3. You'll hear background music

When you close your eyes and imagine Indiana Jones, what do you think of? When you picture Darth Vader in your mind, what do you hear? When someone says the word “Jaws”, what two musical notes come to mind?

All of those films are synonymous with their music, and rightly so. But it's not just the iconic soundtracks that add atmosphere and tension to their films. Nearly every movie has background music. Why? Because there are feelings and ideas a director might want to impart to the audience that they cannot with images and words alone.

Disney's attractions are no different. Some have the music front and center, as with It's a Small World. Others contain it to the background, such as Spaceship Earth. But wherever there is music at a Disney park, it is there for a reason: To convey mood and feeling that cannot be conveyed through sets and animatronics alone. Just like film, Disney attractions use music to give the audience a complete emotional experience throughout the story.

4. They're replayable

You can see the Zip-a-Dee Lady as many times as you want
Image: CL Photographs, Flickr (license)

Some forms of art, like plays or improv comedy, are kind of ethereal. They happen, and they can be amazing, but they're rarely lasting. Plays open and close, or change casts. Improv shows happen once and then they're gone forever. Even other kinds of art like cuisine or live music are the kinds of things that can be replicated but never duplicated.

Movies, on the other hand, are forever. If you own The Lion King, you can watch it as many times as you like. It will never change. It will never alter. It will be the same movie the first time you watch it as it is the 400th time you watch it.

The same is true of theme park attractions – especially those at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

If you love Pirates of the Caribbean, you can ride it as many times as you like. If you ride it five times in a day, it will be materially the same every time you ride it. While film actors have their performances burned into celluloid, the performers in theme park attractions are Audio-Animatronics – performers who are programmed to do the same thing every single time.

And while some attractions do get makeovers on occasion, movies can also be subject to the same treatment. Just ask George Lucas.

5. They're ultimately about telling stories

You're the star of the Jungle Cruise's story
Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)

The impulse that drives most film directors is the desire to tell a story. Some tell stories about their own life and experiences. Some want to tell the tales they find most entertaining. Some investigate the events they want to better understand. But at the heart of most directors is that same desire to communicate a story to an audience.

That idea, more than anything else, is what separates Disney's attractions from your typical amusement park diversions. Imagineers have that exact same impulse – that exact same internal desire. They want to show guests an amazing story that will capture their imagination.

Those stories can be anything from the dangers of a haunted hotel to the beauty of the natural world. They can be scary, emotional, thrilling, or even just simple fun. But that's true of the offerings at your local multiplex, too. Those movies can range from thoughtful meditations on the human experience to adrenaline pumped action movies based around spectacle.

And, perhaps, that's the greatest similarity of all between the two art forms: No matter what kind of story it is that you want to experience, both movies and Disney attractions have the ability to deliver it to you. And if you love it, you'll be able to experience it again and again.