Nonsensical Plot Twists in Attractions

[Tom Morrow]

Your role at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror:

"Hmm, maybe we could stay at this decrepit building with a giant hole in it."
"It says keep out at the entrance. Probably nothing."
You ignore all the very obvious signs that the place has been abandoned for decades.
The hotel staff are weirdly cryptic and ominous.
A supernatural message on a TV screen informs you that if you board the elevator you will suffer the same fate as the original guests did years ago.
You still choose to board the elevator.

To be fair, tourists can be pretty obvious!

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

The oil rig scene of Maelstrom comes to mind. lol.

Also... Same location, Throughout the queue and the beginning of Frozen Ever After, you spend all this time singing and getting excited about a party at Elsa's Ice Palace only to immediately get kicked out and thrown down a waterfall. Kinda rude and anticlimactic if you ask me.

This post wins. I’ve somehow never thought about this.

Maybe it’s because we’re her subjects and she needs to go through a lot of us sheep so she can get on with her day. I’m sure she’s got better things to do.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The oil rig scene of Maelstrom comes to mind. lol.

Hate to say this but when your first going up the lift your going back in time of viking days and then accidentally take a turn to troll country which casts Said spell on your boat to go down deeper into the valley of Trolls. After the one troll peeks up he casts another spell on you to go back to the modern times of the North sea and they removed the fog and strobe effect for a long time after you drop which is why you have a near collision with the oil derrick before returning to the harbor port and which is why.."Norway’s spirit has always been—will always be—adventure!"

 

[celluloid]

Not so much a twist but terrible to me is:

Toy Story Mania/land. The scale is inconsistent and is one thing that a Toy Story themed land brags about and should get right. The name Toy Story is on the attraction itself and on the ficitonal boxing and ride vehicles, so it is some weird Meta thing that Mr. Potatohead also knows about. We are under Andy's bed but change size as well throughout.

Soarin' there is no reason given to how we can fly, and suddenly jump cut to locations around the world.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Toy Story Mania/land. The scale is inconsistent and is one thing that a Toy Story themed land brags about and should get right. The name Toy Story is on the attraction itself and on the ficitonal boxing and ride vehicles, so it is some weird Meta thing that Mr. Potatohead also knows about. We are under Andy's bed but change size as well throughout.

Also the appearance of Molly's toys is also something that never made sense..

 

[monorail81]

I have seen only one IJ movie and that is the most recent.

please watch The Last Crusade. It was the best out of all of them.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

The inconsistency and thematic disconnect of the original Soarin’ has always bothered me.

The ride is a hang glider sailing over the highlights of California.

Exterior: Jet engine (nothing to do with hang gliding)

Queue: History of aviation (nothing to do with hang gliding)

Ride Safety Video: Commercial airline bit (nothing to do with hang gliding)

It’s like completely different teams worked on every aspect of the attraction.

EDIT: Fully acknowledge this isn’t a plot twist, but I feel compelled to complain about it any chance I get

 

[WondersOfLife]

Hate to say this but when your first going up the lift your going back in time of viking days and then accidentally take a turn to troll country which casts Said spell on your boat to go down deeper into the valley of Trolls. After the one troll peeks up he casts another spell on you to go back to the modern times of the North sea and they removed the fog and strobe effect for a long time after you drop which is why you have a near collision with the oil derrick before returning to the harbor port and which is why.."Norway’s spirit has always been—will always be—adventure!"

Ah. Well, without those effects, there was no magic indication, which thus leads to a nonsensical plot twist.

But, even if the magic was still there... It's still a nonsensical plot twist.

 

[WondersOfLife]

A lot of people need to look up what a nonsensical plot twist is.

As opposed to a nonsensical plot.

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

A lot of people need to look up what a nonsensical plot twist is.

As opposed to a nonsensical plot.

I mean if we wanted to include nonsensical plots and random mood shifts, this list could easily quadruple (I’m looking at you, Pirates and JII )

 

[celluloid]

A lot of people need to look up what a nonsensical plot twist is.

As opposed to a nonsensical plot.

NO. That's THE Twist!

The issue is most rides don't have plots, they have more throughlines when it comes to many at Disney. There is sometimes a denouncement, but not really a resolution. The issue was in the question posed itself.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Although not a ride but Villian characters showing their demise in the film yet they are walking around the park like it never happened and then asked..

