11. Soarin’
Image: Google
Size: 61,000 square feet
Believe it or not, Soarin’ is housed in the largest single-attraction showbuilding at Epcot (painted periwinkle blue in the photo above), contributing to the largest pavilion in Future World, The Land. Even though the showbuilding for the aerial simulator is (not so conspicuously) hidden at Epcot, it's still shaped like an airplane hangar – evidence that it was originally duplicated from California Adventure's Lost Legends: Soarin’ Over California (where the hangar is part of the park's Grizzly Peak land).
Epcot's Soarin' is larger than its Californian cousin, though, thanks to a third theater (Concourse C) added in 2016 to up the popular ride's capacity at Epcot, which is infamously short on rides.
10. Revenge of the Mummy
Image: Google
Size: 62,000 square feet
In the early 2000s, Universal Orlando made a bold choice: that, to keep their studio park “current,” they would do whatever was necessary… even closing beloved, fan-favorite masterpiece attractions like the Lost Legend: Kongfrontation.
Closing Kong vacated a 62,000 square foot showbuilding over six stories tall – just the right size for the park’s "psychological thrill ride" and subject of its own Modern Marvel: Revenge of the Mummy. Bi-coastal tourists often note that Orlando’s Mummy coaster is leaps and bounds above Hollywood’s… and it literally is! Hollywood’s version of the ride took the place of the park’s E.T. Adventure, whose showbuilding is quite a bit smaller than the Kongfrontation building available for Orlando’s ride, and was dutifully downsized to fill the smaller space in Hollywood.
9. Indiana Jones Adventure / DINOSAUR
Image: Google
Size: 65,000 square feet
When designers decided that an Indiana Jones E-Ticket should make its way to Disneyland, Adventureland was the obvious and only place to put it. The problem? There was simply no place for the enormous showbuilding it would require within Disneyland’s cramped quarters. Of course, Imagineers had gotten used to building showbuildings outside of Disneyland’s railroad berm, but the Modern Marvel: Indiana Jones Adventure took it to a whole new level, requiring a quarter-mile trek through a queue themed as the ancient Temple of the Forbidden Eye, carrying riders to an enormous showbuilding located on the former site of the Eeyore parking lot.
The Indiana Jones showbuilding takes up such a large footprint, the Monorail needed to be re-routed to pass around it – a multi-million dollar project in its own right. Eagle-eyed guests can spot the massive building from Downtown Disney, painted Disney's patented "go-away green" and adorned with a "rolling hills" cornice meant to make it fade from conscious view.
Image: Google
The chance to “double dip” on the expensive ride’s development and manufacturing was simply too good to pass up, so the concept was reused for Animal Kingdom’s Modern Marvel: DINOSAUR. Though it may be hard to believe, but for a few (literal) cut corners, Indiana Jones Adventure and DINOSAUR share not just a ride system, but ride layouts, leading to nearly identically sized showbuildings. In a well-loved bit of trivia, Imagineers planted trees just behind the "Dino Institute" facade to naturally make any insinuation of a large showbuilding beyond disappear.
8. Men in Black: Alien Attack
Image: Google
Size: 70,000 square feet
Universal Studios Florida really upped the ante with Men in Black: Alien Attack – a comical spin on the laser-blasting dark ride genre. Transforming from a mid-century New York World’s Fair to a secret underground Men in Black training facility, the ride sends guests out into the mean streets of New York to face off with a hoard of aliens. The weaving, dual (and dueling) tracks of the ride occupy one of the largest showbuildings in Orlando.
7. “Battle Escape” at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
The "Battle Escape" attraction is in the larger showbuilding on the left. Image: Nearmap
Size: 72,000 square feet
So far, Disney has been predictably tight-lipped about the two E-Ticket attractions set to debut inside the Galaxy’s Edge Star Wars-themed lands coming to Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. However, we already know that the warehouse housing the code-named “Battle Escape” attraction will be one of the largest Disney’s ever constructed. Believed to use a “SCOOP” ride system like Universal’s Spider-Man (or something similar), the ride may even occupy two levels (as Universal’s Transformers: The Ride does, thanks to a well-hidden elevator most guests never even notice they’re on), which could up-to, double the current square footage count.
6. Rock n’ Roller Coaster
Size: 75,000 square feet
It’s not every day that Disney takes a hint from your local, seasonal amusement park, yet that’s what happened when Paramount’s Kings Island and Kings Dominion (in Ohio and Virginia, respectively) debuted identical roller coasters in 1996, each themed to the Twilight Zone-esque TV series, The Outer Limits. That ride – Flight of Fear – launched riders down an enclosed, narrow launch corridor and into a “spaghetti bowl” showbuilding of criss-crossing roller coaster track and supports, spiraled, twisted, and entwined like noodles.
Disney allegedly loved the idea and commissioned their favorite roller coaster manufacturer – Vekoma – to create a counterpart. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster accelerates riders into a massive showbuilding of twisted track. If you’ve ever wondered what the ride would look like without the box around it, you might be surprised to know that it exists. Aside from Disney’s Parisian installation, Vekoma sold another copy of the ride to a park in Holland…
Ready to see the biggest showbuildings theme parks have ever built? Read on...
Comments
The Pandora rides sharing a building backfired big-time when Flight of Passage experienced frequent overheating problems - causing frequent fire alarm activations. Navi River Journey is affected too - a fire alarm activation means that the entire building is evacuated.