+
upworthy
Culture

Virtual Disney tripping is even wilder with these 360°style theme park rides

Virtual Disney tripping is even wilder with these 360°style theme park rides

You may already have spent some time exploring the exquisite, intricate video walkthroughs of Disney theme parks, but be sure you're sitting down for this bit of news – and that you keep your arms, hands, legs and feet inside the vehicle at all times.

Your mobile device, a set of ear buds for some extra you-are-there-ness and just a little bit of imagination make it possible to take 360-degree, immersive rides on some of your favorite attractions; if you've got a portable VR viewer for your device, you can even go on incredible virtual-reality rides. (Should you choose to remain seated at all times, you can even watch them on your laptop, using your mouse or trackpad to control the view.)


It's all possible thanks to YouTube channel Virtual Disney World – plus, of course, some Disney Imagineering. The creators of Virtual Disney World have been astonishingly thorough and up-to-date – not to mention bi-coastal – so even if you weren't able to get a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance before Disney theme parks worldwide were forced to close, or to ride Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway in the mere 11 days it operated before the shutdown, here's your chance.


360º Tour of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studioswww.youtube.com


Prefer something a little more classic? You can choose from The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World or Disneyland and compare the not-insignificant differences – or even check out the ever-controversial Haunted Mansion Holiday from Disneyland, which re-themes the dark ride to The Nightmare Before Christmas for four months each year. There are even some 360° walkthroughs of Disney resorts, and a couple of the most popular rides at Universal Orlando – if you didn't want to wait in line 10 hours for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventures, here's your chance to see what all the fuss was about.


360º Ride on Haunted Mansion Holidaywww.youtube.com


Even better, if you've got back or neck problems, high blood pressure, are prone to motion sickness or you're an expectant mother … it's not a problem at all!

Here's a quick rundown of some of the best of the 360° videos from Disney theme parks.

* Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway – Few people have had a chance to experience this centerpiece attraction of the Disney Hollywood Studios: Disney's parks closed a week and a half after it debuted. Now you can see the frenetic, cartoon-themed wackiness for yourself. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaf4Vbj4ClA)

* The Great Movie Ride – Here's the super-elaborate, Audio Animatronics-filled dark ride that called the Chinese Theater at Disney Hollywood Studios home from 1989 to 2017. Pay special attention to the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz sequence; for years, she was the most advanced animatronics figure Disney ever created. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaf4Vbj4ClA)

* Mad Tea Party – Here's an extra dose of 360° craziness: spin while you spin and get yourself extra dizzy on the Magic Kingdom version of the "tea cups." The original ride at Disneyland was one of the opening-day attractions on July 17, 1955. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ouofPAuSxI)

* Spaceship Earth – The iconic geodesic sphere of EPCOT houses this 15-minute ride (about 10 minutes are included in this ridethrough, not including the personalized, interactive descent). The slow-moving dark ride through human history and the evolution of communications has been reworked three times in EPCOT's 38-year history and is about to undergo another big, as-yet-unrevealed change. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSIs3cCdlhc)

But Virtual Disney World isn't the only 360° game in Disney's town. The YouTube channel ResortTV1 also offers 360 videos of attractions, including the incomparable Kilimanjaro Safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom. By far the largest single Disney attraction at more than 110 acres (35 acres more than Disneyland itself), it's also one of the most stunning.

Disneyland fans won't be left out, because Dream Disney 360 offers this wraparound ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which opened in California in September 1979 (more than a year before the Walt Disney World version), so hang on to your hats and glasses, 'cause this here's the wildest ride on the Internet!

John Singh is a writer and entertainment-industry veteran who began his career as a newspaper journalist and has also worked at Disney, Lucasfilm Ltd., DreamWorks Animation and on a variety of films and TV series.

Community

How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

Here’s what people facing food insecurity want you to know about solving the hunger problem in America

True

Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

Here are the four most important things people facing hunger want you to know.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pets

Family brings home the wrong dog from daycare until their cats saved the day

A quick trip to the vet confirmed the cats' and family's suspicions.

Family accidentally brings wrong dog home but their cats knew

It's not a secret that nearly all golden retrievers are identical. Honestly, magic has to be involved for owners to know which one belongs to them when more than one golden retriever is around. Seriously, how do they all seem have the same face? It's like someone fell asleep on the copy machine when they were being created.

Outside of collars, harnesses and bandanas, immediately identifying the dog that belongs to you has to be a secret skill because at first glance, their personalities are also super similar. That's why it's not surprising when one family dropped off their sweet golden pooch at daycare and to be groomed, they didn't notice the daycare sent out the wrong dog.

See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn't fooling her feline siblings.

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

A teacher lists his class rules.

The world would be a much better place if humans weren’t so … human. We all fall short of perfection. Common sense is, sadly, not too common. And there’s one guy out there who always manages to screw things up when things start getting good.

Call it Murphy’s law. Call it the great “reason we can’t have nice things.” Call it entropy. It feels like a whole lot of pain could be avoided if we all had just a little bit more sense.

But what if there was one rule that we all agreed to follow to make everyone’s life better? What would this magical rule be?

A Reddit user who goes by the name P4insplatter came to this realization and asked the AskReddit subforum, “What simple rule would fix the world if everyone actually followed it?” They received dozens of simple rules that if everyone got behind would make the world drastically better.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sandra Maria/Youtube, Official Lives & Music Videos/Youtube

You can't not sing this song.

The music of Queen has a profound visceral effect on everyone. Few pieces of art can cause complete strangers to put aside their differences and come together in song, but by golly, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of them. It would be cheesy if it weren’t so absolutely beautiful.

This pertains even to non-English-speaking countries, it appears. Recently, thousands of Harry Styles concertgoers in Warsaw, Poland, began cheering as those iconic beginning piano notes penetrated the air.
Keep ReadingShow less

Movie critic Roger Ebert speaking his mind at the Sundance Film Festival.

It’s been ten years since the world lost Roger Ebert to cancer, and his voice is sorely missed. Ebert had a pure love of cinema, and even though he was a film critic in a sweater with a Pulitzer Prize, he wrote and spoke in a way accessible to every man.

He didn’t care if a film was a Hollywood blockbuster or art-house fare; what mattered was whether it deserved his highly-coveted “thumbs up.”

Ebert was an extremely gifted communicator whose interests went far beyond film. In his later years, he often mused about music, politics, and American cultural events with the same eloquence, thoughtfulness and wit.

Keep ReadingShow less
@over40slbmom/TikTok

Feeling nostalgic yet?

It seems like so many iterations of unfettered joy from our childhood haven’t made it to the modern age, and playgrounds are no exception.

Gone are the days of metal slides that scorched the derriere in the summertime, seesaws that doubled as human catapults and the notorious merry-go-rounds that separated the weak from the strong. Good old fashioned character building—safety be damned!

As it turns out, a few of these old relics are still standing. And footage of kids playing at one of these bygone parks is filling adults—particularly Gen Xers—with sweet nostalgia.
Keep ReadingShow less

A couple shares why they decided to leave the United States.

Although it is difficult to tell if there is a trend of Americans moving out of the country, rough estimates show that around 8 million currently live in other countries—double the 4.1 million living abroad in 1999.

The most popular countries for Americans to move to are Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom, in that order.

A big reason why some are leaving the U.S. is that an increasing number of employers allow people to work abroad. Others are choosing to leave because of cost of living increases and “golden visa” programs. Golden visas offer the chance to get a foreign residency permit by purchasing a house or making a significant investment or donation.

Keep ReadingShow less