The Experience: You battle The Collector to escape from his fortress

The Tricks: Good, old-fashioned Disney theming with a modern-day technological spin

Image: DisneyThe ride itself is much more structured than Tower of Terror. For the original version, Disney told the backstory via a monologue and a video introduction from Rod Serling. It was awesome, but it was also a bit dated.

Mission: Breakout! uses a different storytelling structure. The scenes filmed especially for the attraction drive the action. The experience is kinetic for the viewer since so much action is taking place right in front of them...while they’re bouncing up and down. Still, it’s a structurally sound story, a Guardians of the Galaxy short film, if you will.

Disney doesn’t do anything special on this part of the attraction. Instead, Imagineers returned to basics. They used classic tricks integrated with new technology to build something new and original.

The story is that a nefarious villain named The Collector has attempted to trap the Guardians of the Galaxy, making them permanent residents of the Tivan Collective. Our heroes ain’t having it and plan to escape. Notably, the worker bees in The Collector’s employ are on the side of the Guardians. They too were captured and enslaved here and want to do their part to help everyone break out. As you stand in the line queue, you’ll hear whispers and hints from disembodied voices.

At the actual start of the ride, Rocket Raccoon (in animated form) announces his plan. He’s going to shut down the power on the cages, giving everyone a chance to escape. What follows is a crazed race to the generator room and a few choice encounters with monsters. The tentacle creature from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is in most iterations, but a gargoyle and a rat thing also make appearances in some variations. You may even encounter multiple monsters on your ride!

Image: DisneyThe entire experience plays out like a classic Hollywood action scene. Stuff gets shot, clever lines of heroism get recited, and everyone inevitably makes it out in one piece…save for the tentacle monster, who really needs a better agent.

The beauty of Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! is that it fulfills a promise offered long ago by the original Star Tours. This revamped tower ride actually feels like a Choose Your Own Adventure set to rock music. Each iteration is slightly different in storytelling, but the sensation is still the same.

You bounce up and down in an elevator shaft, just as you always did on Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The difference is that there is now a giant digital monitor in front of you, and it offers a mirrored onscreen video accompaniment to your springing up and down. It’s a subtle but brilliant themed illusion that modernizes many of Disney’s classic Imagineering tricks.

Disney didn’t reinvent the wheel with Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, but I would argue that they did perfect it.