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The Manufacturing Company Behind Some of Disney’s Most Iconic Attractions Was Just Sold

Space Mountain Disneyland
Credit: Disney

Major changes have been all the buzz recently at Disney Parks, with the recent announcement that Disney World’s Star Wars hotel would close later this year, along with the cancellation of the Imagineering Campus’ move to Lake Nona, and continuing tension amid the Disney v. DeSantis feud. Now, a new addition has joined the mix, with the manufacturing company responsible for some of Disney’s best attractions sold to a foreign buyer.

Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World

Credit: Brittany DiCologero

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While some attractions are entirely designed and built in-house through Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney and other major theme parks and entertainment venues will occasionally design the thematic elements of certain attractions while shipping out the actual builds to third-party companies.

In terms of notable Disney theme park attractions built by outside companies, Arrow Dynamics was the firm behind elements of rides like the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Space Mountain. Vekoma was responsible for the construction of several major Disney Park roller coasters like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the Magic Kingdom and Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and both versions of Disney’s TRON attraction with the latest now open in the Magic Kingdom and the original hailing from Shanghai Disney Resort.

space mountain opening 1975 disney world

Credit: Disney

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Another firm responsible for some original Disney attractions as well as a couple of updates over the years, has just been sold to an overseas company. According to Forbes, Dynamic Attractions is officially under the ownership of Promising Expert Limited (PEL), a financial services firm out of Hong Kong. In the recent deal, Dynamic Attractions was sold at a cost of $1.5 million (USD, or $2 million CAD, as the company was founded in Vancouver.)

Among the major attractions constructed by Dynamic at Disney Parks are Test Track in EPCOT, and Soarin’ Around the World / Soarin’ Over California at both EPCOT and Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort. Additionally, Dynamic Attractions was responsible for the 2005 re-tracking of Space Mountain at Disneyland Park.

Soarin Over California

Credit: Disney

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Known for some of the most high-tech ride systems at theme parks across the country, the future of Dynamic Attractions under the recent sale is yet to be seen. In addition to some of Disney’s most popular attractions, other recent credits from the firm include Universal’s Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Mario Kart Koopa’s Challenge at Super Nintendo World, the latest themed land for the company that just opened at Universal Studios Hollywood.

An all-new roller coaster type, the SFX Coaster was in the works at the time of the company’s sale. When (or if) completed, this style of roller coaster boasts 360-degree rotations, sideways and vertical drops, and contracts are underway to create attractions with the system at Parks like Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Genting SkyWorlds Park in Malaysia.

Dynamic found itself in debt due to the production costs of the system that turned out to be more complex (and as a result more costly) than originally planned. As such, the future of the SFX Coaster, and any projects that would have gone to Dynamic at Disney Parks remain to be seen given the recent sale.

About Brittany DiCologero

Brittany is a New England-based writer focused on the history of the Walt Disney World Resort. She is the author of "Red, White, and Disney: The Myths and Reality of American History at the Walt Disney World Resort," and "Brittany Earns Her Ears."