Hong Kong Disneyland: Iron Man Experience ride gets an opening date

Fans of the mega-successful Iron Man film series will finally get their chance to fly side-by-side with Tony Stark when the Iron Man Experience ride opens at Hong Kong Disneyland early next year.

The Lantau Island-based theme park debuted a new preview video of the attraction on Monday, showing off new elements from the long-gestating simulator ride, which has been under construction within the park’s Tomorrowland section for roughly three years.

“I think the audience in Hong Kong will go crazy for this experience,” comic book writer and creator of the Iron Man character, Stan Lee, says in the clip. “Anybody who goes to a Disney theme park loves color and spectacle and excitement and adventure, and that’s all that Iron Man [Experience] is. It embodies all of those things. I didn’t dream it would be such a big production and such a beautiful production. There’s something about Iron Man that seems to fascinate people.”

The video also teases footage from the attraction, in which guests will embark on a journey with the titular superhero as he battles against the evil forces of Hydra to save the city of Hong Kong.

“We’ve set this up as the next Stark Expo, after the one [Tony] did in 2010 in New York, and he’s showcasing his latest and greatest products form Stark Industries,” says Walt Disney Imagineer Steven Spiegel of the setting for the ride’s narrative. “We see all kinds of things in the pre-show [queue] as guests come through the expo, but the ultimate thing is to get on this brand new Iron Wing vehicle, which is essentially a really large Iron Man suit which you and 44 of your closest friends can get into.”

Ted Robledo, creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, explains what happens next, shortly before an evil threat attempts to thwart the adventure.

“We’re going to get on board. It’s a brand new, high-tech ship,” he says. “Imagine a very large Iron Man suit. [We’re going to] fly over to the new Star Tower, where we’re going to see the world’s largest Arc Reactor, a very powerful, very valuable energy device, and get an up-close look at it.”

Theming from inside the ride’s show building, including pieces on display as part of the expo, can also be seen in the video. Ahead of the ride’s official opening, a new store connected to the ride, called the Stark Expo Shop, has already opened.

Other Marvel-themed attractions are set to invade various Disney parks around the world in the near future, beginning with Anaheim’s version of the Tower of Terror attraction, which is getting a Guardians of the Galaxy-themed makeover for the 2017 season. A walkthrough attraction called Marvel Universe, which displays various costumes and props from the world of Marvel movies, is currently operating in the Gardens of Imagination area at Shanghai Disneyland.

Iron Man Experience is scheduled to open to the public on Jan. 11, 2017 at Hong Kong Disneyland. Catch a sneak peek preview of the ride in the video above, and check out a few stills from the ride’s queue below.