While the Disney parks have managed to portray many of their beloved movies and franchises through various rides and shows, Lilo & Stitch is a franchise that received very unfortunately representation. On November 16th, 2004, Stitch quite literally caused chaos throughout Walt Disney World Resort as he clawed his way to Tomorrowland in the form of a stage show known as Stitch's Great Escape, replacing ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Rather than being based on the original 2002 film, the show acted as a non-canon prequel that detailed Stitch's prison escape - a decision that would not turn out in Disney's favor. Throughout its existence, the attraction received mixed reception from park guests. I'd guess that they probably did not appreciate Stitch crawling all over them, spewing chili dog burps into their faces, and defacing Cinderella's Castle with toilet paper. Rather than create something that embraces the movie's tropical setting and themes of "ohana", they ended up doing quite the opposite, thus turning most fans away from the attraction. Even though performance was poor, the attraction wasn't completely shut down until 2018. Although other countries still have attractions dedicated to the movie, Stitch's Great Escape is the only major permanent attraction based on Lilo & Stitch to have operated in the United States.

Jumping ahead to 2024, the only Lilo & Stitch representation in the U.S. parks is a meet-and-greet with the characters held at Walt Disney World Resort in the former attraction's location. Since the movie is receiving a live-action remake that hits theaters in the summer of 2025, the mark of its release is the best time to cash in on the cute and fluffy blue alien, and what better way of doing that than implementing a new ride to one of the parks in the states?

I introduce you to the idea of a "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" ride: a water coaster based on the song of the same name from the original film. The ride would provide not only a major cooldown for parkgoers fighting their way through the intense heat, but it would also incorporate the original movie's tropical setting in its design and potentially some of Hawaii's native culture. Surfing through Walt Disney World on a roller coaster ride has been the dream of many for a long time now, and since the new movie is fresh in people's minds, now is the time to act. As for whether it would replace an already existing ride or be made from the ground up, I don't know, but it's definitely a good investment for Disney! If we don't act now, Lilo & Stitch may never get more representation in the United States, which would be a terrible shame because it's such a beloved movie franchise!