3. The Enchanted Tiki Room -> Under New Management

Location: Magic Kingdom

When the Modern Marvel: The Enchanted Tiki Room opened in 1963, it was one of the most astounding attractions Imagineering had ever devised thanks to its cast of singing birds, flowers, idols, and Tiki totems. Brought to life by the then-unthinkable technology of Audio-Animatronics and the timeless songwriting of preeminant Disney Parks musicians the Sherman Brothers, the musical serenade was a celebration of the "Tiki Craze" spreading across the United States.

Absolutely evergreen, historic, and beloved by fans of all ages, the "magical" Tiki Room seemed poised to sing on into eternity as an untouchable Disney classic. In fact, it's one of just two attractions around today to be honored with the prefix "Walt Disney's" in its title.

In 1997, Magic Kingdom's copy of the attraction (there called Tropical Serenade) underwent a change in management. In fact, the parrot Iago from Aladdin and hornbill Zazu from The Lion King were unceremoniously welcomed into the Tiki Room, squashing the original songs and instead making fun of the tired, old birds and how out-of-touch they were with modern music and culture. 

Again earning its own in-depth Declassified Disaster: The Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management felt straight out of the direct-to-video era Disney was embroiled in in the late '90s, happy to stick to self-referential jokes and obnoxious humor. "Luckily," the attraction literally caught on fire in 2011, and rather than restore the over-the-top cartoon version, the Enchanted Tiki Room was restored to its former glory with Iago and Zazu thankfully absent. That makes this a temporary "minus" at least.

2. Journey Into Imagination -> Journey Into Your Imagination

Location: Epcot

When Epcot opened, it was a brave and unusual idea: a Disney Park that did not dabble in fairytales, dwell in immersive lands, or bring Disney characters to life. Instead of incorporating already known and loved animated characters from Disney’s library, Epcot invented a pair of its own, in a pavilion quite different from the "hard" sciences offered elsewhere in Future World – the Imagination pavilion's charming and lovely Lost Legend: Journey Into Imagination.

On board, guests flew through "flights of fancy" with the enigmatic, red-bearded Dreamfinder and his playful proxy, the purple dragon Figment (not for nothing, two of the most incredible "original characters" ever designed for Disney Parks). The musical journey set to the tune of the Sherman Brothers' "One Little Spark" carried guests through realms of art, music, performing arts, and science collecting "sparks" of imagination.

As the New Millennium neared, Imagineers (and the pavilions sponsor, Kodak) readied for a renovation. With practically no budget, the end result was a ride so abysmal, it's often called the worst ride Disney ever created: the Declassified Disaster: Journey into YOUR Imagination. Halving the ride time (from 12 minutes to 6) and axing Dreamfinder, Figment, and "One Little Spark" entirely, the ride was recast from a dreamy, otherworldly, musical journey through inspiration to a tour of the Imagination Institute alongisde Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame) to view optical illusions and sensory special effects.

Journey into YOUR Imagination lasted less than two years before blistering backlash forced Disney to go back to the drawing board. The best they could come up with on a tight budget is the current ride – Journey Into Imagination With Figment – which retains the Imagination Institute setting and Eric Idle's character, but at least reinserts Figment... even if it's a very annoying and unlikable version of the formerly-beloved icon.

While Journey Into Imagination With Figment is indeed a "plus" compared to its short-lived predecessor, both are monumental "minuses" compared to the original version. In fact, the most surprising thing about the new version of the ride might be that it's already lasted longer than the beloved original was around to begin with.

1. Alien Encounter -> Stitch’s Great Escape

Location: Magic Kingdom

When Magic Kingdom debuted its New Tomorrowland in 1994, it represented an early attempt to craft an entirely immersive themed land with an overarching frame story connecting all of the rides, shows, and attractions within – nearly two decades before the Wizarding World would make it standard! In fact, that New Tomorrowland was meant to be a pulpy, sci-fi, comic book city of mechanical palm trees, landed alien ships, and the "real" features of a living city, like public transportation (the Peoplemover), a science center (the Lost Legend: Timekeeper) and an alien night club (Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe).

But without a doubt, the most talked-about feature of the land was what took place inside the city's "real" convention center, where Martian technology conglomerate X-S Tech was demonstrating its interstellar teleportation technology for guests. Cleverly re-using existing theater-in-the-round show rooms retrofitted with embedded special effects, this multi-sensory experience was, of course, the Lost Legend: The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.

Over its relatively short life, Alien Encounter seemingly traumatized a generation of '90s kids, letting a primal, insectoid, ravenous alien loose in a pitch black theater to fly across the room, breathe down guests' necks, lick their ears, and splatter them with blood from a doomed employee. A sci-fi horror fest, the attraction caused immeasurable complaints from parents for its terrifying nature. 

For better or worse, Disney saw the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. In 2004, the attraction closed for months, re-opening with the playful Experiment 626 from Disney's Lilo & Stitch replacing the horrific alien. In this "plussed" show, some of the same special effects would now allow Stitch to hock loogies on guests, bounce on their shoulders, and burp chili dog in their faces. Yes, the Declassified Disaster: Stitch's Great Escape was born of the same era that produced the "improved" Tiki Room – and saw Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. flood into Tomorrowland.

In any case, Stitch's Great Escape ended up being one of Disney's worst ideas ever. The attraction was still too intense for kids under 10; now it was just too lame for anyone older. It managed to both kill Alien Encounter (which has since been elevated to "cult classic" status) and force Stitch into Magic Kingdom just as the character's popularity tanked – a lose-lose-lose-lose situation all the way around. Mercifully, Stitch's Great Escape was closed forever in 2018 after internal polling allegedly showed that guests tended to rate the entire Magic Kingdom park higher on days when it wasn't operating.

Plus / minus

And therein lies the tough spot Disney Imagineers need to live within... Walt called on his parks to be constantly "plussed," and boy have they. By nature of this countdown, the six misguided "upgrades" we listed here are relatively major... and pretty agreeably bad. 

But sometimes the line between "plus" and "minus" isn't so clear; sometimes, fans disagree on whether an "improvement" really... well... improved things! Think of the introduction of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean; the addition of Disney characters to "it's a small world"; the 2018 rewrites to Disneyland's Fantasmic; the all-too-common replacement of physical effects with digital projection effects... In other words, it's not always easy to anticipate what will actually improve a ride... and what fans will outright reject. So as controversial "plusses" that just might be "minuses" continue to pop up, we'll be on the lookout... In the meantime, use the comments below to share your least favorite misguided "updates."