Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!
| Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! | |
|---|---|
| Park | Hong Kong Disneyland |
| Land / area | Tomorrowland / Stark Expo |
| Type | Interactive shooting dark ride |
| Opened | March 31, 2019 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering
|
| Status | Operating |
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! is an interactive shooting dark ride in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland, featuring Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Ant-Man and the Wasp. Guests shrink to the size of an ant, board a S.H.I.E.L.D. combat vehicle, and use electromagnetic pulse blasters to help defend Hong Kong from a Hydra swarm-bot attack. It opened on March 31, 2019, as the park's second Marvel attraction.[1][2]
At opening it was billed as the world's first attraction to feature Ant-Man and the Wasp, and the first Marvel attraction at a Disney park to feature a female superhero as a lead character. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprised their film roles for the attraction, and the story continues the Hong Kong Marvel narrative begun by the Iron Man Experience.
History
Nano Battle grew out of the multi-year expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland announced jointly by Disney and the Hong Kong Government on November 22, 2016.[3] The plan reimagined parts of Tomorrowland as a Marvel hub centred on Stark Expo.
Its predecessor, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters — an opening-day attraction from 2005 — closed permanently on August 31, 2017, to be transformed into the new Marvel shooting ride.[4] The new attraction reused the building and much of the ride infrastructure while replacing the theme, targets, vehicles, and media entirely.
A launch ceremony was held on March 28, 2019, with soft opening the same day, attended by Rudd, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, and director Peyton Reed.[5] The ride opened to the public on March 31, 2019, and the resort later reported that it quickly became one of its most popular attractions.
Experience
The queue enters the S.H.I.E.L.D. Science and Technology Pavilion, a new facility within Stark Expo. Displays introduce S.H.I.E.L.D. technology and the threat at hand: Hydra, led by Arnim Zola, has launched a two-pronged attack on Hong Kong, sending swarm-bots to steal data from the Pavilion while Iron Man fights a separate assault elsewhere in the city.
Ant-Man and the Wasp answer Iron Man's call for help and recruit guests for the Pavilion defence. After boarding, guests are shrunk to ant size, which transforms ordinary objects in the Pavilion into oversized obstacles and hiding places for the bots. Riders aim their blasters at illuminated targets on the swarm-bots, scoring points as the vehicles move through the show scenes, while Ant-Man and the Wasp appear in media and figures fighting alongside them.[6]
Scores are tallied at the end of the ride, in keeping with the attraction's Buzz Lightyear heritage, but the staging — shrinking, oversized scenery, and a story tied directly to the Iron Man Experience next door — makes it feel like a sequel as much as a replacement. The attraction has no height requirement.
See also
- Hong Kong Disneyland
- Iron Man Experience
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters