How’d These Exist? The Creepiest Disney Rides That Got Shut Down Forever
Did anyone else go through a Disney kick where they were obsessed with learning about all of the creepy facts and myths about the Disney Parks? And no, I’m not just talking about Walt Disney’s head. Recently, I went back down the rabbit hole, and I learned about a few rides that were so creepy they had to be shut down forever. So, let’s take a look at two of the Disney scary rides that are no longer with us.
Alien Encounter
The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, more often referred to as Alien Encounter, was opened in Disney World in 1995. The ride was… a bit darker than other rides in Magic Kingdom, to say the least.
The ride began with the audience watching a preshow. In this preshow, the animatronic characters demonstrate a new technology from the alien corporation X-S Tech. This technology is a form of teleportation that is supposed to be “Harmless” but when they attempt the teleportation on a cute animatronic alien named Skippy, he comes back burnt and not looking too good. Definitely not off to a good start.
The audience is then moved into a theater type of room where they are seated in harnesses. There’s a giant teleportation tube in the center of the theater. The aliens are arguing about their teleportation plans, and by accident, a giant carnivorous and flying alien has been transported into the tube in the center of the room. This giant alien breaks out of the tube and causes a power outage, so the audience is left in a dark auditorium with a giant man-eating alien flying around the room, restrained to their seats.
But that’s not all. With the 4D effects of the auditorium, the audience can feel the winged creature fly around them, can feel it breathe on the back of their necks, and are even sprayed with liquid multiple times. At one point, the liquid is drool from the alien, and at another — it’s suggested that the liquid is blood from one of the alien workers who is mauled by the creature.
Safe to say, many audience members did not like the ride because of how dark it was — figuratively and literally. Since a majority of the ride was a dark auditorium, the audience only had their non-visual senses to work off of. For children on the ride, this was particularly scary. It was closed in 2003 and was replaced by Stitch’s Great Esca
Stitch’s Great Escape
Stitch’s Great Escape opened in 2004. Since this ride was in the same shell as Alien Encounter, it had a pretty similar setup. The preshow was actually almost identical to that of Alien Encounter, with a few Lilo & Stitch characters and storylines tied in. They actually used the exact same Skippy alien animatronic, who was teleported poorly and burnt up. After this teleportation goes wrong, the audience is told that a prisoner is being teleported into the main room, so they should all go in there.
The audience is strapped into their theater seats again, with the teleportation tube in the center. But, instead of a giant winged alien, it’s Stitch who arrives in the tube! But, this is where things go wrong for this ride. This isn’t the Stitch we grew to love in the movie, because this ride is set before Lilo & Stitch even meet. This Stitch is a terror and jumps around the room spitting on audience members and shutting down the power. He even steals a chili dog from one of the workers and his burp is smelt throughout the room.
Basically, the majority of this ride is spent with Stitch wreaking havoc on the poor alien staff and the audience, until Stitch escapes. Then, the audience watches a video of him making his way to Cinderella’s Castle where he tricks Cinderella to get in, then gets kicked out and stalks Disney guests. Depending on the time of day, the video changed to make sense.
Most guests did not like this ride for similar reasons to Alien Encounter. No one really wanted to be strapped down while an alien spits all over them and burps chili dog smell in their face. It also made the audience not like Stitch, a character that is usually seen as lovable. Also, fans were not happy with the way the Disney Park celebrated its initial opening.
Stitch “vandalized” Cinderella’s castle for the ride’s big opening, and many fans were not happy. Since many people wait months to finally get to go to a Disney Park, many were pissed that the castle looked terrible in their photos. While this is a fun idea for a grand opening of a new ride, I can understand why fans wouldn’t be really happy with it. This ride was closed in 2018 and was said to be temporary, but by 2020, the parks announced its permanent closure.
What do you think of these Disney scary rides? Did you ever ride either of them? What other scary rides should we write about? Let us know in the comments below!