What We’ve Lost: Disney World Rides That Closed
Walt Disney encouraged his Imagineers to look forward with their planning.
The creator of Disneyland firmly believed that Disney must innovate to remain at the forefront of family entertainment.
Sadly, progress often requires sacrifice. At the parks, that philosophy has led to the ending of several beloved attractions.
Here are the Walt Disney World rides that have closed during the 21st century.
Body Wars
As a Gilmore Girls and EPCOT fan, I have a soft spot for Body Wars.
When you watch the Body Wars video, you may recognize that actor as the Headmaster at Rory Gilmore’s school, Chilton.
That’s not even the most famous actor you’ll see during this video, as Tim Matheson and Elisabeth Shue play vital roles in the story.
Basically, Body Wars is an unlicensed, more educational version of Innerspace, a Martin Short film that came out two years earlier.
You board a scientific vessel, shrink down in size, and explore the human body. Oh, and everything goes wrong during your trip.
For 1989, this attraction proved remarkably innovative, albeit overly dramatic. When we look back on it now, it’s…*ahem* dated.
Ellen’s Energy Adventure
Here’s an excellent example of an attraction Disney had to kill to make EPCOT more efficient.
The former Universe of Energy pavilion took up a lot of space, but the attraction here, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, was almost always a walk-on.
That doesn’t signify a lackluster ride, though. In truth, Ellen’s Energy Adventure was quite charming in its own way.
Disney hired Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye “The Science Guy,” Jamie Lee Curtis, and Alex Trebek to tell a story about the worst Jeopardy contestant ever.
Once Ellen traveled back in time, she learned how fossil fuels work, at least enough to return to the present and wipe the floor with Curtis.
Since this ride closed, DeGeneres suffered a toxic media cycle, while Curtis won an Academy Award. So, Disney may have cast this one backward.
Still, any attraction with Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, and the current Madame Leota in it is aces by me.
Honestly, though, what I personally miss about Ellen’s Energy Adventure was that it was a great place to nap.
I think we’d all agree that EPCOT is objectively better now that it has Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind instead.
ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter/Stitch’s Great Escape
Disney tried two variants of the same premise. Guests at Tomorrowland could sit down and enjoy something akin to a ride that was really a show.
I’ve always thought of this ride mechanic as the inverse of a dark ride because you sit perfectly still. The action comes to you.
At ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, you sat in the round in a darkened theater and watched a horror story play out in front of you.
Scientists tried to perform research on an alien, who predictably escaped and terrorized guests. And that’s the reason why it didn’t last.
Alien Encounter was quite possibly the least Disney attraction ever at Magic Kingdom. It was decidedly adult and genuinely frightening at times.
While some guests adored the attraction for its novelty, Disney believed it wasn’t a scheme fit. So, Imagineers re-themed it with Stitch.
The idea is that if kids are going to have an alien encounter, it should be with something fluffy and merchandise-worthy.
Alas, Stitch’s Great Escape never resonated with guests, even Stitch superfans like my wife. It was just…okay.
Eventually, Disney gave up on this ride building, which remains unused to this day.
Hopefully, Disney will put something here soon, as it’s a pretty glaring gap.
The Great Movie Ride
When Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened, it was a threadbare experience compared to the other two Walt Disney World parks at the time.
Still, the best ride at Hollywood Studios provided enough entertainment that guests kept coming back.
For 28 years, The Great Movie Ride provided a glimpse into the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.
A cheeky tour guide provided insights on each kind of movie era, presuming they didn’t get ambushed and forced off the train, something that DID happen.
At its core, The Great Movie Ride celebrated Hollywood and Disney in an organic, noble way.
Out of everything listed here, I may miss this ride the most.
Maelstrom
Then again, I could say the same thing about Maelstrom, the former EPCOT attraction at the Norway pavilion.
This boat ride embraced Norse mythology in a way that was somehow simultaneously silly and respectful.
Even though the Norse narrator treated the subject matter somberly, it was hard to take seriously due to the charming absurdity of the visuals.
Despite this fact, I loved Maelstrom so much because A) I love Norse mythology and B) it was rarely crowded.
So, I could walk on Maelstrom, enjoy an attraction that was right in my wheelhouse, and be out of the building in 20 minutes tops.
Those were good times.
Alas, Disney officials felt otherwise since they were operating an unpopular attraction.
Some enterprising Imagineer came up with an idea to retrofit a Frozen story on the same tracks, and now we have Frozen Ever After.
Honestly, this trade worked out great for virtually all Disney fans, myself included.
Still, the instant I can ride Maelstrom in virtual reality, I’m doing it!
Primeval Whirl
Some mad genius invented the concept of the wild mouse roller coaster. It’s basically a roller coaster with two forms of motion.
While your ride cart moves down the track, it also spins in a circle. In other words, it’s a vomit comet.
Not coincidentally, fans never warmed to the ride, at least at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Goofy’s Sky School employs the same technology at Disney California Adventure, but it’s more popular for whatever reason.
Splash Mountain
Hey, did you hear that Disney closed Splash Mountain? I think it might have come up a time or two.
As a gentle reminder, Disney had themed Splash Mountain to a wildly dated film called Song of the South.
After a time, park officials grew tired of acknowledging a film that Disney won’t even stream on its services. It’s that problematic.
Thankfully, Disney planned ahead. In 2024, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will debut and establish a new standard for Disney water rides.
Still, many fans will wistfully recall the humor and catchy tunes from Splash Mountain.
Star Tours
Yes, I said Star Tours! Sure, we still have a Star Tours attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios today, but it’s not the original.
In 2010, Disney closed the original Star Tours and replaced it with a more innovative iteration.
The original Star Tours lacked many of the features you take for granted today. It wasn’t a randomized adventure that played out differently each time.
Instead, Star Tours told a straightforward and fairly cheap-looking story starring RX-24, aka Rex.
How well did Rex perform as a pilot? Well, the droid works as a deejay in a cantina now, and that feels like a better use of his talents.
Star Tours revolutionized theme park design in 1987, but it had grown outdated by the early 2000s. The modern version is exponentially better.
So, this is the other ride on this list whose absence I understand.
Studio Backlot Tour
I believe it was either the Three Wise Men or Supersonic who said that every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.
At Hollywood Studios, the desire to build Toy Story Land and (especially) Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge caused the death of the Studio Backlot Tour.
When Hollywood Studios opened in 1989, two attractions carried it during those brutal early years.
We already discussed The Great Movie Ride, and here is the other one. Disney mimicked Universal Studios by creating this Studio Backlot Tour.
While fans enjoyed the special effects sequences, it never captured people’s hearts the way that the Universal Studios World-Famous Studio Tour had.
Many of us miss this attraction, but there aren’t many Disney fans who would give up Toy Story Land AND Galaxy’s Edge to get it back.
Sum of All Thrills
Some of us wish we’d become Imagineers. We fantasize about the attractions we’d build, and let’s be honest. Most of them are roller coasters!
For a time, Disney encouraged guests to try their hand at theme park design.
Sum of All Thrills provided guests with the chance to build a roller coaster and then try it out!
Disney would stick guests in a small, enclosed ride cart area. Then, a robotic arm would swing the rider around as if they were on a real roller coaster.
This option proved quite popular for a while, so much so that DisneyQuest added this attraction as well.
Alas, in a short period of time, DisneyQuest and EPCOT both closed their versions of Sum of All Thrills.
Now, so many other attractions listed here, we’re left reminiscing about what once was and what we’ve lost. Ah, well. It’s the price of progress.
And here’s MickeyBlog talking about a few lost attractions we miss!
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Feature Photo: Disney Wiki