Most Controversial Disney Rides and Attractions
Disney is thought of as a place of happiness. It's supposed to be a place for everyone, but there are some things that prove too controversial.
Mission: Space is a centrifugal motion simulator thrill ride at Epcot in Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Mission: Space is a ride at Epcot that simulates a flight through space.
It includes a simulation of g-forces from launch and re-entry as well as weightlessness. The effects are achieved by spinning, which is similar to those you find at NASA. Which means that some people will get motion sickness. Which is where the controversy comes in.
First of all, the minimum height requirement is only 44" and riders should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated, and that those who have headaches, inner ear problems, or a history of migraines, vertigo, or elevated anxiety should also not ride.
And the controversy gets even bigger...
From June 2005 to June 2006, paramedics treated 194 Mission: Space riders. The most common complaints were nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Of those 194 guests, 25 people passed out, 26 suffered difficulty breathing, and 16 reported chest pains/irregular heartbeats.
On June 13, 2005, a 4-year old boy from Sellersville, Pennsylvania, who met the minimum height requirement, passed out during the ride and was taken to Celebration Hospital, where he died later that day.
An autopsy from the Orange County Medical Examiner's office showed that he died of an existing, undiagnosed, idiopathic heart condition called Myocardial Hypertrophy.
Since then, parents have filed a lawsuit against Disney stating that Disney should've never allowed a 4-year old child on the ride and that they didn't offer an adequate medical response after the boy collapsed.
On January 11, 2007, the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.
On April 12, 2006, a 49-year old woman from Schmitten, Germany, fell ill after riding Mission: Space, and was taken to the hospital, where she died the next day.
An autopsy showed that she died of a brain hemorrhage caused by long standing and severe high blood pressure. There was no... more
When you think about Snow White, you think of a lovely happy movie with princess Snow White and the funny Seven Dwarfs).
But with the scenes of with the Evil Queen, the ride has become scary.
The one in Magic Kingdom was originally about the Evil Queen trying to kill the riders, and involved throwing a huge boulder at them.
It was so scary that Disney toned it down and added Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and gave it a happy ending.
But still, so many people were scared, that Disney closed the ride down in 2012.
The other versions follow the story more accurately, but are still scary.
The name never lies.
Some people remember the movie different than me, remember the dark Evil Queen & Tree sequences? I guess you don't.
I went on the Disney World version in 2006. It was too tame for me.
This ride was popular, but became notorious for being too scary.
It started off with guests being strapped into their seats, which have restraints that press down on them, while they experienced darkness, loud noises, and special effects that mimic the Xenomorph touching you, breathing on you, and spitting acid on you.
It was so scary that Disney closed it down and rethemed it into Stitch's Great Escape, which is so gross that it's the worst Disney attraction of all time.
Disney is supposed to be a happy place, and this attraction scarred children for life.
I LOVED this ride when I was five, and I had no idea what was going on. All I knew is that S.I.R. was probably my new favorite character of all time, and he was my obsession until I discovered Toonami when I was 6.
Come on, this ride was great!
Splash Mountain is a log flume at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and formerly the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, based on the characters, stories, and songs originally from the 1946 Disney film Song of the South until controversy & petitions regarding racial history since the George Floyd protests led to a retheming on the U.S. versions based on the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog... read more For all people are praising the change to Tiana's Bayou Adventure, at the core the new theme is Tiana sending people into the Avery Island Salt Dome to get some salt for her restaurant. That should be more controversial than it is, but again people are too blinded by Tiana "finally getting the recognition she deserves".
I loved it when I was 6 (before the revamp), and now that Disney is revamping the ride to make it a Disney Princess ride, I'm never riding this again. (And I loved this ride)
Changing Splash Mountain into a Princess and the Frog ride is nowhere near as bad as taking the Dreamfinder out of the Imagination ride.
Pirates of the Caribbean is a dark ride attraction located in various Disney parks, including Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. The ride takes visitors on a boat journey through various scenes that depict a pirate-infested Caribbean island. Originally conceived by Walt Disney himself, it has inspired a highly successful film franchise and remains a staple attraction for park... read more The fact that the Wench Auction has gained controversy for being politically inaccurate, about brides, has become so notorious, that Disney is removing them from each ride.