 

[Brer Panther]

And what's Hopper doing in It's Tough to Be a Bug if he got eaten by a bird in the movie?

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

And what's Hopper doing in It's Tough to Be a Bug if he got eaten by a bird in the movie?

I think it’s a midquel but I’m not sure…

 

[WondersOfLife]

NO. That's THE Twist!

The issue is most rides don't have plots, they have more throughlines when it comes to many at Disney. There is sometimes a denouncement, but not really a resolution. The issue was in the question posed itself.

Exactly. A nonsensical plot.

Not a nonsensical plot twist. A plot twist usually happens towards the middle or end of a story.

If there is no story to begin with, and no plot at all, then its just simply nonsensical. No plot. No twist.

 

[WondersOfLife]

And what's Hopper doing in It's Tough to Be a Bug if he got eaten by a bird in the movie?

The show opened before the movie came out. It is essentially a pre-quel.

Kind of like Stitch's Great Escape, except with a lot less plot holes.

 

[ChrisFL]

Where Ursula helps Ariel but she dies anyway and Ariel and whatshisname live happily ever after in Voyage of The Little Mermaid

 

[Tha Realest]

A lot of people need to look up what a nonsensical plot twist is.

As opposed to a nonsensical plot.

Okay, how’s this—

Tons of young fans set out to ride an attraction thinking it’s based on a character from Princess and the Frog but instead get a grab-bag of aspirational goals cooked up by a freshman creative writing class at Sarah Lawrence College.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Test Track.

You spend a great deal of time and effort to design a car, in order to see how it will perform against the cars that others are designing. You are told that at the end of this exercise, you will get to "test" your own vehicle by putting it through the paces of a test track! Sublime!

PLOT TWIST: After designing the ultimate vehicle, you are herded into a boarding area, only to climb into a generic car shape that looks nothing like what you or anyone else in it designed, to ride through a track that will always do the same "tests," at the same speed. Completing this exercise will somehow tell you how your nonexistent vehicle performs against the other nonexistent vehicles, none of which are the vehicle that you are all inexplicably riding around in.

If I had a nickel for every first-time guest (not just children, but adults) I've heard in the loading area for Test Track say something to the effect of, "But... that's not my car! I thought I'd get to race in my car..." because of the way the preshow tricks you into thinking this will somehow be possible, I'd be half-way to purchasing a Dole Whip by now.

(In fact, the first time I rode Test Track after the big refurb, I assumed that at the very least, they'd have it set up so that we'd occasionally drive by a screen that would "reflect" our vehicle, and we'd actually "see" ourselves riding in a projection of the vehicle we'd designed -- not unlike the hitchhiking ghost effect at the end of the Haunted Mansion. Silly me. The Imagineers just put up some neon lights, designed a "make your own car" video game, and called it a day.)

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

Test Track.

You spend a great deal of time and effort to design a car, in order to see how it will perform against the cars that others are designing. You are told that at the end of this exercise, you will get to "test" your own vehicle by putting it through the paces of a test track! Sublime!

PLOT TWIST: After designing the ultimate vehicle, you are herded into a boarding area, only to climb into a generic car shape that looks nothing like what you or anyone else in it designed, to ride through a track that will always do the same "tests," at the same speed. Completing this exercise will somehow tell you how your nonexistent vehicle performs against the other nonexistent vehicles, none of which are the vehicle that you are all inexplicably riding around in.

If I had a nickel for every first-time guest (not just children, but adults) I've heard in the loading area for Test Track say something to the effect of, "But... that's not my car! I thought I'd get to race in my car..." because of the way the preshow tricks you into thinking this will somehow be possible, I'd be half-way to purchasing a Dole Whip by now.

(In fact, the first time I rode Test Track after it was changed, I assumed that at the very least, they'd have it set up so that we'd occasionally drive by a screen that would "reflect" our vehicle, and we'd actually "see" ourselves riding in a projection of the vehicle we'd designed -- not unlike the hitchhiking ghost effect at the end of the Haunted Mansion. Silly me. The Imagineers just put up some neon lights, designed a "make your own car" video game, and called it a day.)

Pov: 12 year old me.
WOW IT LOOKS KINDA LIKE MY CAR
wait that’s not my car
this is the same every time isn’t it