For years, Theme Park Tourist has been building collections of the definitive in-depth entries on some of the world's most well-known rides and attractions. Here, our full (and always-expanding) collections of detailed stories are ready for exploration! On an early morning, a rainy afternoon, or a snowy evening, set course for the almost-unbelievable stories of some of your favorite (or not-so-favorite) attractions to see the deeply interconnected stories of the industry, engineering, innovation, and imagination unfold.
Below, you'll find libraries dedicated to four of Theme Park Tourist's many in-depth collections: Lost Legends, Disaster Files, Modern Marvels, and Possibilityland, each section organized alphabetically by the name of the featured attraction.
As always, these in-depth features exist for you as spaces to remember, celebrate, and share your thoughts and stories. So settle in and dig in as never before. Have an idea of a story you'd like to have told? Click the profile link above to contact and submit your thoughts. This page is a living library, so bookmark it to return and explore as new features are added and updated.
This series aims to collect and chronicle the in-depth stories behind lost attractions. The hope is that readers can share their own memories and stories about these lost wonders – both good and bad – to help keep the stories alive for future generations of theme park fans who simply can't understand what the big deal was about these classic rides they never had the chance to see.
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: The Seafaring Story of Magic Kingdom's Sunken Classic
- Adventure Thru Inner Space: The Retro Disneyland Dark Ride that Inspired EPCOT Center
- The Adventurers Club: Explorations from Inside Downtown Disney's Living Theater Experience
- Back to the Future – The Ride: How a Journey to the Past Created Universal Orlando's Future
- Big Bad Wolf: The Huffing, Puffing Coaster that Blew a Generation Away
- BODY WARS: The “Inside” Story of the Forgotten E-Ticket That Left Riders Queasy
- Captain EO: The $17 Million Music Video That Changed Disney World Forever
- Countdown to Extinction: The (Pre)historic Tale of Animal Kingdom's DINOSAUR
- Country Bear Jamboree: The Rootin' Tootin' Tale of Disneyland's Lost Hoedown
- Curse of DarKastle: Inside Busch Gardens' Innovative, Icy Attraction That Melted Too Soon
- ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter: The Terrifying True Story of Disney’s "Scariest Attraction Ever"
- Geauga Lake: The Epic Life and Cataclysmic Closure of the World's Largest Theme Park
- The Great Movie Ride: Behind the Final Curtain Call for the Disney-MGM Studios
- Horizons: A Look Back at EPCOT's Capstone Glimpse Into the 21st Century
- If You Had Wings: The Aviation-Inspired Magic Kingdom Classic that Gave a Generation Wings
- JAWS: The Lost Universal Legend that Scared a Generation Out of the Water
- Journey into Imagination: Inside the Mind of the "One Little Spark" That Ignited a Generation
- JURASSIC PARK: The Ride: The Extinction and Evolution of Universal's Prehistoric River Ride
- Kitchen Kabaret: The "Nutrition Facts" Behind EPCOT Center’s Animatronic “Dinner Show”
- Kongfrontation: The Complete Story Of the King of Universal Orlando's Lost Legends
- The Living Seas: How Epcot's Nautical Pavilion Lost Poseidon and Found Nemo
- The Lost Continent: Did Disney Accidentally Design, Then Destroy Universal’s Lost Land?
- Maelstrom: The Tumultuous Tale of Epcot’s Lost Norwegian Adventure
- Mickey's Toontown Fair: The County Fair Cut from Magic Kingdom's Land Lineup
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride: Disney Fans Fought to Save This Wacky Ride… And Lost
- Nickelodeon Studios: Take a "Slime" Machine Back to Universal's '90s Legend
- The Peoplemover and Walt's New Tomorrowland: The Rise and Fall of the Future
- The Skyway: Disney World's Grounded Sky Ride and its Reimagined Return to the Skies
- Snow White’s Scary Adventures: The Spooky Story of the Missing Magic Kingdom Classic
- Soarin’ Over California: How California Adventure’s One Soarin’ Success Spread Around the World
- SON OF BEAST: The Fall of the Tallest, Fastest, Only Looping Wooden Coaster on Earth
- Space Mountain – De la Terre à la Lune: Launching Disneyland Paris’ Steampunk Peak
- STAR TOURS: The Stellar Story Behind the Ride That Changed Disney Parks Forever
- T2 3-D: Behind the Screens of Universal’s Larger-Than-Life Lost Legend
- TEST TRACK - History in Motion, Part II: How The Original Test Track Changed Epcot Forever
- The Timekeeper: From Iwerks to Imagineering, Inside The Evolution of Circlevision
- TOMB RAIDER: The Ride – Unearthing the Story Behind One of the World's Best Abandoned Rides
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The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: How Disney Created (Then Condemned) California Adventure's One-Time Anchor
- Universe of Energy: Inside the Extinction of the Last EPCOT Center Classic
- World of Motion: History in Motion, Part II – Future World's Classic Trip Through Transportation
Comments
Hey, when will the library be updated next? Gone through all these amazing articles, wondering when the next great new article will be coming in
Hoping to bring you more in the New Year, really pleased you are enjoying them. Thanks for reading.
Flying Saucers and Luigi’s Flying Tires should be a 2-in-1 Disaster File.
I also think Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance should be a Modern Marvel.
I'd love to see Lost Legends (maybe Disaster Files?) on older parks with interesting histories/backgrounds like The World of Sid & Marty Krofft in Atlanta or Dogpatch U.S.A. But between the age of these and lack of resources or photographs (it was an actual policy for the former to not allow photography), it would probably be difficult. And the latter has had a more colorful afterlife than most.