Comparing Kingdoms: Diagramming Disney’s Six “Castle Park” Ride Lineups, Exclusives, & Overlaps

3. Hong Kong Disneyland (2005)

“Castle Park” exclusive rides: 7

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle!
• Big Grizzly Mountain Mine Cars
• Frozen Ever After*
• Iron Man Experience
• Mystic Manor
• Toy Soldier Parachute Drop*
• Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs

One of the primary complaints levels against the itty-bitty Hong Kong Disneyland when it opened was just how little of note the park contained. Besides leaving out tried-and-true Disney Parks classics (like “it’s a small world,” Peter Pan’s Flight, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Big Thunder Mountain), the park had absolutely nothing – zero – that made it a must-visit versus any other “Castle Park.”

Obviously, a whole lot of work has gone into changing that. A three-year, three-land growth spurt added Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch, and Mystic Point – each of which contributed a “Castle Park” exclusive ride.

More recently, the park became a testing grounds for Marvel with the Iron Man Experience simulator. If Hong Kong still had its Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, the ride would be one of three to be found in every “Castle Park,” but the ride closed in 2017 to become a very different kind of shrinking ride themed to Marvel’s Ant-Man. (That makes Hong Kong the only resort without a Buzz blaster.)

The latest push for the park is a Frozen-themed mini-land. The “Living Land” style recreation of Arendelle includes a short (but elaborately decorated) family coaster and a copy of the Modern Marvel: Frozen Ever After (which, granted, is a Hong Kong Disneyland exclusive through this “Castle Park” comparison lens even though two non-“Castle Parks” – EPCOT and Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris – have versions of the ride.

Must-Try Exclusive: Despite all the pomp and circumstance around Hong Kong’s growth spurts, there’s arguably still nothing there that’s topped the Modern Marvel: Mystic Manor. Aside from its own in-depth entry through the ride’s creation, we cite this musical, S.E.A.-inspired haunted mansion as among the best trackless dark rides ever; and indeed, easily one of the best rides of this century so far.

2. Shanghai Disneyland (2016)

“Castle Park” exclusive rides: 8

• Hunny Pot Spin
• Jet Packs
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure
• Roaring Rapids
• Soaring Over the Horizon*
• Voyage to the Crystal Grotto
• Woody’s Round-Up
• Zootopia: Hot Pursuit

Not yet counted: Unnamed Zootopia ride

The legacy-leaving project of then-CEO Bob Iger, Shanghai Disneyland represented a reinvention in more ways than one. Finally breaking in to the massive market of mainland China, Iger’s 21st century Disneyland needed to make the Magic Kingdom palatable to a country with no interest in Americana and very little historical connection to Disney’s characters or movies. No Main Street. No Frontierland. No Adventureland. One look at its layout and you’ll recognize Shanghai Disneyland started from scratch.

Another part of its role as a reinventor? Allegedly, the park’s majority owner – the Chinese government-owned Shanghai Shendi Group – insisted that Disney drop any of its classic E-Tickets from the park, replacing them with custom counterparts. That’s why Shanghai Disneyland has relatively few intersections on the Venn diagram – no Haunted Mansion, no Marvel, no Jungle Cruise, no Star Wars, no “small world,” no Frozen, no Mountains…

Instead, the park debuted a handful of headliners, including the Modern Marvel: TRON Lightcycle Power Run (which is no longer exclusive to this Castle Park since it’s being uploaded in Florida), Soarin’ Over the Horizon (which has an asterisk since it’s been exported to California, Florida, and Japan, but never in a Castle Park), and Roaring Rapids (which technically borrowed the layout of another ride, but you’d be very hard-pressed to find any rider who’d recognize that).

A capacity-expansion project yielded the December 2023 opening of a land based on Zootopia – a film that performed exceptionally well in China. It added only a single new ride, but that ride (Zootopia: Hot Pursuit) is at least a one-of-a-kind trackless dark ride!

Must-Try Exclusive: It’s difficult to put Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure into words. Yes, it’s a Pirates ride overtly themed to the Pirates film series (which inherently irritates some Disneyland purists). But as a Disney Parks ride, Battle for Sunken Treasure is legitimately one of the most awe-inspiring experiences on Earth. Larger-than-life, ridiculously immersive, and packed with jaw-dropping moments and Audio-Animatronics, this is – without a doubt – the ride that singlehandedly is worth the plane ticket for many.

1. Disneyland (1955)

“Castle Park” exclusive rides: 10

• Alice in Wonderland
• Disneyland Monorail
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
• Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway*
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run*
• Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance*
• Sailing Ship Columbia

Spoiler alert: Disneyland is the smallest of Disney’s “Castle Parks” by size, yet packs in more rides than any other, more E-Tickets than any other, as many “Opening Day” Originals as any other, and now, more “Castle Park” exclusive rides than any other, too, including at least five that would rank as “headliners.”

Sure, both Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway are asterisk’ed here due to the fact that Walt Disney World does have them, but in terms of “Castle Parks,” only Disneyland fits them in.

Surviving since 1959, Disneyland’s ride lineup includes both the one-of-a-kind Matterhorn Bobsleds (the world’s first modern steel roller coaster) and Submarine Voyage (a Finding Nemo-overlaid older sister to Magic Kingdom’s closed Lost Legend: 20,000 Leagues). Similarly, Disneyland still has its version of Magic Kingdom’s Lost Legend: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, plus the only Alice in Wonderland dark ride at a Disney Park.

Must-See Exclusive: Since you can find Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its E-Tickets at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it only seems fair to highlight Disneyland’s legitimately-exclusive anchor attraction – the Modern Marvel: Indiana Jones Adventure. The epic adventure ride sends guests deep into the lost river temple of the forgotten god Mara, where booby traps and inexplicable special effects await.

Yes, Indiana Jones Adventure uses the spectacular EMV ride system and a nearly identical layout to Disney World’s Modern Marvel: DINOSAUR, but Indiana Jones Adventure is – without a doubt – one of the greatest rides of all time. Exclusive to Disneyland, the ride is a destination in its own right and makes every other “Castle Park’s” Adventureland feel suspiciously vacant.

Closing Comparisons

In our search to look at Disney Parks differently, the Venn diagram of “Castle Park” ride lineups is a pretty captivating sight! (Tap the image below for a larger and more detailed view). Aside from revealing which rides are located at just one of the “Castle Parks,” it also reveals interesting intersections, overlaps, and exclusions!

For example, only one “Castle Park” is without Peter Pan’s Flight; “it’s a small world” and the Mad Tea Party are missing from another. There are more Space Mountains than Splash Mountains; more Pirates than Autopias. Only Anaheim and Tokyo have Toontowns, while both Shanghai and Hong Kong feature Toy Story Lands – with some shared rides and some exclusive to each respective version.

In other words, it’s easy to lump “Castle Parks” together when we talk about Disney Parks and Imagineering… but frankly, the only thing they all have in common is a castle, a carousel, and a flying elephant!

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