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Tomorrowland is the first film to be named after a section of Disneyland, but it’s far from the only movie that’s drawn inspiration from the Happiest Place on Earth — or vice versa — and to demonstrate the park’s strong silver screen ties (not to mention honoring Tomorrowland‘s arrival in theaters this weekend), we decided to dedicate this week’s list to all the Disneyland rides that have some sort of connection to a Disney film. There might be more than you think!
Long before Disney and Lucasfilm were wed in Hollywood matrimony, George Lucas teamed up with Disney’s legions of Imagineers to put together the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! in Orlando — and when that proved a raging success, the two entertainment titans reunited for Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure. An ambitious “enhanced motion vehicle dark ride,” this attraction sends visitors on a thrilling quest with everyone’s favorite archaeologist, and even tosses in voice tracks from Harrison Ford himself.
Once upon a time, Disneyland’s Adventureland area included a giant artificial tree attraction that stood in tribute to Disney’s 1960 live-action adventure Swiss Family Robinson. Progress marches on, however, and in 1999, the Swiss Family Treehouse was shut down and reborn anew as Tarzan’s Treehouse — a refurbished and “re-themed” destination timed to tie in with the studio’s new animated effort starring the King of the Jungle.
Countless Disney fans enjoyed their first exposure to Winnie the Pooh through the studio’s 1977 animated adaptation of A.A. Milne’s classic books, so it’s hard to believe that until 2003, Pooh and his pals didn’t have their own ride at Disneyland — or that when one was finally built, it was constructed on the grave of the late, lamented Country Bear Jamboree.
In quite a few respects, the 1946 live-action/animated Song of the South is Disney’s Film That Dare Not Speak Its Name — the antiquated racial attitudes on display in the studio’s adaptation of the Uncle Remus stories have long prevented the film from receiving any kind of complete home video release. That hasn’t kept the mischievous Br’er Rabbit and his friends out of Disneyland, however; in fact, their stories were woven into the popular flume ride Splash Mountain — which, perhaps fittingly, went on to attract its own controversy.
Not only does this attraction mirror Alice’s tumble down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, it utilizes voices, music, and (after a 2014 refurbishment) footage from the original film, making it one of the more sensible screen-to-ride tie-ins — and one that, like the film, is best enjoyed by the very young at heart.
There are only a handful of ways in which Disneyland’s ride designers could have fashioned a family attraction out of a film in which an elephant is born into servitude, separated from his mother, gets drunk, and is forced to jump off a platform to his possible death. Building a gentle, junior-level ride that kind of looks like the train where the elephant was born was probably one of the better choices.
Poor little Dumbo went through some stuff during the movie that bears his name, but he was never happier than when he was flying, so it only stands to reason that the Happiest Place on Earth should give him a kid-friendly attraction that sends riders swooping gently through the sky.
After a certain age, many amusement park visitors tend to sort of forget the carousel is even there, but the King Arthur Carrousel is special, and not just because of that extra R: Present on Disneyland’s opening day, this beauty was actually built in 1875 and was transported to Anaheim from a park in Ontario, where it had been in operation since 1922. The Sword in the Stone Ceremony held nearby — in which a dude dressed up as Merlin teases people who can’t tug a rigged sword out of its perch — is marginally more exciting, but the Carrousel’s history makes it one of the cooler attractions in the park.
One of a handful of Disneyland rides whose mere mention is liable to turn those with motion sickness green, the Mad Tea Party puts visitors in giant tea cups and spins ’em ’round — and although today it’s one of the more eminently kid-friendly stops in the park, the cups were initially built with no brakes. The Mad Hatter would no doubt frown upon the subsequent safety modifications.
One of a small handful of Disneyland attractions that remain from the park’s opening day in 1955, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride offers a relatively kid-friendly tie-in to the Wind in the Willows portion of 1949’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad — and if you’ve never seen that animated short, you can consider yourself one of the reasons why Disney is actively developing a movie that will tie into the ride that tied into the original film.
One of those rides that essentially acts as a Cliff’s Notes version of the movie that inspired it, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey came to Disneyland as part of the park’s early ’80s overhaul within Fantasyland, and uses an assortment of effects (including one of Disneyland’s first uses of holographic material) to help riders relive Pinocchio’s bumpy travels from puppet to real boy.
