“The year is 2021. The IP Wars have been waging for decades…” What might sound like the beginning of a post-apocalyptic young adult novel is all too real for fans of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Universal Orlando. As their respective parent companies race to create, borrow, or outright buy the hottest brands they can get their hands on, Disney and Comcast’s theme parks have become a pop culture battleground.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek famously responded to fans’ frustrations about IP overload by commenting “if our competitors had our catalogue, they’d be doing the same thing.” And he’s right! With nearly $100 billion in acquisitions over the last two decades (and many unexpected IPs en route to Disney+ and Disney Parks), wouldn’t it be downright irresponsible for Disney to waste time with original mythologies, original worlds, or original characters? Wouldn’t it be a disservice to shareholders to build Mystic Manor instead of Ariel’s Undersea Adventure?
Which brings us back to 2021… Today, we’ll look back in the archives to discover… What was the most recent IP-free headlining ride at U.S. Disney and Universal Parks? How many years has it been since each debuted a truly original major attraction without a blockbuster movie, character, or brand as its reason for being? You might be surprised…
1. Disneyland (1955)
It’s been a very, very long time since Disneyland Park hosted a major, IP-free attraction. At least in part, that’s because the park suffered a relative drought of major attractions, period, between 1995’s Modern Marvel: Indiana Jones Adventure and 2018’s STAR WARS: Galaxy’s Edge. (Attention was mostly focused on building then fixing its neighbor, California Adventure). Though major re-imaginings (Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage) and C-Ticket rides (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters) came online in the 2000s, none were IP-free.
So technically, it’s probably fair to say that Disneyland Park’s most recent IP-free anchor attraction was…
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Rocket Rods (1998 – 23 years ago)
Gulp… the Rocket Rods. This doomed Tomorrowland thrill ride replaced the beloved classic and Lost Legend: The PeopleMover with “high speed” cabs that tackled the same convoluted course in a fraction of the time. “Earning” their own in-depth Declassified Disaster: Rocket Rods entry, the ride was an infamous flop, with frazzled operations that totally failed after just a few years. To this day, its abandoned aerial highways still criss-cross the land.
The Rocket Rods are long gone… So what’s the last major IP-free addition to the park before Rocket Rods? Ultimately, we’d probably need to bypass all of the ‘90s and ‘80s (since they were defined by Michael Eisner’s “Ride the Movies” period) and end up on 1979’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – more than 40 years ago!
2. Magic Kingdom (1971)
Major new additions tend to be fairly rare at Magic Kingdom, too, given that Walt Disney World’s first park is far more built out than Epcot, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom. Looking back through the park’s last twenty years is to see additions based on TRON, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh, Lilo & Stitch, and Aladdin – some of which were intentional character-fueled overlays to otherwise original rides.
To that end, it’s not difficult to track the story back to Magic Kingdom’s last wholly-IP-free major attraction…
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Alien Encounter (1995 – 26 years ago)
1995’s Lost Legend: Alien Encounter remains one of the most infamous attractions in Imagineering’s portfolio. The legend of “Disney’s scariest attraction ever” is still whispered across message boards and social media. And it wasn’t alone.
Alien Encounter was just one part of the park’s darkly sci-fi-centered New Tomorrowland. This gleaming neon cityscape was an early experiment in Imagineering’s “original mythologies,” an entire IP-free land combining Alien Encounter, the PeopleMover, Space Mountain, the Lost Legend: Timekeeper, and even the land’s restaurants into one overarching story… without a single Pixar character in sight! Though short-lived, that original vision of the land remains a legend among Millennials and was unlike anything we’re likely to see from Disney anytime soon.
3. EPCOT (1982)
When EPCOT Center opened in 1982, part of its ambitiously different way of doing things was to intentionally omit characters altogether. EPCOT was designed to be free of Disney characters and instead focus on the realities of technology, industry, culture, and innovation – a “permanent World’s Fair” exploring humanity’s story rather than Mickey’s. In fact, the only “characters” seen in the park were the characters invented for it – namely, the hosts of the Lost Legend: Journey into Imagination!
