Disney Extinct Attractions: a bug’s land

Welcome to Disney Extinct Attractions. My name is Cole, and it’s great to be back. Today, I’ll be your guide as we shrink down to the size of a bug and visit a land like no other.

When Disney California Adventure first opened on February 8th, 2001, one of the opening day attractions was It’s Tough to be a Bug! Brought over from Disney’s Animal Kingdom, this attraction was based off of the Pixar film, a bug’s life, which would seemingly make it a child-friendly attraction. However, it didn’t quite hit its target audience, instead frightening kids and adults alike and further perpetuating California Adventure’s early issues. Two of the biggest problems that the park faced were a lack of E-Ticket and kid-driven attractions, the latter of which was addressed with the opening of a bug’s land (this is how Disney punctuates it on their website, so I will use this nomenclature throughout).

a bug’s land opened on October 7th, 2002 and immediately helped remedy the park’s dearth of child attractions. In fact, it even tied in with the quest for E-Ticket attractions as its fictional backstory was connected to the creation of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. When Imagineering was planning for Tower of Terror, they stumbled across Flik’s Fun Fair, which our bug friends from the film had been creating since they noticed that California Adventure had opened and brought more bugs to the area. To be honest, this backstory is not very apparent when you are in the land, but I think it is really clever and helps ties the land together, even if it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Today, we are going to focus on Flik’s Fun Fair, the meat of a bug’s land (saving It’s Tough to be a Bug! for another day), and the multitude of attractions that populated the area.

When you entered the land from its primary entrance, one of the first things you might notice was that you entered through a cereal box called Cowboy Crunchies. This box was a perfect transition into the land because you realized that you were now the size of a bug without being completely thrown off. The box also featured images of many of your favorite characters from a bug’s life, plus a special surprise appearance from Woody that you can catch on the left side of the photo above. Incorporating Woody in the land further propelled Pixar’s penchant for Easter eggs that can be seen in each and every one of their movies.

One of the first experiences you noticed as you wandered around the Fun Fair was Princess Dot’s Puddle Park. A simple water play area, you wouldn’t think much of it by just looking at it. However, once you stepped inside, you found yourself surrounded by giant blades of grass and other seemingly “tiny” objects enlarged to immerse you in the idea that you are now the size of a bug. But you had to be careful where you stood because if you were in the wrong place, you would get soaked.

I learned this unfortunate lesson one evening when I was there with a friend. We were so excited to have the land basically to ourselves that we stopped paying attention to our surroundings. But then splash, we were soaked (though we decided to roll with it because we couldn’t get much wetter than we already were).

Continuing around the horn, the next attraction was Flik’s Flyers. Making use of litter that humans left lying around, Flik decided to make one of his famous contraptions, so that visitors could soar through the “skies” (which is pretty ironic considering that if the attraction was actually ant-sized it would be close to a few inches tall.)

I enjoyed Flik’s Flyers the few times that I rode it, even if it wasn’t one of my most frequented attractions. It was a nice refreshing take on the aerial spinning attraction made popular by Dumbo. I particularly liked riding in food boxes, but it’s shame that you couldn’t munch on some Chinese takeout as you rode around.

I’m also not a huge fan of spinning attractions, but Flik’s Flyers was nice and gentle unlike the next attraction on our journey.

Francis’ Ladybug Boogie was a simple attraction that shared a lot of traits with the Tea Cups. Both attractions relentlessly spin you in circles, leading to feelings of mass nausea.

Ok, maybe I get a little more nauseous than the average person on these types of rides, but I really cannot handle them anymore. I can do roller coasters all day, but put me on the Boogie, and I’m out of commission for a while, so I obviously did not have much experience with the attraction. However, they did play some pretty fun songs, so I could hang around and listen if someone I knew happened to want to ride.

Our next stop takes us to Tuck and Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies. This attraction featured some rip, roaring bumper cars that took guests on an adventure like no other.

Psych! The buggies were one of the biggest disappointments in the Disney attraction pantheon. To start, the cars barely even qualified as bumper cars because you had to drive around the circle in one direction, and your hits barely registered. Plus, the cars moved at such a slow speed that it wasn’t even fun to just drive around. Overall, the attraction was a big whiff, but you couldn’t expect much more from a bumper car attraction at Disney, due to safety issues.

Finally, we come to one of the greatest attractions of all-time, Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train. Now, some may say “Cole, this attraction was so simple, it can’t possibly be amazing.” Well, take a quick glance at the video below, and maybe I can change your mind.

To me, there is just something so amazing about riding around in Heimlich through giant pieces of food. If you weren’t hungry when you got on the ride, you definitely emerged ready to eat because you got to move from healthy foods all the way through to dessert. If there is one thing I regret, it’s not bringing along a bit of each food that Heimlich eats throughout and eating along with him. It would have been such a perfect way to celebrate this attraction.

In all actuality, you either get Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train or you don’t, and I am lucky enough to consider myself amongst those who do. There was just an intangible bit of fun to the attraction that never ceased to amaze me. In fact, it was the one attraction at California Adventure that I would experience each and every time I was at the park, so I am truly disappointed to see go.

We’ve now finally arrived at our news for the week, that unfortunately, a bug’s land closed Monday, September 3rd (with a little encore performance on the 4th). To be fair, it was a long time coming as the land had quickly become outdated, especially with more modern Pixar-themed lands hitting Disney Parks around the world. Still, a bug’s land was the very first entirely Pixar-themed land, so it deserves some credit for starting the trend and providing some much-needed entertainment for children at the park. However, the land had no shops or restaurants, so it wasn’t exactly a cash cow for Disney, making its demise inevitable.

In its place, Marvel Land will finally be joining California Adventure. Long-rumored after the announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, the land will finally come to fruition in 2020. Personally, I am really excited for the land because I think it is going to have some of the most immersive attractions ever created.

Sadly, that means that Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train must come to an end, a moment that we all knew would happen, but never so soon. Luckily for us, we still have more extinct attractions to look at next week, so check out below for some clues.

1. All of these experiences had to do with animation.
2. Two of these experiences were shows, while the other was more of a tour.
3. Each experience appeared at a different park around the world.

Thanks for reading and have a magical day!