3. Recycled props

New attractions are expensive to build, and it does not always make sense to create everything from scratch. Sometimes old props and set pieces are used in new and creative ways. Whether they are intentional tributes or merely an expedient opportunity to save money, recycled props and sets lead to a sort of scavenger hunt among theme park fans.

Recycled Halloween Horror Nights props

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights is one of the top Halloween events in the country. Yet part of its appeal is due to its fleeting nature. Each year brings entirely new haunted houses and scare zones, as well as a brand-new storyline for the perennial favorite, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure. Hardcore fans visit on as many nights as possible, soaking in every detail of the year’s presentation.

On a behind-the-scenes Unmasking the Horror tour, a VIP tour guide estimated that approximately 50 percent of each year’s props and sets are entirely new, while the rest are recycled from previous incarnations. Halloween Horror Nights fans get great fun out of trying to figure out where and how different items were used in the past. Examples include the vortex tunnel that shows up in a haunted house almost every year, always repainted and re-themed for the latest use, and a variety of puppets and dolls that have made their way into at least one house per year.

Recycled Disney props

Walt Disney World does something similar with its props, reusing things in creative ways in brand-new attractions. A fan favorite is the Horizons-logo gravity wheel in the Mission: Space queue, which pays tribute to the attraction that formerly occupied that area. Also in the Mission: Space queue, some of the Mission Control footage dates all the way back to Flight to the Moon, the original attraction in the theater where Stitch’s Great Escape is today. Similar examples exist in Test Track, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, among others. Keep a sharp eye out, as you never know where a familiar prop might reappear.

4. New back stories

One of the most fun types of tribute is also the most elaborate. In a direct acknowledgement of the previous attraction, designers sometimes create a back story for the new attraction that explains how it took over the space.

Universal example: Doc Brown selling to Krusty the Clown

Back to the Future: The Ride opened at Universal Orlando in May 1991. The high-tech motion simulator was a mini-sequel to Back to the Future III in which Doc Brown has founded the Institute for Future Technology. Park guests served as volunteers testing out an eight-passenger DeLorean time machine, but when Biff stole another time machine, it became the guests’ job to find him and bring him back.

Despite the ride’s tremendous popularity, in 2007, the upcoming release of the Simpsons Movie convinced Universal execs that they needed an attraction to tie in with the film. Back to the Future: The Ride closed in March of that year to make way for the Simpsons Ride, which opened in May 2008.

The queue video for the Simpsons Ride features Doc Brown trying to sign a deal to keep the Institute open. Unfortunately, his lawyer is run over by the Simpsons’ Professor Frink, crashing through time in the DeLorean, which forces Doc to sell the Institute to Krusty the Clown.

Disney example: Mr. Toad selling to Owl

Perhaps to mollify the legions of Mr. Toad fans who participated in Toad Ins to try to save the ride, or maybe because Disney’s design team also had a soft spot for the Toad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was given a back story that paid homage to the original attraction. Inside Owl’s house, you will see a picture of Mr. Toad signing over the deed to Toad Hall to Owl. Another picture features Winnie the Pooh with Toad’s friend Moley.