A Bug's Adventure

Near the back of Citrusland, in the hidden trestles of dirt and roots lies a trackless family dark ride- A Bug's Adventure. While directly from the A Bug's Life IP, the ride is completely original from its older, defunct ancestors (A Bug's Land being replaced by Aveners Campus, A Bug's Life Theater being replaced by Zootopia). It's a dark ride, but what makes it special is that it has a choose-your-own element- that is to say, the adventure that you take as a bug through the different habitats of bugs in the area will be completely different to you. Clever but simple technology allows this trackless dark ride to happen, and with touches of Disney magic and new Imagineering studies, it is designed to almost NEVER fail during it's run- that means it doesn't plan on breaking down constantly like it's other opposing trackless dark rides.

Queue

A large crevice with a sign bearing the name of the ride and its wait time beckons you in deeper. Once you climb in, you'll find how unsettlingly reminiscent it is of the underground tunnels found in the Bugs Life Theater, with detailed rockwork and beautiful subterranean immersion. The queue is largely themed to the Anthill on Ant Island that the ants from A Bug's Life live in. It's also the exterior facade for the show building, as the large Anthill dominates the Citrusland scene ("Ant Mountain!"). Chitter chatters and little footsteps from ants echo from the ceilings above you and the grounds below you, as you explore this complex network and colony, truly showing how innovative some of Earth's littlest insects are. The queue winds around different rocks and dirt, with "tools" and other small features throughout. You'll also be able to count up to 30 ant animatronics in the queue, who may be peeking out through holes or carrying a heavy piece of rice.

Loading/Ride Vehicles

The queue winds around before reaching the Great Ant Chamber, where the ceilings peak in beauty and the ride vehicles dance in. The ride vehicles appear to be trackless honeycombs, about the same size as the vehicles from Japan's Beauty and the Beast ride. This introduces a new set of characters to the land, the Bees, a kind and loving group of construction bumblebees who are happy to help other species of insects. The premise is simple: You're going on a tour and meeting the different bugs of Citrusland, and you have options to choose where you want to go. On the sides of the ride vehicles are two different types of buttons, green and blue. These buttons will be featured later in the ride.

The Ride

The ride vehicles, just like any other dark rides, begin by drifting into the darkness, the chattering from the loading station slowly disappearing and the ride safety spiel making sure that everyone is safe. The ride vehicles pull to a stop (though still bobbing up and down) in the first show scene. It's a dark underground room in the Anthill, but three lights suddenly burst to life, explained to be lighted by fireflies. In the middle, an animatronic Flik grins at guests and explains that in this adventure, they'll be able to choose who they want to meet. The light on the left shows a green piece of wood showing the picture of a Ladybug. The light on the right shows a blue piece of wood showing the picture of a Caterpillar, both the lifelessness of Francis and Heimlich. You won't get to choose both, so you better choose wisely by pressing the green or yellow button (there is a set of buttons for each guest, and the majority vote decides where the vehicles go). A quick computing system goes through the decisions and divides the group of 6 vehicles into half, with three going one way and three going the other way.

Option 1A: Francis and the Ladybugs

The first green nature habitat belongs to Francis and his Ladybug friends (he has friends?). While the aggressive and angry ladybug Francis isn't that much of a people/ladybug person, he still tends to live with the other Ladybugs on a giant leaf. The Ladybugs perform a "Ladybug Boogie," dancing to jazzy music and flashing colors of light.

Inspired by the defunct ride

Option 1B: Heimlich's Food Festival

The first blue nature habitat belongs to Heimlich the caterpillar. While there are fresh leaves thrown into the mix, Heimlich's habitat is full of human food and other fruits, from half-eaten watermelons to animal crackers. The food bobs up and down while Heimlich belts out the ABCs for food. You won't stay long to hear everything though because Heimlich's German accent... can get annoying at times.

Inspired by the defunct ride

Option 2A: Rhino Beetle

This short scene features a rhino beetle habitat, with sticks, sand, and the rhino beetle Dim. While he appears aggressive at firsts, when a rock appears to fall on the floor, he begins sobbing and we move on.

Option 2B: Stick Bug

The cooler scene, this Stick Bug scene features Slim blending into a forest of sticks. Different illusions are employed to appear that Slim is somewhere when he suddenly appears to be on the other side of the room.

Option 3A: Bees

The more popular second nature habitat is the bee colony, a bright yellow world of bees not seen before in the film. They sing an energetic pop song "Be a Bee," similar to the ladybugs. The honeycomb ride vehicles fit right in to this showroom.

Option 3B: Fleas

PT Flea's Circus is represented here, an equally bright carnival "habitat" where fleas live- though technically they can live almost everywhere. The scene is quite a mind boggler as multiple illusions are employed along with the spinning honeycombs, making you a tad bit too dizzy.

Option 4A: Crickets

The ferocious Hopper, the villain cricket in the movie, returns to taunt and heckle guests, though it doesn't really work. All the crickets are equipped with sunglasses as they jazz out insults to guests, as the background glows with fire.

Option 4B: Spiders

For those with arachnophobia, this scene is not for the faint of heart. The dark room is filled with spiderwebs as Rosie the spider, a highly advanced animatronic, spins around and appears to dance. As she's not with her performing partner Dim, she hangs out with the other spiders as they sing classical opera.

Shared 5 Outdoors: Butterflies

The honeycombs dance out into the bright light, which is extremely thrilling due to the fact that there are no visible tracks hanging on to guests. Butterflies mingle around the flowers in the open area as you gain a view of Citrusland. This scene is very similar to Alice's outdoor portion.

Shared 6: The Orange

Orange Bird makes an experience, as he dances silently to music provided by Flik and the ants. The sweet aroma of the orange that guests are in after traveling from the main show building to the Orange lingers as Orange Bird clearly debuts in his showstopper performance

FINALE

The vehicles wind back into the Anthill as we head into the finale. With a dance of splashing color, all the bugs and insects you may or may not have met on your journey converge for a final dance. It's a festive place as the insects all celebrate their community in the beautiful world of Citrusland.

To Orange Bird's Citrus Lab