Top 5 Walt Disney World Attractions I Wish I Could Ride Again.
There is a wormhole of attractions Disney has gotten rid of that mega fans wish they could re-ride. From “Delta Dream Flight” to the original “Journey into Imagination with figment”. That’s only if I keep it to the U.S parks. If I go through all parks the list gets pretty long. However, I kept my list short with only rides I have ridden personally.
Number 5 "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience"
I remember this attraction clearly, I always thought that it was one of those people flocked to when they needed air conditioning and a seat. But I loved it and apparently it was a huge hit, according to Disney. This attraction seemed pretty tame, but it freaked me out as a kid, and I’ll explain why, but first a little back story.
"Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Disney had made the announcement in late 1993 that “Honey I Shrunk the Audience “would take over for “Captain EO” (I never got to experience that one). The show starts off with Wayne Szalinski receiving an award, of which the Disney guest were there to watch. It begins with the audience wearing safety googles (3-D Glasses) while Wayne shows the audience his invention. Somehow Wayne shrinks himself because… spaz. Nick, Wayne’s son, decides to show the audience Wayne’s duplicator machine while Wayne figures things out. His brother, Adam, inserts a mouse into the machine, which causes hundreds of mice to run into the audience (the reason this attraction freaked me out so much). At the bottom of the chairs, they would shoot air at you and it felt like mice were being thrown at your legs, it was horrible. It was one of those things that just randomly sticks with you out as a kid!
"Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Nick then turns to his dad’s “Pet Generator” to scare all the mice away; he chooses a cat... which turns into a LION after the boys lose control of the device (also made me freak out). Wayne finally returns to normal size and demonstrates his shrink ray to the audience and… you know… shrinks the audience. While Wayne is trying to fix this situation, his wife enters the room to which Wayne says “Honey, I shrunk the audience” (Young me: oh damn, he said it).
"Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
"Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Many other obstacles for the audience happen, including getting water sprayed in your face when the dog comes to greet everyone. This attraction all in all is a good memory, lots of fun, and a little freaky. I’m sad I can’t experience it again to see if it was as dramatic as I thought it was when I was a kid.
Oh, and side note, along with this attraction Disney added a really neat playground. It was called “Honey, I shrunk the kids: Movie Set Adventure” and was a photo op dream. Somewhere in my closet there is a picture of a really chubby me sliding down a giant roll of film living my best life. Eventually, both had to have an end, with the 3D movie adventure closing in 2010 and the playground closing in 2016 to make way for “Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge”.
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Number 4 "Ellen's Energy Adventure"
When I road this as I child I remember a very distinct “what the fuck is going on” thought. I don’t know why I am so nostalgic for this one, but I wish my husband and daughter could experience this so bad! This was a very random choice for a ride, right? Or is it just me that thinks that? Like Ellen and Bill Nye are awesome people but, a ride about them? I think it’s just so strange, and I mean when you think you’re just going to watch some sort of movie and the whole audience moves… it was the biggest plot twist of my ten-year-old life.
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Located in the “Universe of Energy” Pavilion, this attraction opened in 1996 and lasted until 2017. This attraction took you into the history of energy, and how energy was produced. This attraction starts out with the guest being brought into a huge theater after having watched an 8-minute film while waiting to enter the ride. Ellen falls asleep and her dream starts, she is suddenly playing Jeopardy! against… randomly Jamie Lee Curtis. All the questions are about energy and Ellen knows nothing so, Bill Nye shows ups. He tells Ellen he wants to take her back in time to explain energy to her.
Ellen's Energy Adventure
In the theater you see yet another short film, this time Bill Nye explains to Ellen about the Big Bang Theory and fossil fuels. Ellen tells the audience to follow her as the curtain opens and the entire audience goes back in time. This is what makes this ride so spicy, at first your like “oh god, I signed up for Ellen to explain energy to me with 50 short films” but then your seat starts moving… I mean… it was really cool if you didn’t know it was going to happen. While going through the past Ellen gets herself into all sorts of shenanigans, I think I remember her almost being eaten by a dinosaur. And thankfully we didn’t have to watch her dance for once. But eventually you return to the theater to find that Ellen is wining at Jeopardy! and blows Jamie Lee Curtis out of the water. This is one I’m bummed I can’t ride again; it was so goofy, and I miss it. The last ride that this attraction had resulted in the ride breaking down and the guest being able to walk through the entire thing. I guess that was a pretty cool way to end it. This attraction was taken away to make room for Guardians of the Galaxy’s new ride… which will be way better than this… I hope.
Number 3 "Maelstrom"
This attraction opened in 1988 at EPCOT in the Norway Pavilion and lasted until 2014 when it was announced that it would be replaced with a new Frozen ride. Back in the day, before we had that awesome Disney World app to find all the attractions easily, we had huge paper maps. It was so hard to find this one for my family, when we finally found it we felt like Nick Cage in National Treasure.
