While we’re still waiting for Disney and Epic Games’ connected universe to arrive in Fortnite, a big step has been taken towards that goal as Disney Parks has arrived in Fortnite for the first time with Disneyland Game Rush. We had the chance to try out this Fortnite island, created with the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), and discovered it to be an incredibly authentic experience that celebrates Disneyland’s 70th anniversary through enjoyable yet forgettable mini-games and environments inspired by beloved attractions such as Haunted Mansion, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and more.
Disneyland Game Rush is a limited-time offering in Fortnite that officially launches on November 6. You can simply search for the game title or jump right in by using the island code, 4617-4819-8826, to experience this new adventure for free.
When you first enter Disneyland Game Rush and in-between mini-games, you are welcomed into an esplanade that is modeled after the one between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, complete with the 70th anniversary castle structure in the middle. On the perimeter, you can see Sleeping Beauty Castle, Haunted Mansion, Pixar Pier, the Matterhorn, and more, and all of these pieces make a very visually appealing Disney puzzle that I loved exploring.
You can also open up presents that are each inspired by attractions or Nighttime Spectaculars, participate in Disneyland trivia for points, trade in the tokens you’ve earned in the mini-games for island-exclusive Disneyland 70th-inspired cosmetics like Mickey Ears, a Spider-Bot hat, the head of a Disneyland 70th-themed R2-D2, and even a Hatbox Ghost Back Bling, among others. One of my favorite touches is that you can find one Disneyland Key in each land and redeem it for a golden version of these cosmetics. For those unfamiliar, the Disneyland Key is a physical toy key you can use on locks around Disneyland during its 70th anniversary celebration, and it is represented here in a clever, fun way.
Speaking of the mini-games, there are seven that you and up to 11 others can randomly compete in, and they are Disney Haunted Mansion: Scavenger Haunt, Matterhorn: Slip-and-Climb, Space Mountain: Rocket Race, Indiana Jones: Tomb Runner, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Sneakout!, Star Wars: Stormtrooper Showdown, and WEB Slingers: Spider-Bot Blaster.
Disney Haunted Mansion: Scavenger Haunt was my favorite of the bunch, as it gives me an excuse to run through the spooky halls of one of my favorite attractions with a flashlight and a freedom you don’t have on the real thing. It also gets many bonus points for starting with the Stretching Room with that iconic welcome speech and paintings that are Fortnite versions of the real thing. While there really isn’t an objective besides collecting coins, it just made me smile so much with Grim Grinning Ghosts blasting through my speakers while I stumbled upon the Dining Room and got to dance with a group of ghosts that included Peely.
Star Wars: Stormtrooper Showdown was my next favorite, as it put you aboard a First Order Star Destroyer and tasked you with taking down as many Stormtroopers as you can. This was made even more fun as you could take on Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma and, if you defeat them, you can take their weapons as your own. There are even lightsabers hidden around the level, which is always a welcome addition. Fans of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will be happy to know the AT-ATs and laser cannon can be found as well.
I’d place Matterhorn: Slip-and-Climb third because it is perhaps the most chaotic. You have to climb the Matterhorn with a Grappler, but the twist is that your feet become blocks of ice when you do. It’s fun to swing and climb up the face of the mountain, but there was a lot of slipping, falling, and friends hilariously soaring down next to you in agony. Once I got the hang of it, though, it was an enjoyable experience with some good strategy thrown in, especially when I swung right into a Disneyland Key!
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Sneakout! takes spot number four in large part because it began with the welcome surprise of Jackson 5’s I Want You Back. What followed was a 2D adventure through a space prison where you had to avoid guards and make it to the Collector’s office on the top level. There were some nice touches in this level, with the Milano floating outside and the ability to throw Boogie Bombs at guards and friends to make them dance, but it wasn’t particularly exciting and the guards took you out way too fast.
Indiana Jones: Tomb Runner was next, and it’s a race through a trap-filled level that features a ton of nods to Indy’s adventures, including giant boulders, spikes coming from the floor, and poison darts being launched from the walls. There are also speed boosts you can get to help you on your mission, but anytime you touch a hazard, you slow down. It was tough to get good momentum as the traps seemed very tricky to avoid, but maybe I’m just not yet very good at being a treasure hunter.
WEB Slingers: Spider-Bot Blaster was second last for me, even though I loved how the team used the same models and animations as the Spider-Bots in WEB Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure in DCA. It’s a shooting gallery with multiplying Spider-Bots – normal ones, golden ones, and even a giant boss one – but it’s not as engaging, as you are mostly standing still in a window and shooting bots and exploding barrels instead of running and jumping all over the place.
Lastly, we have Space Mountain: Rocket Race. I love how this mini-game starts in a space modeled after the actual attraction, but the mini-game itself is just grinding on rails for a couple of minutes. The sense of speed is nice and I do love that classic Space Mountain music, but it didn’t feel like I really had control of whether I was winning or losing and I fell off a few times and had to wait for a respawn while I was slowly gliding down into nothingness.
All in all, these mini-games are fun distractions and I’m very excited to bring my friends with me into this experience until we can reunite at the real Disneyland. Unfortunately, I can’t imagine coming back to them after the luster of living in these incredibly well-done homages to some of Disneyland’s top attractions wears off.
What this does most of all, however, is make me even more excited for this partnership between Disney and Epic. As someone who has extensively covered Disney and visited Disneyland during its 70th anniversary celebration, I think they captured the feel of these attractions and parks in a very special way. I mean, there are even popcorn carts hanging about, a railroad circling the hub area, and a party at the end where you can dance with Mickey in his 70th-anniversary best.
Disneyland Game Rush, despite its name, doesn’t feel like a game that was rushed. It feels like a project lovingly created by Disney to celebrate Disneyland’s big milestone and give fans a way to celebrate even if they can’t make it out to Anaheim. While I hope they can improve the actual gameplay of these Disney experiences in the future, I couldn’t be happier with how faithfully Disney Parks has been brought into Fortnite for the first time.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.