Though fans may not have been happy with us, we published a controversial editorial years ago suggesting that it was time to bring characters into EPCOT; that at some point, Disney’s piecemeal infusion of IP was doing more harm than good, and that the big picture reimagining the park needed simply wasn’t going to be done without characters in tow. It turns out we were right. By the end of the decade, just about every pavilion will have an attraction or connection featuring a “host” character from Disney, Pixar, or Marvel.
But because that change is so new, it’s not too hard to trace back to the last character-free anchor in the park…
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Soarin’ (2005 – 16 years ago)
If you’re okay with reimaginings, it’d probably be Soarin’ Around the World (2016) and Test Track “2.0” (2012). To be on the safe side, we’ll say it’s the original Lost Legend: Soarin’, which opened at the park in 2005… 16 years ago!
4. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (1989)
Disney’s “studio”-themed theme park has a heck of a claim to fame: it has literally zero of its Opening Day attractions left! But as they say, that’s showbusiness for ya! Though often considered an underbuilt, half-day park, Disney has stocked Hollywood Studios with an impressive ratio of certifiable E-Tickets. But as you might expect from a park that celebrates the movies, precious few rides have been legitimately “IP-free.”
In terms of noteworthy, permanent attractions, 1999’s “Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey” capitalized on the ABC star’s then-popular sitcom, but didn’t technically connect to it. That same year’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster would be IP-free were it not for its reliance on Aerosmith. So what’s the most recent IP-free headliner?
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Lights, Motors, Action! (2005 – 16 years ago)
Yep, in the tiny Venn diagram overlap of “Anchor Attractions” and “IP-Free” at Hollywood Studios, there’s really just one thing: the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show that was “gifted” to Disney World from Disneyland Paris… to celebrate the original Disneyland’s 50th birthday, 16 years ago.
5. Universal Studios Florida (1990)
Universal Studios Florida is often held up as the example of a “studio park.” Why? Because it’s ruthless. In its relatively short lifetime, it retains just one of its Opening Day rides. The rest – Lost Legends: Kongfrontation, JAWS, Back to the Future – The Ride, and Earthquake – have all been toppled in favor of fresher, hotter IPs. Come hell or high water, Universal Studios Florida will have the most flavor-of-the-week brands… sometimes at the expense of quality or longevity.
Yet despite its seeming reliance and dedication to IP, the park has had (to our count) two IP-free rides. While neither reach the originality of, say, Universal Studios Japan’s Space Fantasy: The Ride, they’re worth remembering! In 2008, the park opened the hilariously-generic Disaster: A Major Motion Picture Starring You with its play-up of disaster films and its reuse of Earthquake’s special effects.
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (2006 – 15 years ago)
The most recent, though, would be 2009’s Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, an unusual roller coaster where guests select their choice of on-board music with the conceit of filming a music video and crowd surfing maybe? Okay, it’s maybe not the park’s most classic or beloved ride, but hey, it’s original!
6. Disney’s Animal Kingdom (1999)
When it comes to IP-free attractions, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a noteworthy park. Why? Because it’s famously home to the last IP-free attraction in the entirety of Walt Disney World to date. Like EPCOT, Animal Kingdom was a park largely conceived without IPs built in. A park defined by Imagineer Joe Rohde’s striving for accuracy and realism, the park’s few odes to Disney IP – Pocahontas, Tarzan, and The Lion King – were theatrical.
But the ride’s most recent original anchor attraction was a doozy. In fact, it was the first new “peak” in Disney’s mountain range in years…
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Expedition Everest (2006 – 15 years ago)
The crescendo of the park’s first decade must have been the 2006 addition of the Modern Marvel: Expedition Everest. The park’s first E-Ticket addition, Expedition Everest gave Walt Disney World a new iconic attraction and gave Animal Kingdom the first of its promised mythological creatures: the epic (and broken) Yeti.
