition Everest, Avatar Flight of Passage really can be viewed as a spiritual successor to both versions of Soarin’. Flight of Passage takes the immersive technology and sensations of flight we all came to love in Soarin’ and launches them to new heights (quite literally). The addition of virtual reality and 3D technology allowed Imagineers to make Flight of Passage even more immersive than Soarin’, even as they kept similar tools like use of an ultra-huge screen and the use of scents to match the flora below. Both rides feature similar gentle tones, sweeping landscapes, and of course, the breathtaking sensation of flight.
In a way, you could say Avatar Flight of Passage is simple “Soarin’ Over Pandora”.
5. Body Wars (Epcot), Star Tours, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
This trio almost didn’t make the list, but I decided to include them because these three incredible rides share more in common than being simulators—indeed, they are almost like three rides in the same series.
Star Tours was Disney’s first significant foray into using simulator technology in 1987 at Disneyland. Two years later, Disney carried the technology over to Walt Disney World, first opening Body Wars in the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot in October 1989, a ride that has its own spiritual-successor connection to Disneyland’s Adventure Thru Inner Space. Only two months later, Star Tours opened at Disney-MGM Studios, and it remained the same until 2011 when both Star Tours locations were revamped to “Star Tours – The Adventure Continues”, the ever-changing multi-story 3D version fans know today. Star Tours and Body Wars are inextricably linked, and not just because they both include references to “Wars”.
Both Star Tours and Body Wars involve a harrowing adventure through unknown space—in Star Tours, we get actual space, while in Body Wars, the mysterious frontier is the microscopic interior of the human body. Both involve near-collisions with mysterious objects—indeed, the “splinter” in Body Wars looks a lot like the comet from Star Tours. Both also have a rather infamous reputation for causing motion sickness, though the undisputed king in this category was definitely Body Wars. The latter attraction’s visceral setting, occasional glitchiness, and constant “sloshing” motions made so many guests feel sick that Disney gave the ride some slipshod modifications by cutting the 20 second sequence shortly after opening. The ride only survived until 2007 when the Wonders of Life pavilion closed.
Fast forward to today—Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run takes simulator concept Disney birthed in Star Tours and Body Wars to new heights. One of the biggest problems with theme park simulators is simply that guests were mere spectators in the adventure. Sure, every once in a while, you might get pegged as “The Rebel Spy” on Star Tours – The Adventure Continues, but that doesn’t affect the outcome of the ride. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run changed all that by giving guests control of the simulator, and your choices genuinely affect the outcome of the adventure. Indeed, do a bad enough job smashing up Han’s beloved ship, and you even get to make an extra stop in an asteroid field before returning to Batuu (which feels like a nice callback to Star Tours). The near collisions from the previous two rides become actual collisions, and unlike either previous attraction, the fate of the quest is now in your hands. Pretty cool!
6. The Jungle Cruise (Disneyland / Magic Kingdom) & Kilimanjaro Safaris (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)
I know, I know—this one may seem like a stretch. After all, the main thing these two rides have in common is animals, and that’s about it, right?
The Jungle Cruise holds a prestigious spot as one of the opening day attractions from Disneyland in 1955. Ironically, it didn’t open in Magic Kingdom until 1975, four years after that park’s opening. Walt’s original dream was for the cruise to host real animals for guests to enjoy, but the Disney team eventually decided this idea was implausible. Wouldn’t the animals sleep during the day? How would you separate them from guests? The maintenance issues seemed insurmountable, so they decided to replace the animals with animatronics. Walt didn’t live to see Walt Disney World open in 1971, and his vision wouldn’t become an attainable reality until years later.
The first step took place before the Magic Kingdom Jungle Cruise even opened—Disney opened a small wildlife and botanical experience, then called “Treasure Island” on Bay Lake in 1974. It was renamed as Discovery Island in 1978 when it came into its own as a recognized animal park. In 1998, Disney took the final step and achieved the unthinkable—Walt’s dream came true with the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Disney found a way to bring guests into an authentic-feeling safari experience by building one of the most advanced zoological parks ever constructed.
