Disneyland, Disney World and the rest of the Disney parks have left a huge impact in the world and have been enjoyed and loved by billions of people all around the world. Some of the greatest rides/attractions/shows have found extreme popularity in the Disney community including The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fantasmic, Expedition Everest, Peter Pan’s Flight, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror and so much more. But what about the rides/attractions/shows that are no longer available at the parks, how popular are they still to this day and how big of an impact were they? In some cases some rides/attractions/shows replace rides that have seen their course like Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway replacing The Great Movie Ride or Rocket Rods replacing The People Mover in Disneyland and later closing 2 years later leaving the ride abandoned. I have watched some old shows and rode some defunct Disney rides and I decided lets talk about them. Now most of these I haven’t gotten the chance to ride as well but I know how popular they were. I will not be including any shitty rides/attractions/shows like Rocket Rods, Superstar Limo or The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. Trust me I saved you a lot of time and trouble from watching them. Now I will also not include rides that closed in one park and are still around in another. For example rides like Tower of Terror, The People Mover, Rock n Roller Coaster and Fantasmic as a the rides are still open in other respected Disney parks and Fanstasmic in Disneyland closed and was changed to a 2.0 so it wouldn’t count on the list. Now this isn’t a top 10 per say but 10 in total, so there won’t be an honorable mentions list. Comment below if I missed a defunct ride/attraction/show that you miss or was your favorite.
Top 10 Defunct Disney Parks Rides/Attractions/Shows
10. Journey into Imagination (March 1983 – October 1998) – Journey into Imagination was once a beloved ride/attraction at Disney World’s Epcot. The ride also had two of the most beloved and highly praised Disney animatronics, The Dreamfinder and a small purple dragon named Figment. The story of the ride follows the guests going into the clouds meeting The Dreamfinder and Figment in a vehicle called The Dream Mobile and they collect dreams in this vehicle and tell the guests about their journey. The guests go into the dreams and create imagination, as said by the name of the ride. The dark ride attraction was so beloved for its creativity and how calm of a ride it was. And then Disney decided to close the ride for renovations. Many Disney park guests were very upset with this decision but soon after the attraction reopened in October 1999. It was called Journey into “Your” Imagination and many people hated this ride. The ride didn’t include The Dreamfinder and there was barely any Figment in the ride. The ride had the same idea of imagination but it lost the will power of the original and the creativity the original ride had. The ride closed 2 years later for a new concept and refurbishments. In 2002 the ride reopened with the original name of Journey into Imagination but it also included Figment in every scene of the ride. While it wasn’t as great as the original, it still has the creativity of the original just with less dreams and more imagination. The original Journey into Imagination was so beloved because it has a catchy theme, it had two interesting and well developed characters, it had a perfect ending to a Disney ride and it was built on playful education, something Epcot was built for. The ride left an impact to the people that grew up at the time it was open and it is considered one of the greatest rides ever in the Disney Parks. Many people loved it and it will forever have one little spark. Defunctland made a great video doc about the ride so ill post both the ride and the Defunctland video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPeea5khpx4 – Defunctland video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onflv0-LW-4 – the actual ride
9. The Legend of the Lion King (July 1994 – February 2002) – In 1998, on my first trip and family vacation to Disney World, I got to see this show up close and I haven’t seen the show since I watched it on tape many years ago. I luckily found a video online and I started to get a little bit emotional. The show played at Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. The show used puppets, Disney Huminals, which are just larger than life figures of the animated film counterparts, and it also used songs from the animated film. I don’t think this show left a huge impact to the Disney parks, but I wanted to include it on this list because this was one of the few things on the list I got to actually do in the parks. Now I kind of had forgotten what happened to the show because I was young and never really thought about those sorts of things. Sadly, the show closed in 2002 and 6 months later was replaced by Mickey’s Philharmagic. Luckily around that time Animal Kingdom was open and held another Lion King show, The Festival of the Lion King. So even though the show became defunct, the memory of the show and how much it meant for me to find and watch the show again will always live in me. Plus it was very creepy seeing some of these puppets 20 years later. They look kind of, creepy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF29p84vgks
