For almost as long as designers have been adding things to Disney Parks, they’ve been taking things away. In the name of progress, expansion, modernization, changing trends, or funding, sometimes beloved attractions are simply lost to time. As readers of ourLost Legends or our THEN & NOW layout series know, even Walt Disney World’s “blessing of size” doesn’t guarantee that classics are spared from the wrecking ball.
Given that fan-favorites are talked about like the timeless, definitive highlights of Disney Parks, sometimes it can be shocking to discover that… well… time moves on! Here, we’ve collected 9 rides Imagineering fans still tend to think of as mere “replacements” that actually lasted longer than the “classics” they took the place of! Prepare to have your mind blown.
Let’s face it – the overlap of theme park fans and animatronic fans is practically two circles, perfectly overlapped. And why not? For nearly as long as Disney Parks have existed, so have Audio Animatronics – Disney’s patented name for programmable figures whose motion is synchronized to audio (versus simpler, mechanical figures that merely go through mechanical, repeating motion).
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1. The Wicked Witch of the West
Image: Charlie Gaudet, Flickr (All rights reserved)
Location: The Great Movie Ride (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) Years: 1989 – 2017 (29 years)
When the park then-known as the Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, one single attraction served as the park’s heart and soul – the Lost Legend: The Great Movie Ride. Billed as “A Spectacular Journey Into the Movies,” this epic, 20-minute dark ride whisked 70 riders at a time through a narrated tour of the greatest (licensing accessible) scenes in Hollywood history. Of course, such a celebration of film couldn’t be complete without 1939’s The Wizard of Oz.
The ride’s Oz segment begins, as sweet Dorothy’s trip did, in Munchkinland. There, the celebrating draws the attention of the film’s legendary villain, the Wicked Witch of the West. Appearing in a steaming, flaming release of smoke (just as actor Margaret Hamilton did in the film), the Audio Animatronic version of the Witch accosts visitors, spars with the guide’s narrator, and delivers her famous line, “I’ll get you, my pretty – and your little dog, too!” With a maniacal cackle and another burst of fog, she’s gone.
Still, the Wicked Witch is remembered as one of the most compelling Animatronic encounters in Disney Parks history. There’s a reason. The Witch was the first of what Disney deemed the “A-100” generation. The A-100 figures relied primarily on electronics versus the hydraulics of old. But just as importantly, they were build with a feature called “compliance” – basically, shock absorption at the joints. So while old figures had to move slowly, the Witch could throw her head back to cackle, point emphatically, and whip her broom around, achieving human-like range of motion and speed that left many riders to wonder if the on-ride role was played by a live actress!
Once upon a time, Universal Studios Florida was a park defined by larger-than-life encounters with the “creature features” that made the studio famous. Arguably, none were more stunning than the Lost Legend: Kongfrontation. Expanding upon an encounter with the great ape in Universal Studios Hollywood’s fabled Studio Tour, Kongfrontation left guests suspended in aerial trams as they escaped the King’s carnage, ultimately encountering the crazed, enraged ape in two astounding animatronic encounters. (In the big finale, the banana-breathed Kong seemed to grab the vehicle and pull it off its wire, dropping to the streets of New York below!)
If Kong and all the other opening day disaster rides at Universal Studios had just hung in there a little longer, they probably would’ve become retro-cool icons that celebrated the best of Universal’s classic films. Instead, the park underwent a serious “about face” in the early 2000s, desperate to replace its cinematic classics with newer, hotter intellectual properties. At least Kong’s sacrifice yielded among the best of the “next generation” – the Modern Marvel: Revenge of the Mummy.
Universal Orlando was without a Kong ride for fourteen years. In 2016, they offered up a “mea culpa” in the form of a new ride – Skull Island: Reign of Kong. Rather than bringing Kong to our world, Reign of Kong brings us to his – a fit for the more fantastical, literary Islands of Adventure the ride is placed in. Though it centers on the “360-3D” projection tunnel concept that started as a Studio Tour scene in Hollywood, the Orlando version includes a climactic encounter with Kong as an Animatronic. The figure is impressive – it’s on our list of the 25 Best Animatronics on Earth for a reason – but it’s also a very different experience than the one we saw in Kongfrontation. Rather than an enraged, mad, terrifying ape, it’s a protective, exhausted Kong… certainly not the preferred version of the character.
The Declassified Disaster: Stitch’s Great Escape is often recalled as one of the worst attractions Disney has ever hosted. An IP-overtake of the legendary (and terrifying) Alien Encounter, Stitch’s Great Escape was an uneven, awkward, and physically uncomfortable experience wherein the mischievous “Experiment 626” spit on guests, burped in their faces, and bounced on their shoulders. Too juvenile for thrillseekers but still too scary for kids, the attraction somehow managed to last longer than its cult classic predecessor, but finally, mercifully closed for good in January 2018.
Stitch’s Great Escape may have been awful… but the animatronics that served as its centerpiece were incredibly impressive. The Stitch figure was the show’s centerpiece, and held up even under the close scrutiny that an audience of 162 seated around it would entail. Stitch was lifelike in his movements & expression, and at least technically, his ability to literally hock loogies on the audience was impressive.
