Disney Legend and former Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde recently shared the creative process behind turning the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror into Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! at Disney California Adventure.
Joe Rohde Shares Mission: BREAKOUT! Creative Process
When it was first announced that Disney California Adventure’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror would be remade into a Guardians of the Galaxy-themed ride, the public widely perceived the change as a marketing ploy for the upcoming Marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The redesign was seen as risky, and there were concerns about the tight timeline.
However, former Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde, who was leading the project at the time, noted that the new Guardians of the Galaxy film was not the reason for changing the drop tower ride. Rather, Disneyland wanted something new to promote for 2017, as well as to start bringing Marvel into the parks.
Initially, Rohde pitched a Dr. Strange-inspired attraction, believing that the hotel facade could quickly translate to a Sanctum Sanctorum theme. Executives rejected the concept, arguing that Dr. Strange wasn’t a popular enough character. They suggested Rohde and his team focus on Spider-Man instead.
Rohde pushed back, arguing that “Spider-Man needs room to swing. We only go up and down. There’s nowhere for Spider-Man to be!” Guardians of the Galaxy ended up being the compromise everyone could agree on (though Spider-Man did end up being included at Avengers Campus with the later addition of the attraction, WEB SLINGERS – A Spider-Man Adventure).
Now Rohde and his team had to stop viewing the attraction as a hotel and instead imagine what else the blocky building could be – “a grain silo, a fortress, a bank, a storage facility, possibly a prison.”
The building was then reimagined, taking inspiration from Marvel comic artist Jack Kirby, as well as architect Renzo Piano, who worked on France’s Centre Pompidou. The end result is a retro sci-fi theme with long pipes running up the sides of the building.
Concessions were made in order to finish the attraction on time. Only a limited number of reviews were allowed, so the team had to make a decision and commit. As Rohde notes, “You can look at it once before we start, and once before we build.”
The budget was also fixed, and the ride had to open in just a few months. Though it wasn’t clear if the Rocket Raccoon Audio-Animatronic was going to be finished on time, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! was successfully completed and operational by its scheduled opening day of May 27, 2017.
There was also enough budget left to create a “Monsters After Dark” version during the Halloween season at Disney California Adventure, which continues to run to this day.
Rohde believes that the appeal of the attraction is that it’s a singular work of art that stands apart from its cinematic counterparts. He views art as a living on a spectrum, where “art for art’s sake” is on one end and “commercial enterprises with no purpose other than to harvest value out of an intellectual property” is on the other end. “Theme parks,” says Rohde, “rocket somewhere in the middle of this.”
Joe Rohde made an appearance at D23 2026 last month and also shared his thoughts about the new Disney Animal Kingdom expansion, Tropical Americas. More of Rohde’s stories about his experience as a Disney Imagineer – including why Avatar was added to Animal Kingdom – can be found in his new book, “Floating Mountains: The Art of Imagining the Impossible.”
Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is also currently under construction to expand the land, adding two new attractions that will open in 2028.
Do you ride Mission: BREAKOUT! when you visit Disney California Adventure? Let us know on social media.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The post Joe Rohde Shares How ‘Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!’ Was Almost Themed to Spider-Man appeared first on WDW News Today.