8. Maelstrom (July 1999 – October 2014) – Were going to head back to EPCOT and talk about one of the most cherished rides/attractions in World Showcase, Maelstrom. The ride was located in the Norway Pavilion and it was a log flume dark ride. The ride featured audio animatronics and told the story of how Norway faced peril and adventure. The ride showed a mythological version of the Viking days of Norway. The ride was loved because of how it showed the spirit of Norway and it gave guests a little bit of pride of Norway. The ride helped Norway get well known but sadly good things must come to an end. On November 23rd 2013, a new Disney film came out into theaters and became one of their most popular animated films. That film was called Frozen and later in 2014 a meet and greet of Elsa and Anna was located in the Norway Pavilion. Disney Imagineering and Disney in general decided to close Maelstrom and replace it with a Frozen ride. Fans of Maelstrom were very angry and upset with this decision because while Frozen did have mythical creatures of Norway, it lacked the way Maelstrom showed the true story of the mythological version of Norway and Vikings. On June 2016, Frozen Ever After opened and it had some love from the guests and some hatred. The ride used the same ride system as Maelstrom and it used some effects from the original ride. There are also some hidden Easter eggs of the original ride throughout the whole ride. I never rode on Maelstrom but I do see the argument many guests make with replacing the ride. However I do think Frozen Ever After is a great ride. Yesterworld does a great job in explaining more detail about both rides so ill put a link below of his video and the actual ride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b0JStalWMU – Yesterworld’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZiOIUxwx5k – the actual ride
7. Ellen’s Energy Adventure (September 1996 – August 2017) – Universe of Energy was located in Future World in Epcot and it was a pavilion that held the ride/attraction Ellen’s Energy Adventure which starred Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy. It started out with a 8 minute film shown of Ellen DeGeneres falling asleep and dreaming about an energy themed Jeopardy. She would be facing Albert Einstein and her old college rival Judy Peterson, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The film also included Jeopardy host Alex Trabek. After the 1st round Ellen is falling behind and then Bill Nye steps in and offers to help Ellen learn about energy. Later on comes the ride part of this attraction as the seating area rotates 90 degrees and the curtains open to a diorama of audio animatronic Dinosaurs. Also there was an Ellen animatronic that was shown fighting an Elasmosaurus but after 2014 the Ellen animatronic was removed. We then go back to more of the film as we are shown how cavemen created fire and this led to the future of energy. Finally the film ends with Ellen winning the energy themed Jeopardy. This is probably the longest run time ride/attraction in Epcot and it always had a high guest capacity as it was a great to do to cool off from the Florida heat. So why did it close? In 2017, Disney confirmed that the Universe of Energy Pavilion was going to close and be replaced by a Guardians of the Galaxy themed attraction. The ride closed in August of that year but Disney magic happened and during the final show the attraction broke down forcing guests to evacuate the ride mid-show. However the cast members let the guests stay in the primeval diorama and take photos of the dinosaurs. For that to happen must be a miracle or it could be just Disney showing that they do make some dreams come true. Disney had one hell of an attraction in the pavilion though as it was very beloved for teaching kids and adults the history of energy and it had great comic relief from Ellen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ClysXM8yQ&t=51s