It’s a shame that the same figure couldn’t have been used for a better show… except, it kind of was! A similar Stitch became the centerpiece of Tokyo Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents “Aloha e Komo Mai” – a character takeover that would earn pitchforks and torches in the U.S., but suits the audience in Japan well.
4. Buzzy
Image: Disney, via D23.com
The Wonders of Life pavilion was a latecomer to EPCOT, opening in 1989. That also makes it an early foothold in what would become a major reevaluation of what the park should be. The health-and-wellness focused pavilion was anchored by the Lost Legend: Body Wars – a highly turbulent simulator using the Star Tours ride system (and besting the latter’s opening by mere months). But among the pavilion’s suite of supporting attractions was another substantial offering…
In “Cranium Command,” guests were recruited to step inside the mind of “the most unstable craft in the fleet” – a twelve year old boy. With rookie would-be commando Buzzy at the controls, guests watched through the “eyes” of preteen Bobby as he navigated the daily labyrinth of stressors and challenges young people face, underwritten by a host of organs (most voiced by comedians and Saturday Night Live cast members of the late ’80s). Meanwhile, the “in theater animatronic” Buzzy served as a sweet little hero – and a completely original one at that – who was likable, funny, and well animated.
Unfortunately, Wonders of Life didn’t last long. The pavilion’s sponsor – MetLife – declined to renew its support in 2001, leading to a quick and surprising decline of maintenance. In 2004, Wonders of Life was switched to “seasonal” status – a death knell for rides. When holiday crowds left the resort in January 2007, Wonders of Life closed, too, for the last time. In an odd and infamous incident, it was reported in 2018 (and substantiated in 2019) that the “Buzzy” animatronic had been stolen. A Disney Cast Member with an alleged penchant for stealing and selling ride props was charged in the theft and pleaded “no contest” to the charges, but as far as anyone in the public is aware, Buzzy has never been recovered.
By now, we all know the story – in the 2010 wake of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it was clear that the theme park industry had been changed forever. The age of the “Living Land” had arrived, and theme park operators raced to choose, purchase, or license the biggest intellectual properties they could find in (or out of) their home-grown studio catalogs.
As the story goes, seeing guests line up for shops and restaurants in Universal’s Hogsmeade lit a fire under Disney that had not been seen in decades. The first Disney-distributed Marvel film was still a year away; the company’s purchase of Lucasfilm, two years away. So there, sensing a seismic shift to the business, Disney looked around for something – anything! – Potter-sized to bring to its parks. And in 2010, nothing was bigger than Avatar.
Image: 20th Century Studios
The James Cameron film had spent the year breaking every conceivable record. Its box office ultimately topped $2.7 billion – an unthinkable sum even today, when billion-dollar blockbusters are still rare. Avatar had captured the globe. A first wide-release modern 3D film, it was a sensation; a CGI big screen event that few had ever seen on such a scale before. If you didn’t see Avatar, you were out of the loop. And that meant that Disney’s 2011 announcement – that it had acquired the worldwide, global rights to build theme park attractions based on the 20th Century Fox film – was a major win… Right?
The Anti-Avatar Club
Image: 20th Century Studios / Lightstorm
To be clear, there was pretty immediate pushback to Disney’s September 2011 announcement. Though the deal had only been secured days earlier, we already knew the first output: a full, permanent Avatar land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. That, of course, ruffled feathers.
Did a PG-13 sci-fi action film really belong at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? For that matter, how would a fictional alien moon besieged by a human-led military assault for mineral resources seen in the film translate to a theme park at all? Who would want to visit a war-torn Pandora? What made this one-year-old film worthy of a permanent land besides its box office? And why should Disney’s purest and most beautiful theme park be burdened with a land themed to a 20th Century Fox war movie?
Image: 20th Century Studios
It was clear that fans weren’t thrilled about the project that would become Pandora: The World of Avatar. And though it sounds short-sighted in retrospect, anyone who was a fan of the parks in the early 2010s will tell you: we were all on the Anti-Avatar bandwagon. It seemed like the wrong time, place, and property; like this was an unproven IP that didn’t deserve a permanent land. And adding even more complexity to the situation, something unprecedented happened to Avatar: it disappeared.
Seriously, most of the 2010s were filled with online think pieces that basically wondered aloud: Why Doesn’t Anyone Care About The Biggest Film of All Time? Just about everyone had seenAvatar; but no one seemed to remember it. An easy test was to ask a room of friends if they could recall the movie’s plot; quote a single memorable line; even name the main character.
Image: Disney
It seemed true that Disney’s big bet on Avatar had been a dud. Especially if an Avatar area was supposed to be Disney’s answer to Harry Potter, even a few years had revealed that the biggest movie of all time still didn’t stand a chance next to the “boy wizard.” Even as the first concept art and models of the land were revealed in 2013, skepticism remained high.
As Avatar fell further from pop culture memory year after year after year, fans began to cross their fingers that Disney was noticing Avatar‘s lack of staying power. Rumors began to mount that internally, Disney regretted their deal; that James Cameron’s infamous difficulty to work with was wearing on Imagineering; that Disney toured the rights-holders to J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings around Animal Kingdom, perhaps as a signal to Cameron that if he didn’t play ball, an IP-infused version of the park’s never-built Beastly Kingdom might indeed rise instead of an Avatar land.
