Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind
| Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind | |
|---|---|
| Park | Disney California Adventure |
| Land / area | Pixar Pier |
| Type | Spinner / balloon race |
| Opened | June 28, 2019 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering / Zamperla
|
| Status | Operating |
Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind is a family spinner ride at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California. Located in the Inside Out Headquarters neighbourhood of Pixar Pier, the attraction is themed to Pixar's 2015 film Inside Out and invites guests to take a spin among the glowing memory orbs from the mind of Riley Andersen. It completed Pixar Pier a year after the land itself opened.
History
When Paradise Pier was reimagined as Pixar Pier and opened on June 23, 2018, one prominent site was left empty. At the western end of the pier stood the plot formerly occupied by Maliboomer, a drop-tower ride that had operated from the park's opening in 2001 until its removal in 2010. The space was earmarked for an Inside Out attraction, but no ride was ready for the land's debut.
The solution came from across the park. A Bug's Land closed permanently on September 4, 2018, to make way for Avengers Campus, taking with it Flik's Flyers, a gentle balloon-style spinner from Flik's Fun Fair that had opened in 2002. Rather than scrap the ride, Disney retained its Zamperla Samba Balloon ride system, refurbished the hardware, and relocated it to Pixar Pier.
Rebuilt and thoroughly rethemed, the ride opened as Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind on June 28, 2019, with a dedication ceremony attended by Joy and Sadness. Its arrival filled the last major gap in Pixar Pier and restored to the park a small children's spinner of the kind lost when A Bug's Land closed.
Experience
The attraction presents itself as a working corner of Headquarters, the control centre inside Riley's mind. Large figures of the five emotions — Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust — stand around the ride, while shelves and chutes filled with coloured memory orbs surround the loading area, each orb glowing gold, blue, red, green or purple according to the emotion attached to the memory it holds.
Guests board one of eight gondolas, styled as Memory Movers, each suspended beneath a large balloon-like orb. When the ride begins, the central structure rotates and the gondolas rise and dip gently as they circle, giving riders a slow, floating tour above the western end of Pixar Pier with views of the Incredicoaster track that passes overhead and of Paradise Bay beyond.
The motion is deliberately mild. There is no spinning control in the gondolas and no height requirement, making the Whirlwind one of the most accessible rides in Disney California Adventure for young children and for guests who avoid faster attractions. Its colourful lighting makes it especially prominent after dark, when the memory orbs glow against the pier.
See also
- Pixar Pier
- Disney California Adventure
- Paradise Gardens Park
- Jessie's Critter Carousel
- Incredicoaster