6. SpectroMagic (October 1991 – May 1999, April 2001 – June 2010) – Now I mentioned this nighttime parade in my honorable mentions in my Top 10 Disney rides/attraction/shows list. Even though it’s not around anymore doesn’t mean I can’t give it some love because it is my favorite nighttime parade in Disney Parks history. Now SpectroMagic was only presented in Disney World as it replaced The Main Street Electrical Parade in 1991 as during that time was Disney World’s 20th Anniversary. The story of the parade follows Mickey and the Spectromen as they create the power of SpectroMagic. The parade had 5 themes, World of Music from the Silly Symphonies, The Wonder of Sleeping Beauty’s Garden, The Fantasy of The Little Mermaid, The Imagination of Fantasia and The World of Dreams in a Grand Disney Cavalcade. It was a very beloved Disney Parade as it had that Disney magic and the music used in the parade, more the theme of the parade, had that Disney feeling. I loved this parade as it was my very first memory of Disney World, but it was the only Nighttime parade that I was ever able to see, that I know of. It went through a hiatus in 1999 as Disney was heading into the new millennium and wanted to start off fresh. So for two years they borrowed and brought back The Main Street Electrical Parade as the original parade floats were at Disneyland Paris. Then in 2001 SpectroMagic would return but only until 2010 when it was going through its second hiatus as DisneyWorld brought back The Main Street Electrical Parade for a Summer Nightastic promotion. The promotion was to last 90 days but the parade had a longer stay and SpectroMagic, which was set to return in 2011, never came back. It was set to return but the parade floats were in bad condition due to where they were stored and the Florida weather conditions. By 2013, the parade was retired as the floats were destroyed. It’s sad that SpectroMagic never got a real final curtain call as the parade was loved by so many guests and it had such a beautiful theme. TPMVids made a great video about SpectroMagic with some facts about the parade and talked more about the parade’s hiatus and return so ill post both the parade and TMPVid’s video on the bottom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slwr3pt8voQ&t=601s – TPMVids’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsZbFYBC_c4&t=93s – the actual parade
5. Captain EO (September 1986 – August 1998, February 2010 – December 2015) – I will be posting a Defunctland video on this film as Defunctland defiantly will talk more in depth about it then I will but until then let’s talk about Disney’s first expensive film in the parks. Captain EO is a 3-D sci-fi film starring Michael Jackson. The 17 minute film was shown at Disneyland, Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. The film was written by George Lucas, you know that guy who created the biggest Sci-Fi film ever (Howard the Duck). Just kidding Star Wars, but side note he created that piece of crap too. And the film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the director for The Godfather Part 1 and 2. Now already the film has 3 huge heavyweights in the entertainment/film industry so this should be an amazing film. The film’s budget in total was over 23.7million dollars and it was a huge success in the parks. Technically the film was in 4-D in the parks with added lasers, in theater effects and smoke. The film was about Captain EO and his crew bringing a gift for the Supreme Leader, played by Anjelica Houston. During the film they had two original songs, We Are Here to Change the World and Another Part of Me, both were sung by Michael Jackson. Sadly the film would close throughout the parks from 1995 – 1998 due to the controversy towards Michael Jackson. Captain EO in my opinion is a very iconic film for the Disney Parks as the entire film is not only one of the biggest films created for the parks, but it included some of the biggest names in the entertainment business. On June 25th, 2009 the world became silence after learning about the death of Michael Jackson. Captain EO then became popular on the internet. That was technically my first time I was able to see the 17 minute short film. Fans made a petition to bring the attraction back to the parks and the death of Michael Jackson was a big help for that petition. In 2010 Disney opened the attraction in the four parks and it would stay open from 2014 – 2015 in the respected parks. Captain EO may one day get a special showing in the Disney Parks since we’re getting close to its 40th year Anniversary, so you never know. Maybe one day Captain EO could become undefunct and return to the parks for one night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg2zuRBlRt0 – Defunctland video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJvyrxflH8 – actual film in 2-D
