Why Does Every Theme Park Ride Have the Exact Same Premise?

Theme park rides can take guests into outer space or the center of the Earth. They feature mind-boggling sights ranging from gigantic serpents to Vin Diesel in a tight T-shirt. Their subject matter is limited only by the boundaries of their creators’ imaginations (and whatever IP their bosses at Disney and Universal hold the rights to at any given time).

So why does it feel like every theme park ride has the exact same premise?

This is a slight exaggeration, of course. Disneyland’s Soarin’ Around the World is a picturesque tour of famous global landmarks in a hang glider. Velocicoaster at Universal Islands of Adventure is a roller coaster that Jurassic World supposedly built inside a raptor pen to increase attendance? (Whatever, the ride is so much fun it doesn’t matter.)

But if you visit Walt Disney World or Universal Studios Florida enough, you will notice how many rides at both parks repeat the same basic premise in a million different ways: A leisurely visit to some exotic (and often obviously deadly) location goes wildly out of control, at which point guests get involved in saving the day.

I love a lot of these rides, so this is less of a criticism than a bemused observation and a question — why does this trope keep getting repeated over and over? These rides are made by enormously creative people, but they keep recycling the same structural conceit. So there must be a reason. Are theme park guests comforted by the familiar? Do visitor surveys reveal people are less scared by thrill rides like these? I don’t know!

All I know is so many Disney and Universal rides utilize this same story framework that it’s become a cliché. Here are nearly 20 examples I thought of off the top of my head…

Star Tours (Various Disney Parks)

Opening Date: 1987

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Taking a space tourist flight to Endor.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: The robot pilot is very bad at his job, nearly crashes your spaceship within seconds, then overshoots Endor, flies into a storm of comets, and gets captured by a Star Destroyer before taking part in the destruction of the Death Star.

READ MORE: Once-Beloved Disney Rides That Closed Forever

Jaws (Universal Studios Florida and Japan)

Opening Date: 1990

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Enjoying a guided boat tour of Amity Island.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: A shark! First it eats another tour boat. Then it comes for yours. After hiding in a boathouse, the guide tries to kill the shark with a grenade launcher (it’s my understanding that grenade launchers are standard equipment on boat tours), but accidentally causes an explosion on a nearby gas dock instead.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies (Universal Studios Florida)

Opening Date: 1990

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Watching a collection of footage from Alfred Hitchcock’s career, including rarely seen scenes from Dial M For Murder, projected in 3D as they were originally intended.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: Shortly after the 3D portion of the film begins, a flock of birds tears through the screen and swarms the theater, hungry for revenge against the man who portrayed them as such vicious monsters in The Birds. 

Back to the Future: The Ride (Various Universal Parks)

Opening Date: 1991

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Visiting Doc Brown’s “Institute of Future Technology” for a time-travel experiment using Doc’s new 8-Passenger DeLorean.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: Before the ride even begins, Biff Tannen arrives at the Institute, traps Doc Brown in his office, then steals the original DeLorean. Doc remote controls the 8-Passenger DeLorean to chase Biff through time. Along the way to recapturing him, they destroy large portions of Hill Valley circa 2015, nearly get trapped in the Ice Age, and get swallowed by a dinosaur. Take that, butterfly effect! Why Doc couldn’t just remote control the DeLorean without sticking eight tourists inside and sending them to their likely deaths I do not know.

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! (Various Disney Parks)

Opening Date: 1994

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Attending the Inventor of the Year Award at the “Imagination Institute.”

What Goes Horribly Wrong: The recipient of said award is Wayne Szalinski (Rick Moranis) the dude who repeatedly shrinks or expands his various family members in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids films. So obviously he shrinks the entire audience. (He also blows up his dog. The man is a menace.)

Indiana Jones Adventure (Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea)

Opening Date: 1995

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Taking a tour of the recently unearthed Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: So the whole forbidden eye thing should have probably been a clue that a tour of the place was not a great idea. There’s one particular idol of Mara that you’re not supposed to look at, but someone always does, sending you through the “Gates of Doom” and into a variety of death traps including a hallway filled with millions of beetles, a pit of lava, and a giant snake. (Why did it have to be a giant snake?!?)

ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (Magic Kingdom)

Opening Date: 1995

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Observing a demonstration of a futuristic teleportation technology.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: The dopes running the demonstration accidentally teleport a monstrous alien akin to the xenomorph from Alien into the testing lab. The creature breaks out of the teleporter and then the power goes out. Guests are restrained in their chairs as the alien pokes them, drools on them, and breathes on their necks, all in total darkness. Sounds fun, right? Somehow this was deemed an appropriate attraction for children.

T2-3D: Battle Across Time (Various Universal Parks)

Opening Date: 1996

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Watching a demonstration of Cyberdyne Systems’ new technology.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: Cyberdyne’s new technology is the Terminator robot, and they’re about to show off their other big innovation, Skynet, the AI that destroys the world in The Terminator movies, when John and Sarah Connor show up, followed by the T-1000 and the T-800. Cue the massive battle in the auditorium and accompanying 3D movie. On the plus side, the heroes manage to prevent the destruction of all of humanity — at least until the next showtime began 20 minutes later.