There were incidents in Walt Disney World's version as follows:
In February 2005, a 77-year-old woman from Minnesota lost consciousness and died after riding the Pirates of the Caribbean.
A medical examiner's report said the victim was in poor health and that she had had several ministrokes.
The report concluded that her death "was not unexpected."
On August 6, 2009, a 47-year-old employee playing the role of a pirate in the "Captain Jack's Pirate Tutorial" show slipped on a puddle on the stage and hit his head on a wall.
He was taken to Florida Hospital Orlando with injuries including a broken vertebra in his neck and severe lacerations on his head that required 55 stitches.
He died on August 10 due to complications.
On July 10, 2014, a 12-year-old boy from the United Kingdom was hospitalized after losing the tips of his ring and pinky fingers on his right hand while riding the Pirates of the Caribbean.
The guest had his hand outside of the ride vehicle at the time of the incident.
The ride was shut down briefly for inspection and later reopened after it was deemed safe.
Now on October 2018, during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, Disney refurbished the ride to include pirates that would talk to you and even try to kill you and take you to Davy Jones, which basically means their name of hell.
Too scary for children.
As an attraction at Disney World, it's hard to believe the controversy involved in this.
We've had presidents, both republican and Democrat, and this involves politics.
The latest president is Donald Trump, and he's notorious for banning Transgender people from serving in the U.S. Military as well as his offensive comment about other countries.
He's our president, like it or not... this is the same ride that houses George "Slavery" Washington and Abe "Bigot" Lincoln.
A classic ride that originated at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
It became a staple in amusement parks.
The ride follows the story of sailing through many different parts of the world.
However, this ride is notorious for breaking down and having a song that gets stuck in riders' heads, so this ride may trigger earworm.
Earworm isn't the only incident on this attraction, but there were much worse ones:
Magic Kingdom:
On August 18, 1994, a 6-year-old girl from Miami, Florida, fell out of one of the ride's boats while it was in the loading area.
Orange County authorities believe an incoming boat then struck her after the fall.
The girl suffered a broken hip, a broken arm and a collapsed lung, but paramedics took her to a hospital and was expected to recover fully. The ride was closed for an inspection and re-opened the following day.
On December 25, 2014, a 22-year-old woman lost consciousness after riding the attraction.
She later died.
The young woman had a pre-existing condition.
Disneyland:
On October 6, 2010, a 53-year-old cast member, subcontracted to Disney, became trapped underneath a boat when the ride was inadvertently switched on while it was being cleaned.
The man was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Yet there is a legend about a doll committing suicide by hanging, but that turned out to be a myth.
The most popular at Animal Kingdom, a ride that simulates flying over Pandora on a Banshee.
Therefore it's become an e-ticket attraction.
At least it has been.
The seating and restraints may prohibit guests of certain body shapes or sizes from riding, which is what this ride is especially notorious for.
So therefore they added a test seat outside the attraction for people uncertain about their shape/size.
Yet there are warnings that tell you that it's a highly immersive 3-D experience, and that those who have a fear of heights should not ride.
Also, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure.
Sadly, 4 people were unlucky.
On June 12, 2017, a 79-year-old woman became dizzy and briefly passed out during the ride.
On June 24, 2017, another woman, 31 years old, also became ill and passed out while on the ride.
On October 27, 2017, a 77-year-old fell while boarding the ride.
On November 4, 2017, a 56-year-old woman temporarily passed out on the ride.
It was known that the victims who passed out had pre-existing conditions.
On February 27, 2018, Disney added warning cards for riders before entering the ride.
The cards are similar to those on Mission: Space and warn riders about acrophobia, motion sickness, and the seating.
Also, with waits anywhere from 2-3 hours on average, with a wait time of 7 hours 35 minutes, on July 11, 2017, and like all attractions, there are no restrooms in the queue, so people try to prevent a bathroom urge, yet they end up getting dehydrated in the line.