4. Extraterrestrial Alien Encounter (June 1995 – October 2003) – Where do we start with this one? This attraction was around during the Michael Eisner years of the Disney parks. The same guy who brought EuroDisney, Animal Kingdom, Star Tours and Hollywood Studios brought us this attraction, and that wasn’t even the original idea. The original concept of this attraction was for the film Alien and the alien creature, the Xenomorph, was to be on the Nostromo (the ship in the film) and guests would look for the alien and try to pretty much shoot at it. The idea was to be a horror/sci-fi attraction for teens and young adults but that idea was scrapped for two reasons. First reason was that it seemed too frightening for Disney and reason two was the Alien series was rated R. While the Alien film and a Xenomorph can be found in The Great Movie Ride, an attraction of an alien life form escaping would happen, just in a different way. The pre show and show before the attraction had a pretty big cast that included Tyra Banks, Kevin Pollock, Jeffery Jones and Tim Curry voicing S.I.R. The preshow showed you how XS-Tech would teleport an alien life form from one place to another. Although in this part the alien being used named Skippy, comes out looking horrific and creepy. In the main attraction a single guess was to be teleported to meet with the leader of XS-Tech but the commander decided to teleport himself instead. However instead of bringing the commander a winged alien like creature appeared in the tube in front of the guests and escapes. The room goes dark and guests are either sprayed with fluid or their seats would rumble and shake as to saying the alien life form was near them or right in front of them. Guests would also feel the breath of the alien in the back of their necks. Thankfully the XS-Tech aliens find a way to get the creature back into the tube and blow it up. So this was a real attraction that was in Disney World and as you can guess it had mix feelings with guests. Some guests praised the dark tone the attraction had, but others were negative saying it was too scary for children. Now I never went on this attraction as a kid, thank god, but if it was open now I would have loved it. It had amazing animatronics and the alien animatronic looks so life like. Now don’t forget watching the ride isn’t getting a full experience like the guests had as in person it would be horrific. The attraction closed for multiple reasons, low attendance in the attraction, complaints from guess of it being too scary, Jeffery Jones getting arrested for possession of child pornography (big no no for Disney), but the biggest reason was because a little blue alien creature became popular in 2002 and Disney decided to rework the ride with that alien like creature. You know him as Stitch and the ride would become Stitch’s Great Escape. While the new ride Stitch’s Great Escape was pretty much the same ride, it was more kid friendly and it also included a very phenomenal animatronic of Stitch. Sadly the ride was hated by many guests and in 2016 it would run on a seasonally schedule. The attraction to this day is not operating as the pre show areas is being used as a meet and greet area for Stitch, the attraction itself is in bad condition. It sucks that Alien Encounter closed down for Stitch as yes Stitch is a fun popular character in the Disney Parks, his ride lacked what Alien Encounter was supposed to be. Yes Disney wanted a more kid friendly ride, but the original ride was mainly towards teens and young adults and Disney, at the time, wanted to try something different. I’ll post a more in depth video explaining the attraction and also a video of the attraction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6I7vrusAWw – the attraction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA8ArAsEYDs – video explanation
3. Studio Backlot Tour (May 1989 – September 2014) – Where do we start with this one? Well to tell you the truth we need to talk about Michael Eisner, yup that guy from before that wanted to bring in an alien killing life form into the parks. He had an idea to make a 3rd park in Disney World called at the time Disney’s MGM Studios, a park where you can be a part of movie/backstage magic. Inside this park held many shows and sets where actual films/tv.shows was filmed. Shows like The Mickey Mouse Club and The Lottery starring Bette Midler. You will understand that last thing later because instead of the actual ride I will post a Yesterworld video because, well we will get to it. The first version of this ride was a 2 hour long tour where you would visit sets, the animation department, see effects in action and that’s just the first half of the tour. The 2nd half of the tour was a walk through section where you got to see actual live sets and all around this 2 hour long tour would be props from actual films/shows. Two years later refurbishments happened because guests complained about it always being crowded and there being only two rides in the park. So they changed some stuff for the ride/tour and then refurbished it. I can make a whole page about this but that’s what the video is for because this tour ride went through so many changes that it’s going to be hard to keep up with if I write it. Hell I’m losing my place right now because they put in props and sets for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Home Improvement and they also added in a scene with a mob gangster taking over the tour, my head hurts I need a moment. Around the 2000’s the ride went from being one hour and a half long to 35 minutes