Jurassic Park: The Ride (Various Universal Parks)

Opening Date: 1996

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Touring Jurassic Park on an oversized raft.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: It’s Jurassic Park, so within about 45 seconds of the ride departing, the entire park has descended into chaos. A destroyed raft blocks the path your boat is supposed to take, sending you into the raptor area. Whoopsie! An assortment of dinosaur encounters ensue, until a final showdown with a T-rex and then a plunge down a massive 84-foot drop.

The Incredible Hulk Coaster (Universal Islands of Adventure)

Opening Date: 1999

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: The ride’s “story” has been updated in recent years, but in the original version you were observers at Dr. Bruce Banner’s latest experiment, which was supposed to reverse the effects of the gamma radiation exposure that caused him to turn into the Hulk.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: You’re never going to believe this, but the experiment is a complete disaster. Instead of reversing the effects of gamma radiation, Banner turns into the Hulk, and your train is blasted out of the station and onto the track. It is very fortunate that this experiment took place while guests were comfortably seated inside a roller coaster.

The Simpsons Ride (Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood)

Opening Date: 2008

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Visiting Krustyland, the fictional theme park from The Simpsons.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: Sideshow Bob shows up and tries to kill the Simpsons. As he chases Homer and the rest of the family across Krustyland, they systematically destroy the entire park and all of its attractions. Oh, also at one point your ride vehicle falls down a hole in the ground all the way to Hell. (Don’t worry. Professor Frink saves the day.)

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Various Universal Parks)

Opening Date: 2010

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Joining Harry, Ron, and Hermoine on a flying tour of Hogwarts.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: What doesn’t go wrong? As you’re flying around the castle on an enchanted bench, you get attacked by a dragon, menaced by a giant spider, and pursued by Dementors.

Star Tours: The Adventure Continues (Various Disney Parks)

Opening Date: 2011

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Taking a space tourist flight (again).

What Goes Horribly Wrong: This time C-3PO is your incompetent tour guide (although I think technically R2-D2 is the one piloting the ship). Before your ship has even departed the hanger it’s accosted by Imperial forces, searching for a Rebel spy. Making a hasty getaway sends your vessel careening through a series of randomly selected adventures on various Star Wars planets — all of which involve things going horribly wrong and C-3PO screaming in terror.

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem (Various Universal Parks)

Opening Date: 2012

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Participating in an experiment where Gru transforms humans into Minions.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: The experiment is a success, but the newly “Minionized” guests accidentaly wind up in the restricted area of Gru’s lab, where they set off a variety of explosive calamities and Gru’s daughters lose a gift they intend to give to Gru to celebrate the anniversary of their adoption. (Don’t worry, it works out in the end.)

Fast & Furious: Supercharged (Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida)

Opening Date: 2015

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Attending a party celebrating Dominic Toretto’s latest street racing victory.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: Guests’ “party bus” ride gets interrupted by Owen Shaw, the villain from Fast & Furious 6, who wants to kill a witness supposedly hidden on board. What a jerk. Thankfully, Dom and his crew show up to save the day by hanging off a Harrier jet and jumping their cars through the air. But you know what? You never do get to enjoy that party. What a ripoff.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland)

Opening Date: 2019

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Riding a Transport Shuttle to a Resistance base on another world.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: The First Order shows up and captures your transport shuttle, then sticks everyone inside in a detention cell. Thankfully, the Resistance breaks you out. Before you can actually return to Batuu, though, there are all sorts of other crises, including run-ins with probe droids, Stormtroopers, and Kylo Ren. Your “successful” escape also involves a vertiginous drop in an escape pod from the Star Destroyer all the way back down to the planet for a rough crash landing.

Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure (Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park)

Opening Date: 2021

What You’re Supposed to Be Doing: Exploring an open house at the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, an organization created by Tony Stark to promote technological innovations.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: One of Peter Parker’s inventions, a Spider-Bot, begins endlessly replicating itself, creating a massive swarm of the robots that threatens to destroy all of Avengers Campus. Guests then board “WEB Slinger” vehicles that shoot webs, which they use to get the Spider-Bot infestation under control.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry (Universal Epic Universe)

Opening Date: 2025

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Attending the trial of evil wizard Dolores Umbridge.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: A massive fight breaks out inside the Ministry of Magic. Guests are buffeted about by Death Eaters, assorted fantastical beasts, and CGI recreations of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson from 15 years ago.

Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment (Universal Epic Universe)

Opening Date: 2025

What You’re Supposed To Be Doing: Witnessing an experiment by Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, who wishes to repair her family’s legacy by capturing all the Universal Monsters.

What Goes Horribly Wrong: Nothing you wouldn’t expect from a ride called “Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.”