In recent years my parents—one retired, one close to it—have been reconnecting with their inner children through the magic of Disney. Specifically, through irritatingly frequent trips to Disneyland. Irritating, of course, unless my brother and I are invited to join. (Then it’s fine.)
But before these more recent trips began, my family had not been to Disneyland in over a decade. Back then, “The Tower of Terror” was still a gloomy overseer of the California Adventure Park. And my brother managed to convince our small, unassuming and mild-mannered mother to ride it with him.
In her own words, she almost fell down the stairs on the way out of the ride because she was shaking so hard.
Now, one thing I have long understood about my mother is that she has the confidence to try something once, and if she doesn’t like it, or, just as importantly, if her body does not care for the experience, she also has the confidence to say ‘no’ to it forever afterward. And after that first ride, she felt secure in the knowledge that she had no need to go on “The Tower of Terror” ever again.
Flash forward to May, 2026.
Her other child (i.e., me), has grown out of some rides being “too scary,” and loves big drops. And on our family trip the year before, we had been unable to catch “Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!” because the line was constantly too long for our taste. But this time around, we had a couple of Fast Passes and were determined to make the most of them.
My mom, who had walked out of “The Tower of Terror” weak in the knees, was willing to give the drop ride another shot not only for my sake, but because she was curious about the changes the Imagineers made to the ride when the theme switched over. And, as previously stated, she was confident enough to try it once and see how she felt.
As Rocket instructed us to raise our hands, and that rickety, confined metal box shot upward; as “Free Ride” blared through the speakers, my mom grabbed ahold of my arm in the darkness and we screamed and laughed with absolute delight at each dramatic rise and fall.
That chaotic, unbearably fleeting experience with my mom is one of my newest favorite memories. And now that I’ve had the chance to relive it, I will explain to you what these two contrasting reactions to the ride(s) mean in the grander scheme of storytelling.
This is a perfect example of setting the tone of your story (or theme park experience). Sure, the Imagineers could have just switched out the décor and the audio tracks and kept the mechanics of the ride more or less the same… It certainly would have made their job a lot simpler. But Disney employees are known specifically as “Imagineers” for a reason: it is their job to use their imaginations. My mom even said it herself as we were waiting in line: her willingness to try the ride again was sparked by a behind-the-scenes feature which detailed the journey the Imagineers took to transform the ride from “The Tower of Terror” to “The Guardians of the Galaxy.” It was a process that required a lot of thought and consideration—specifically, how to change the experience from “terrifying” to “fun.”
The key is always in the details. Not only in the way a slow, meandering trek through a cobweb-infested haunted hotel was updated to a stroll through a tech-heavy galactic museum of oddities, but also in the way Rocket interrupts the introductory video to give you a mission, providing a touch of humor and excitement to the wait. It’s in the way the ride itself was transformed from a slow build-up of narration and jolted drops and sudden stops to a bouncy, chaotic dance party that left riders at the mercy of the Guardians’ shenanigans. It’s in the way you are “required” to show your hands to the system in order to get it started, meaning your arms are already raised once that first big shot upward is initiated, providing riders with a joyful surprise as they frantically search for a hand-hold—or else just grab onto the person sitting next to them and hang on for dear life.
My mom went on the same ride, and had two completely opposing experiences. Disney’s Imagineers showed us that, with just the right little tweaks and details, a shift from “terrifying” to “fun” is entirely possible. It is simply a matter of a shift in tone—and a shift in tone is simply a matter of playing with as many details as you can.
Night Owls, what’s your favorite ride at Disneyland / California Adventure (or any other theme park)? Why do you enjoy it so much? What details stand out to you about it?
