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Favorite Attraction Backstory
- Thread starter FettFan
- Start date
Dinoland, especially Chester and Hester's Dino-rama.
Tom
Beta Return
Seriously one of the most thematic and immersive areas on property.
Zweiland
Well-Known Member
Expedition Everest, if only for the amazingly detailed queue with references to the Yeti and tea company.
But while I believe a backstory can add to an attraction, I also think they are not always necessary. Some of the best classic attractions, for example, the Jungle Cruise or the Haunted Mansion, were originally designed without a specific backstory.
But while I believe a backstory can add to an attraction, I also think they are not always necessary. Some of the best classic attractions, for example, the Jungle Cruise or the Haunted Mansion, were originally designed without a specific backstory.
morningstar
Well-Known Member
It's one of the backstories I'm most familiar with, because you really need the backstory as an "excuse" for why it's just a state fair.
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
I love the blizzard beach one. Works so well
DisneyPrincess5
Well-Known Member
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I love the back (and front) story of Splash Mountain. Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby was always one of my favorite stories as a child (I had the Disney storybook and record). I totally understand and welcome how it was changed for purposes of the attraction (making a bee hive full of honey the "sticky situation" in order to get rid of the titular racist element - something that went completely over my head when I was little), but I enjoy its telling as much as I did when I was small.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
I have two that I really like...
Although I have not experienced them in person..The videos alone still seem impressive.
My First one..
The Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney Sea - A Completely unique story about an eccentric adventure named Harrison Hightower (Who looks a lot like Imagineer Joe Rhode)
As he returns back to his Hotel in celebration of his new find. A voodoo statue named Shiriki Untundu
We find out that during the party that Hightower was going to his Penthouse suite on the top floor of the tower. As he made his way up..Something goes wrong and the elevator comes crashing down...No one knows what has happened to Harrison Hightower to this day...That is until the New York Historical Society decided to reopen the Hotel so who knows you may encounter what happend to the eccentric adventurer.
The ride itself is pretty much a mirrored copy of the DCA & Paris version...But, themed to MAJOR EXTREMES!!
Hang on tight my second favorite backstory is coming up!
Although I have not experienced them in person..The videos alone still seem impressive.
My First one..
The Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney Sea - A Completely unique story about an eccentric adventure named Harrison Hightower (Who looks a lot like Imagineer Joe Rhode)
As he returns back to his Hotel in celebration of his new find. A voodoo statue named Shiriki Untundu
We find out that during the party that Hightower was going to his Penthouse suite on the top floor of the tower. As he made his way up..Something goes wrong and the elevator comes crashing down...No one knows what has happened to Harrison Hightower to this day...That is until the New York Historical Society decided to reopen the Hotel so who knows you may encounter what happend to the eccentric adventurer.
The ride itself is pretty much a mirrored copy of the DCA & Paris version...But, themed to MAJOR EXTREMES!!
Hang on tight my second favorite backstory is coming up!
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Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
My Second favorite backstory is...
Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris - Yes I have heard that a few people were not a fan of this version. But, in a way it's really unique to the theme of the land it is located in and it has a WDW Tie in to it as well..
From Wikipedia:
The story of Phantom Manor was inspired by the never-built Western River Expedition, which was a Pirates of the Caribbean-style attraction designed by Marc Davis.
Henry Ravenswood (born 1795) was a Western settler who struck gold in Big Thunder Mountain and founded the Thunder Mesa Mining Company, thus creating the city of Thunder Mesa (Frontierland as a whole). Ravenswood became rich and built himself a Victorian manor high on Boot Hill overlooking Big Thunder Mountain, where he raised a family and had a daughter, Melanie Ravenswood (born 1842).
Big Thunder mountain was rumored by natives to be home to the Thunder Bird, a powerful spirit possessing a treasure. According to the legend, its wrath could be materialized into a terrible earthquake. However, Ravenswood would not believe such stories. Time went by, and the gold in Big Thunder Mountain ran out, making miners dig deeper into the mountain.
Melanie grew from a young girl into a beautiful young woman, and became engaged to a train engineer who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa, much to the dismay of Henry. Henry did everything he could to stop the wedding, but his useless attempts were put to a stop when a terrible earthquake killed him and his wife Martha (born 1802). It seemed the Thunder Bird had been awakened, and the family was never heard of again. After several years, the story of what really happened came out from underneath the rubble:
On Melanie's wedding day, a mysterious Phantom unknown to anyone appeared at the manor. While Melanie was preparing in her room, the Phantom lured her suitor up to the attic where he hanged him by the neck from the rafters.
In the ballroom, the bride sat alone. Hours went by with no sign of the groom. Guests slowly filed away, leaving Melanie alone in the house with the staff of maids and butlers. "Some day", she told herself, "he will come". And so, having never taken off her wedding dress or dropped her bouquet, in preparation for her loved one's return, she wandered the house aimlessly, singing melancholy songs of lost love.
