Journey to the Center of the Earth

What It Is
Dark ride with high-speed thrills
Our Rating

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Appeal By Age
Based our reader surveys. See our Ratings and Research page for details.
Preschool
Young Adults
Seniors

General Info
Location	Mysterious Island
Opening Date	September 4, 2001
Scope and Scale	Super Headliner
Closures / Refurbishments

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Description And Comments

Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of Disney's crown jewels of theme park rides. It's epic in scale and detail, and will truly make you feel like you're in a different world. The experience starts off at the entrance which feels like it's deep inside an active volcano. You walk past open pits of smoldering lava and see the workshop of Captain Nemo. It looks almost as if he just stepped away moments ago. You see some of his in-progress experiments, pages of hand written notes, strange crystals, and other specimens that have been recovered on his expeditions. The lights in the queue flicker, almost as if the unseen generator struggles to meet the demands that are being put on it. Eventually you'll come upon what look to be elevators. But study the illustrations on the wall before you board. You'll see that these are actually "terravators" that will take you deep in to the Earth's crust. Inside the terravators you'll feel, see, hear, and even smell as you travel down. It's quite an experience, which is even more impressive considering you're not even on the ride yet. The anticipation builds as you walk on a catwalk past equipment and rock work, complete with steam and fog, and get your first glimpse of the ride vehicles, known as "excavators". Excavators seat six people in three rows of two.

After boarding, your excavator takes you through cavern of glowing crystals, in to a mushroom forest past some strange, but cute, animals that don't seemed threatened by your presence. It's all beautiful to look at. You could ride a dozen times and still notice something new in these opening parts of the ride. As the tunnels you're traveling through now rumble and shake around you, you'll realize the leisurely part of the ride is now over. The excavator speeds up and escapes the danger of the collapsing tunnels, but you're not in the clear yet. Eggs lines walls which look as if they have been laid by some sort of giant animal. And with that you now get the feeling that something is watching you, maybe even following you. The next part of journey takes you to the edge of a subterranean sea. Electrified gas clouds hang ominously in the distance. A lightening strike almost hits your vehicle. Just when you think things couldn't get any worse you find yourself face to face with a gigantic lava monster (one of Disney's most impressive animatronics ever built). It roars and lunges at you as your excavator makes a thrilling escape. After you exit the ride you'll come upon a sign that says "Life is an astounding journey." It really is.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is revered by theme park fans around the world. After you ride, you'll see why.

Touring Tips

Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of, if not the most popular rides in the park. The line and wait time will quickly climb and remain steady for the rest of the day up until closing. Go to Journey to the Center of the Earth as soon as the park opens to ride with minimal wait. We like to make a beeline to the ride first thing in the morning, grab a FastPass, and then ride while the standby line is still short. Speaking of FastPass, they'll usually run out early in the afternoon.

How's It Different From the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Versions?

Journey to the Center of the Earth is exclusive to Tokyo DisneySea. The actual ride technology used is similar to Test Track at Epcot, but that's where the similarities end.