Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Only a handful of years after it first opened, guests are calling for Disney to close one “rough and painful” ride.
Disney parks across the world are designed to give guests the most magical experience possible. From classics like Peter Pan’s Flight, “it’s a small world,” and Pirates of the Caribbean to new additions such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, and TRON Lightcycle / Run, each Park boasts attractions for everyone.
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However, sometimes ensuring guests return to Disney parks time and time again means closing some beloved existing rides and replacing them with newer, more advanced options. In the pursuit of keeping things fresh, Disney has closed the likes of Splash Mountain, Maelstrom, and The Great Movie Ride to make way for new additions in recent years, with more attractions – such as Muppet*Vision 3D, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and the entirety of Tom Sawyer Island – set to follow suit in the near future.
Speaking of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, the only other version of the ride closed at Disneyland Paris a few years ago for this very reason. Unlike the version in Hollywood Studios, this saw guests test out a new music experience at the Tour De Force Records – one that sent them on a high-speed journey, complete with a rocking soundtrack made up of the band’s greatest hits.
Credit: David Jafra, Flickr
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First opened in March 2002, this closed at Walt Disney Studios Park in 2019 for the sake of a new land: Marvel’s Avengers Campus. Themed to an alternate universe to that seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – but still composed of the same superheroes audiences know and love – this includes a replica of the Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure attraction found in California Adventure, as well as a rethemed Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
This time around, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is known as Avengers Assemble: Flight Force. Guests embark upon an intergalactic adventure with Iron Man and Captain Marvel – which sounds awesome in theory but is less impressive in reality.
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Since its opening in July 2022, Avengers Assemble: Flight Force has been plagued with guest complaints. The most common criticism is that while its queue is impressive, the ride itself features few effects to help it stand out from any other indoor roller coaster in the dark. Rumors swiftly spread that even The Walt Disney Company executives (including then CEO Bob Chapek) were less than impressed with the final result and hoped to retheme it to Disney standards.
While new effects have since been added to the ride, Guests are still underwhelmed. In a Reddit thread, one lamented that it “just doesn’t hit the same way” as its predecessor, while others noted that it’s too similar to Hyperspace Mountain at neighboring Disneyland Park.
As one user pointed out, it could have easily been made more exciting by utilizing an AC/DC soundtrack (inspired by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) ‘s favorite music in the Iron Man movies) or another rock soundtrack featured in the MCU, such as “Immigrant Song,” as featured in Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
Credit: Disney
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A much more serious complaint is about the ride experience itself. As one user said, the ride is “too rough and painful now.” They added that there was previously a “rumor they were going to try and make it smoother due to complaints and some first aid incidents, but nothing came of those rumors.”
The common consensus seems to be that if the ride closed, nobody would particularly miss it. The easiest solution is to refurb it, taking this ride from serious and dull (which isn’t exactly what you want from a roller coaster) to a high-energy, upbeat attraction complete with a Marvel-inspired soundtrack, plus a smoother track. However, considering the amount of work going on elsewhere at Walt Disney Studios Park right now as it undertakes its transformation into Disney Adventure World, we’re pretty sure Avengers Flight Force is low on the priority list.
What’s your least favorite ride at a Disney theme park? Let us know in the comments!
Dinosaur used to be the most painful ride for me. Rock ‘n’ roll roller coaster used to make me sick. But at my age, I know what I can and cannot write.