11. Luigi’s Flying Tires

June 15, 2012 - February 17, 2015

Born with an ambitious goal, Luigi’s Flying Tires, you were positioned as a rebirth of Tomorrowland’s famous Flying Saucers of yesteryear! But how would Disney fix the fundamental flaws of the nimble, wild, low capacity saucers? With our vastly expanded technology, of course! Except, your two-seater Flying Tires turned out to be heavy, lumbering creations whose initial joystick controls were removed for being totally ineffective. Beach balls were meant to add life and a “game” element to the air hockey ride-along, but ultimately the ride was a low-capacity hassle that just wasn’t a whole lot of fun. It may have moved slowly, but it died quickly. The ride is one of the shortest-lived Disney rides ever, closing after less than three years – a second death for the flying saucer ride at Disneyland. In its place stands the LPS-choreographed trackless family ride of dancing Italian Fiats, Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters

12. Twister… Ride it Out!

May 4, 1998 - November 2, 2015

Amid water, sparks, flames, and explosions, Twister was of another time; an ageless example of the power of “Studio” parks to peel back the magic behind-the-screens. But when special effects went digital, so too did movie parks. In the Age of the Simulator, Twister was a relic; a really-for-real special effects extravaganza that was equal parts frightening and fun. But the promise of incorporating a hot, cross-parent-company brand – the Tonight Show starring YouTube-clip-favorite Jimmy Fallon – was too great a call to ignore. Twister challenged us to ride it out. Then, it rode out of town in a swirling blaze of glory.

13. Europe in the Air

March 26, 2010 - October 2014

Busch Gardens Williamsburg has often been quite forward-thinking with its simulator located in the park’s Ireland. From the early days of King Arthur’s Quest (cutting edge, debuting just after Star Tours) to the Irish folklore adventure Corkscrew Hill, we can’t quite give high praise to the Declassified Disaster: Europe in the Air, which tried (and pretty much totally failed) to match the grace, majesty, and immersion of Disney’s Soarin’. The short-lived experiment has been replaced with another experiment: the world’s first VR simulator, Battle For Eire. While it’s gotten mixed reviews itself, Europe in the Air is gone and (thankfully) largely forgotten.

14. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

May 5, 2004 - January 3, 2017

To our dearly departed Hollywood Tower Hotel… What can we say about you that hasn’t already been said in our Lost Legends: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror entry? Though born of the desperate need to lure guests into Disney’s California Adventure in its darkest moments, you ended up being just the Californian legend the park needed: an integral element of its reimagining, anchoring the park’s timeline and mission of bringing Californian stories to life. From your art deco exterior to your cobweb-infested corridors, you were a fitting icon to reign over the reborn park’s Hollywoodland. Though your reincarnation as Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! is a laugh-out-loud wild ride through screen-based floors and randomized rock songs, it’ll never have your timelessness, eeriness, or California-ness. 

15. Ellen’s Energy Adventure

September 15, 1996 - August 13, 2017

Though its companions – The Seas, Land, Imagination, Motion, Life, and Horizons – had already fallen to characters, modern thrill rides, or outright closures, the fall of the Lost Legend: Universe of Energy meant the end of the last of Future World’s perimeter pavilions. That is, of course, unless you count the pavilion having changed already when Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye, and Alex Trebek set up inside in 1996. In either case, the final extinction of Energy’s prehistoric petroleum tour (also in favor of Guardians of the Galaxy) meant Marvel had found its Walt Disney World home despite the AVENGERS: Custody War surrounding its Orlando use.

16. The Great Movie Ride

May 1, 1989 - August 13, 2017

In a tragically poetic ending, Disney’s other massive moving theater ride seemed to sense the death of its Energy Adventure sister even from across the (Disney) world. As they were connected in life, so too did they align in death, both shuttering forever the same evening. Though the Lost Legend: The Great Movie Ride had been a staggering classic; an epic, 22-minute journey into the movies that read like the park’s thesis, it was also in the way of progress. Despite outcry, the classic was felled in favor of the Mouse who started it all. 

17. Curse of DarKastle

May 1, 2005 - September 4, 2017

When Universal’s Islands of Adventure revolutionized the industry with 1999’s Modern Marvel: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, it introduced the cutting-edge “SCOOP” ride system and the groundbreaking idea of “squinching” – animating screen-based scenes with shifting perspective to match a moving ride vehicle. Who would’ve expected the follow-up to this generation-defining dark ride to be built at a seasonal park in Virginia? Yet the Lost Legend: Curse of DarKastle adapted the technology into a frozen fable of a mad German king and the curse that kept him sealed within his tragic kingdom. DarKastle was an icon… but SeaWorld was in decline. In 2017, they threw in the towel on the high-tech ride system, clearing out the castle showbuilding to become a flexible events space… A true shame.

18. Dueling Dragons

May 28, 1999 - September 4, 2017

Dueling Dragons lived ferociously. The two separate but intertwined roller coasters were technological hallmarks of Islands of Adventure. Precision weighing would adjust brakes throughout the rides’ courses, creating three sensational near-miss moments with the speeding trains coming as close as 18 inches to each other. Alas, the Dragons endured their first death in 2010 when – just after their absorption into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – on-ride injuries caused the dueling to cease. (Don’t worry – by then, they’d already been renamed Dragon Challenge.) The official death of the duo came in 2017 when they were retired for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure – a final, tragic end to the thrill rides, albeit with a spectacular new creation in its own right.

19. Jurassic Park: The Ride

June 21, 1996 - September 3, 2018

Parting is such sweet sorrow when it comes to Jurassic Park: The Ride, the original dino-attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. But as tends to be the case in today’s IP-focused world, Jurassic Park is old bones. So while we may have laid the Lost Legend: Jurassic Park: The Ride to rest, in its place was reborn Jurassic World: The Ride – a substantial reinvention that both exceeds and falls short of its cinematic predecessor. In any case, we can’t call the prehistoric original extinct since a near copy lives on in Florida and Tokyo... for now.

20. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith

March 16, 2002 - September 2, 2019

Rest in peace, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster… No, not that one. In fact, it’s only the version of the attraction at Disneyland Paris’ Declassified Disaster: Walt Disney Studios that bit the dust. But we are mourning the loss… first, because France’s version of the ride replaced Florida’s day-glo Hollywood cut-outs with an almost-abstract light show pulling guests into the music; second, because its elimination temporarily left the park with just two anchor attractions – the least of any Disney Park on Earth! But fear not… the ride will return with an Iron Man wrap as part of the park’s upcoming Avengers Campus...

Resting in Peace

And with that, we're off to the races... the 2020s promise not just a new generation of attractions at theme parks across the globe, but doubtlessly the inevitable goodbye to several we know and love today... That makes this a good time to make the jump to our "Endangered" Rides That Might Not Survive the 2020s feature, just in case your next ride on a treasured favorite is your last...

In the meantime, these attractions may be gone, but they won't soon be forgotten by the millions of guests who made memories (good or bad!) while riding.