Zootopia: Hot Pursuit at Shanghai Disneyland Review and Guide

Opening with the Zootopia land in December 2023, Zootopia: Hot Pursuit is Zootopia’s one and only attraction. It is Shanghai Disneyland’s first and only trackless ride, and its opening meant that every single Disney resort in the world now has a trackless ride. This ride takes you on a high speed chase around Zootopia to capture the escaped Bellwether after she kidnaps Gazelle.

While this opened in 2023, I only got the chance to ride it for the first time in 2026 when I returned to Shanghai Disneyland for the first time since 2019. It was the first ride I rode on my trip, and throughout my entire 5 days at the park I rode it a total of six times (for research purposes, of course). Was the ride able to live up to the hype of being the only Zootopia ride in the world? Or did it fail to live up to expectations? I’ll be discussing that and more in this review.

So let’s get started!

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Zootopia: Hot Pursuit at Shanghai Disneyland Review and Guide

Table of Contents

Background

When Zootopia was announced for Shanghai Disneyland in 2019, many were wondering what the sole attraction in the land was going to be like. I will admit I had no expectations for what this ride was going to be. I had a feeling they were going to do a trackless ride, because recently whenever Disney builds a new dark ride it’s either trackless or a boat ride. And sure enough, it was a trackless ride.

Disney has had mixed success with their trackless rides. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, and Mystic Manor are all fantastic, but then you have rides like Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure which to me miss the mark. So I made sure to keep my expectations for this new Zootopia ride at bay because based on what Disney has given us so far, there was a 50-50 chance it wouldn’t be up to par.

Then I remember watching a POV of the ride and feeling generally underwhelmed. I liked that a lot of physical sets were used, and the ride did have some cool details and animatronics, but the over-reliance on screens made me skeptical about whether the ride was actually good. I tend to be averse to rides with screens as to me they can come off really cheap unless done well (like the last “wall breakaway” scene of Mystic Manor for example).

This ride also has a lot to live up to because of how popular the Zootopia franchise is in China. Zootopia is so popular in China that it was revealed in internal research that 25% of guests who visit Shanghai Disneyland are just there for the Zootopia themed land. Zootopia: Hot Pursuit also had the highest guest satisfaction ratings of any ride in Shanghai Disneyland, even beating out the premier ride in the park, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure.

When I read that, I was confused. How could the ride I saw a POV of, the one that was overreliant on screens, be better than probably the best Disney boat ride ever made. There was no way Zootopia: Hot Pursuit is worthy of all the acclaim it’s getting from audiences. So when I arrived in the park for the first day of my trip, I made a beeline for Zootopia: Hot Pursuit to see what all the fuss was about.

I learned two things after riding the Zootopia ride the first time. First, you cannot judge a ride based on a POV video of it on Youtube. Second, I had greatly misjudged the ride. Not only is it one of the best rides in Shanghai Disneyland, but it’s one of the best trackless rides ever made. Let me break down why I think this in the next couple of sections.

You can read my Shanghai Disneyland Rides Ranking to see how it stacks up to other rides.

Story

The story of the Zootopia ride is tied to the story of the land outside the attraction. When you visit the land, it’s Zootopia Day, also known as the day celebrating the harmony and unity among the different animal species in Zootopia. As part of the festivities, there’s going to be a Gazelle concert in the city. You can actually see posters and artworks for this concert all over the land.

There’s just one problem. Eager to symbolically rip apart the unity Zootopia has achieved, former Zootopia mayor and now incarcerated mammal Bellwether escapes from prison and subsequently kidnaps Gazelle. It’s now up to you as new recruits of the ZPD to aid Nick and Judy in capturing Bellwether and freeing Gazelle, all before the concert is supposed to happen.

The story for me is one of the better theme park ride storylines done by Disney. It has real world consequences, high stakes, and the potential for a lot of action and comedy. It’s a perfect use of the “something goes wrong” formula that a lot of theme park rides use but is still rooted in the themes, lessons, and morals that the movie Zootopia is known for.

I also love how it connects with the story of the land. Disney has done this kind of thing before where, when you visit a land, the story goes that the land is celebrating something on the day you’re there. This was seen first in World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland where Arendelle is celebrating Summer Snow Day on the day you arrive. Similarly, the celebration of Zootopia Day adds another layer of story to the ride and land and gives them both depth.

