5. Universal Studios Florida
OPENING: June 7, 1990 (33 years ago)
RIDES: 1
- E.T. Adventure
ATTRACTIONS: 1
- Animal Actors Live on Stage*
It’s no coincidence that both Disney and Universal’s ‘90s-flavored “studio” parks have shed nearly all their Opening Day attractions between them. Disney and Universal famously raced to see who could stake their studio park first. Universal’s property opened a year after Disney’s, albeit with quite a few more attractions.
Those Lost Legends: JAWS, Kongfrontation, and Earthquake (and soon after, Back to the Future: The Ride) were well-known, massively-scaled “creature feature” thrill rides that delighted (and terrified) a generation of Orlando guests. But the box office moves on, and by the New Millennium, the “oldies” those rides were based on were becoming increasingly unknown to the next generation of families.
In an effort to stay cool, Universal Studios Florida has famously squashed almost every Opening Day classic, including its famous tribute attractions to “Murder She Wrote” and Alfred Hitchcock, plus the Lost Legend: Nickelodeon Studios. The end result is that rides at this screen-heavy studio tend to have lifetimes measured in seasons, not decades (an IP-focused strategy looking more and more familiar to Disney fans…) – see the park’s current line-up that includes Fast & Furious: Supercharged and Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon as experiences that are brand new and yet already feel endangered.
6. Disney’s Animal Kingdom
OPENING: April 22, 1998 (25 years ago)
RIDES: 3
- Dinosaur*
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Wildlife Express
ATTRACTIONS: 3
- Festival of the Lion King*
- Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
- “It’s Tough to be a Bug!”
When Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, it was a stark (and seemingly intentional) rebuke of the “studio” era that had preceded it. Rather than a sparse backlot of mis-matched IPs and cop-out soundstages, the park was larger than life in every way; an epic, ambitious, creative venture exploring humanity’s link to nature in photorealistic and hyper-detailed lands and animal habitats. But when it opened, it offered just four rides – two E-Tickets, and two whose primary purpose was transportation within the gargantuan park.
Three of those four – the Wildlife Express train, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and the Lost Legend: Countdown to Extinction – still exist. (The ill-fated Discovery River Cruise folded when guests mistook it for a Jungle Cruise style adventure, waited in line, and then discovered it was merely a ferry across the park.) Other remaining Opening Day attractions include the Africa-set zoo exhibit, “It’s Tough to be a Bug,” and the Festival of the Lion King. In other words, though it doesn’t look like many Opening Day originals remain at Animal Kingdom, it’s just that the park didn’t have many rides or attractions to begin with.
7. Universal’s Islands of Adventure
OPENING: May 28, 1999 (24 years ago)
RIDES: 10
- The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man*
- Caro-Seuss-el
- Cat in the Hat
- Dr. Doom’s Fearfall
- Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls
- Incredible Hulk Coaster*
- Jurassic Park River Adventure
- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
- Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges
- Pteranodon Flyers
ATTRACTIONS: 3
- Camp Jurassic
- If I Ran The Zoo…
- Jurassic Park Discovery Center
The difference between remaining Opening Day originals at Universal Studios and its sister park is staggering. Sure, you might initially think it’s because Islands of Adventure is a much newer park than the Studios… but there are only 9 years between the respective openings of the two! There’s no secret here except that Islands of Adventure intentionally set out to do something different: to prove that Universal could rise above “studio backlot” themed parks of ever-changing IP. Instead, designers focused on creating a park of timeless characters and exotic, adventurous, and technicolor worlds based not on movies, but stories – a humongous difference.
As a result, the park’s lands are much more permanent. There are no “blank canvas” soundstages or wishy-washy, noncommittal themed lands like “New York” and “Hollywood.” Instead, the park’s attractions are deeply integrated into its immersive, literary lands. And without the pressure of keeping the park stocked with box office blockbusters, its more evergreen stories – like Dr. Seuss, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Jurassic Park, Marvel superheroes, Greek gods, and Harry Potter – can relax a little, giving Universal Orlando some true classics that the Studio park would’ve ripped out long ago!
8. Disney California Adventure
OPENING: February 8, 2001 (22 years ago)
RIDES: 3
- Golden Zephyr
- Grizzly River Run
- Jumpin’ Jellyfish
ATTRACTIONS: 4
- Animation Academy
- Boudin Bakery Tour
- Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
- Sorcerer’s Workshop
Perhaps aside from Epcot, there’s no theme park on Earth to have undergone such a complete reimagining as Disney California Adventure. We chronicled the park’s unimaginable rebirth in a two-part feature – Disney’s California (Mis)Adventure: Part I and Part II – stepping through the unprecedented, all-at-once, $1.2 billion construction project that served as Disney Imagineering’s white flag of defeat for the park’s original style and substance.
To be fair, Disney California Adventure didn’t have many rides to begin with – one of the biggest complaints about the park. Several boardwalk-style flat rides and two roller coasters technically remain, but have been heavily rethemed and redressed during the park’s waves of transformation that we’d hesitate to say they’re really “Opening Day” attractions; two of its distinctly-Californian hits – the Lost Legends: Soarin’ Over California and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, have strangely exited while Pixar and Marvel have moved in in big ways.
If Disney California Adventure were a person, it would only now be old enough to buy alcohol. Yet its phenomenally ambitious redesign (and the continuing evolution since) has left just three rides untouched – two carnival flat rides and a raft ride. Of course, it’s also the only Disney Park to ever have a second Grand Opening (in 2012)… and the list of rides surviving from that opening would be quite a bit longer.
Thank you so much for reading. Now, it’s your turn to join the story. If you enjoy spending time falling down the “rabbit hole” of Park Lore’s in-depth, ad-free, member-supported stories, consider becoming a Member for as little as $2 / month.
Members can unlock rare concept art in every tale, reveal attraction audio streams in select stories, gain access to over a hundred exclusive articles in our quick-read Extra Features and in-depth Special Features collections, gain exclusive podcast extras, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail! (Plus, y’know, supporting research-based, ad-free, clickbait-free, in-depth theme park writing!)