5 Disney Shows I Can't Believe Don't Have Rides

Disney has been a mainstay of television since the medium was introduced to the masses nearly 80 years ago, which makes it quite surprising that some of their most popular TV IPs have never been adapted into a theme park ride.

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While Disney has been adapting their cinematic library into attractions since the literal beginning — see the Fantasyland dark rides — the company hasn’t been nearly as proficient at adapting their television shows into the medium despite having some massive hits over the years.

*A Quick Caveat: While every one of these shows has staying power, it’s probably correct to say that Disney wouldn’t add a ride based on some of them in 2025 due to their original runs ending decades before. However, it’s very clear that they were popular enough in their prime to have had one.

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DuckTales

The original DuckTales series became a sensation when it premiered in 1987. The series, starring Huey, Duey, Louie, Uncle Scrooge, and other residents of Duckburg, was a massive hit, leading to a feature film, several spinoffs, merchandising, and being the foundation of the Disney Afternoon programming block.

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One thing the show didn’t get? A ride. And that’s a shame, as the premise is a perfect one for a globe-trotting dark ride.

After the 2017 reboot was itself a success, there was renewed hope for a theme park attraction, but so far all that has materialized is an interactive World Showcase game at EPCOT.

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Lizzie McGuire

I can hear you now questioning how exactly Disney would turn a live-action tween/teen sitcom into a ride, but hear me out. There’s little doubt that Lizzie McGuire was a massive hit in the early 2000s, and it’s arguably the rare Disney Channel show that has maintained a massive following in the years after it ended. It also has something else going for it: Animated Lizzie.

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Yup, just imagine a madcap dark-ride or simulator style attraction following the titular characters animated counterpart. It’s unlikely this would be made now, especially given the acrimony between Hilary Duff and Disney over the scrapped Disney+ sequel series, but it would have been HUGE in 2005.

Lost

Before Disney acquired Marvel and Star Wars, their most fandom-friendly 2000s property was the ABC drama Lost. The mystery box-filled series had several set pieces and settings – – including the plane crash that sets the series in motion, as well as the mysterious island at the center of the series – – that would meld very well with a themed attraction and environment.

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However, it was never meant to be, as the entire run of Lost came and went without an attraction of any kind. Fun fact: There was a longstanding rumor that an interactive attraction based on the island would be coming to the abandoned Discovery Island in the middle of the Seven Seas Lagoon, but they never led anywhere.

Gargoyles

Speaking of fandom-friendly Disney properties from decades gone by, I’m still lamenting that Disney never pulled the trigger on a Gargoyles attraction of any kind.

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The cult classic cartoon combined 90s comic book and science fiction aesthetics with Scottish mythology and Shakespearian drama to create an incredibly unique series. Plus, to be blunt, the Gargoyles gliding through the skies above New York City would make an AWESOME ride experience, perhaps as a simulator.

The Simpsons

Just think how cool a Simpsons-themed ride and whole Springfield area could be. Too bad one has never been built…

… oh

Okay, let’s get serious. Obviously The Simpsons has been a prominent fixture at Universal’s theme parks for almost two decades, in a theme park deal that predates Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox and in turn, the long-running animated series. However, rumors are swirling among the theme park community that when the deal expires, Disney may assume the theme park rights to the show themselves.

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If they do, I just hope they go in a different direction than Universal. Not because Universal’s Simpsons stuff is bad, far from it. That said, I would love to see Disney try and recreate something like Itchy & Scratchy Land from the series and feature a Simpsons dark ride at the heart of it.