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5. Body Wars (Epcot), Star Tours, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios)

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run - Family jumps to lightspeed in cockpit
Image: Disney

This trio almost didn’t make the list, but I decided to include them because these three incredible rides share more in common than being simulators—indeed, they are almost like three rides in the same series.

Star Tours was Disney’s first significant foray into using simulator technology in 1987 at Disneyland. Two years later, Disney carried the technology over to Walt Disney World, first opening Body Wars in the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot in October 1989, a ride that has its own spiritual-successor connection to Disneyland’s Adventure Thru Inner Space. Only two months later, Star Tours opened at Disney-MGM Studios, and it remained the same until 2011 when both Star Tours locations were revamped to “Star Tours – The Adventure Continues”, the ever-changing multi-story 3D version fans know today. Star Tours and Body Wars are inextricably linked, and not just because they both include references to “Wars”.

Both Star Tours and Body Wars involve a harrowing adventure through unknown space—in Star Tours, we get actual space, while in Body Wars, the mysterious frontier is the microscopic interior of the human body. Both involve near-collisions with mysterious objects—indeed, the “splinter” in Body Wars looks a lot like the comet from Star Tours. Both also have a rather infamous reputation for causing motion sickness, though the undisputed king in this category was definitely Body Wars. The latter attraction’s visceral setting, occasional glitchiness, and constant “sloshing” motions made so many guests feel sick that Disney gave the ride some slipshod modifications by cutting the 20 second sequence shortly after opening. The ride only survived until 2007 when the Wonders of Life pavilion closed.

Fast forward to today—Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run takes simulator concept Disney birthed in Star Tours and Body Wars to new heights. One of the biggest problems with theme park simulators is simply that guests were mere spectators in the adventure. Sure, every once in a while, you might get pegged as “The Rebel Spy” on Star Tours – The Adventure Continues, but that doesn’t affect the outcome of the ride. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run changed all that by giving guests control of the simulator, and your choices genuinely affect the outcome of the adventure. Indeed, do a bad enough job smashing up Han’s beloved ship, and you even get to make an extra stop in an asteroid field before returning to Batuu (which feels like a nice callback to Star Tours).  The near collisions from the previous two rides become actual collisions, and unlike either previous attraction, the fate of the quest is now in your hands. Pretty cool!

6. The Jungle Cruise (Disneyland / Magic Kingdom) & Kilimanjaro Safaris (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)

Kilimanjaro Safari Car with giraffes
Image: Disney

I know, I know—this one may seem like a stretch. After all, the main thing these two rides have in common is animals, and that’s about it, right?

The Jungle Cruise holds a prestigious spot as one of the opening day attractions from Disneyland in 1955. Ironically, it didn’t open in Magic Kingdom until 1975, four years after that park’s opening. Walt’s original dream was for the cruise to host real animals for guests to enjoy, but the Disney team eventually decided this idea was implausible. Wouldn’t the animals sleep during the day? How would you separate them from guests? The maintenance issues seemed insurmountable, so they decided to replace the animals with animatronics. Walt didn’t live to see Walt Disney World open in 1971, and his vision wouldn’t become an attainable reality until years later.

The first step took place before the Magic Kingdom Jungle Cruise even opened—Disney opened a small wildlife and botanical experience, then called “Treasure Island” on Bay Lake in 1974. It was renamed as Discovery Island in 1978 when it came into its own as a recognized animal park. In 1998, Disney took the final step and achieved the unthinkable—Walt’s dream came true with the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Disney found a way to bring guests into an authentic-feeling safari experience by building one of the most advanced zoological parks ever constructed.

Kilimanjaro Safaris opened with the park and remains the fulfillment of the original quest Disney began with The Jungle Cruise. The animals and wild setting are the biggest connectors, but there are other connections between the two rides as well. The Safari drivers are usually substantially less goofy than the Jungle Cruise skippers, but they are known to drop a great joke from time to time. Both rides also opened with backstories of hidden peril from the dangers of man. You can still see this on the Jungle Cruise when your boat comes under attack from a mysterious tribe. On Kilimanjaro Safaris, the ride actually opened with a surprisingly-morbid story surrounding a group of poachers intent on killing a baby elephant—this side quest was eventually cut, probably for the better.

7. The Disneyland Skyway & The Skyliner (Walt Disney World)

Disney Skyliner family sitting in interior
Image: Disney

This one is a bit of a bonus item. Earlier, we mentioned an important Disneyland / Magic Kingdom attraction of yesteryear: The Disney Skyway, an open-cab gondola system that allowed guests to travel back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland (being only one-way trips were allowed, the attraction was actually treated as two separate experiences). The attraction was part transportation, part ride as it definitely tested guests’ mettle for fear of heights. The Disneyland version passed straight through the Matterhorn during its tenure.

The Skyway closed at Disneyland in 1994 and at Magic Kingdom in 1999. Rumor has it the closures were in response to two accidents—one involving a guest injury when a man tried to jump into a tree and another when a cast member was swept off a platform and fell to their death. Disney denies this, and overall, it seems that both closures had more to do with declining guest interest and high maintenance costs. Still, many assumed Disney would never resurrect the gondola concept again.

In anticipation for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disney revived the system and gave it a technological revamp, calling it The Walt Disney World Skyliner. This new closed-cab gondola system isn’t technically a ride but rather part of Disney’s transportation network (like the monorail, we shamelessly “ride” it all the same). Disney used newer technology to dramatically improve on The Skyway to make The Skyliner an effect transportation system between Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a number of resorts in between. While the system has run into some hiccups, overall, the Skyliner has proven a success, and we are hopeful to see the technology used more to connect other parts of Walt Disney World.

8. Mission to Mars (Disneyland / Magic Kingdom) & Mission: SPACE (Epcot)

Kids smiling while riding Mission: SPACE
Image: Disney

Disney has always had a penchant for space mission rides: Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, and even Horizons included space exploration elements.

This trend has its roots at Disneyland’s opening. Before Space Mountain was even a full concept, Disney started off with an attraction called Rocket to the Moon (later renamed Flight to the Moon) which led guests through a two-part experience involving a brief animatronic show, followed by a circular theater experience where guest seats simulated the jostlings of space (this building would eventually be used in both parks for The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter). Unlike Star Tours, this wasn’t full simulator technology yet. After humans reached the moon, the ride was refurbished as “Mission to Mars” in 1975. The attraction never truly got past its dated feel and waned in popularity as years passed. The Disneyland version closed in 1992 with the Magic Kingdom version following in 1993.

As with a number of other connected rides on our list, Mission to Mars experienced an unexpected rebirth in the form of Epcot’s Mission: SPACE which opened in 2003. Whereas Mission to Mars quickly fell behind in terms of technology, Mission: SPACE was almost too ahead of its time, utilizing technology inspired by NASA to simulate G-forces through centrifugal force. Disney had to tone back the ride’s G-forces after too many guests reported motion sickness (sounds like Body Wars again), and one guest unfortunately even suffered a heart attack. The ride was later retooled to include a low-intensity version (Mission: SPACE Green Team). Like Mission to Mars, the ride’s blocky CG graphics started to feel dated as a decade passed, so in 2017, the Green team was given their own unique mission while Mission: SPACE Orange Team received a much-needed graphics update. We’ll have to see what happens to this attraction when humans finally reach Mars in the next century!

There are so many more attraction connections than we found here. What are a few you would like to see us write about in the future?

 

 
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