A sequel – initially set for 2014 – didn’t materialize. Even so, Cameron announced that instead of the two follow-up films he’d initially announced, Avatar would now have no less than five sequels. It was almost laughable, starting a whole new round of mockery. In the midst of the world forgetting about Avatar, who cared about an Avatar sequel, much less five of them?! Sure, the first film had made more money than any other – probably on the back of inflated 3D ticket prices and vital, gotta-see-it CGI appeal… but a second film wouldn’t have the same built-in, billion-dollar guarantee, especially if no one cared about or remembered the characters or plot.
Image: Disney / Lightstorm
But after three years of silence, Camp Minnie-Mickey closed… and it seemed inevitable that a still-unnamed Avatar land was coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, like it or not. Though we all know how that went, on the next page, we’ll dissect the worries around Avatar 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and decide if Avatar is over… again.
It wasn’t too long ago that a theme park attraction was lifeless without Audio-Animatronics. In fact, the number and complexity of these robotic animated figures was often proportional to a ride’s budget and success! Put simply: if you wanted to blow audiences away, animatronics figures were the way to do it.
Rocky Mountain Construction. The very name leaves coaster enthusiasts gushing, ranking, and daydreaming. Yep, there may be no coaster manufacturer who’s more transformed the amusement industry in the 21st century than “RMC.”
Today, we’re taking a cross-country roadtrip to look at six landmark RMCs of the past and present – including rides that redefined what roller coasters can be. Then, we’ll dip our toes into some forecasting, looking at two high profile projects that lay just over the horizon for the cutting-edge, industry-changing coaster manufacturer… and for all of us who love thrill rides. Strap in and hang on!
Believe it or not, it was less than 15 years ago that the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter changed the game for theme parks. Since then, a global race to build immersive, plucked-from-the-screen lands has been on, with operators racing to build worlds based on high-earning blockbuster franchises. From Hogsmeade to Batuu, Diagon Alley to Radiator Springs, Super Mario World to Avengers Campus, Pandora to Arendelle, the battle of the “Living Lands” is still in full force.
Now, Disney’s next entry in this expanding collection of cinematic theme park lands is readying for its big debut… but for several reasons, fans are divided on whether or not this one should make the jump back to Walt Disney World… What do you think?
Things are getting weird in the roller coaster world…
Once upon a time, fans knew their coaster manufacturers forward and backward. Arrow. B&M. Intamin. Premier. RMC. But increasingly, something very unusual is spreading across the world of thrill rides: “Mutant Coasters“. These unique hybrids are literal fusions of new and old; of wood and steel; and even of multiple ride manufacturers whose dissimilar pieces are literally bolted together in plain sight. Like a chemical reaction, these unlikely combinations together create something entirely unique.
Today, we’ll take a look at six wild case studies of mutated rides, made of unusual pieces that build into one complete whole. We think you’ll agree that in most of these cases, we’re lucky to have seen what happens when these parts hybridized into something new…
It’s one of the most anticipated data drops in all of theme park nerd-dom… Every year, a consulting firm called AECOM partners with the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) to release an annual report on the ups and downs of theme parks, waterparks, museums, and other “thematic” experiences from the year prior. The annual Global Attractions Attendance Report is a fascinating document that theme park fans should dive into in depth. It’s filled with the highs and lows, global contexts, and stories that permeated theme park news in the year prior.
But most importantly… it also contains a ranking of theme park attendance. To be clear, most theme park operators do not disclose their parks’ attendance, and even if they speak in broad generalities, totals, or percentages at investor calls, they almost never divulge specific attendance figures for specific parks… However, it’s known that many operators do work with AECOM to come up with fairly accurate figures since it’s in the best interest of their share price, financial disclosures, and year-upon-year narratives that their attendance be discussed vaguely, but honestly.
Theme parks are living creatures. Sure, they grow and change and “will never be complete…” But even more, they’re made of complex systems and elements all working together so effortlessly, you may not even realize they’re working at all. Berms act as skin, insulating parks from the sights of the outside world; intuitive layouts are a skeleton, giving the park structure; pathways act as veins and arteries, pulsing guests instead of blood; restrooms are… Well…
You’d have to be pretty off-the-theme-park-grid to have missed the ups and downs of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. Just about every moment of the Starcruiser’s 18-month life has been covered online, in equal parts adoration and mockery. And it’s easy to see why…
On one hand, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was the kind of ambitious, forward-thinking, risky, and industry-pivoting project we just haven’t seen from a play-it-safe Disney since California Adventure’s $1.2 billion reimagining kicked off. Despite the shorthand, calling the Galactic Starcruiser a hotel was like calling Disneyland a fair. Sure, it had beds, but guests aboard the “Halcyon” didn’t just sleep. They were part of a multi-day, fully-immersive, living theater experience that cast them as real denizens of the Star Wars universe who found themselves in an all-encompassing, unfolding story…
