Most Immersive Rides at Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney Company trains its Imagineers to follow the teachings of Walt Disney. The founder emphasized the magic of storytelling.
Uncle Walt wanted his theme park rides to work the same as his movies. The audience needed to buy into the illusion, and he wanted nothing to break that spell.
Photo: Disneyplanning.com
More than half a century after his death, Imagineers still honor that vision.
Here are the most immersive Walt Disney World theme park rides, the ones that make you believe in the impossible.
Avatar Flight of Passage
Avatar earned acclaim for its breathtaking special effects. The “movie” looked more like a video game. Its CGI heralded a new generation of augmented reality.
Photo: 20th Century Studios
Audiences lapped up the visuals so much that Avatar claimed the title of most successful box office blockbuster ever.
Still, some critics loudly decried Disney’s decision to build a themed land based on Avatar. Who’s laughing now?
Photo: Undercover tourist
Avatar Flight of Passage functions as the showcase attraction at this highly immersive themed land. The ride does the impossible.
You legitimately buy into the belief that you’ve mounted a Banshee and started a training/bonding flight through the world of Pandora.
Credit: Disney
Your majestic flight comes with visual splendors and more than a fair share of danger. Watch out for alien whales!
During Avatar Flight of Passage, you will totally forget about your real life on Planet Earth. That’s the purest form of immersion right there.
DINOSAUR
What I love about dark rides is that the human mind grows more susceptible to suggestion. When you’re in the dark, you lose sight of the things you know, at least for a time.
Suddenly, you’re perfectly willing to believe that you’ve traveled back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. You’ll feel small and endangered as you gaze upon the mighty beasts that once roamed Earth.
However, your fear and admiration for these beasts will disappear once your guide reminds you of the greater, more immediate danger.
An extinction-level event is only seconds away…and your time travel machine is malfunctioning! YOU’RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!
Photo: Disney
The genius of this attraction is that you honestly believe that statement for a moment before you safely return to the present and take a big sigh of relief.
Frozen Ever After
Image Credit: Disney
Arendelle isn’t real. On some level, I know this. Still, my love of the Frozen franchise makes me want to believe in Anna and Elsa and their kingdom.
When I hop on a Viking vessel and sail through the Norway pavilion, I forget I’m at EPCOT. Instead, I start to believe that Arendelle exists.
Credit: Disney
That’s not easy to do in a realm where a troll named the Grand Pabbie teaches children about the life of the royal siblings.
I mean, I generally don’t take life advice from trolls, nor should you. But it works here.
Photo: Disney
To a larger point, I defy anyone to look at their phone when Elsa belts out Let It Go during the ride’s climactic scene.
All eyes are on the Queen for as long as possible. Now that’s total immersion!
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Walt Disney himself would stare with his mouth agape as he rode this attraction. You literally enter a theme park recreation of a cartoon.
Disney created hundreds of hours of cartoons in his life. So you can imagine how many times he fantasized about living out a real-life version.
In 2020, Imagineers finally turned this dream into a reality, and it works stunningly well.
Your runaway train cannot control its destination, allowing you to visit several cartoon tropes like the busy city street or the underwater adventure.
At one point, Daisy Duck tutors you in the fine art of ballroom dancing. It’s an orchestrated series of maneuvers involving multiple ride carts.
During the whole experience, the gripping colors and highly detailed sets will draw you into this realm and hold your attention to the very last second.
Photo: Disney
You ARE the cartoon here, and it’s mesmerizing.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Let me state the obvious here because it’s essential to this conversation.
You. Enter. The. Cockpit. Of. The. Millennium. Falcon. I don’t mean theoretically. Imagineers actually built the thing. It’s the real deal.
Photo:(Abigail Nilsson)
Once you’re inside the cockpit, your team of six aspiring space heroes/thieves attempts to track down some Coaxium.
Seriously, the moment your mission starts, you WILL forget the outside world.
Photo: Matt Stroshane, photographer
Nothing else will matter as you attempt to fly and shoot your way out of danger.
You’ll only remember the real world when you check your score at the end.
Na’vi River Journey
Yes, Pandora – The World of Avatar earns two spots on this list, while Star Wars only makes one appearance.
I feel this way because I don’t find Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance fully immersive. Instead, it breaks the illusion multiple times during the various transitions.
Photo Credit: The Verge via Facebook
Contrast that to Na’vi River Journey, a boat ride through the jungles of Pandora. During this experience, you’ll gaze in wonder at the bioluminescent beauty.
Then, you’ll intersperse these moments with abject fear when you recognize that you’re little more than pretty to other residents of the forest.
(Kent Phillips, photographer)
Na’vi River Journey casts a magical spell that hypnotizes guests. It’s in the conversation for the most immersive attraction ever.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Here’s the newest entrant on the list and one of the best.
Photo: Disney
For nearly a decade, French Disney fans have known about and adored Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Most American Disney fans only learned of its greatness last year. But make no mistake that it is grrrrrrrrrrrreat.
This ride takes you into the kitchen of Gusteau’s Kitchen, which sounds great in theory.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
In practice, you’re the size of a rat, and everyone wants to kill you. So you’re basically Tyrion Lannister.
Imagineers have somehow recreated the most exciting elements of Ratatouille but added other features that make the ride seem like it’s 4-D.
Test Track
Photo: Disney
You may notice that Test Track is the only attraction with roller coaster elements that I’ve listed here. That’s not accidental.
Immersive theming proves exponentially more challenging on a roller coaster. Disney cannot control the person’s line of sight the same way.
Photo: Disney
Also, the velocity of the vehicles means that visuals only last for the blink of an eye.
Test Track works differently because half the ride involves a totally believable experiment. A car designer wants to ensure that the vehicle can handle various stress tests.
Photo: Disney
Later, after the work is done, playtime begins. The building’s doors fly open, freeing you to rev your engines and zoom down the straightway.
Test Track tells a story…and a good one at that.
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The complaint I made about Rise of the Resistance could just as easily fit here. After all, both attractions rely on cast member interactions and movement.
You’ll start in a library and watch Rod Serling relay the perils of this accursed space.
Then, you’ll wait in a second line before encountering a cast member who may be in character as one of the soulless victims of this tower.
Afterward, you take a seat in a ride cart that moves in an unexpected way. And that happens before the gravity-less elevator aspects come into play.
All the while, memorable elements from The Twilight Zone television series remind you that you don’t belong here.
Photo: Disney
Finally, you bounce up and down as you hold on for dear life…and possibly your immortal soul. It’s storytelling done right.
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