Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort are home to many, many fantastic rides and attractions. Disney’s parks in Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong, though, have a lot to offer…
There are some truly incredible rides at the Disneyland Resort Paris, the Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland. Some are completely unique, while others are unique twists on classic Disney favourites. We’ve picked out 13 of the very best below.
We know some of you are going to ask where Space Mountain: Mission 2 at Disneyland Paris is. Well, once they fix the ride’s restraints and make it non-painful to ride again, it’ll be right near the top of this list!
13. Crush’s Coaster at Walt Disney Studios, Paris
Installed in 2007, Crush’s Coaster rapidly became one of Walt Disney Studios most popular rides. At its heart, it is a spinning roller coaster manufactured by German firm Maurer Söhne, similar to those at many other theme parks all over the world. In order to create a unique experience, though, Disney located the coaster almost entirely indoors, and installed extensive theming elements around its circuit.
12. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull at Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea’s take on Indiana Jones Adventure uses the same ride system and an identical layout to Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland, but serves up a different plot. It employs jeep-themed Enhanced Motion Vehicles, which are affixed to a motion-simulator base to create realistic movements.
The storyline revolves around Indiana Jones’ search for the Fountain of Youth, although it does not directly match that of the fourth film in the series. The fountain is guarded by the spirit of the Crystal Skull, and a series of spectacular set-pieces take place during the journey to find it
11. Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek at Tokyo Disneyland
Based on the 2001 Pixar movie, Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek! cost $88 million to install in Tokyo Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. The interactive attraction uses the same ride system as Toy Story Mania at Disney’s U.S. parks, with guests riding in 4-person cars equipped with “flashlights” that allow them to search for animatronic monsters in the dark.
10. Aquatopia at Tokyo DisneySea
Aquatopia is an innovative trackless water ride, which uses the same local positioning system as Pooh’s Hunny Hunt at neighbouring Tokyo Disneyland. The ride’s name is derived from the Autopia attractions at many other Disney parks, which take guests on an on-rails car journey.
The “boats” actually travel on wheels, as the water is only a few inches deep. At several points in the journey, guests appear to be about to be sucked into whirlpools, with the lack of track adding to the sense of unpredictability.
9. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is a groundbreaking “trackless” dark ride, and not to be confused with the more basic Winnie the Pooh-themed attractions at other Disney parks. Costing more than $130 million to create, the ride dispenses with the traditional OmniMover system used by rides such as the Haunted Mansion. Instead, it uses a unique local positioning system, enabling computers to control the movement of each individual car.
8. Big Grizzy Mountain Runaway Mine Cars at Hong Kong Disneyland
Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars is the headline attraction of the Grizzly Gulch area of Hong Kong Disneyland. It is similar in style to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad mine train coasters at other Disney parks, but also brings in elements from the Expedition Everest coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The first third of the ride is spent plummeting backwards down a twisting, turning hill, before being blasted forwards by an “explosion”. The circuit then takes in most of Grizzly Gulch, including the Geyser Gulch water play area.
7. Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea
While it offers a ride experience that is similar to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attractions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Paris, Tokyo DisneySea’s version dispenses with the Twilight Zone tie-in. The elaborate backstory instead revolves around Harrison Hightower, a famous adventurer who has collected a variety of artefacts inside a New York hotel. After bring back a cursed idol from Africa, he boards an elevator with it – which promptly crashes to ground below. When the doors are opened, Hightower is nowhere to be seen.
Guests are taken on a tour of the hotel, with a guide and an effects-laden pre-show filling them in on the background. They then emerge into a storage area, where they are divided into groups and board one of the hotel’s elevators. Seated and strapped in, they rise to take in two mid-level effects scenes. The elevator then races to the top of the hotel, offering a quick peek out over the park before plummeting towards the ground below at speeds that are faster than freefall. The elevator then rises and drops again several times, before guests emerge into the post-ride shop.
6. Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage at Tokyo DisneySea
A host of audio-animatronic characters help bring the Sindbad stories to life in this classic Disney dark ride, which is accompanied by an Alan Menken score. The revolves around Sindband’s attempts to thwart a group of pirates’ treasure-stealing plans.
5. Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris
The Frontierland area of Disneyland Paris is dominated by Big Thunder Mountain, which sits on an island in the centre of the Rivers of the Far West. While similar in style to the Big Thunder Mountain attractions at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, the Disneyland Paris version has several unique features – include its water-bound location.
4. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Tokyo DisneySea
One of a variety of Disney attractions that have been based on Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, this is the last one to employ a submarine-style ride system (although you’re not actually underwater). Guests travel around a number of scenes that depict action from the book, as well as the Disney movie that was based on it. This includes a stunning set-piece in which an enormous squid attacks riders, as well as a visit to the lost city of Atlantis.
Guests are able to participate in the action, using joysticks to control a searchlight that highlights some of the strange inhabitants of the underwater world.
3. CinéMagique at Walt Disney Studios, Paris
Completely unique to Walt Disney Studios, CinéMagique uses a combination of live action and spliced-together footage from classic movies to celebrate the history of cinema. It is housed in a large theatre that can hold up to 1,100 guests, and performances take place at scheduled times throughout the day.
The storyline features actor Martin Short (or, at least, a lookalike) emerging from the audience and being sucked into a black-and-white movie that is showing on-screen. After meeting, and falling for, Julie Delpy, the character races through a series of recognisable movie scenes in search of his mobile phone.
2. Mystic Manor at Hong Kong Dineyland
Mystic Manor anchors the Mystic Point area, the third of three new lands to open as part of an ambitious expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland. Itis simlar in style to the Haunted Mansion rides at other Disney parks, but utilises the “trackless” ride system employed by Pooh’s Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland, rather the more traditional Omnimover system.
The ride features a backstory based around explorer Lord Henry Mystic and his pet monkey, Albert. The monkey opens a magical music box, which brings Lord Henry’s extensive collection of artifacts to life.
1. Journey to the Center of the Earth at Tokyo DisneySea
Widely regarded as one of the world’s top theme park attractions, Journey to the Center of the Earth reuses the ride system from Epcot’s Test Track in a new and intentive way. In order to reach the station inside a mock volcano, guests must board a “Terravator” – a retro-futuristic version of a standard elevator.
Once inside, riders board “steam-powered” mine vehicles, which carry them on a trip to the Earth’s core. On their way, guests see a variety of stunning sights, including a subterranean ocean, a mushroom forest and a gigantic lava monster. The ride system enables the vehicles to move at variable speeds, adding an extra element to the experience.
