See Beloved Disney Rides and Attractions That Were Removed from the Theme Parks

Julie TremaineTue, July 28, 2026 at 11:30 AM UTC

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A riverboat at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.Credit: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty

Not all Disney rides are there to stay.

On Disneyland’s opening day on July 17, 1955, Walt Disney famously said, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world,” per Disney Parks Blog. But with that growth comes change, and inevitable ride closures in the name of progress across the Disney parks, including Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Of course, Disney fans always have big feelings about losing rides they have fond memories of. But according to Walt Disney, that evolution was always part of the plan.

“I wanted something live, something that could grow, something I could keep plussing with ideas, you see?” Disney reflected in a 1956 interview. “The park is that. Not only can I add things but even the trees will keep growing; the thing will get more beautiful every year.”

He added, “And as I find what the public likes — and when a picture’s finished and I put it out — I find out what they like, or they don’t like, and I have to apply that to some other thing; I can’t change that picture, so that’s why I wanted that park.”

Ahead, see several Disney rides and attractions that have been removed from theme parks.

01 of 09

Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat at Magic Kingdom

Tom Sawyer’s Island in Disney World.Credit: Disney

At the D23 convention in August 2024, Disney announced that Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World would be undergoing a massive expansion, adding a Cars-themed area near Frontierland (among many other attractions, like a much-anticipated Villains Land near Haunted Mansion).

To make space in that park, Disney closed attractions that have been at the park since the 1970s. Rivers of America — which featured frontier-inspired scenes and animatronics around the river — was an opening day element of the park in 1971. Tom Sawyer Island, an adventure play area themed to Mark Twain’s classic book, and the Liberty Belle, a steamboat that took guests along the river through frontier scenes, were both added in 1973.

Piston Peak National Park, as the new Cars area will be called, will be inspired by the Rocky Mountains and will have two rides within it. “Since the early days of Magic Kingdom, adventurous guests have traveled across space and time as they pass from Liberty Square to Frontierland,” the company said in a statement on the Disney Parks Blog in June 2025.

“At the heart of all these stories are heroic characters with a belief in themselves that helped forge a path to their dreams,” the statement continued. “To continue this journey in great American storytelling, Piston Peak National Park will be part of the largest expansion in the history of Magic Kingdom.”

02 of 09

Muppet*Vision 3-D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.Credit: Helen Sessions/Alamy

Once upon a time, Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios was supposed to have its own Muppets-themed land with several rides — but after Jim Henson’s untimely death at age 53 in 1990, the plans fell through, per SFGATE. What did eventually debut in the park was Muppet*Vision 3-D, a 3-D movie show that included real special effects and iconic character animatronics.

The theater existed in an area called Muppets Courtyard, which had one Muppet-themed restaurant and one restaurant that wasn’t themed, and a Muppets gift shop that closed several years ago.

The show, along with the rest of Muppets Courtyard, closed in June 2025 to make way for the Monsters, Inc.-themed land coming to Hollywood Studios. To mark the occasion, Henson’s daughter Heather Henson visited the park on the final day of shows, attending the very last performance.

“Muppet fans are the best,” she said to the crowd. “You guys are the absolute best. We love you so much. Thank you so much for being here. We’re hanging it up. Bye, guys.”

The Muppets didn’t totally leave the park, though. In June 2026, Hollywood Studios debuted a new version of what was previously the Rock n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, now starring the Muppets instead.

03 of 09

DinoLand USA at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

DinoLand USA at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.Credit: Disney

When Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, one of the main lands was DinoLand USA. The prehistoric-themed area had carnival rides and games with dinosaur themes, like TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures, The Boneyard, Trilo-Bites, Dino-Bite Snacks and Restaurantosaurus.

Disney slowly dismantled the land over several years, eventually closing DinoLand USA in February 2026.

The area is currently under construction, and is being totally reimagined into a Tropical Americas-themed land which will include Encanto and Indiana Jones attractions.

04 of 09

Carousel of Progress & America Sings at Disneyland

Walt Disney World’s Carousel Of Progress.Credit: Bryan Smith/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

When the Carousel of Progress debuted at the New York World’s Fair in the mid-1960s, it was a technological marvel. Audio-Animatronics unlike anything people had ever seen before were moving and talking, telling the story of the evolution of technology in the home and how much that progress has improved people’s lives.

After the fair, Disney installed Carousel of Progress at Disneyland in 1967, but by 1975, it made its way to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, per Disney Parks Blog. Moving the ride from California to Florida left a huge show building vacant in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. To fill the space, Disney created a new show called America Sings, a show performed by animatronic animals.

According to D23 (the Official Disney Fan Club), America Sings “featured over 100 characters in a history of American popular music in four separate scenes, each from a different era.”

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It closed in 1988, and many of the animal animatronics moved to Disneyland’s Critter Country land, including being used in the debuting Splash Mountain (which is now Tiana’s Bayou Adventure).

Carousel of Progress still exists in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland, though it was announced in August 2025 that it is undergoing renovation and updating the story line, including adding an Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney himself, per Disney Parks Blog.

The attraction closed for renovation on July 6, 2026, and is expected to reopen in 2027, per Disney World’s website.

