There’s nothing quite as distinctly Disney as the “Disneyland-style” theme park. Since Walt’s original magic kingdom opened in 1955, the tenets of a “Castle Park” have been written and rewritten, from Anaheim to Orlando; Tokyo to Paris; Hong Kong to Shanghai.
Here at Park Lore, we explored that evolution in our must-read Park Paths Special Feature, seeing how the histories and personalities of each park can be read in its pathways. That’s probably as close as we can get to comparing the more qualitative aspects of each “Castle Park” – their malleability and rigidity; their revelatory spaces and discovered ones; their naivete and certainty.
So today, we wanted to compare those six sister parks more quantitatively. Luckily, our By-The-Numbers miniseries in Park Lore’s Extras Collection gives us a perfect place to start: their rides (note that as in that feature, we mean ride – not attractions, shows, walkthroughs, etc. which would be far too subjective and cumbersome to include as you’ll see below…).
After many, many, many drafts and attempts to get it just right, we’ve assembled a one-of-a-kind, six-way Venn diagram to see both the shared rides and – just as interestingly – the rides exclusive to one “Castle Park” versus its sisters. We’ll reveal each park’s exclusives one by one below, but if you’re as fascinated by this “Comparing Kingdoms” graphic as we are, you can purchase poster and canvas prints (or tees to give people behind you in line something to study) at Park Lore’s Shop.
This in-depth article is just one entry in Park Lore’s one-of-a-kind Special Features collection, where we explore the threads that connect between rides, parks, and pop culture! From Imagineering’s secret Society of Explorers and Adventurers, to the history of Chuck E. Cheese; from Disney and Universal’s AVENGERS: “Custody War” to the two-part tale of animation’s rebirth in the generation-defining ’90s Disney Renaissance!
Special Features are typically available exclusively for those who support this evolving theme park history project with a monthly Membership. It’s been unlocked for a limited time, but if you enjoy what you read, consider becoming a Park Lore Member for as little as $2 / month!
6. Disneyland Paris (1992)
“Castle Park” exclusive rides: 3
- Indiana Jones et le Temple of Péril
- Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain – Rebel Mission
- Phantom Manor
Disneyland Paris is pretty clearly the “red-headed stepchild” of Disney’s “Castle Parks.” Imagineers spent years designing a richly romantic, deeply detailed, and beautifully scaled park, only have it be outright rejected by the French. Disneyland Paris was plunged into a financial meltdown that lead to decades of closures, cop-outs, and cancellations across Imagineering. What’s worse, the resort’s second park – the Declassified Disaster: Walt Disney Studios – has absorbed nearly every dollar in capital expense since. Disneyland Paris’ newest from-scratch E-Ticket opened nearly thirty years ago.
As a result of being in suspended animation, Disneyland Paris has the fewest exclusive rides of any “Castle Park’s” collection – and two of them are technically variants of stateside classics (though we argue that both the park’s Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain spinoffs are different enough from their American counterparts to count as something else entirely – “bucket list” entries for many Disney Parks enthusiasts).
What’s also interesting is to see what rides Disneyland Paris does not share with other “Castle Parks.” The swapped placements of Frontierland and Adventureland mean the park has no Tom Sawyer Island and no Jungle Cruise. Its cooler weather kept Splash Mountain out. And since it’s been essentially unchanged since 1995, it missed the Winnie the Pooh bandwagon – the only “Castle Park” without a Pooh dark ride!
Must-See Exclusive: Depending on your thrill tolerance, either of the park’s two “reimagined” classics will do. The Modern Marvel: Phantom Manor is an operatic experiment that repurposes the bones of the Haunted Mansion as something new. The genuinely-eerie ride replaces dancing ghosts with decaying corpses and singalongs with saloons. Though rethemed with Star Wars, the core of the Lost Legend: Space Mountain – De la Terre á la Lune still provides an experience unlike any other – a launched Space Mountain that flips guests upside down three times.
