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5. Snow White's Scary Adventures

Image: Disney

Last Place: Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris
Removed From: Disneyland and Magic Kingdom

The story of the Lost Legend: Snow White's Scary Adventures is quite a tome, mostly because there have been no less than seven distinct versions of the four Snow White rides around the globe, ranking on the "Scariness" scale from mild to practically terrifying. By the mid-90s, however, all four installations of the Snow White dark ride in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo, and Paris were approximately the same in scenes and tone – the ride many Millennials knew and loved (or feared) with a pretty strong emphasis on the Evil Queen and very little in the way of a "Happily ever after...".

Magic Kingdom's famously closed in 2012 as part of the park's New Fantasyland. Its physical space was converted into a Disney Princess meet-and-greet facility, while its spirit and story transferred to the nearby Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Meanwhile, Disneyland's version of the ride – like Mr. Toad, an Opening Day Original – was rebuilt from scratch in 1983 (when "Scary" was added to its name). It closed in January 2020 for a reimagining meant to officially soften the ride's scariness. The ride re-opened on April 30, 2021 as "Snow White's Enchanted Wish." We explored what changed in a special feature, but basically, the ride still has its scary moments (including the best of the Witch's scenes), just in a much more balanced retelling of the tale. 

Of the three remaining Snow White dark rides, none have "Scary" in the name, but both Tokyo and Paris' versions of the ride are pretty much what you'd remember from Magic Kingdom or Disneyland in the '90s – the last chances to see the fright-focused versions of the dark ride. 

6. JAWS

Image: Universal

Last Place: Universal Studios Japan
Removed From: Universal Studios Florida

The Lost Legend: JAWS is just one of those rides that is forever engrained in the minds of those who experienced it. A demented take on the Jungle Cruise, the attraction sent guests on jolly skipper tours of the waterways of Amity Island, only to be continuously terrorized by animatronic sharks bursting out of the water! Absolutely anxiety-inducing and yet joyfully fun, JAWS was the kind of ride that develops a cult following... So much so that it's hard to believe it's gone. 

The Amity area and the Jaws ride closed in early 2012 at Universal Studios Florida, becoming the London waterfront and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley. Unlike some of Universal's more questionable ride swaps (and some of those "flavor-of-the-week" IPs), there's no denying that Diagon Alley is a worthy replacement for Jaws (and contains a number of Jaws Easter eggs, too). But the idea that Jaws is just... gone? It's kind of weird...

And luckily, it's also wrong. Believe it or not, Jaws remains in action at Universal Studios Japan, complete with an Amity village area. Sure, the ride's Skipper speaks Japanese... But frankly, the Japanese guests' enthusiastic reactions on the ride need no translation. Point is, Jaws may be gone from Universal Studios Florida, but you can still face the great white head on in Osaka. We should note, though, that the ride is wedged up against Hogsmeade, perhaps offering a great expansion pad for a Japanese version of Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure... 

7. Sky Ride

Image: Disney

Last Place: Walt Disney World
Removed From: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland

Though it's hard to imagine it today, when the Lost Legend: The Skyway opened at Disneyland in 1956, it was the first of its kind on the continent. Ever the futurist, Walt Disney imagined the efficient aerial ropeway as a genuine model of how people might commute in the future, with Disneyland's ride as a mere prototype to one day be made real. Skyways were part of the 1971 and 1983 respective openings of Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, even if by then, it was probably clear that the suspended buckets had been too closely associated with amusement parks to be taken seriously in cities.

Between 1994 and 1998, all three Disney Parks Skyways closed. In an era marked by attraction closures and project cancellations, the staffing-intensive rides with aging infrastructure were easy prey. Besides, it's unlikely that the Skyways would've survived to today... After all, the ride's illusion-shattering views of bleak, sunbaked rooftops and air conditioning units were "grandfathered in" to fans' acceptability, but probably wouldn't fare well in the era of immersive "Living Lands." 

The irony is that decades after they were dismissed from Disney Parks, the Skyway system made a surprise comeback...! Just as Walt had once imagined, the aerial ropeway became a legitimate transportation system for a real city... in this case, Lake Buena Vista. The Disney Skyliner opened in 2019, connecting four Disney resort hotels with Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. A massive success, fans eagerly await extensions to the intra-resort system, which already feels like a much more malleable 21st century alternative to the Monorail.

8. Carousel of Progress

Image: Disney

Last Place: Magic Kingdom
Removed From: New York World's Fair and Disneyland

Originally developed for the 1964 - 65 New York World's Fair, the Modern Marvel: Carousel of Progress was quite literally one-of-a-kind – featuring absolutely groundbreaking, unthinkable, never-before-seen human Audio-Animatronics technology. Financed by General Electric (and merely one part of their Progressland pavilion at the Fair), the attraction followed one American family through the ages to see how technology (and more specifically, General Electric home appliances) promised "A Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow."

Unlike many of the attractions on this list, there's only one Carousel of Progress. After the Fair's closure, the attraction was relocated to a custom-built revolving theater in 1967's New Tomorrowland. But as the story goes, General Electric suspected that Disneyland's regional draw meant that the show often played to diminishing crowds and repeat viewers – not worth their advertising and sponsorship dollars. When Walt Disney World opened, they requested that the show be relocated there, where international crowds and global attention would see GE's message spread further.

With just a few frightening interruptions and ominous switches to the dreaded "Seasonal" status, Carousel of Progress continues to play today at Walt Disney World, even bestowed with the high honor of having "Walt Disney's" as a prefix. Even if the attraction is badly in need of a facelift (or maybe even a more overt reimagining), its survival is important – Walt Disney allegedly called the attraction his personal favorite, and decreed that it should never cease operation. Here's hoping!

9. PeopleMover

Image: Disney

Last Place: Magic Kingdom
Removed From: Disneyland

Opened alongside Carousel of Progress as part of Walt's "World on the Move" in 1967, the Lost Legend: The PeopleMover was a gentle component of Disneyland for decades. Envisioned by Walt as a sincere prototype of what efficient, urban mass transit of the future could hold, the sleek aerial highway whisked along the second story of the land, darting in and out of show buildings, through wooded parks, and over the bubbling lagoon of the Submarine Voyage. 

When Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland came online in 1975, it contained a PeopleMover too – albeit, one using a different propulsion technology and a modified layout and experience. Even though the Californian and Floridian versions of the ride differ in their mechanics, they represented two of the highest capacity attractions ever designed. 

Ultimately, Disneyland's version of the ride closed forever in 1995 to be converted into the infamous Declassified Disaster: The Rocket Rods – a failed, drag-race-inspired, high-speed alternative that barely lasted two minutes, or two years. The result is that the PeopleMover is one of the rides that can only be found at Magic Kingdom. Every time the nearly-fifty-year-old ride closes for multi-month refurbishments or experiences unplanned maintenance, fans fear that Disney will finally give up on the ride... But perhaps because it's the last, Walt Disney World's version of the ride has been elevated to practical sainthood among Disney Parks fans, and makes the pilgrimage to Florida worthwhile even for the most devoted Disneyland enthusiasts.

 
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