A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, such exhibits include tunnels of love, scary themes and interactive stories. Dark rides are intended to tell stories with thematic elements that immerse riders. Not only does the queue tell a story, but the story unfolds throughout the attraction.
Disney California Adventure Park is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The 72-acre (29 ha) park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California, by the use of Disney, Pixar and Marvel properties. The park opened on February 8, 2001, and is the second of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort complex, after Disneyland Park.
Soarin', also known as Soarin' Over California, Soarin' Around the World, Soaring Over the Horizon and Soaring: Fantastic Flight, is a flight motion simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea. It employs a mechanical lift system, a projected presentation on an 80 ft (24 m) concave 180-degree dome screen, and artificial scents and wind to simulate a hang gliding flight over locations in six of the world's continents. Many consider it the first flying theater.
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels, and a shopping, dining, and entertainment district known as Downtown Disney.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, or simply Tower of Terror, is a series of similar accelerated drop tower dark rides located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure. The attraction is inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. The Tokyo version features an original storyline not related to The Twilight Zone and takes place in the fictional Hotel Hightower. All versions of the attraction place riders in a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator, and present a fictional backstory in which people have mysteriously disappeared from the elevator under the influence of a supernatural element many years previously.
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. which opened on 16 March 2002. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Upon opening, it was dedicated to show business, movie themes, production, and behind-the-scenes, but in the 2010s, in a similar manner to its sister park, Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, it began to distance itself from the original studio backlot theming and entered a new direction of attraction development inspired by iconic Disney stories. In 2019, the park hosted approximately 5.2 million guests. The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower with Mickey Mouse ears similar to the one formerly located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which in turn was inspired by the water tower at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California.
Pooh's Hunny Hunt is a unique trackless dark ride located at Tokyo Disneyland. It is based on the 1977 Disney animated film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Flying Saucers was an amusement ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, California from 1961 to 1966. The ride was manufactured by Arrow Development and National Research Associates, Inc.
Radiator Springs Racers is a slot car ride in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The attraction features a third-generation version of transport technology originally developed for the Test Track attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World. Radiator Springs Racers is themed to the fictional world in Disney Pixar's Cars. At a cost of over $200 million, the attraction is the most expensive at Disneyland Resort and one of the most expensive theme park attractions in the world. It accounted for about 18% of the entire cost of the $1.1 billion expansion of Disney California Adventure Park. The attraction takes guests in a six-person vehicle through encounters with characters from the film series Cars. Guests then race another vehicle through turns and hills, ending with a randomized race result.
Cars Land is a themed area of Disney California Adventure, inspired by the Disney·Pixar franchise, Cars, and Route 66 in America. The 12-acre (4.9 ha) area, built as part of Disney California Adventure Park's $1.1 billion expansion project, opened on June 13, 2012, a year after the release of Cars 2. It contains three rides as well as shops and restaurants, all situated in a replica of Radiator Springs, the fictional town in which most of the first film's events take place. The area's main attraction is Radiator Springs Racers, a racing ride that uses the technology of Epcot's Test Track.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a dark ride attraction based on the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid, located in Paradise Gardens Park at Disney California Adventure and in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park, where it is titled Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. The ride opened on June 3, 2011 at Disney California Adventure, and on December 6, 2012 at Magic Kingdom.
Shanghai Disneyland is a theme park located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong, Shanghai, China, that is part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. The park is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Shanghai Shendi Group, through a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Shendi. Construction began on April 8, 2011. The park opened on June 16, 2016. The park operated in its first half-year with a visitor attendance of 5.60 million guests.
Toy Story Land is a themed land at Walt Disney Studios Park, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The area is based on the Disney·Pixar film series Toy Story.
Luigi's Flying Tires was an amusement ride in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, at the Disneyland Resort In Anaheim, California. Guests rode on tire-shaped bumper car vehicles that floated on a cushion of air, similar to an air hockey game but also very much like a hovercraft. The ride's concept was based on Disneyland's Flying Saucers attraction from the 1960s. The attraction closed on February 17, 2015. It was replaced by Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters.
Iron Man Experience is a 3-D motion simulator attraction in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened on 11 January 2017. The attraction is based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe character Iron Man, becoming the first Disney attraction to be based on a Marvel property. The attraction is located at the park's Tomorrowland section, in an area named "Stark Expo", adjacent to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Set a few years after the 2010 New York Stark Expo, Tony invites the visitors aboard the Iron Wing for a tour of Hong Kong, including the newly constructed Stark Tower. However, Hydra launches an attack on the city, led by Dr. Arnim Zola, forcing Tony to don the Iron Man armor and fight the menace alongside the Iron Wing.
Paint the Night Parade was a nighttime parade at Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, and Disneyland. The Hong Kong version premiered on September 11, 2014, as part of the park's 9th anniversary expansion. The Disneyland version debuted on May 22, 2015, as part of the park's 60th anniversary Diamond Celebration. The parade is a spiritual successor to the long-running Main Street Electrical Parade, which has appeared at numerous Disney parks in several different incarnations since June 17, 1972. At Disneyland Park in California, Paint the Night made its last regular performance on September 5, 2016, and returned as a seasonal offering for the 2016 holiday season. The original Main Street Electrical Parade returned to Disneyland Park on January 19, 2017 for a limited-time run.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! is an accelerated drop tower dark ride attraction at the Disney California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort. Based on the namesake characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it depicts Rocket recruiting guests to attempt to free the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy from display within the Collector's fortress.