Queue and Ride Vehicle

The queue is the best queue in Shanghai Disneyland, hands down. No other queue comes even remotely close to the queue for Zootopia: Hot Pursuit. The first half of the queue winds around the outside of the building. That part is nice, if a bit bare, but you do pass the Natural History Museum where Bellwether was arrested by Nick and Judy (and some cool posters including one with a Living with the Land reference).

You then enter the police station and who should greet you but a huge animatronic of the popular Officer Clawhauser. Disney really knocked it out of the park with the animatronics for this attraction. You could tell they spent a lot of money, time, and care on them. He looks and moves like the Clawhauser from the movie.

You then enter Investigative Services, where you get to see Nick and Judy’s cubicles. Their cubicles are so full of detail, and so is the whole Investigative Services Department as a whole. There are big doors for big animals, and the clippings on the bulletin boards add so much story and character to the ride and land as a whole. I enjoyed reading all the different posters and signs throughout the queue.

Then you enter the incredibly detailed jail. There are jail cells for large and small animals, including cold cells for animals from colder climates, and pools for semi-aquatic mammals. Then you turn a corner and see Bellwether’s cell. She dug a hole through the wall, which she covered with a Gazelle poster, and then proceeded to escape via the air vents.

You end up back at Investigative Services and enter the bullpen. A huge animatronic of Chief Bogo is waiting for you inside. He briefs you on the mission, including showing you a ransom video Bellwether made. Nick and Judy then report that they saw the video and there’s a clue in the form of a sardine can that points to a warehouse in Tundra Town. Chief Bogo assigns us to help Nick and Judy. He briefly tells us about the safety instructions, and then has us go to the Loading Zone.

We’re then loaded onto the ride vehicle. The ride vehicle fits 10 people. It’s absolutely ginormous, probably the second biggest trackless ride vehicle after the Runaway Railway train cars. They look like police cars too, complete with a steering wheel. The one thing I didn’t like about them though was that there was barely any leg room in the vehicle. I don’t know how people taller than me can ride this ride because even I, at 5’6, felt a bit squished in.

This is such a phenomenal queue. All the details, world building, and story elements blended together perfectly. Everything felt so intentional, as if carefully constructed to serve the ultimate story of the ride. And that’s what good queues should do. They don’t just serve to set-up the story, but to expand on it, to bring it to life in the minds of guests. It is beautifully done here, and I can’t think of any other queue at Shanghai Disneyland that accomplishes this more than the Zootopia: Hot Pursuit queue.

Half the fun of this queue was discovering and noticing all the little details that imagineers peppered throughout the queue, including my favorite detail: Donuts and Coffee for both large and small animals. It really gives the impression that Disney spared no expense on this Zootopia ride, which I hope they continue to do for their future rides and attractions soon to come around the world.

Ride Experience

The ride starts in Tundra Town. You meet Nick and Judy in their cop car. You then ambush Bellwether, who escapes with her minions and Gazelle after she tries freezing you. You enter a train car and then see Nick and Judy chasing Bellwether and company on these snowmobiles. Side note: it is freezing in these rooms. And then when the scene transitions to Sahara Square, the temperature noticeably rises. I also love the train scene because of the fish above you that swing in time to the movement of the ride vehicle and screen. A small detail, but one that adds to the immersion of the ride.

The train crashes and you end up in Sahara Square. You see a camel in drag singing Try Everything, and Duke Weaselton selling counterfeit Gazelle merch. Nick and Judy spot Bellwether entering the Naturalists building. They tell you to follow them, and this is where the completely unhinged part of the ride happens.

You enter the Naturalists club and it’s pitch black. Your lights turn on and you see a completely naked Elephant and a Hippo in front of you. I don’t know how this was approved by Imagineering, but I’m glad it was because it makes the ride so unique and the laughs and screams from guests during this part are so funny to hear.

You see Bellwether and company escape into the Rainforest District, so your car follows them. This is when my favorite bit of ride engineering happens. You actually exit back into the Sahara Square room from earlier and then turn left instead of right to enter the Rainforest District. I like this little scene of going through a room twice because it can only be done if you use trackless ride technology.

