After a soft preview of the ride two months ago, Disneyland’s newest ride “Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout!” opened to massive crowds over the holiday weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout
Just a few weeks after Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume Two released in theatres, the first Marvel-themed ride opened in Disneyland. The ride took over the skeleton of the “Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror” ride which opened in 1994. While there was some resistance to the change, as there always is with popular Disney attractions, that resistance was nowhere to be seen during opening weekend.
Over Memorial day weekend, lines for the ride snaked through the entire park. The wait time crept to five, even seven hours at a time. Wait times in Disney are notoriously long, especially on holiday weekends and attraction openings. However, even by Disney standards, “Mission: Breakout” is already a success.
Out With The Old
Disney attractions are all about storytelling using as many senses as possible. According to reports from early riders, “Mission: Breakout” does not disappoint. The queue space that was once a dusty, haunted hotel is now the Collector’s lair, complete with a life-size Cosmo animatronic.
Instead of an eerily realistic CGI Rod Serling, you are now ushered to the loading area by an eerily realistic Rocket Racoon. Rocket briefs you on your mission–helping him bust the rest of the Guardians out of the Collector’s museum–and you’re on your way.
Hollywood Reporter senior staff writer Ryan Parker explains how the “Mission: Breakout” differs from “Tower of Terror” in its ride design: “It was a whole new ride. A whole new experience…The drops are just as terrifying as they were on Tower, but Guardians also features quick ascents. The initial one is like being shot out of cannon. This is all happening while riders stop at certain sections and watch the Guardians — on screens so clear they look like windows — fight their way out while the selected song blares.”
Hidden Wonders
Some of Disney’s newer attractions keep riders coming back with multiple ride experiences. The “Tower of Terror” was an early adapter, with multiple “ride patterns”. “Mission: Breakout” has six escape scenarios, each with their own story and soundtrack. Disney started using multiple stories when updating “Star Tours” several years ago. “Star Tours” got more options each time a new Star Wars film was released. Mission: Breakout will likely do the same as the Marvel Cinematic Universe expands.
If the different scenarios don’t bring you back, perhaps an Easter egg hunt will. The attraction contains approximately 2,200 artifacts or ‘easter eggs’, hidden in places you may not expect. This is something the “Twilight Zone” boasted, as well–only time will tell if or more likely where the new designs pay homage to what came before.
Can’t wait your turn to ride in person? Several scenarios are already available on youtube. Check out the “We Want the Funk” version in the video below, from Disney bloggers “Inside the Magic”.