Kilimanjaro Safaris opened with the park and remains the fulfillment of the original quest Disney began with The Jungle Cruise. The animals and wild setting are the biggest connectors, but there are other connections between the two rides as well. The Safari drivers are usually substantially less goofy than the Jungle Cruise skippers, but they are known to drop a great joke from time to time. Both rides also opened with backstories of hidden peril from the dangers of man. You can still see this on the Jungle Cruise when your boat comes under attack from a mysterious tribe. On Kilimanjaro Safaris, the ride actually opened with a surprisingly-morbid story surrounding a group of poachers intent on killing a baby elephant—this side quest was eventually cut, probably for the better.
7. The Disneyland Skyway & The Skyliner (Walt Disney World)
This one is a bit of a bonus item. Earlier, we mentioned an important Disneyland / Magic Kingdom attraction of yesteryear: The Disney Skyway, an open-cab gondola system that allowed guests to travel back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland (being only one-way trips were allowed, the attraction was actually treated as two separate experiences). The attraction was part transportation, part ride as it definitely tested guests’ mettle for fear of heights. The Disneyland version passed straight through the Matterhorn during its tenure.
The Skyway closed at Disneyland in 1994 and at Magic Kingdom in 1999. Rumor has it the closures were in response to two accidents—one involving a guest injury when a man tried to jump into a tree and another when a cast member was swept off a platform and fell to their death. Disney denies this, and overall, it seems that both closures had more to do with declining guest interest and high maintenance costs. Still, many assumed Disney would never resurrect the gondola concept again.
In anticipation for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disney revived the system and gave it a technological revamp, calling it The Walt Disney World Skyliner. This new closed-cab gondola system isn’t technically a ride but rather part of Disney’s transportation network (like the monorail, we shamelessly “ride” it all the same). Disney used newer technology to dramatically improve on The Skyway to make The Skyliner an effect transportation system between Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a number of resorts in between. While the system has run into some hiccups, overall, the Skyliner has proven a success, and we are hopeful to see the technology used more to connect other parts of Walt Disney World.
8. Mission to Mars (Disneyland / Magic Kingdom) & Mission: SPACE (Epcot)
Disney has always had a penchant for space mission rides: Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, and even Horizons included space exploration elements.
This trend has its roots at Disneyland’s opening. Before Space Mountain was even a full concept, Disney started off with an attraction called Rocket to the Moon (later renamed Flight to the Moon) which led guests through a two-part experience involving a brief animatronic show, followed by a circular theater experience where guest seats simulated the jostlings of space (this building would eventually be used in both parks for The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter). Unlike Star Tours, this wasn’t full simulator technology yet. After humans reached the moon, the ride was refurbished as “Mission to Mars” in 1975. The attraction never truly got past its dated feel and waned in popularity as years passed. The Disneyland version closed in 1992 with the Magic Kingdom version following in 1993.
As with a number of other connected rides on our list, Mission to Mars experienced an unexpected rebirth in the form of Epcot’s Mission: SPACE which opened in 2003. Whereas Mission to Mars quickly fell behind in terms of technology, Mission: SPACE was almost too ahead of its time, utilizing technology inspired by NASA to simulate G-forces through centrifugal force. Disney had to tone back the ride’s G-forces after too many guests reported motion sickness (sounds like Body Wars again), and one guest unfortunately even suffered a heart attack. The ride was later retooled to include a low-intensity version (Mission: SPACE Green Team). Like Mission to Mars, the ride’s blocky CG graphics started to feel dated as a decade passed, so in 2017, the Green team was given their own unique mission while Mission: SPACE Orange Team received a much-needed graphics update. We’ll have to see what happens to this attraction when humans finally reach Mars in the next century!
There are so many more attraction connections than we found here. What are a few you would like to see us write about in the future?