long. So many changes to the park happened and that hurt the tour a lot. A car stunt show was added into the park causing a big chunk of the ride to be rearranged and also a dine in restaurant was added in so once again the tour was changed. Finally Home on the Range, the 2003 Disney animated film flopped and the animation department was taken out of the tour. The biggest nail in the coffin happened 10 years later when it was announced that there was two new lands being built. One of the lands was Toy Story Land; the other was Galaxy’s Edge which was a huge land for Star Wars. The ride would close one year later and oh my god I feel like I missed something. Oh yes it was literally the one thing that made MGM Studios or in this case Hollywood Studios make you feel like you were in the backstage of movies. The ride was a great concept that could have been stolen because a same concept was being used in Universal, but in general it was a great concept that unfortunately was dying from the beginning of MGM Studios opening. You see I would have loved this ride but the problem was the changes, the lack of attractions and rides in the park and the less areas of being able to walk around as the park continued to become packed. There is so many reasons why this ride, not fail, but became less popular and yet it still was a great idea from Eisner, just it didn’t have the perfect ending. I literally made a whole page on my Microsoft word just for this one defunct attraction. I’m tired. Here’s the video from Yesterworld to explain more in depth about the ride. I wish I could write more or even post the actual ride but sadly the videos I found of the ride was the less fun version of it and there is so much of this ride to talk about that it would need a 20 plus minute video to actually talk about it. So enjoy the video and hopefully you understand why this one was tough to write about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR6FUGuosQI
2. The Main Street Electrical Parade ( June 1972 – September 2019) – Okay The Backlot tour really took a lot of research and a lot out of me so let’s get to something easier……FUCK! Probably the most well known Disney parade, The Main Street Electrical Parade is, was and forever will be Disney’s most iconic parade. So iconic that there’s still a version of it open in Tokyo, even though it’s way different from the actual version. So yes I will count it on this list since it is closed/defunct and let’s just get to the list because it’s going to be a big one here. The Main Street Electrical Parade was inspired from the Electrical Water Pageant, which was a show made up of fourteen 25 foot tall screens with lights placed all around them. Without this pageant the nighttime parade would never have been born and Disney would be literally less fun. Okay that second part might not be true but the parade brought the park to life at night in my opinion. Now I don’t have any memory of seeing the parade in person but YouTube came up clutch. The first time the parade was in action apparently it was a disaster, or the rehearsal was a disaster. Apparently a float crashed into Main Street, U.S.A and some of the costumed performers got hit with the sparks but thankfully the parade was a success on the first day it was in action. Okay wow there is a lot to cover on this parade as it was very popular so 5 years later Disney World had their version of the parade in action and then that version ended because of SpectroMagic in 1991 and their version of the parade was moved to Disneyland Paris. At the same time Tokyo Disneyland had their version running in 1985 only to change it in 2001 to Dreamlights parade, which had the same concept but in a different way. The parade would get multiple hiatuses in both Disneyland and Disney World as Disney World would obtain Disneyland’s floats of the parade multiple times and then once SpectroMagic came back the ride would return to Disneyland. Lets back track a bit and get you guys back on track, this parade was pretty much so loved and so successful that World, Tokyo and Euro Disney wanted in on the nighttime parade action and copy and pasted the Main Street Electrical Parade in their parks for different periods of times and it was also a big inspiration to SpectroMagic and the Toyko Disney Dreamlights, which is pretty much The Main Street Electrical Parade but way different and finally in 2019 the ride closed for the last time in Disneyland because….well why did it close? Well to tell you the truth there is no actual reason for the parade to end its run. In my opinion, Walt Disney always wanted the parks to always be moving and changing, that’s why many things become defunct and close and why you see so many changes in the park so it continues his vision. The parade is a big part of that as maybe there is a future nighttime parade incoming or maybe it’s just on hiatus and not really defunct. Until that comes as of right now it is in the list of Defunct Disney rides/attractions/shows. The parade had a beautiful theme song and had beautiful floats. It really did help light up the Disney parks and quite frankly while SpectroMagic may be my favorite parade, The Main Street Electrical Parade is the king of all parades in the Disney parks and I could accept that because it is so iconic and legendary. Maybe one day we will see Main Street, U.S.A light up again but until then the memories of the parade and the impact it left the guests will forever be embedded into the Disney parks. Walt would have been proud of this parade and would have loved it entirely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWtbJyLX4mc – the final show in Disneyland