The Phantom was still in the house, laughing at her human devotion to her intended husband. One after one, he invited his dead, demonic friends from the afterlife to fill the house in an eternal party. The shape of the house was slowly transformed by the evil forces. Years passed.
Inside and outside, the house was decaying. Dusty cobwebs covered every inch, the disheartened staff not caring, for it was rumored that Melanie had lost her mind. She wandered the house for years and years, singing softly to her groom, while all around her demons and ghosts reveled and danced. Everywhere she went she was reminded of the wedding. The Phantom's eternal laughter still carried through the walls of the house. Outside, the once beautiful grounds were falling apart and crumbling. The gilded staircase and structure were dotted with mold and trees and every plant on the grounds died. As if sensing the evil inherent in the house, nothing living ever trod there. Melanie even so kept her hopes, waiting for her love's return, and never figured why he had left.
The earthquake that killed her parents cut a huge gouge in the west half of the property and in the crumbling ghost town of the old Thunder Mesa. The deserted buildings were rumored to be called Phantom Canyon, the dark supernatural version of the town, and anyone who entered the ghastly old town at night never came back.
Today, no one knows if Melanie Ravenswood is still alive in that old house on the hill. If she is, then she is well over 100 years old. Her beautiful voice still carries over the town at night though, through the walls and night air. And sometimes, people still see lights in the house.
Some nights, when the moon is full and the sky is clear of clouds, you can still hear the lonely mourning of the bride, the maniacal laughter of the Phantom, and the faint tinkle of glass and laughter of party guests. Whether she is alive or not, what is well known is that poor Melanie never really left the crumbling mansion. She waits for her groom until Judgment Day.
Many fans of the ride believe the Phantom to be Melanie's father, Henry Ravenswood, seeking vengeance from beyond the grave. Others believe that it is the pure spirit of evil, and that a curse was upon the young girl.
What I find unique about this version is that it has a Phantom of the Opera-esuqe vibe to it. It's very dark & Macabre compared to the other HM's and the Phantom hanging the Groom in the Stretching room,
Even His first apparition and Final version of him are pretty creepy for Disney standards attraction wise..
First Form after leaving the Manor
Final Form after leaving Phantom Canyon
John Debney's Musical score that plays through the mansion is memorable and dramatic and Melanie's mournful singing gives you chills..
As you reach Phantom Canyon..You start seeing ghostly visitors which might look a bit familiar...The mayor is none other than Dreamfinder from Epcot's Journey Into Imagination..
Infact many of the Molds for the characters in Phantom Canyon were from AA's from Epcot's World of Motion..
Originally Vincent Price supplied the voice of the Phantom during the earlier years but, was then changed to a French Narration..Martin's Tribute Video has a good version of the Original Ride with the Vincent Price Audio..Enjoy!
Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris - Yes I have heard that a few people were not a fan of this version. But, in a way it's really unique to the theme of the land it is located in and it has a WDW Tie in to it as well..
From Wikipedia:
The story of Phantom Manor was inspired by the never-built Western River Expedition, which was a Pirates of the Caribbean-style attraction designed by Marc Davis.
Henry Ravenswood (born 1795) was a Western settler who struck gold in Big Thunder Mountain and founded the Thunder Mesa Mining Company, thus creating the city of Thunder Mesa (Frontierland as a whole). Ravenswood became rich and built himself a Victorian manor high on Boot Hill overlooking Big Thunder Mountain, where he raised a family and had a daughter, Melanie Ravenswood (born 1842).
Big Thunder mountain was rumored by natives to be home to the Thunder Bird, a powerful spirit possessing a treasure. According to the legend, its wrath could be materialized into a terrible earthquake. However, Ravenswood would not believe such stories. Time went by, and the gold in Big Thunder Mountain ran out, making miners dig deeper into the mountain.
Melanie grew from a young girl into a beautiful young woman, and became engaged to a train engineer who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa, much to the dismay of Henry. Henry did everything he could to stop the wedding, but his useless attempts were put to a stop when a terrible earthquake killed him and his wife Martha (born 1802). It seemed the Thunder Bird had been awakened, and the family was never heard of again. After several years, the story of what really happened came out from underneath the rubble:
On Melanie's wedding day, a mysterious Phantom unknown to anyone appeared at the manor. While Melanie was preparing in her room, the Phantom lured her suitor up to the attic where he hanged him by the neck from the rafters.
In the ballroom, the bride sat alone. Hours went by with no sign of the groom. Guests slowly filed away, leaving Melanie alone in the house with the staff of maids and butlers. "Some day", she told herself, "he will come". And so, having never taken off her wedding dress or dropped her bouquet, in preparation for her loved one's return, she wandered the house aimlessly, singing melancholy songs of lost love.
The Phantom was still in the house, laughing at her human devotion to her intended husband. One after one, he invited his dead, demonic friends from the afterlife to fill the house in an eternal party. The shape of the house was slowly transformed by the evil forces. Years passed.
