Disney parks are built around magic and whimsy rather than horror, yet Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World have attractions that can still scare you. Here are the nine main-list entries in this partial segment, with Summit Plummet and the Blizzard Beach chairlift counted together, plus several honorable mentions.
Table of Contents
1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Hollywood Studios’ Tower of Terror is an easy choice for this list and one of Disney’s most carefully themed attractions. The uneasy atmosphere starts at the entrance, continues through the Rod Serling pre-show and sinister basement queue, then follows guests into the fifth dimension and through the drops in darkness.
The whole ride is built to scare you, and it does. The original Tower of Terror is the pinnacle of Disney horror.
2. Haunted Mansion Pre-Show
The Haunted Mansion’s ride is not particularly frightening, but its Stretching Room pre-show includes a disturbing scene. The Ghost Host describes looking for a way to escape, then points out a simple exit. He explains that hanging himself was how he departed this world.
A flash of lightning shows his body hanging from the roof high above. It’s creepy and upsetting, particularly for youngsters.
3. Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Disney’s E-ticket thrill rides can be frightening if you’re afraid of roller coasters. Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom is scary in its own right: riders race backward in the dark as a mythical monster rips up the track. The ride aims to frighten, and succeeds.
The author says that once Imagineers fix the ride’s giant broken Yeti animatronic, it will be even scarier.
4. Pitch Black Space Mountain
For most riders, the only real scare on Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain is how much it hurts your back. The author says the same goes for Disneyland’s Matterhorn, which they love too.
At Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Disney turns off all the lights on Space Mountain. Riders hurtle through complete darkness, jolted around without knowing which direction comes next.
5. Mission: SPACE
At EPCOT, Mission: SPACE simulates a space shuttle journey with a spinning centrifuge that recreates its speed and G-forces. Walt Disney World offers two versions, Green and Orange. Green is milder, though still too intense for many riders.
Orange is a rapid, twisting ordeal, like being shut inside a four-person coffin built for two and hurled toward Mars by Superman. The ride also prompted the author to write about Cherry being trapped in a refrigerator on Punky Brewster.
6 and 7. Blizzard Beach’s Summit Plummet and Chairlift
This entry leaves the theme parks for Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach, where Summit Plummet is a straight-drop water slide 12 stories tall and 360 feet long. Standing at the top, it feels 9,000 feet tall, and going down takes real nerve.
Getting to the summit on the water park’s ski lift can be just as unnerving. The thought of falling out is hard to ignore, and there’s no snow below to make a landing seem survivable. If you ride the chairlift with a young child, you may spend the whole trip with your heart in your throat.
8. Pixar Pal-A-Round (Swinging)
The Pixar Pal-A-Round, a Ferris wheel, serves as a symbol of Disney California Adventure. But choose a swinging cabin and the pleasant-looking ride becomes frightening enough to make Sid’s room in Toy Story seem nice.
Without seat belts, the cabins swing hard back and forth over Paradise Bay, as though they’re trying to send riders down faster than the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. The author calls the experience brutal and says Disney veterans who cover the parks for a living are too scared to ride in a swinging cabin. The author has ridden one and says they’ll keep making fun of those veterans for their fear.
9. Goofy’s Sky School
At DCA, Goofy’s Sky School is a wild mouse coaster that gives riders the sense they’re about to tip over the edge and fall to their deaths. The source notes that video doesn’t capture the full speed and whip of the turns, and that the sensation is worse after dark.
The ride looks unassuming, and Goofy’s role gives no hint of what’s coming. It was previously Mulholland Madness, themed to Mulholland Drive.
10. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Adults may not find Disneyland’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride frightening, but youngsters who think a train is about to hit them can be terrified. The author says no Disney experience scared them more as a child, which helps explain why the ride remains a favorite.
It also shows its characters dying, going to Hell, and facing judgment for their sins – an idea the author considers scary.
Honorable Mentions
Astro Orbiter
The trip up in the elevator to Magic Kingdom’s elevated spinner can be scarier than the ride, though the ending changes that. As the spinner slows, its G-forces can leave riders feeling unsettled and disoriented.
(Getting Stuck On) “it’s a small world!”
The author loves this iconic ride, but being stuck while its song repeats, with no way to know when or whether it’ll stop, sounds like the third circle of actual Hell.
Mad Tea Party with a Maniac
A ride on the Mad Tea Party with a madman can become horrifying when they spin the cups at roughly 800 mph. The author says that madman is them.
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
For someone who is claustrophobic, germaphobic, and aquaphobic, this Disneyland ride is presented as a nightmare.
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Disneyland recently prevented guests from spinning their own cars because riders would otherwise get off feeling like they’d been “Dipped.”
(Emeritus) Magic Kingdom’s ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter
This former Magic Kingdom attraction gets a historical nod as a wonderful nightmare.
(Emeritus) Disneyland’s Snow White’s Scary Adventures
The retired attraction is characterized as too pure for the modern world and as having scared the crap out of kids.
