International Disney Rides We Need at Walt Disney World
Well, the wait has finally ended. Some MickeyBloggers have ridden Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT.
So, we no longer feel incredibly jealous of Disneyland Paris for having a ride that we didn’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOHAOczFLiE&t=73s
Still, Disney’s international theme parks include several more attractions that consume us with envy.
Here are seven international Disney rides we need at Walt Disney World.
Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast
We will start with the newest Disney attraction in the world, at least until Ratatouille opens at EPCOT.
I wrote about it a few days after it opened, but here’s a refresher. This Tokyo Disneyland attraction puts you inside the movie!
You re-live some of the most memorable moments from Beauty and the Beast, most impressively the Be Our Guest scene.
Yes, Imagineers have created a dancing dishes scene that you’ll watch from different angles.
The ride cart moves around the table, allowing you to appreciate several different views.
Other songs like Something There and Beauty and the Beast (of course!) provide the backdrop for other set pieces.
Fans of the soundtrack will feel like you’re in The Good Place on this ride.
I love Enchanted Tales with Belle, but Magic Kingdom would do well to add this attraction also or instead.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril
The Indiana Jones comeback tour is about to start in earnest. The new movie comes out next summer.
We can joke and should joke about Harrison Ford’s age. After all, he’s ten years older than Sean Connery was during Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Still, the return of Indiana Jones should stir excitement for one of cinema’s greatest icons.
At Disneyland Paris, a roller coaster entertains the French and sticks in the craw of American Disney fans.
In some other timeline, we’d all have ridden this coaster many times, as it was once a contender for Disneyland.
Instead, park officials went with Indiana Jones Adventure, one of the best dark rides ever.
So, the West Coast crew can’t complain about its fate. Instead, Walt Disney World fans still hold out hope that an Indiana Jones Land is coming.
This thematic coaster would seem right at home in such a place. Its archaeological set-pieces mesh perfectly with the ride experience.
Photo: Disneyland Paris
Temple of Peril features some of the best Disney theming anywhere. And rumors persist that it could one day come to Walt Disney World!
Iron Man Experience
The reverse is true here. Unfortunately, Walt Disney World won’t get a version of this Hong Kong Disneyland attraction anytime soon. That’s regrettable.
However, I hold out hope that Disney will eventually cut a deal with Universal Studios to reclaim the rights to Marvel attractions.
On that day, Disney could do far worse than planning an updated version of this ride.
The experience presents what’s basically an updated version of Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, only with Iron Man!
You know that’s something people want when the end of the movie, The Martian, includes one character saving his own life by LARPing as Iron Man!
In fact, Iron Man Experience would make a bit more sense in the United States.
Iron Man delivers all his lines in English, while the rest of the attraction is in Mandarin. So, it’s a bit muddled there and would seem more cohesive here!
Mystic Manor
This one also falls into the bucket of “wildly unlikely to happen.” After all, Mystic Manor counts as Hong Kong Disneyland’s equivalent to Haunted Mansion.
Of course, those comparisons aren’t entirely accurate. Yes, the park wanted its own gothic adventure. However, Mystic Manor embraces the silly more.
An adorable monkey named Albert gets up to all sorts of shenanigans when he interacts with his human’s various mystical objects. What ARE the odds?
Poor Albert takes like 18 arrows to his clothing before he eventually encounters the proverbial Monkey King.
Thankfully, Albert survives all these harrowing encounters and emerges none the worse for wear. It’s all so adorable yet stunningly thematic.
This ride features a ton of impressive Imagineering tricks that I’d love to have at Walt Disney World.
Would Disney build Mystic Manor as a standalone attraction when Magic Kingdom already has Haunted Mansion? I don’t know, but that’s totally what I want!
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt
Have you ridden on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway or Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?
If so, you understand the genius of trackless ride technology. You cannot see the rails underneath the attraction. So, you have no idea where it’s going.
Pooh’s Hunny Hunt invented that technology. In 2000, this Tokyo Disneyland attraction became the first one in the world to have a cart that can move anywhere.
Fans have clamored for a similar version at Magic Kingdom for more than 20 years.
Our trip to Hundred Acre Wood, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, delights in its own way.
Alas, that ride opened in 1999, a year before Tokyo’s version blew it out of the water. So, we’ve had a chip on our shoulder ever since then!
Come on, Disney! It’s time to bring the Hunny Hunt to Walt Disney World!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EcujmrPBIM
If I could only pick one attraction to bring to the United States, I’d either go with Beauty and the Beast or this one.
Battle for the Sunken Treasure begins in a familiar way to Pirates of the Caribbean fans everywhere.
Then, the ride dives under the sea in search of buried treasure. That’s when the 21st century Imagineering technology shines through. It’s gorgeous and gripping!
Disney incorporates movie screens and a different, more mobile ride cart to tell a more immersive story.
The problem with translating this one to Walt Disney World comes down to duplication. What would happen to the real Pirates of the Caribbean?
As such, rumors persist that Disney will eventually use the same ride structure for a different, non-pirates ride instead.
Disney does something similar with Radiator Springs Racers, Test Track, and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Those three attractions all employ the same underlying ride mechanics.
A ride on Radiator Racers is always a must when visiting Disney California Adventure Park
Credit: Disney
So, we NEED some variation of Battle for the Sunken Treasure, just not necessarily one with Captain Jack Sparrow.
Shanghai Disneyland fans should feel quite fortunate to have this ride, though. It’s quite possibly the best Disney attraction in the world!
Roaring Rapids
One of the lingering complaints about Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is that it isn’t Disney enough.
Don’t get me wrong. The theming is impeccable. However, the ride experience doesn’t distinguish itself much from other whitewater rapid rides.
Shanghai Disneyland officials unlocked the key. Their version of the same ride structure utilizes a bit more speed and one unique immersive element.
At one point during this attraction, you go into an indoor area that blocks out the sun. The darkness adds to the thrill, just like with Space Mountain!
So, Disney doesn’t necessarily need to toss out Kali River Rapids, whose environmental message still resonates.
However, adding a part that takes place in the dark would add some oomph and make it closer in spirit to the superior Roaring Rapids.
Feature Image: Hong Kong Disneyland