“Those who seek the spirit of Norway face peril and adventure, but more often find beauty and charm” is what riders would hear as they were swept away on a boat. This attraction was so cute and would take you through your very own troll-filled sea adventure. The riders anger some trolls along the way leading to the trolls casting a spell on them. This sends them through all sorts of fun mishaps including almost falling out of the building that the ride is in, I don’t really know how to explain that one better, but if you know, you know. Eventually, this ride drops you down a 28-foot waterfall, and in a flash the ride is over and you’re exiting into the gift shop. Last time I was there the gift shop (which is now the Frozen gift shop) still had the same giant troll from the old Maelstrom times.
Number 2 "ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter"
ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter
ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter was THE coolest ride Disney ever had. When I mean cool, I mean like backwards cap, sunglasses on cool, not like Space Mountain cool. This ride traumatized me as a child but was so impressive I would rack my brain at how they did it. I only got to ride this at max 3 times which really sucks. One year I went back, and it was “Stitch’s Great Escape!” and it was just not scary at all. Side thought: why is “Stitch’s Great Escape!” always closed? This attraction opened up in 1994 and only lasted until 2003. This ride was made due to Michael Eisner’s (former CEO of Disney) hope to make Disney more exciting for teens.
ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter
In the pre-show guest are told that a alien company named X-S Tech was going to display some new technology that involves teleportation. The guest gets introduced to the X-S Tech robot, S.I.R, which was played by Tim Curry. Just imagine that voice coming out of the robot pictured above. That’s scary enough to get the ride closed. S.I.R demonstrates the teleportation with a cute alien named Skippy. He teleports skippy back and forth in the room to let the guest know what they will be in for. Poor skippy almost passes out though.
ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter
Finally, the guest enters into this large room with a giant tube in the middle, which is the teleportation device. Guest have a giant bar harness thing slide down from atop their head and on their shoulders. This thing was kind of problem in itself, they give you quick instructions to stop the harness before it hits your shoulders so that it stays a couple of inches off, like hovering over your shoulders. This ALWAYS confused my mom, and she would let it land on her shoulders (you’ll find out why this is a problem soon). The X-S crew start to explain that they are going to teleport someone from the audience to go and meet them. However, plans change and one of the crew members fudges things up. They end up sending a very giant very angry alien instead, I mean this guy is a jerk. Shit hits the fan, and he breaks the glass of the tube (they had a cool effect here where they spray water at the audience to make it seem like the glass hits you) the power goes out and he is free. The audience is sitting in silence and darkness listening to him roaming around. At some point he starts jumping on the harnesses and they push down a little to hard. My mom would get slammed because she didn’t follow those instructions from before. He does all sorts of creepy things, like breathes on your neck (they spray cold air on your neck). Finally, the power goes on and they catch the alien (he gets smushed a bit, and again they spray water on you; makes you feel like you’re getting sprayed with blood) and all is safe again at Disney! Hooray! This ride was a little too dark and painful for kids. But man, I really wish this one was back, I think it could still compete with the newer rides.
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Number 1 "The Great Movie Ride"
The Great Movie Ride
My favorite ride of all time… this ride is such an amazing ride. When I was a kid I instantly fell in love, no weird feelings, no weird thoughts, just instantly loved this ride. Located inside the replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at Hollywood Studios this ride opened in 1989 and eventually closed in 2017. I thought it was one of those that would never go away, like Space Mountain. This ride would take you through many iconic movies and even have an interactive experience with the ride’s guide.
The Great Movie Ride
The ride starts off shining a light on musicals, with odes to “Singin’ in the Rain” and Mary Poppins” to name a couple. The ride had two versions; the first version takes you into an old gangster movie set. The guest gets caught in a shoot-out with main gangster “Mugsy”. Mugsy goes on to high jack the vehicle from the Disney guide and proceeds to take us through the movies. The second version includes an almost identical situation. Where the guest get caught in a western town, a shootout is happening between the sheriff and a bank robber named “Kid”, only this time Kid hijacks the vehicle. I prefer Kid.
The ride takes you into the sci-fi genre in which they have the coolest Alien scene ever. Gosh, it would have been fun to run around there. The ride exits the spaceship and goes into an Egyptian tomb. Both Kid and Mugsy see a jewel they want to steal and exit the ride to climb the tomb. When grabbing the jewel, they die and turn into a skeleton, the original guide shows up all giddy. Meanwhile, Mugsy or Kid just got burnt to the bone ha-ha… The ride continues on to horror, action, and they even threw in “The Wizard of Oz” for good measure. The ride ends with the vehicle being parked in front of a screen where they show a montage of classic movies. AH I’LL ALWAYS MISS THIS RIDE, it was my comfort ride. The last time I rode this ride it broke down and I thought, “oh, it’s okay I will just ride it next time” and then like a month later they announced they were closing it down for good. “Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway” is what took the place of my favorite ride, i have yet to ride it but I’m sure it's just as amazing.