Like all Disney Parks, though, IP has been the name of the game in recent years, including some that mesh well (like AVATAR and The Lion King) and some that feel half-baked (like a short-lived UP takeover of the park’s bird show and Donald Duck and friends taking over Dinoland). Also like all Disney Parks, it looks like IPs are the path forward, too, with rumors of Indiana Jones and Zootopia swirling. So Expedition Everest seems likely to keep its title… at least for another decade or so.
7. Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Conceptually, Universal’s Islands of Adventure is a one-of-a-kind park we’re unlikely to see emulated ever again. Born after the “Ride the Movies” era but before the IP Wars of today, it’s an IP park… without blockbuster IPs. Rather than stuffing a park with lands themed to flavor-of-the-week film franchises (Despicable Me, Transformers, and Jurassic World), Islands’ whole “thing” is that it’s about timeless, intergenerational stories (Dr. Seuss, Marvel comics, Sunday funnies, Harry Potter, and Jurassic Park). It’s more like a library than a video store.
Even if its IPs are different than any Universal Studios park before or since, each of its lands is still fueled by someone else’s intellectual property… except one.
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: The Flying Unicorn (2000)
We told the story of the Lost Legend: The Lost Continent in its own standalone feature, but this single, mythological land was of Universal’s own creation. Divided into three fantasy realms depicting three far-flung adventures, it likewise contained three anchor attractions: the Declassified Disaster: Poseidon’s Fury walkthrough, the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad stunt show, and the iconic Dueling Dragons intertwined inverted coaster (none of which remain today).
Even though Islands of Adventure was filled with cartoons, comic book characters, and the Cat in the Hat, early visitors quickly discovered that the park was surprisingly short on rides for families with young kids. Just in time for its first summer, the park debuted two low-cost additions: the X-Men themed Storm Force Accelatron teacup ride and the off-the-shelf Flying Unicorn roller coaster in Lost Continent. Like the rest of Merlinwood, the Flying Unicorn was absorbed into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010, but the original 2000 version of the ride would still count as the park’s most recent IP-free attraction.
8. Disney California Adventure
There’s no park that’s seen as complete a reimagining over such a relatively short lifetime as Disney California Adventure. When the park opened, it was widely criticized for not being “too much California, not enough Disney,” lacking the kinds of characters, stories, and romanticism guests expected. Today, that pendulum has arguably swung in the opposite direction – “too much Disney, not enough California.” Today, the park hosts beautifully-decorated lands that recall historic, idealized Californian places… but they’re almost exclusively filled with Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, The Little Mermaid, Toy Story, Cars, Frozen, and Spider-Man.
Though Disney California Adventure is definitely Disney’s West Coast stronghold for Pixar and Marvel, there are plenty of IP-free attractions to choose from thanks to its relatively un-Disney start. When it opened in 2001 alone, the park offered among its highlights “off-the-shelf” carnival rides and coasters like California Screamin’, the Sun Wheel, the Maliboomer, and Mulholland Madness; the Grizzly River Run raft ride (curiously lacking characters, where the Country Bears would make such good sense); and the IP-free Declassified Disaster: Superstar Limo (unless you count appearances by C-List ABC stars as IP). At least its most beloved, of course, was the Lost Legend: Soarin’ Over California – the park’s one standout favorite.
The park’s early years and subsequent legendary rebirth stocked it IPs at a breakneck speed, from The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to “a bug’s land;” Turtle Talk with Crush to Toy Story Midway Mania; Cars Land, Goofy’s Sky School, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, Mickey’s Fun Wheel; Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, the Incredicoaster; Frozen: Live at the Hyperion, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Avengers Campus … From E-Tickets to flat rides, characters were grafted onto everything… In fact, the only major, IP-free attraction left at the park is…
LAST IP-FREE HEADLINER: Soarin’ Over California (2001 – 20 years ago)
Soarin’. Like at EPCOT, its newer “Around the World” overlay was set in 2016 (weirdly but expectedly cancelling the “Over California’ version… at California Adventure) but we’d still consider it the same ride, meaning it’s been 20 years – literally the park’s entire life – since its last, major, IP-free attraction…