Yet this line is not for the weary as you have to stand on your feet for hours, and the body and feet were not built for that, so it's grueling and even unhealthy and decreases blood pressure/sugar, causing health problems including weakness, yet causes major and painful cramps yet the... more
Everyone responsible for the creation of this atrocity is a stupid uncivilized monkey who should be permanently incarcerated in a human zoo.
Even today's attraction, Journey into Imagination with Figment has controversy.
There's a scene with a skunk spraying it's foul odor into you, and Disney lets even little kids experience that.
Then there's frightening scenes, such as an upside down room and a creepy face on the moon.
Let's not forget the end where Figment says "Imagination Is A Blast! " and inserts a loud electric burst, which scares many children.
The fact that this ride's still open makes it crazy how Disney exposes even little kids to such vile garbage.
The kind of ride that only a stupid brain-damaged monkey from a third world country could enjoy.
After Disney closed the Alien Encounter down due to all the trauma it gave guests, they decided to retheme it into Stitch's Great Escape.
However, while it wasn't as scary as it's predecessor, it still scared many kids and adults with the restraints, which cut down into you, and the imagery and effects.
Not only was it scary, it's also rather gross.
It had a rotten chili dog smell mixed with Stitch's breath, and it's one of the worst smells known to man.
The whole thing was so awful that it had no lines and that even Disney didn't like it.
Thank goodness it's finally closed for good, it sucked.
This is like comparing perfect pizza (Alien Encounter) to Dominos Pizza (Stitch's Great Escape) I hate dominios in my opinion.
At least the pre-show was tamer, with the robot being a comedic sergeant, and Skippy staying in the tube.
main reason behind the ride's controversy seems to be what its counterparts replaced: Mr Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World, and Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland.
One of the characters literally has a name that rhymes with the most offensive racial slur in the English language. Also taboo in China because of the main character's likeness to that country's leader.
Space Mountain is the name of a space-themed indoor roller coaster attraction located at five of the Magic Kingdom-style Disney Parks. Yet on October 2018, Disney refurbished the theme of the ride into Deep Space Mountain and included pitch darkness and replace the stars and galaxies with a few eerie ghosts.
They not only made it scarier, they made it too scary.
Lots of people were scarred for life after riding the Halloween version of this.
It's the 1st time Disney World got its own version of Ghost Galaxy.
Hasn't Disney learned lessons about the Alien Encounter and the original Snow White Scary Adventures?
Disney Rides are supposed to be fun for everyone, not too scary or traumatizing.
At least this was just for Halloween season, which seems to make sense.
There's nothing wrong with it, some people are just physically/mentally ill.
It replaced Maelstrom, and when Disney opened it, it caused much stir among guests.
It takes place in the Norway pavilion, and many people who love and expect the charm of Norwegian culture are disgraced by this attraction.
This focuses on the animated fairy-tale story of Anna and Elsa.
It has the song Let It Go, which is an earworm monster, and then since this ride's debut, Disney started adding Frozen merch and themes through the parks.
Ever since then, the education turned into a money-making machine we know of as Modern Disney.
Yet when it 1st opened in 2016, people reportedly waited 5 hours to ride it, and almost all of the wait was in shadeless heat, exposing riders to high temperatures and direct sunlight, causing sunburn, dehydration and heat exhaustion.
All these safety hazards and misery for a 5 minute ride about Frozen.
No wonder this was such a big deal.
It's neat that the idea of this show is to give us an idea of what it's like to be a bug.
But they put in things that make us question the joy of Disney.
In the show, there are parts where they spray people with "stink acid"(using water and scents) and in 1 part, there are "Hornets" that "sting" the guests, using needles and mini-tasers in the seats.
Yet there are giant spiders hanging down from the ceiling.
And in the end, the "bugs" "crawl" over the guests, which is really using seat vibrations.
Why would Disney want to hurt guests with special effects? I know they wanted to make this realistic and give us an idea of the bug world, and it does teach people lessons about how we treat bugs, and how they have defense mechanisms.
It's disturbing how spiders and painful stings could target guests in a Disney attraction, yet didn't we all get over the huge stir Mission: Space at Epcot gave people, yet they wanted to make that realistic and that caused chaos among guests.
