by Joe Tracy, editor of Theme Park Magazine
2023 is looking to be a thrilling year for theme park enthusiasts, with many new themed rides and experiences opening up throughout the world. Here is Theme Park Magazine’s list of 11 exciting theme park rides to get excited about in 2023. To make this list, rides must be coming out in 2023, and theming must be a major component of the ride (this leaves many new roller coasters out of the running).
Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs
Type: Roller coaster
Location: Hong Kong Disneyland
Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering
Expected Opening: Mid to late 2023
Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs is a themed roller coaster that will open in the second half of 2023 at Hong Kong Disneyland in a new World of Frozen land. Take a ride on a sleigh through Oaken’s neck of the woods in this adventure through Oaken’s backyard, part of the new World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland.
Mario Kart™: Bowser’s Challenge
Type: Dark ride (with augmented reality)
Location: Universal Studios Hollywood
Designer: Universal Creative
Expected Opening: February 17, 2023
On February 17, Super Nintendo World opens at Universal Studios Hollywood, and its only ride is big – Mario Kart™: Bowser’s Challenge! Those who have been to Universal Studios Japan are already familiar with this thrilling ride that combines dark rides with augmented reality and gaming to put people in the driver’s seat of the game many grew up playing. U.S. audiences will now experience this thrilling driving adventure, and you don’t need a license!
Whispering Pines Hotel – “Haunted Hotel”
Type: Dark Ride
Location: Funtown Splashtown
Designer: Sally Dark Rides
Expected Opening: Mid to late 2023
You’ve had a thrilling and tiresome day at Funtown Splashtown in Saco, Maine. How about a stop at the Whispering Pines Hotel for a break? Oh, wait… it seems like this hotel was designed by Sally Dark Rides… and it’s haunted! Be careful!
Here’s how Sally Dark Rides describes the adventure:
“Four-passenger ride cars will mystically move guests through 14 scenes—the rooms of the hotel – concluding with a final visit through an otherworldly dimension. Guests of the Haunted Hotel will play a key role in the story. The Hotel’s proprietor needs their help to save it from the witch’s curse, and rescue three hapless hotel patrons. As they board the custom ride vehicle, riders are asked to work alongside the professional ghost hunter with their own “Curse Eradicator”. The latest in Sally’s tradition of creating personal, interactive devices, the Curse Eradicators puts the power of haunt-busting in the hands of guests. As they travel seamlessly through each room, the Eradicators will be used to free the hotel from the witch’s spell.”
Primordial (working title)
Type: Roller coaster
Location: Lagoon
Expected Opening: Spring 2023
The Lagoon in Farmington, Utah, is about to unleash a themed dark ride roller coaster on guests that has been seven years in the making (design, plus construction that started in 2018). Lagoon has been very secretive about the coaster, leaving fans to make a lot of guesses based on what they have completed. The coaster will travel in and around a man-made mountain that already has an eagle’s nest and is rumored to have a dragon. Lagoon has also confirmed that the roller coaster will have an interactive element. The manufacturer is ART Engineering.
Pirate River Quest
Type: Boat Ride
Location: LEGOLAND Florida
Expected Opening: January 12, 2023
Arrrgh, Mateys. Put on your LEGO Pirate hat and prepare for a calm seas adventure with LEGOLAND Florida’s newest ride, Pirate River Quest. Your goal is to help find the lost treasure of Captain Redbeard! Here’s what LEGOLAND says about the adventure:
“Riders will sail through the natural waterways while following the all-new story featuring the newest Lego pirate friend, Calico Jade, and other exotic Lego creatures, including a flamboyance of bright flamingos, a troop of mischievous monkeys and even a fearsome Kraken!”
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Type: Trackless Dark Ride
Location: Disneyland Park
Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering
Expected Opening: January 27, 2023
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a popular trackless dark ride already open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. Now the ride makes its Disneyland Park debut at Walt Disney’s original park on January 27, 2023.