05 of 09

PeopleMover at Disneyland

Disneyland visitors riding ‘PeopleMover’ cars in Tomorrowland on June 29th 1967.Credit: UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty

At Walt Disney World, guests can still enjoy a ride on the PeopleMover, high above Magic Kingdom, with an unparalleled view of Tomorrowland and Cinderella Castle in the distance. At Disneyland, however, the ride underwent a brief transformation before being shut down for good.

Originally installed in 1967, the PeopleMover took people on a leisurely ride above Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. The slow attraction allowed people to sit in shaded ride cars and take in the scenery, with the track going through several of the show buildings to allow guests a different perspective on their favorite rides. It was such a sensation that Disney eventually used its technology to help develop the transportation system at Houston International Airport, per D23.

But as time went on and the attraction became dated, fewer and fewer people rode. It closed in 1995, slated for renovation into a high-speed Rocket Rods attraction, which opened in 1998 to excited crowds, but the change proved to be disastrous. The old PeopleMover tracks were designed for slow-moving vehicles, not ride cars zooming around at 35mph. Breakdowns happened frequently, and guests often complained about long lines to get on the ride, per SFGATE.

Rocket Rods only lasted about two years before being shut down permanently in 2000, though it had also been closed for a chunk of that time for maintenance. Today, those old tracks still stand above Tomorrowland.

06 of 09

Skyway to Tomorrowland at Disneyland

Visitors ride the Skyway to Tomorrowland at Disneyland, circa 1957.Credit: Archive Photos/Getty

A long time ago in a Fantasyland far away, there used to be an aerial tram that passed straight through the Matterhorn in Disneyland. According to Disney Parks Blog, Walt Disney famously inspired the mountain at the theme park by sending a postcard of the real Matterhorn to his Imagineers from Switzerland, simply writing on the back, “Build this!”

It opened in the 1950s with the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride that’s still at Disneyland today, but it also had another attraction — at least, one that was passing through it, per D23. Skyway to Tomorrowland was an aerial gondola which took passengers up in the sky in buckets suspended from cables, transporting them from Fantasyland over to Tomorrowland, with a trip inside the upper portion of the Matterhorn on the way.

When the Skyway opened, it was among the first of its kind to operate in the U.S., but eventually closed in November 1994.

07 of 09

Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland

Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/ShutterstockCredit: Disneyland's Monsanto House Of The Future, circa 1957.

Imagining the future has always been one of the most popular entertainment themes — and at Disneyland, the park has an entire land devoted to what the world might become in years to come. One of those imaginings was the Monsanto House of the Future, a Tomorrowland attraction that speculated on how technological innovations might influence and improve how people live in the future. It opened in 1957.

“Built of plastics, the four-winged, cantilevered house featured the latest in furniture and appliances, along with intercoms and other gadgets that were uncommon in the homes of the time,” per D23.

But when it came time to tear down the house in 1967, it proved more difficult than previously thought. According to D23, a wrecking ball bounced right off the plastic house, making no dent at all. Eventually, demolition experts dismantled it piece by piece.

08 of 09

The Making of Me at EPCOT

People walk through the Wonders of Life exhibit at Walt Disney World’s Epcot center on November 11, 2001.Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty

Another of Walt Disney World’s former attractions was The Making of Me, a short film that played in the Wonders of Life Pavilion in Future World, one of the science and technology-based pavilions like Universe of Energy in that part of the park, per SFGATE.

According to the outlet, the Wonders of Life was devoted to the human body, and offered attractions like performances by an improv troupe called the Anacomical Players and a thrill ride called Body Wars that “shrunk” riders down so they could go inside a human body and observe it from the inside. Meanwhile, The Making of Me, which starred Martin Short, included the actor explaining the subjects of human reproduction and birth.

When it debuted in 1989, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune described the show as “forthright, educational and humorous” while acknowledging that the film was also “somewhat of a departure for a Disney attraction,” per SFGATE. The movie ran through 2007, when the Wonders of Life Pavilion closed to guests.

09 of 09

A Bug’s Land at Disney California Adventure

Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train in Disneyland.Credit: eff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty

In 2002, Disney California Adventure opened A Bug’s Land, celebrating the 1998 film A Bug’s Life. Once guests were in the land, they were “shrunk” down to the size of bugs, and experienced everything from their perspective: blades of grass rose high above adults’ heads, and benches were made to look like they were constructed of popsicle sticks, per D23.

The land was centered on Flik’s Fun Fair, which had kiddie rides for the park’s youngest patrons, including Flik’s Flyers, Tuck & Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies, Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train, Francis’s Ladybug Boogie and Princess Dot Puddle Park, per D23.

The land was closed in 2018 to make way for Avengers Campus, the Marvel-themed land that’s now in that spot. However, according to D23, there are hints of A Bug’s Land throughout the area, including ride cars from Heimlich’s Chew-Chew Train hidden inside Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure.

Another attraction recently fell victim to expansion in Avengers Campus, too. The Red Car Trolley, which took guests on a nostalgic old Hollywood trip through the Hollywoodland section of Disney California Adventure, closed in 2025 to make way for expansions of Avengers Campus, per ABC7.

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