I know and am thankful they warned guests about the frightening nature of this attraction, but they went at the end of the line with this.
Disney is supposed to be a fun place for the whole family, not a place to injure them, even when it comes to special effects, and this is one exception.
Goofy says "Hey picnickers!" at one point near the very end of the ride, which sounds like… something else to the ears of many people riding.
Doesn't help either that the Florida version of this ride replaced the ever-beloved Great Movie Ride.
Slavery, the Civil War, and the Trail of Tears are mentioned. Disney apparently wants to replace this with a Muppets performance of that overrated musical Hamilton.
The Trail of Tears is not a piece of history for us to be proud of.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, also known as Tower of Terror, is an accelerated drop tower dark ride located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure Park. Except for the Tokyo DisneySea version, the attractions are inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and take place in the... read more Based on the Twilight Zone, riders hop aboard an elevator that gets hit by lightning, goes crazy and drops 13.1 stories.
Yet the sequence is random, so that no 2 rides are ever the same.
The theme and the ride itself as well as the randomness is so scary that many children walk away from it.
Much of the controversy revolves on how scary it is.
The minimum height requirement is only 40", and many people come of this ride traumatized.
The point is that that Disney rides are supposed to be fun and enjoyable for everyone, and that everyone comes off with smiles.
While some people love this ride, others come off crying after this.
And there was 1 known incident on this ride:
On July 12, 2005, a 16-year-old girl from Kibworth, Leicestershire, United Kingdom, complained of a severe headache and other symptoms after riding the Tower of Terror.
She was taken to an Orlando hospital in critical condition, where she underwent surgery for intracranial bleeding.
On August 6, 2005, she returned to the United Kingdom via air ambulance.
While she had reportedly ridden the attraction several times during her visit with no ill effects, she had been in pain for a few days prior to it.
She had a massive stroke leading to cardiac arrest.
After an examination by both Disney and state inspectors showed no ride malfunction, the ride was reopened the next day.
The girl returned home safely after spending six months in the hospital due to two heart attacks and surgery.
On February 13, 2009, the victim's family sued Disney for negligence in the ride design, failing to adequately warn riders, and not providing proper safety restraints.
They were seeking at least $15,000.
Only up and running for about six months a year at the most nowadays due to how much of a maintenance nightmare it has become. If this coaster becomes any more of a money pit for Disney, they should just demolish the entire thing and replace it with a very similar Big Hero 6 coaster.
One of Disney's most thrilling types of roller coasters, where riders meet Aerosmith and hop aboard a superstretch limo that launches up to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds through L.A. and goes through a rollover loop and a corkscrew.
The thing is that it exists at a Disney park, and that many children and some adults find this too intense for a Disney ride.
Disney is a place for families, and this ride is not for everyone.
After all, it is a roller coaster.
It exposes riders to nearly 5 g-forces as they enter the 1st inversion, which, at that rate, can cause blackouts, and if higher, g-loc (Gravity-induced Loss Of Consciousness), and even death.
Disney is also known for high safety measurements in rides and attractions.
So therefore this ride requires being in good health with no conditions that could be aggravated.
Yet the concern especially revolves around an incident that occurred more than a decade ago.
Disney's Hollywood Studios:
On June 29, 2006, a 12-year-old boy visiting from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was found to be unresponsive after the ride came to an end.
Though his father administered CPR until paramedics arrived, he was declared dead on the way to the hospital.
The ride was shut down for the investigation and reopened a day later after inspectors determined that the ride was operating normally.
The boy had died as a result of a congenital heart defect.
Disneyland Paris:
On June 26, 2007, a 14-year-old girl lost consciousness on Rock n' Roller Coaster and died.
Though paramedics attempted to revive her, she was dead before the ambulance arrived.
A ride inspection showed no mechanical problems.
It's here since taking away the Tower of Terror at Disneyland for this was a stupid decision that Disney made.
They closed it down for this.
The controversy is also that it's intense and how a Disney ride could be like that.
Remember, the best Disney rides are meant for the whole family.
