Which Disney Rides Are Retreads?
Sometimes, Disney does the unthinkable and changes something magical. Over the years, several attractions have changed into something else.
Here are nine Disney rides you may not realize are retreads.
Frozen Ever After
Some of these changes are more famous than others, but the list exemplifies how the transition from Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure isn’t unusual.In fact, Disney has recently faced several similar outcries over the past decade.
One of them involved Disney’s decision to close the beloved Maelstrom at EPCOT’s Norway pavilion.
Loyal fans loved that ride for the same reason Disney needed to change it.
Few guests rode Maelstrom, making it a frequent walk-on attraction…and a fun one!
While the change to a Frozen attraction has proven brilliant, many of us lament the death of Maelstrom.
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Then, we have a different example with the former Submarine Voyage.
This attraction anchored the “second opening of Disneyland” in 1959, making it an essential part of park lore.
Over the years, the idea of a submarine voyage based on 20,000 Leagues under the Sea proved less appealing to guests.
Eventually, Disneyland closed the ride in 1998. However, that was a waste of a good lagoon.
A few years later, Disney took an idea from EPCOT, one we’ll discuss later, and used it at Disneyland as we.
That’s why we have Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage now! It’s still a submarine ride…but now it stars Nemo!
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
I wrote an article about this in 2016, and it was STILL getting comments during the pandemic. In fact, it’s a popular chapter from one of my books.
The cause for this passion comes from West Coast fans’ love of Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
The Disney California Adventure (DCA) ride took up space in a section that Disney intended to re-theme to The Avengers, though.
Imagineers kicked off the process by re-theming the existing Tower of Terror ride building into a more story-based experience.
On the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, you bounce up and down while watching the heroes fighting.
That’s different than experiencing zero gravity in the dark. But you can still do that at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which still hosts the original Twilight Zone ride!
The Incredicoaster
We’re telling a story within a story as we discuss the many changes at Disneyland Resort during the 21st century.
Alongside the Marvel conversion at DCA, the park added Pixar Neighborhoods.
In the process, the marvelous roller coaster, California Screamin’, no longer made thematic sense.
Disney re-themed into a superior ride experience, as The Incredicoaster tells an exceptional story inside its tunnels. But California Screamin’ was pretty great!
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
With regard to some Disney changes, I’m just as prone to feelings of rage as you are. And one of the worst for me was when Disney closed the previous ride here.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride died so that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh could live.
Don’t get me wrong. I quite like Many Adventures, even if it is the inferior version of Pooh’s Hunny Hunt.
Still, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride embodies the start of Disney theme parks. It was an opening day attraction in 1955. It should have a presence at every park.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
You know this story because the wounds are still fresh.
Since the beginning, guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios could enter the park and walk straight back to The Great Movie Ride…until 2017.
Disney replaced The Great Movie Ride was an objectively better attraction in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. And that’s the odd part of this discussion.
In most instances, Imagineers correctly chose the ideal attraction to supersede its predecessor.
We don’t lament the new attraction inasmuch as the opportunity cost of what we lost in the exchange.
That statement will hold with Splash Mountain as well.
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Here’s probably the strangest selection on this list.
Oddly, in a perfect world, this Monsters-based attraction wouldn’t exist.
I say this because Disney anchored part of Disney California Adventure’s marketing around Hollywood star power.
Imagineers created Superstar Limo as an alleged E-ticket attraction at the park.
That *ahem* didn’t quite work. I think you know by now that I’m not prone to hyperbole. So, it should mean something when I say the following.
Superstar Limo is legitimately in the conversation for worst Disney attraction ever. It failed completely and closed after less than a year of operation.
A couple of years after that, Disney chose to recycle the space with a delightful Monsters, Inc. attraction.
While Tokyo Disneyland offers a better version of this ride concept, the one at DCA still charms guests. It’s definitively better than Superstar Limo, too.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
During the early years of EPCOT, guests anxiously anticipated The Living Seas, the aquatic pavilion that opened four years after the park itself.
Fans shared intense interest in what was the world’s largest saltwater tank for many years.
Alas, interest waned over time. Eventually, this entire pavilion failed to lure guests, which forced Imagineers to weigh alternatives.
The most daring of them at the time struck some as blasphemous.
Disney re-themed the former infotainment pavilion to a beloved Pixar character, Nemo.
At the time, Disney didn’t even own Pixar or the Finding Nemo franchise! That would claim later.
Still, park strategists felt confident enough in the character that it could reinvigorate the entire pavilion.
That strategy definitely worked for more than a decade, although The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilion possesses smaller crowds these days.
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
Disneyland has re-themed the former Snow White’s Scary Adventures twice over the years.
In the process, Imagineers have attempted to correct one of the worst opening day mistakes at The Happiest Place on Earth.
Nobody understood the Snow White ride in 1955 because Snow White never appeared in it.
Imagineers failed to convey the message that the rider was experiencing the story from the perspective of Snow White. This was an ongoing struggle for years!
In 1983, 28 years after the attraction’s debut, Disney fixed it for the first time…kind of.
Imagineers tried to tell the story better while augmenting the sets with more advanced technology.
Still, the ride didn’t always resonate with guests…until 2021. That’s when Imagineering icon Kim Irvine spearheaded the happier tale.
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish clarifies the story more and provides the proverbial happy ending that was previously missing.
This one’s among Disney’s best re-themes, even though it’s more of a hidden gem than a park staple.
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Feature Photo: Disney