Inside and outside, the house was decaying. Dusty cobwebs covered every inch, the disheartened staff not caring, for it was rumored that Melanie had lost her mind. She wandered the house for years and years, singing softly to her groom, while all around her demons and ghosts reveled and danced. Everywhere she went she was reminded of the wedding. The Phantom's eternal laughter still carried through the walls of the house. Outside, the once beautiful grounds were falling apart and crumbling. The gilded staircase and structure were dotted with mold and trees and every plant on the grounds died. As if sensing the evil inherent in the house, nothing living ever trod there. Melanie even so kept her hopes, waiting for her love's return, and never figured why he had left.
The earthquake that killed her parents cut a huge gouge in the west half of the property and in the crumbling ghost town of the old Thunder Mesa. The deserted buildings were rumored to be called Phantom Canyon, the dark supernatural version of the town, and anyone who entered the ghastly old town at night never came back.
Today, no one knows if Melanie Ravenswood is still alive in that old house on the hill. If she is, then she is well over 100 years old. Her beautiful voice still carries over the town at night though, through the walls and night air. And sometimes, people still see lights in the house.
Some nights, when the moon is full and the sky is clear of clouds, you can still hear the lonely mourning of the bride, the maniacal laughter of the Phantom, and the faint tinkle of glass and laughter of party guests. Whether she is alive or not, what is well known is that poor Melanie never really left the crumbling mansion. She waits for her groom until Judgment Day.
Many fans of the ride believe the Phantom to be Melanie's father, Henry Ravenswood, seeking vengeance from beyond the grave. Others believe that it is the pure spirit of evil, and that a curse was upon the young girl.
What I find unique about this version is that it has a Phantom of the Opera-esuqe vibe to it. It's very dark & Macabre compared to the other HM's and the Phantom hanging the Groom in the Stretching room,
Even His first apparition and Final version of him are pretty creepy for Disney standards attraction wise..
First Form after leaving the Manor
Final Form after leaving Phantom Canyon
John Debney's Musical score that plays through the mansion is memorable and dramatic and Melanie's mournful singing gives you chills..
As you reach Phantom Canyon..You start seeing ghostly visitors which might look a bit familiar...The mayor is none other than Dreamfinder from Epcot's Journey Into Imagination..
Infact many of the Molds for the characters in Phantom Canyon were from AA's from Epcot's World of Motion..
Originally Vincent Price supplied the voice of the Phantom during the earlier years but, was then changed to a French Narration..Martin's Tribute Video has a good version of the Original Ride with the Vincent Price Audio..Enjoy!
AllydoesDisney
Well-Known Member
Tower of Terror! So good!!!!!!
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Prince Charming Regal Carousel 
Tim Lohr
Well-Known Member
Typhoon Lagoon is my favorite mainly because of how inventive I thought it was when I first saw it. All the other water parks I had ever been to were just these sort of industrial looking places with giant tubes everywhere, and wave pools were just large mechanical devices, they were lots of fun, but people's perception of a water park was basically "a place with giant plastic tubes with water in them". But the first time I saw Typhoon Lagoon, I recognized how Disney had dressed up all these standard water park attractions, and at the same time it just seemed like "this is how a water park should look", not giant plastic tubes every where but it should be natural looking, and the crazy typhoon back story, with a tug boat on top the mountain, and the transplanting the weirdest, most twisted up, palm trees they could find just made it so much more fun than just a basic tropical setting would have been.
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MarkTwain
Well-Known Member
Great poll options! I went with Mansion, I would say that's one of the few attractions (along with Tower) where just being inside is enough to make you wonder "what on earth happened in here," unlike other attractions where the backstory sort of just becomes pleasant background knowledge if you care to research such things. With Thunder Mountain, for instance, I never really thought much about any backstory or Native American curse simply because it wasn't really a major part of the ride experience (although with the new queue, the ride now does a much better job of setting up the mine's history). I will say though that both water parks do a fantastic job of presenting backstories and theming the park around them, so those would probably be my second choice.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Lovely poll, I voted ToT. That backstory works in one go, very intuitively.
Many of the others feel convulated, and superfluous.
My fav backstory however may be Tom Sawyer Island.
Many of the others feel convulated, and superfluous.
My fav backstory however may be Tom Sawyer Island.
SyracuseDisneyFan
Well-Known Member
Haunted Mansion
HollyAD
Well-Known Member
ToT of course! HM would be a close second. Two of the best themed rides in WDW. I love the exterior of ToT and waiting in the courtyard area. The lobby area is well detailed and even the basement can give you the creeps as you wait for the elevator. I also enjoy the cast at ToT, they take it to a whole different level with pale faces and strange voices.
Matt and Kelly
Well-Known Member
Good poll! Tough choices for sure, but had to go with ToT. Great themeing, great detail, great ride. Always one of my favourite attractions I look forward to when heading to WDW.