5. Magic Kingdom (1971)
“Castle Park” exclusive rides: 5
- Goofy’s Barnstormer
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin*
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
- Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid*
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Believe it or not, Magic Kingdom has only five genuinely-exclusive rides among its “Castle Park” sisters, and two of them get asterisks (meaning that, yes, this is the only “Castle Park” that has them, but they exist at other Resorts in a “non-Castle Park.”) Interestingly, you might also argue that not one of Magic Kingdom’s exclusive rides would qualify as an E-Ticket – even if two of them are classic fan-favorites that Magic Kingdom has mercifully preserved since 1975.
It makes some amount of sense. Magic Kingdom was quite literally “Disneyland East.” Additions and subtractions during the translation from California to Florida were relatively few in terms of rides, and just about every headlining addition to the park since (like Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain) has come to Magic Kingdom only when rolling out to multiple “Castle Parks.” It’s even happened this decade, when Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ceased being exclusive to Florida’s “Castle Park” thanks to Shanghai. (On the other hand, Disney World’s clone of TRON Lightcycle Run pulled the ride out of Shanghai’s exclusives, too.)
And yes, I can already hear readers shouting, “But Disney World has a ton of exclusive stuff when you add in the rides at the other three parks!” You’re right! It does! But comparing Castle Park to Castle Park is an interesting measure, and maybe a new way of seeing how these particular parks stack up. Because sure, Walt Disney World as a whole has a lot of exclusives… but maybe seeing what only Magic Kingdom has among Castle Parks tells a story, too, and helps explain why some Disneyland regulars opt to skip the park entirely.
Must-See Exclusive: Whereas every other resort’s “must-try” is some exclusive, blockbuster, showstopping E-Ticket, Magic Kingdom’s list of exclusives lends itself more toward nostalgia. Given that Disneyland’s Lost Legend: The PeopleMover closed decades ago and remains rotting in plain sight, Disney World’s version of the continuously-moving aerial highway is an absolute delight.
Likewise, the Modern Marvel: Carousel of Progress just a few steps away is literally a landmark of Imagineering. Walt Disney allegedly named the Audio-Animatronics show his personal favorite and decreed that it should never cease operation. Just to be safe, consider it a “must-see.”
4. Tokyo Disneyland (1983)
“Castle Park” exclusive rides: 6
- Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast
- Happy Ride of Baymax
- Monsters Inc.: Ride & Go Seek
- Pooh’s Hunny Hunt
- Splash Mountain
- Western River Railroad
Interestingly, Tokyo Disneyland’s three standout “exclusives” are three massively popular dark rides. Monsters Inc.: Ride & Go Seek may be an odd fit for Tomorrowland, but the interactive dark ride is absolutely sensational. Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast is the park’s newest attraction. While it finally gives Beauty and the Beast a permanent ride, reviews have been mixed given that the attraction is of a genre we’ve never quite seen before.
Also notable: Splash Mountain became a Tokyo Disneyland exclusive when the other two versions of the ride – at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom – closed in 2023 to begin their conversions into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
One very interesting component of Tokyo’s “exclusive” ride collection is the Western River Railroad, which departs from a station above the Jungle Cruise boathouse, circles Adventureland and Frontierland, passes through the Primeval World, then returns. This “replacement” for the Disneyland Railroad was allegedly conceived because, due to Japanese transit regulation, a “traditional” Railroad encircling the park and stopping a various stations would require a timetable and ticketing, just like the resort’s Monorail.
Must-See Exclusive: Far and away, the park’s main draw for foreigners is Pooh’s Hunny Hunt. The first of Disney’s trackless dark rides (and thus, debuting one of our Seven Modern Wonders of the Theme Park World), the ride holds up even two decades later as one of Disney’s best. Even if it’s hard for stateside fans to believe that Tokyo’s Pooh ride is a genuine E-Ticket, Hunny Hunt will make anyone a believer.
Very interesting! I remember reading that Disneyland Paris also does not have a jungle cruise not just because of the weather, but also because other parks in Europe had similar attractions and would not find it exciting anymore. I also vaguely remember reading about Chinese culture towards ghosts and that’s one of the reasons why Shanghai doesn’t have a Haunted Mansion and the Hong Kong version doesn’t have ghosts, but I don’t know how accurate that is.