What are the must watch movies to get the gist of DL & CA attractions?

[mom2boys]

DH & I just scheduled a last minute trip to DL & CA in two weeks. We haven't been to DL in over 30 years and WDW in over 10. I want to make sure we get the gist of the newer attractions. Which Starwars movie(s) do you recommend we watch to understand the rides? What about Avengers? What about Disney/Pixar movies released in the past 15 years?

 

[ColoradoLime]

This is a good starter list and includes which attractions the movies line up to:

https://mickeyvisit.com/disneyland-movies-to-see-first/

 

[shosh1530]

For Star Wars the most relevant would be Episode VII: The Force Awakens (and the two that follow if you want).

There are more Marvel movies than you have time for, but the most relevant:
Guardians of the Galaxy (a must in my opinion!)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (good intro for Web Slingers ride)
Ant-Man (if you want to understand the Pym's restaurant
The Avengers (will introduce several characters you see in the land)
Avengers: Infinity Wars & Avengers: End Game (you'll get a quick overview of almost all the characters in the MCU)

Not sure any of the most recent Disney/Pixar movies are a must. But you may see some characters and other elements from:
Encanto
Frozen
Coco

Have fun!

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Incredibles and Inside out are two Pixar movies that would be good to watch, and assuming you've already seen Cars and Toy Story movies.

 

[Mike_M]

Some good lists so far.

I’ll say this as a counterpoint. I grew up going to the park having not seen most of the Disney films that the rides were based on until well into adulthood. I don’t feel that took anything away from the experience, and actually allowed me to have a more park centric perspective of the experience. To this day, I think of the abbreviated story told by the Fantasyland rides before the films for most of the stories represented in the park. I also appreciate the attractions that don’t (or didn’t for a long time) have a film version more as a result.

Each ride tells its own story, even if it’s based on a film or franchise. You get the point pretty quick who the heroes and Villains are and don’t need much exposition to understand the story being told.

Now all that said, I’m not telling you to avoid the films at all cost. Just that if you don’t cover the entire spread of films represented by attractions in the park, you shouldn't worry about missing out on anything. You’ll get the story’s basics pretty quick.

 

[duckboyone]

That's a pretty good list, but it's very subjective. We've started watching our favorites as we get ready for our trip in June, and unfortunately for us they don't all have rides associated with them. And I don't think it's necessary to watch movies only associated with rides. Here is our list so far:

Already watched:
Aladdin last night (the animated, it's one of my girls' favorite. Such a classic, and we're not that jazzed about all the new live-action films) Tangled last week (such an underrated gem)
Moana as well (my wife's favorite, she's Polynesian)

Coming up:
Snow White (youngest daughter's favorite)
Beauty and the Beast (oldest daughter's favorite
Up (my favorite)
Cars (son's favorite)
The Emperor's New Groove (indisputably the best Disney movie ever made )

Depending on time, we'll include some combo of Toy Story, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Monsters INC, PotC.

Personally I don't consider Marvel movies "Disney" and I got "super-heroed" out a long time ago, but I do enjoy some of the earlier ones, and if we have time I'd watch GotG for sure. I'm also a Star Wars "purist" and we only watch the original trilogy, which is not really represented much in SW land.

I've become very cynical about Disney's more recent films, to me they don't have the same feeling that some of the older ones do, it just feels to me like they are going down the same path as other Hollywood movies where they are not written as well.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

The Emperor's New Groove (indisputably the best Disney movie ever made )

My family agrees!

 

[BrianL]

In my opinion, you can enjoy any ride wihtout having seen the movie. In some cases it's the rides that made me want to see the movies! Still, here's a list of the movies the rides are based on (or vice versa in a few cases):

Disneyland:
Jungle Cruise - Jungle Cruise - new movie and not particularly tied to the ride
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye - Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - This is self-explanatory
Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest, At World's End, On Stranger Tides, Dead Men Tell No Tales - Movies based on the ride, ride now has Jack Sparrow
Haunted Mansion - Haunted Mansion - Movie based on the ride, not particularly relevant but has a lot of characters from the ride
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - Movie of the same name and other animation - self-explanatory
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes - Davy Crockett films from the Disneyland TV show - this ride doesn't ahve much story to it, but that's what it's based on
Milennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run - Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series - the main characters are featured in this show, though the sequel trilogy is relevant too
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance - The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Rise of Skywalker - this is the sequel trilogy and is pretty relevant to this ride
Snow White's Enchanted Wish - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio's Daring Journey - Pinocchio
Peter Pan's Flight - Peter Pan
Casey Jr. Circus Train/Dumbo the Flying Elephant - Dumbo
Mister Toad's Wild Ride - The Adventures of Ichabod & Mister Toad, specificaally The Wind in the Willows portion
Mad Tea Party/Alice's Adventrues in Wonderland - Alice in Wonderland
Sleeping Beauty Castle - Sleeping Beauty
Storybook Land Canal Boats - Various Disney animated films, including Pinocchio, Aladdin, Snow, White, Cinderella, The Little Mermade, Frozen
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (I believe all of Toontown is under refurb at this moment and this is closed)
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage - Ginding Nemo/Dory
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue - Star WArs, may include scenes from all 9 movies in the saga though it leans toward th Sequel Trilogy these days I think.

California Adventure:
Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! - Monsters Inc. - ride retells the story
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout - Guardians of the Galaxy - Volume 2 is not crucial, but the first one is pretty relevant
Web Slingers - Spaider-Man Homecoming, Far From Home, No Way Home - particularly the first one as Avengers Campus is based on the Marvel Cinematic universe but not strictly canon
Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters/Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Radiator Springs Racers - Cars, 2, 3 - the entire land is a recreation of Radiator Springs as seen in the movies, particulalry the first one.
Incredicoaster - The Incredibles, 2 - particularly the second one actually as the boarding area is designed like their new house in the second movie
Toy Story Midway Mania/Jessie's Critter Carousel - Toy Story, 2, 3, 4 - All characters from Toy Story
Emotional Whirlwind - Inside Out
Goofy's Sky School - Various old Goofy cartoons
Silly Symphony Swings - Silly Symphony shorts - features various music from such
Ariel's undersea Adventure - The Littl eMermaid - retells the story from the movie

I think this is a fairly comprehensive list, even if some are quite obvious. But you know, in case anyone cares.

 

[CeCe0906]

If you search "little golden books disney rides" on Amazon, you van find kids books based on rides, even Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. They also have leveled readers based on a lot of Marvel characters.