Which Disney Ride Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?
Something I love about Disney theme parks is how they linger in your memory long after you’ve left.
Disney employs numerous techniques to turn each visit into an unforgettable experience.
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Central to that strategy is musical accompaniment. Many attractions utilize music to establish a mood or enhance a sensation.
Some of these songs accomplish the task so well that you’ll think about them longer after the fact.
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Here are nine songs from Disney attractions that I just. Can’t. Get. Out. Of. My. Head!
Heigh-Ho – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
I don’t mean what I just said in a bad way, but Disney absolutely uses senses like hearing and smell to manipulate you at the parks.
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Disney has mastered euphoria-inducing techniques, causing a psychological effect on your park visits.
The people running the Happiest Place on Earth have PhDs in the craft of feel-good entertainment. Songs are integral to that joy.
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For example, Disney knows that the most iconic song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will make everybody happy.
So, when Disney rebuilt its former Snow White attraction into Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, park officials turned Heigh-Ho into a centerpiece moment.
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As you begin your mine cart climb to exit the gem mine, Doc joyfully shouts out the start of their beloved work song.
Gradually, others appear in shadow form on the walls, providing a distraction as you vertically ascend the mountain for the second half of the ride.
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The song will bounce in your head as you make your way through the twists and turns of the mountain’s downward slope.
Two hours later, you may not even remember why, but you’ll still hear that disembodied voice shouting, “Heeeeeeeeeeigh-Ho!”
Image Credit: Disney
In the Big Blue World – The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Much of what I said about Heigh-Ho applies to most of the attractions on this list.
You’re already familiar with most of these songs before you board the rides. So, you’re that much more inclined (vulnerable?) to have them as earworms afterward.
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Anyone who has watched Finding Nemo is intimately familiar with In the Big Blue World, the breakout song from the blockbuster film.
At one point, Finding Nemo set the bar for Pixar box office triumphs, and it later dominated home video as well. Long story short, people know this song.
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Notably, Disney uses In the Big Blue World as a secret weapon on The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Imagineers save it until the end.
A long-suffering starfish waits by the ride’s exit and quips repeatedly about elements of the ride. Some of the jokes revolve around her hearing the song constantly.
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So, this part of the ride mirrors your own experience. Like that fish, you’ll be humming In the Big Blue World almost reflexively as you walk away from this pavilion.
It’s a Small World – It’s a Small World
Do I even need to say anything here?
In times of military conflict, soldiers have utilized death metal and other aggressively dissonant songs to demoralize the enemy.
Let’s be honest. They should use It’s a Small World. I have no idea how cast members at this attraction don’t go insane from hearing it on a loop all day.
Some music historians argue that it’s the most played song in modern times. Only Happy Birthday rivals it in this debate.
Remarkably, It’s a Small World represents only one of three Sherman Brothers songs on this list. Those gentlemen are unforgettable music savants.
Let It Go – Frozen Ever After
Here’s another obvious choice.
Like with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Disney built the entire Frozen Ever After attraction around one song.
Image Credit: Disney
Sure, others like In Summer will play during the attraction. However, everything builds to that pinnacle of musical performance.
You watch Elsa belt out Let It Go from the tower of her ice palace.
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The show stopping performance would take anyone’s breath away. It’s the anchor moment in a brilliant ride experience. And let’s be real.
Most Disney fans are likely to break into song when they think about Frozen anyway. Right?!
Image Credit: Disney
Nothing Can Stop Us Now – Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Here’s the newest entry on this list. Disney introduces the song during the pre-ride short, Perfect Picnic.
Then, you’ll hear Nothing Can Stop Us Now play (ironically) throughout the madcap adventure.
The lyrics suggest an impervious, upbeat picnic for Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The ride plays against expectations by taking you on a series of misadventures.
Somehow, the incongruity of Nothing Can Stop Us Now meshes perfectly with the ceaseless nonsense you survive during the ride.
I loooove Disney’s wry sense of humor here. The incongruity of Nothing Can Stop Us Now is what makes it so delightful.
One Little Spark – Journey into Imagination with Figment
Yeah, those Sherman brothers are pretty good at writing memorable lyrics.
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Since the inception of Journey into Imagination, One Little Spark has anchored the proceedings. It has survived two ride re-themings.
How has that happened? Nobody can imagine the Figment ride without One Little Spark. It’s an integral part of the story of the creative process.
There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow – Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Similarly, I defy anyone to shut their eyes and think about Carousel of Progress without hearing the song in their head.
Disney uses There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow as the connective tissue for each scene on the attraction.
That’s a brilliant idea because music is multigenerational. You don’t have to have lived through the days of the Rolling Stones or David Bowie to love the music.
Similarly, you don’t need to have used an icebox refrigerator to appreciate how much society has advanced since the first scene of this attraction.
The memorable, timeless song ties the story together and thereby completes the theme.
The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room – Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
I joke a lot about It’s a Small World, a song I somehow both love and fear.
However, for my money, nothing is more aggravating at Disney theme parks than The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room.
By my count, the song repeats the word Tiki 72 times! 72!!! I love those animatronic birds as much as the next person, but come on! That’s too much!
The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room doesn’t get in your head by accident. This song bullies its way into your mind’s eye.
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah – Splash Mountain
No, satisfactual isn’t a word. Yes, I still think about it a lot.
For whatever reason, this song has evolved into the most memorable part of Splash Mountain for me.
Overall, Splash Mountain features some of the best music at Disney theme parks. In fact, I’ve previously indicated that it’s got THE top soundtrack.
Despite the music’s regrettable origin, it’s upbeat with a positive message and an exuberance for life.
There’s a joyfulness permeating throughout Splash Mountain, but the ride saves the best for the end.
Once you splash down and notice the final boat at the end, you’ll hear a raucous performance of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah that will leave you smiling all day!
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