Let’s throw it back to Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom in the mid to late 1990s. If you visited Disney World at that time, you may remember a ride called ExtraTERRORestial Alien Encounter.
You might also even remember being traumatized by that ride, which plunged you into darkness with a massive, terrifying alien on the loose, literally breathing down your neck. Needless to say, the ride was deemed too scary by many, and Disney shut it down. That ride was initially intended to be an Alien ride, but that didn’t happen. But now, Disney owns Fox, which owns the Alien franchise. So I think it’s time we got a real Disney Alien attraction.
First, the obvious reasoning behind an Alien ride is that Disney now owns all things Alien. Since gaining the franchise, we’ve had a successful Alien movie at the box office, Alien: Romulus, and a highly praised series, Alien: Earth, on FX and Hulu. This is a matter of striking while the iron is hot.
Another thing to consider, too, though, is that there is a lot of demand for horror-related experiences. Halloween Horror Nights is bigger than ever, and we expect that Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas is going to rake in the big bucks. Horror movies are doing well at the box office, and today’s audiences are more willing to be scared (because if an Alien attraction is done right, it has to be scary).
Also, Disney needs to take a page from Universal’s playbook, which is building experiences in locations other than Orlando and the Los Angeles area. Disney may deem the Alien franchise too scary for its theme parks, but what if there was a whole Alien attraction in Las Vegas similar to Horror Unleashed? I would personally love to be chased by Xenomorphs through a spaceship.
With that being said, there are also other opportunities. Remember that fun Star Wars virtual reality experience that was once available in Disney Springs and Downtown Disney? Imagine something like that, but with a story ripped from Alien. I think that could also be a lot of fun for Alien fans.
Or, my personal favorite idea, is to bring Alien Encounter back, but with its original Alien theme. The original idea was called Nostromo, after all, the name of the ship in the first Alien film. The Xenomorph was intended to be the creature, with Weyland-Yutani Corporation being mentioned instead of X-S Tech. If the ride is deemed a little too scary for Magic Kingdom, put it somewhere like Hollywood Studios (which once had an Alien nod in The Great Movie Ride). Or take it out to Disneyland, where there’s already a ride that literally takes you to hell.
Imagine what Disney Imagineers could do now with an Alien attraction. They’ve managed to create some pretty cool tech in the parks over the past few decades, so we could have the whole shebang…cool synthetics, ship effects, Xenomorphs that drool all over you, and maybe even that crazy little eyeball Alien sheep thing from Alien: Earth. Talk about SCARY. Maybe even have the whole thing hosted by Boy Kavalier.
Would Disney World visitors complain about it being too scary? Some might, but at the same time, many of Disney’s modern visitors are also the same kind of people who go to Halloween Horror Nights. The Alien franchise isn’t going away anytime soon, and if Disney is going to lean into IP, why not give us something a little different?
Sure, I’m probably dreaming, but to me, an Alien attraction at this point in time just makes sense.
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Would you like to see Disney create an Alien attraction? Sound off in the comments!
I would love to see a ride based on all the Alien films at Disneyland or Universal Orlando . Just think how designers could go to town with just the queue theming. The corridors, the lift, laboratories, lighting, “ maximum safe distance”, not to mention glimpses of the Alien itself. Something similar to the Rise of the resistance ride rather than a roller coaster. We always hoped Universal would do it after they had Alien at one of their Halloween Horror nights. Disney may lean more to ensuring rides are child friendly but children of today are more aware and streetwise and will now probably be into Alien Earth.
Horror Unleashed is not doing well, and theme park rides in Las Vegas have disappeared long ago, so I don’t think the ride would survive outside of the park, no matter how good it was. Also, you then have to price the ride by itself, and that’s risky. People are willing to pay for a day, and just not divide the price per attraction, but to pay just for a single attraction, would they feel satisfied?