30 Greatest Theme Park Movie Rides
Hold on to your butts...
Superman Escape - Warner Bros. Movie World, Australia
The Ride: A Superman-themed rollercoaster.
The Movie Connection: The ride doesn’t strictly hook into any one Superman flick. Riders begin trapped in a Metropolis Transit Subway “car” that needs rescuing after earthquake tremors are detected. Good ole Supes is on hand to help shift it. Very quickly.
Also, listen out for John Williams’ infamous score. If you can hear it over the screams.
Don’t Forget To Scream: The moment Superman takes control of the coaster. It goes from 2 mph to 62 mph in less than two seconds.
Pirates Of The Caribbean - Disneyland, Worldwide
The Ride: A dark ride, Pirates Of The Caribbean has its barge passengers roaming the open seas, following the exploits of a gaggle of pirates.
The Movie Connection: The hugely-successful Pirates Of The Caribbean movie franchise was based on the ride. Since the release of the four feature films, the attraction now includes a Jack Sparrow character.
Don’t Forget To Scream: When you feel a tingling sensation in your fingers .
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The Great Movie Ride - Walt Disney World, USA
The Ride: A dark ride attraction, guests are ushered through the doors of the Chinese theatre for an interactive glimpse at the world of cinema.
The Movie Connection: Taking a tour through a mock-up Hollywood, the ride - a small train of two-seater cabs - wends its way through a series of scenes depicted in classic films throughout history.
Sequences from Mary Poppins, Singin’ In The Rain, The Public Enemy, Alien and Raiders Of The Lost Ark are a few of the movies recreated.
Don’t Forget To Scream: As the ride enters the Nostromo, where a xenomorph lurks in the fog...
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues - Disneyland, USA
The Ride: A huge 3D flight simulator, the original Star Wars ride was revamped to include a random selection of sequences. A new interactive element allows audiences to experience up to 54 different locations, including the Tattooine pod race, Hoth or the craziness of Coruscant.
The Movie Connection: Taking place between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope , the Empire is on the hunt for a Rebel spy who has penetrated their domain. Which may or may not be you.
Don’t Forget To Scream: At the point of impact, when the Starspeeder vessel you’re aboard crashes onto Hoth.
Twister: Ride It Out - Universal Studios Florida, USA
The Ride: A truly terrifying idea, Twister: Ride It Out has one goal. To make participants feel as if they’re genuinely experiencing a tornado. With a simulated twister reigning devastation on a small town (recreated on a stage), you might want to bring a spare pair.
The Movie Connection: The ride’s premise is based around the idea that riders are visiting a ‘filming centre’ - offering behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast of the movie. As you make your way through to a mock-up of a house from the film, the television screens crackle.
The ride commences in the final part of the filming centre tour, as the small-town locale is devastated by the arrival of a twister.
Don’t Forget To Scream: When the floor of the set drops down in a giant lurch.
Tomb Raider: The Ride - Kings Island Park, USA
The Ride: The Tomb Raider ride is an indoor top spinner. Riders sit on a bench of seats, commandeered by giant mechanical pistons spinning them in every direction.
The Movie Connection: Join Lara Croft (voiced by Angelina Jolie) on her adventure into the temple of the Durga goddess - as seen in the first movie.
The dormant goddess awakens in a foul mood; breathing fire and chucking ice at riders as they are tossed around for four and a half minutes.
Don’t Forget To Scream: At the end, when the carriages tilt so all riders face a bottomless pit...
Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom - Six Flags Magic Mountain, USA
The Ride: Put your life in the hands of Spidey’s biggest foe Lex Luthor. As you sit in a floorless vehicle drawn slowly upwards to a height of 400ft, watch your feet playfully dangle in the air. The terror of the forty-storey drop to earth will no doubt mount quite considerably.
The Movie Connection: A simple link. Lex is bonkers, as he is in on the big screen. He forces riders to undertake the descent purely to drive you to the edge of your sanity.
Don’t Forget To Scream: As you shoot back to the ground at a speed of 85 miles per hour.
Superman: Ride Of Steel - Six Flags America, USA
The Ride: Officially ranked as a new breed of ride, the Ride Of Steel is classed as a hypercoaster because it features drops of over 200 ft.
The Movie Connection: It’s a Superman- inspired attraction. Taking into account the superhero’s strength and abilities, the coaster is super sized and super fast.
Don’t Forget To Scream: While your cab teeters at the precipice of a 208 ft drop.
Aliens: Ride At The Speed Of Fright - Granada Studios, UK
The Ride: The 1996 motion-simulated ride rocked. It included a bunch of the marine scenes from James Cameron’s Aliens . New footage shot specifically for the ride was done by none other than Re-Animator ’s Stuart Gordon... who roped in Jeffrey Combs as a marine!
The action is shown across video screens while you’re strapped into a motion platform seat that shakes as if you really are in a dropship.
The Movie Connection: Set in the same universe as the Alien franchise, a Marine called Hyer has returned to his ship after tussling with a xenomorph on a mining colony. There’s glimpses of the original marines in the recycled footage - but that's about it!
Don’t Forget To Scream: Like a massive wimp, when a facehugger leaps onto the screen.
Jaws - Universal Studios, Worldwide
The Ride: Take a relaxing ride along the water at the Universal Studios backlot. It’s not strictly leisurely once an antagonistic great white shark stalks your boat and won’t give in ’til it tastes blood.
The Movie Connection: The story kinda slots in as another sequel to Spielberg’s classic. All riders are considered tourists in the fictional coastal ‘burg of Amity. The town’s legendary shark attacks in the seventies now bring them a roaring trade, particularly if you want a guided water tour of the shark’s hunting ground.
Don’t Forget To Scream: At the first sight of Jaws.
Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.
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