Disney parks are constantly evolving – but, we must admit, some of these changes, we’ve found difficult to accept. For some longterm Disney fans, several of our most beloved attractions are now gone for good.
During my four decades of visiting the Disney parks, I’ve fallen in love with several rides that are no more.
Here are five of the closed Disney World rides I miss the most – and what replaced them:
1. Dreamflight (Closed Magic Kingdom ride)
What replaced it? Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger
Is it better? Way better for kids – look at those queues! Not so good for fans of gentle rides (ie me!)
This was a sweet little ride in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World in Florida that closed in 1998. Your vehicle took you on a crazy journey through the early days of flight – with lots of comedy animatronic figures in biplanes singing Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines – to the rooftops of Paris and Tokyo. It was all quite simple and the fact there was rarely a queue probably tells its own story. But I loved its gentle charm. It was replaced by Toy Story-themed shoot-em-up Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. My eight-year-old loves this new incarnation – and thousands seem to agree with him. So do I wish Buzz would buzz off to infinity and beyond? Certainly not, but I can’t help missing his tamer predecessor.
2. Horizons (Defunct Epcot ride)
What replaced it? Mission: SPACE
Is it better? Only if you enjoy feeling nauseous. For the vast majority, Horizons was a classic that deserved to last.
“If we can dream it, then we can do it…” Horizons was one of four attractions that ran along the left flank of Epcot’s Future World in Florida, along with World of Motion, Wonders of Life and Universe of Energy – all long since vanished. And I loved it – particularly the chorus of uplifting children’s voices singing its inspirational theme song as I stepped on and off the vehicle. Yes, its vision of the future is probably a bit dated – the advent of Zoom means the scenes of families doing video chat from various far-flung corners of the world aren’t as thrilling as they once were. But it had some lovely parts to it: the scent of oranges as you watched the animatronic future people doing citrus farming in the desert was particularly memorable, as was the “choose your own adventure” ending. It was replaced by Mission: SPACE which is about as far from a gentle musing on what the future could look like as you can get.
The closest experience to Horizons that still survives at Epcot is the gentle time-travelling ride Spaceship Earth. Read our tongue-in-cheek tribute to this beloved ride in our guide to the narrators of Spaceship Earth.
3. The Great Movie Ride (Replaced at Hollywood Studios)
What replaced it? Mickey and Minne’s Runaway Railway
Is it better? They’re both amazing ride experiences. It’s a shame they couldn’t co-exist.
Now, I should confess I LOVE Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway – the ride that replaced the now-defunct Great Movie Ride, which was once located in Hollywood Studios’ famous Chinese Theatre. Carried across from Disneyland, California, Runaway Railway is surprising, innovative and fun and has that original Disney look to it that fans of the great mouse love. And I had probably overdosed on The Great Movie Ride. I’d seen the version where your car was hijacked by a bandit from a John Wayne Western. I’d seen the version where the same thing happened in a James Cagney gangster film. In fact, I’d seen both versions so many times, I can probably recite the entire scripts. But it’s still a ride I miss. Why? I’d say it encapsulated a lot of what Studios was originally about. Just as Epcot’s Future World was dedicated to human innovation, Studios was about taking you behind the scenes of the movie magic.
On the also-closed Studio Backlot Tour, for example, you could ride on the side of a giant bumblebee from Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, say hello to Herbie – the cheeky VW Beetle star of several Disney films – and see the original clapboard house from The Golden Girls. And, on The Great Movie Ride, you could ride through animatronic recreations of The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins and Singin’ In The Rain, and then finish up with that lovely montage tribute to classic film moments at the finale, before exiting with “Hooray for Hollywood” ringing in your ears. So, yeah – despite having seen every version going, I still miss it.
4. Universe of Energy (Defunct Epcot ride)
What replaced it? Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Is it better? Guardians is a hugely popular thrill ride, and it’s easy to see why. But in swapping it in, Disney lost something important – a gentle, educational attraction that families of all ages could enjoy together.
“Feel it grow/ See it glow… it’s the Universe of Energy!” Another massively catchy Epcot song that will never leave my brain, another classic animatronic ride that’s been replaced by something for thrill-seekers (in this case Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind). And while the original version of this ride did have the feel of sitting in a university lecture hall – that is, until your banks of seats began to move to transport you back into the land of dinosaurs – I thought the 1990s reworking with Ellen Degeneres, Jamie Lee Curtis and Bill Nye the Science Guy was really successful and injected some much-needed fun. Plus, it’s an important subject – hands up who thinks education about fossil fuels and renewable energy hasn’t become even more vital today? Sorry… does it feel like we’re back in that lecture hall?
5. Maelstrom (defunct Epcot ride)
What replaced it? Frozen Ever After
Is it better? Frozen fans love this ride – so based on popularity, it was the right switch. But I still miss the quirky charm of the original.
“Back, back, over the falls…” I know children across the world will disagree with me, given that this ride – once the central attraction in Epcot’s Norway pavilion has been replaced with Frozen Ever After – but I still pine for the original. Maelstrom was a tribute to the spirit of Norway, complete with Viking gods, puffins and polar bears (and, bizarrely, a North Sea oil rig) as well as an irate three-headed troll who seemed intent on hurling your car backwards over a precipice into the park below. Instead, your car realigned itself and shot forwards, crash-landing in a lovely world of fresh air and fjords, with a backdrop of Edvard Grieg’s Morning. I mean, I know it didn’t have princesses and a cute singing snowman, but what was not to love?
Frequently asked questions about closed Disney rides
Why do Disney rides close?
Disney rides close for a variety of reasons, including advancing technology, changing audience tastes and the need to keep the parks fresh. At places like Epcot, sponsorship has also played a major role. Many of the parks’ classic attractions were originally funded by corporate partners, and when those partnerships ended, rides were often reimagined, replaced or continued without sponsorship. For example, World of Motion (a fun dark ride that looked back over the history of transport) was once sponsored by General Motors, but eventually closed and made way for a new concept (Test Track).
In recent years, Disney has focused on creating fully immersive, franchise-led lands, such as Pandora – The World of Avatar (at Animal Kingdom) and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (at Hollywood Studios). Older attractions – such as the Backlot Studio Tour and the Streets of America at Hollywood Studios – have been removed as the park shifts away from its “behind-the-scenes” roots and towards immersive areas like Toy Story Land.
What is the most missed Disney ride?
Many Disney fans consider Epcot’s Horizons to be one of the most missed attractions of all time. People who remember the attraction love how it combined storytelling, education and optimism about the future – something more recent rides don’t always replicate.
What happened to the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot (and is it ever reopening)?
The Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot was an enormous space that hosted a range of interactive games, themed around the human body (similar to the zone next to Spaceship Earth). It was also home to the simulator ride Body Wars, which took you on a journey through a day in the life of a fictional schoolboy, exploring what was happening in his mind and body – similar, in concept, to the film Inside Out. The whole pavilion closed in 2007 and since then, Disney has only occasionally used the pavilion for various seasonal events. It had plans to reopen it as a Play! Pavilion, but that idea never came to fruition. As of now, there are no confirmed plans for the pavilion to reopen, though fans still hope Disney might bring it back one day.
Seeking more nostalgia? See our posts:
- Six things we miss about Orlando’s Disney Village (now Disney Springs)
- Disney rides that replaced classics: for better or worse
Are there any rides (maybe from other Disney parks) we’ve missed off our list? Which closed Disney World ride do you miss most and would you bring any of these back?
And do you think these replacements beat the originals?
Let us know and we can all indulge in some nostalgic wallowing for the good ol’ days together – or sign up to get our stories direct to your inbox.
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