1. The Great Movie Ride (May 1989 – August 2017) – I don’t know how else to talk about this ride as this was probably the most beloved and praised ride in Disney World’s Hollywood Studios. It debuted with the park in 1989 and by time of its closure in 2017 it was the only last original ride that was around since the park first opened. The ride itself was what the vision of Hollywood Studios, or when it first opened Disney’s MGM Studios, was supposed to be, become a part of movie magic and movies. It showed us, the guests, the history of classic films such as Casablanca, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien, Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz and so much more. It was more than just a ride, it was a show as well as the cast members were a big part of the ride. There were two separate parts of the ride that involved the cast member and the guests. You either got the #1A ride experience or #2B ride experience. In the #1A ride experience the ride would stop in the western genre part of the ride and the cast member or in this case of the ride the tour guide, stopped in front of the town bank while there was a robbery in progress. Then a live bank robber would hijack the ride vehicle as there is a shoot out happening, causing the tour guide to run away. Before leaving, the hijacker sets off TNT and the bank turns into ablaze as fire appears in the windows. Now as for the #2B ride experience, the ride vehicle stops in the Gangster movies scene. The vehicle is stopped at a red light as a live gangster and their animatronic companions showed up and got involved into a shoot out with rival mobsters. The live gangster hijacks the vehicle and the tour guide runs off. Both ride experiences have the same second scene as the ride vehicles goes into a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark as the bandit or gangster see a jewel and try and steal it. Before touching it a temple god warns them not to touch it but they ignore the god and they grab the jewel. However smoke appears and the thief/gangster disappears and a skeleton appears. By the way the temple god was actually your tour guide in disguise. The final scene of the ride holds the Wizard of Oz scene when Dorothy enters Munchkinland. We are then introduced to munchkin animatronics and then one of the coolest animatronics ever appears as the Wicked Witch of the West comes out from the ground and she is literally at the time one of the most updated animatronics (A-100 series) when the ride first opened. The grand finale shows a montage of scenes from many classical movies. The Great Movie Ride was originally supposed to be an Epcot attraction called Great Moments in the Movies but Michael Eisner, man we heard this name a lot in this list haven’t we, decided you could do more than just an attraction based on movies. Without this ride, Hollywood Studios would never had been created and we would of never have gotten this fan favorite ride. I found two videos, a Yesterworld video explaining the history that is worth the watch, but also the final ride ever in the Great Movie Ride. You can see the emotions from the guests and later on the cast members as this ride is a very iconic ride and meant so much to them. I never have been able to ride The Great Movie Ride unfortunately as I have only seen videos of the ride and many history of the ride videos but I know how iconic and legendary this ride is. In 2017 when it was announced that the ride would close and be replaced for a Mickey Mouse themed ride, later called Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad, fans were very sad to know that the final piece of movie magic, other than Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, was closing in Hollywood Studios. It really is sad if you really think about it because it was the main reason for the land to be opened. It sucks not seeing The Great Movie Ride near the Chinese Theatre. But just like the movies, all good things must come to an end and in a way it had the most perfect ending. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq7jDDBFNDc – the ride https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ2QH3-xuUI – Yesterworld’s video
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