Yet 1st of all, when this opened, the wait time was 7 Hours long, and most of the line was shadeless, leaving everyone all hot, dehydrated and sunburnt, which are all risks in one's health, and the ride is intense and puts a lot of stress on people's bodies, therefore warnings should be taken seriously.
The biggest controversy is that the music played in this is known to be music in pop culture, which could mean that Disney is copying their songs, which is copyright infringement.
I don't know why they didn't get sued.
It's a stupid ride and not something worth going on.
This is on there because it was controversial. Alike Pirates Of The Caribbean, the show's songs contained politically incorrect lyrics. Seriously though, I don't want Disney to change it!
The ride with the fabled Yeti, the tallest mountain in Disney.
It's on here because the controversy relies a lot on how scary and intense it is.
The minimum height requirement is only 44", and many guests who meet that height requirement (5-6 years old) come off traumatized.
There is known to be a backward portion, darkness, and an 80' drop, taking riders by surprise.
There is also known to be a big fat Yeti who appears to jump onto you and eat you.
Which is surprising considering Disney is a place for families.
However, the Yeti stopped working and Disney couldn't fix it because it would interfere with the whole ride structure.
Shocking how the most important part of the attraction no longer works, taking away the icon of it.
Yet the seatings are not able to accommodate all body shapes or sizes, and this ride has gained some complaints of that.
So, they warn riders of that.
It's a good ride, but all the controversy keeps it from being the best.
It's a "roller coaster" based on Snow White the Seven Dwarfs where you roll along the countryside and go into the diamond mine where you meet the Seven Dwarfs.
First of all, the idea of making it a roller coaster means it's a scary ride, though it fails to properly induce thrills that real roller coasters provide.
Yet one major issue is that it almost always has long wait times, usually anywhere from 90 to 120 minutes, and after all that waiting, you get on the ride only to realize that the theming is not enough and that they didn't put enough story into it, yet given that the budget is tight, and that the ride is short and doesn't have enough thrills to make up for the long wait.
Yet one time, years ago, it had a wait time posted at 230 minutes, yet in New Year's Eve 2018, it's wait time was 240 minutes, which is 4 Hours.
Yet recently there was a fire on the ride from an ember from the now defunct Wishes fireworks show, though thankfully no one was hurt or killed, and the ride opened again later, but made us question the safety of firework shows.
Yet a rider who went on it had a seizure during and after the ride, making us question his previous health.
Yet speaking of which, there are no warnings about not riding if one has high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions(though it does warn expectant mothers not to ride) since this is a coaster and any coaster is prohibited during health problems.
Yet a big issue happens especially at the end, where guests see the evil witch staring at them, scaring children.
Yet haven't they learned why Snow White's Scary Adventures was closed down and replaced with Princess Fairytale Hall?
At least this ride is a ride that deserves to be on here.
The Barnstormer used to be a classic ride, but when Disney closed down Toontown Fair and replaced the land with Storybook Circus as a part of the New Fantasyland Expansion, they gave the Barnstormer the Dueling Dragons treatment by taking away the barn and replacing it with a billboard.
The only "barn" there now is the queue room, and now you won't crash into the barn anymore, just a billboard.
They took the most iconic part of the ride away, not to mention the same controversy that happened with Expedition Everest with the Yeti no longer working.
Yet another issue is that there are no handrails on each seat as with bigger coasters (but neither does Space Mountain).
That's a huge problem for children riding roller coasters for the 1st time.
At least the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Slinky Dog Dash, Expedition Everest and Rock 'N' Roller Coaster all have them, but not this or Space Mountain.
I've known a lot of 1st time children come off this ride terrified for that reason, as the lack of handrails makes the ride more intense and scary, as does the open heights (after all this ride takes you 30 feet, which is like too much for little children).
Yet this ride doesn't have the blood pressure, heart, back, neck or motion sickness warning, but it does warn expectant mothers not to ride.
But still, they could do better warning people since no one should ride any roller coaster with any of those conditions.
We all know this is a kiddie coaster, but think about the little children and their faces.
At least it's the slowest and shortest "roller coaster" at Disney, at only 25 mph, yet it's only 1 minute 3 seconds long but even so, many babies come off crying.