You’re invited to watch the premiere of a new Mickey Mouse cartoon called “Perfect Picnic.” However, a mishap in the movie causes part of the screen to explode, and now the train is real, and Goofy is offering guests a ride! The mishaps aren’t done yet! 🙂
Batman: Gotham City Escape
Type: Roller Coaster (LSM Launch Coaster)
Location: Parque Warner
Expected Opening: 2023
Fans of Parque Warner in San Martin de la Vega, Spain, have a great new Batman-themed roller coaster, by Intamin, arriving in 2023 – Gotham City Escape. The coaster tracks are up, and now the theming is taking place. Guests board the coaster from inside Wayne Manor as part of a story. Many details are still being kept hush-hush, but the leading theory is that guests enter Wayne Manor and must go to the Batcave and take a Batwing/Batmobile out to help catch a villain. The ride starts indoors with story elements, with most of the ride occurring outdoors.
This will be the second Batman-themed roller coaster at Parque Warner, the first being Batman: Arkham Asylum, a B&M Inverted Coaster.
Villain-Con Minion Blast
Type: Motion-based pathway interactive experience
Location: Universal Studios Florida
Designer: Universal Creative and Illumination
Expected Opening: Summer of 2023
In the summer of 2023, Universal Studios Florida will unveil a new interactive experience/”ride” based on the popular Minions IP, Villain-Con Minion Blast. According to Universal Orlando Resort, guests will “step onto a motion-based pathway” where they will battle to become the newest member of a group of supervillains known as The Vicious 6.
This isn’t your typical dark ride as you are not boarding cars, but standing on a moving pathway that takes you through the experience as you rack up points by shooting your way to becoming a top supervillain.
TRON Lightcycle / Run
Type: Roller coaster
Location: Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom
Designer: Walt Disney Imagineering
Expected Opening: April 4, 2023
In 2016, TRON Lightcycle Power Run opened in Tomorrowland at Shanghai Disneyland to rave reviews. Now fans in the United States will get a taste of this adventure with TRON Lightcycle / Run at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
Walt Disney World describes the ride as follows:
“Climb aboard your very own Lightcycle and take off on a high-speed adventure, racing against the Grid’s most menacing Programs. Surge past your fierce opponents as you attempt to cross through 8 Energy Gates and secure your team’s victory—so you can survive to race another day.”
The coaster travels indoors and outdoors with heavy theming during the indoor portions.
Uncharted
Type: Roller coaster dark ride
Location: PortAventura World
Designer: Sally Dark Rides
Expected Opening: Summer of 2023
A premiere dark ride designer and roller coaster maker – Sally Dark Rides and Intamin – are teaming up to create a thrilling roller coaster adventure: Uncharted. The roller coaster is based on the hit game series and film, Uncharted, and will be at PortAventura World in Spain.
The coaster will feature five launches with up to 1G acceleration in a heavily themed adventure. The ride includes a pre-show “full of surprises” before the immersive treasure hunt coaster adventure begins.
DarKoaster: Escape the Storm
Type: Roller Coaster dark ride
Location: Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Expected Opening: January 2023
Described as a “family-friendly dark ride experience,” DarKoaster is a roller coaster designed by Intamin Worldwide where guests jump onto “snowmobiles” and go on an adventure to discover why strange weather patterns have caused King Ludwig’s abandoned fortress to resurface. This is an entire indoor coaster that uses elaborate projections, lighting, sound, and effects, along with set designs to help tell the story.
Other 2023 Theme Park Rides
That’s it for Theme Park Magazine’s list of thrilling themed rides coming in 2023. Here are some more exciting 2023-themed rides worth mentioning:
- Treasure Hunt – The Ride. Connery Row in Monterey Bay, California
- Carnival Chaos. Clifton Hill
- Mission Ferrari. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
- Pirati. Cavallino Matto
- Crazy Professor. Conny-Land
Which ride are you looking forward to the most? Tell us in the Comments section below. And is there a ride you feel should have been in this list but wasn’t? Let us know!
Explore More (Videos)
Mario Kart™: Bowser’s Challenge Teaser
Pirate River Quest Testing/Theming
Shanghai Disneyland TRON Lightcycle Power Run roller coaster
Uncharted ride teaser
Explore More (Resources)
- Web page: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge (Universal Studios Hollywood)
- Blog post: Whispering Pines Hotel – “Haunted Hotel” (Sally Dark Rides)
- Web page: Pirate River Quest (LEGOLAND Florida)
- Web page: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (Disneyland)
- Blog post: Batman: Gotham City Escape (Parque Warner)
- Blog post: Villain-Con Minion Blast (Universal Parks Blog)
- Web page: TRON Lightcycle / Run (Walt Disney World)
- Web page: DarKoaster (Busch Gardens Williamsburg
