9. Tom Sawyer Island -> Fortress Explorations

Image: Disney

At most Disney Parks, it can be tough to find a place untouched by time, and the longer it’s been since a park’s opening day, the more difficult it becomes. At Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland, Tom Sawyer Island is a retreat from the madness and pressure of the three highest-attended theme parks on Earth. Natural playgrounds, caverns, waterfalls, mills, and forts abound as families can climb, crawl, jump, and hide.

Click and expand for a more detailed view. Image: Disney

With just a little imagination, families could spend an entire morning or afternoon on Tom Sawyer Island. It’s a self-contained outpost for exploration.

When Tokyo DisneySea opened, it came with its own modern equivalent. Or… maybe an ancient equivalent. Fortress Explorations is – in some ways – one of the most iconic elements of the park. The beautiful Renaissance fortress is set along the park’s entry lagoon, sealed into the cooled lava flows of DisneySea’s icon – Mount Prometheus. A sprawling complex of sailing ships, domes, bridges, arches, cannons, fountains, and more, Fortress Explorations is simply stunning.

But it’s what’s inside that really piques the interest of Disney Parks fans. The Fortress is – put simply – a full museum of arts and sciences. Yes, it’s four stories of explorable turrets, spiral stairs, stone catwalks, and more, but inside it houses a three story Foucault pendulum, a Navigator’s Hall of remote-controlled ships sailing the ancient world, a real camera obscura, a seismic recording station embedded in Mount Prometheus, galleries of Renaissance artwork and illusionary lenses, and Flying Machines.

Image: tdrfan.com

Perhaps the Fortress’ most iconic feature, though, is the full-sized Chamber of Planets housed in its largest golden dome where, with ancient cogs and cranks, you can bring to life the orbit of the planets.

Click and expand for a larger view. Image: Disney

Along the waterfront is docked the Renaissance Spanish galleon sailing ship, totally open for exploration, and the Explorers Landing docks surrounding are a veritable playground of cargo nets and climbing crates. All of these wonders make it no surprise that Fortress Explorations, too, is indelibly tied to Disney’s cross-continental secret society storyline, The Society of Explorers and Adventurers – S.E.A.... As a matter of fact, the Fortress is the Society’s headquarters!

With all of the open-inquiry exploration of Tom Sawyer Island, Fortress Explorations creates a world-class museum inside of the world’s most sought-after theme park. Though one takes place in the Mississippi River delta and the other at a Renaissance fortress, there's no denying that these two attractions are spiritual successors, and both are marvels.

10. If You Had Wings -> Soarin’

Image: Disney

“If you had wings, you could do many things! You could widen your world if you had wings!” So sang the theme song of a Magic Kingdom exclusive, the venerable Lost Legend: If You Had Wings. When the ride opened in 1972, it was a freewheeling celebration of the commercial Jet Age, the grandeur and magic of flight, and – primarily – the wonders of the world opened to those who chose to fly on Eastern Air Lines. (Case in point, the ride’s finale: “You do have wings! You can do these things! You can widen your world! Eastern: we’ll be your wings.”)

Image: Disney

By far the ride’s most memorable moment was the oft-employed “speed room,” where an ellipsoid-ovoid screen wrapping entirely around the slow-moving Omnimover was projected with 70mm film producing the sensation of flight and speed! Though If You Had Wings folded (followed closely by Eastern Air Lines), it celebrated aviation in the same way World of Motion celebrated transportation in general. It was a remarkable if overlooked dark ride as well suited for Tomorrowland in 1972 as Submarine Voyage had been in Disneyland’s in 1959.

In January 1998, the final derivative of If You Had Wings (by then having nothing in common with the 1972 original except the speed room) closed to make way for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, but Disney went only three years without a ride to simulate free flight.

Image: Disney

In 2001, Disney’s California Adventure opened. Though the original version of the park didn’t inspire much celebration, it did have one hit: Soarin’ Over California was a cutting-edge simulator-style ride perfectly poised at the dawn of the 21st century, using a domed screen and an ingenious ride system to send guests hang-gliding over the wonders of California from redwood forests to rocky Pacific coasts; from vast deserts and San Diego naval bases to the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. So acclaimed was this stunning ride, it was duplicated in Epcot’s The Land pavilion (renamed simply Soarin’ despite the fact that the ride film continued to feature only Californian landscapes).

Image: Disney

Eventually, the Over California ride gave way to the more global Soarin’ Around the World that tours over international manmade landmarks (despite the fact that, technically, that’s a worse fit for both The Land and Disney’s California Adventure). We chronicled the full story of the ride and its replacement in its own standalone feature, Lost Legends: Soarin’ Over California.

In any case, the simple conceit of making guests feel like they’re flying evolved as quickly as Disney’s Imagineering technology did, and the spirit of If You Had Wings does live on… even if neither it nor Eastern Air Lines does.

Sequels and Successors

The rides and attractions we've looked at here are only the start of a worldwide study into "spiritual sequels." Across Disney Parks (and beyond), common elements, themes, and styles make it clear that even attractions set worlds apart can be cut from the same cloth. Without a single character, setting, or story in common, the ride relationships here are clever, thoughtful, and connected. 

Use the comments below to tell us – what other Disney Parks rides are related "in spirit," borrowing common themes, emotions, and styles? How does the often-unspoken relationship between certain rides make them stronger?