Disneyland’s place to be for the visitor who just can’t get enough of Peter Pan’s pint-sized pal, Pixie Hollow affords the young at heart an opportunity to meet Tinker Bell and her pals in person. Of course, it also keeps ’em coming back for further installments of the steadily expanding Disney Fairies empire of films, books, and toys, but that’s the way these things work — and anything that gives more work to Mae Whitman, who voices Tink in the movies, is all right by us.
The word “iconic” is definitely overused to the point of abuse, but it absolutely applies to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, which has loomed over Disneyland since it opened to the public. But this structure does more than just welcome visitors with a physical recreation of the Disney logo — it also contains a walkthrough attraction that guides visitors through the story of Sleeping Beauty. The castle received a handful of special renovations during the park’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2005-’06, including some relatively subtle additions on five of the turrets.
Everyone always remembers Prince Charming and those happy singing dwarves, but Snow White gets herself into some pretty creepy stuff before strolling off into the sunset with Mr. Happily Ever After, and that’s the focus of this decidedly old-school attraction, which has been gently terrorizing children of all ages since Disneyland opened its gates. With a few minor modifications, that is — including the wicked witch’s poison apple, which was turned into a hologram after park officials got tired of guests stealing the prop.
Currently closed for its second round of refurbishments, this Peter Pan tie-in has been in operation as long as the park has been open — and its gently soaring tour through Neverland and the night skies of London offers a sweet tie to the gentler brand of family thrills that Disneyland used to almost exclusively offer. When it reopens this summer, visitors can expect enhanced special effects, but will likely find substantially the same old-school attraction.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit fans may never get the sequel they’ve been asking about for decades, but in the meantime, they can pretend to be part of the action by hopping on Disneyland’s Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, a dark ride adventure that incorporates voice work from members of the movie’s cast.
Very often, the movie comes before the ride; in this case, Disney attempted to turn a venerable Disneyland attraction into a film — and even though the ride in question was the fan favorite Haunted Mansion, which arguably should have been rather easy to make a movie out of (it’s a haunted house, people are in it, etc.), the results were sadly disastrous. Our hopes are quite a bit higher for the upcoming Guillermo del Toro-crafted Haunted Mansion movie, but even if that one stinks too, it still won’t put a damper on the pulse-quickening fun of one of the park’s greatest attractions.
The final Disneyland attraction to enjoy the benefit of Walt Disney’s oversight before his passing in 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean spent decades as one of the brighter jewels in the park’s animatronic crown before studio execs decided to try and turn it into a movie. Despite the fact that audiences weren’t exactly clamoring for pirate pictures in 2003, the Johnny Depp-led Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl turned out to be a blockbuster — and the first installment in an ongoing franchise that’s reaped billions (and counting).
One of the looser screen-to-attraction tie-ins on our list, Fantasmic! has the dubious distinction of making its Disneyland debut during the Rodney King riots in the spring of 1992 — complete with (quickly pulled) promotional materials urging visitors to “be here when the night ignites.” All that aside, it does have at least a little in common with Fantasia: Like the film, it’s a thrilling visual display set to music.
Buzz Lightyear’s Toy Story adventures all take place right here on Earth, but Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (or BLAB) sends visitors soaring into space on an urgent mission to defeat Buzz’s nemesis, the nefarious Emperor Zurg. And unlike old-school rides that attempt to immerse you in the action with sets and animatronic figures, this Tomorrowland attraction works as a sort of live-action video game: Riders control their “spaceship” with a joystick and shoot the bad guys with laser pistols (and once even allowed internet-powered at-home play).
It was a sad day for scores of Disneyland fans when Tomorrowland’s venerable Submarine Voyage ride shut down for good in 1998, but after nearly a decade in storage — and tons of money spent on overhauling the attraction — it was brought back to life in 2007 as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, a shiny new underwater adventure that relies on modern projection technology (and renovated coral in the lagoon) to transport visitors into the classic Pixar hit.
Like a certain filmmaker going back to edit certain classic films, Disneyland shuttered its popular Star Tours attraction in order to make way for the overhauled Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. Fortunately in this case, people were generally happy with the new ride, which relies on classic elements (including voicework from members of the Star Wars cast as well as the continued presence of C-3PO as a guide) to deliver a new dose of thrills and spills from a galaxy far, far away.