This is another example of using the trackless ride technology to its fullest extent, and the first time Disney has done something like this. Having the cars almost dance in this room as they try to get to places makes for such a fun transition and is very simple yet very innovative.

Speaking of innovative, another cool detail I like happens when you enter the Rainforest District. Nick and Judy spot Bellwether on a gondola. They resolve to follow them on a gondola of their own. Nick and Judy appear as projections, but Judy is holding a flashlight, and you can see that her flashlight is flashing on the physical sets around her, even though she herself is a projection. Another small detail but adds so much to the immersion of the ride.

Your car then enters a gondola. I love the inclusion here of the second screen in the form of a window above the gondola. Again, having two screens helps sell the illusion that you’re on this gondola. Nick and Judy get pushed by Bellwether off the Gondola, and she sends your gondola falling. Nick and Judy are able to arrest her henchman, and Nick. Judy, and yourself are saved by the vines in the Rainforest District.

Nick and Judy then call on Flash the Sloth to help them catch Bellwether. You then end up back in Zootopia Central where you and Flash chase Bellwether through a tunnel. Bellwether has Gazelle with her, but soon she’s surrounded by cop cars and Nick and Judy are able to rescue Gazelle. Bellwether then tries to follow them. This entire sequence takes place in a screen dome. This was the all-screen room I was talking about, and for what it’s worth, the screen dome works here. The ride vehicle moves in a way that is in sync with the screen which helped me suspend my disbelief the entire time.

You then move to another screen dome and watch as Bellwether tries to get Gazelle back from Nick and Judy. However, an elephant drops a large ice cream, which Bellwether hits and subsequently sends her flying into a huge donut. Clawhauser picks her up and then the ride transitions into the Gazelle concert.

You then watch the Gazelle concert. You turn a corner and see this huge Gazelle animatronic. Its hips are moving like Shakira, and she’s singing Try Everything in front of you. If you look closely, you’ll see other characters enjoying the concert in the background, including Chief Bogo, Clawhauser, and Flash. You’re then taken backstage where Animatronic Nick and Judy congratulate you on successfully completing the mission. You’re then brought to the unload area and make your way to the gift shop.

Thoughts

This ride is a top-tier dark ride. All the little details they added to tell the story effectively were so well executed that I would forget that I was in a themed environment and not in actual Zootopia. Everything from the queue to the gift shop is as well-themed and intricate as the land outside the attraction. The story is exciting, engrossing, has stakes, and allows for multiple exciting sequences. The queue is a behemoth of detail, and I love how it sets up the story of the ride.

Then of course there’s the ride itself. This ride succeeds in the minute details that add to the immersion of the whole experience, such as the fish hanging from the train car moving along with the action and Judy’s flashlight in the Rainforest District scene actually flashing on the non-screen set design. It’s details like that that make the whole Zootopia ride feel like a lived in, real place that you’re going through.

Then there’s the innovative track layout design, especially in the Sahara Square portion as mentioned. Having the cars exit the room to the right and then continue on back into the previous room but this time going to the left is such a small part but is so innovative and fully realizes the potential of the trackless ride vehicle.

The many detailed, physical sets also take this ride to another level. The Tundra Town, Sahara Square, and Rainforest District sections all felt like real places, bursting with so much to see and look at that you could ride this ride 100 times and still discover new things. And those are the best kinds of dark rides: the ones that reward re-rides to keep unearthing new details you haven’t seen before.

We also have to talk about the animatronics. They’re some of the most impressive animatronics ever created by Imagineering. The Gazelle one at the end is one of the most impressive animatronics I’ve seen. Its hips move. Its HIPS move! Imagineering could have just made her stand there, but they went the extra mile to make sure she moved exactly like Gazelle from the movie. Add to her the two animatronics of Clawhauser and Bogo in the queue, as well as the two pairs of animatronics of Nick and Judy, and you’ve got a good selection of animatronics for this dark ride.

Also, contrary to what I thought when I watched the POVs, I thought the screens were incorporated into the ride really well. Sure, I wish the last two screen domes had something else going on in those rooms aside from the screens, and I think that’s the ride’s biggest flaw, but in my opinion the screens were utilized well. It reminded me of how Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure uses screens. The immersion never left for me, and if anything the screens only added to the immersion because the cars would generate forces that aligned with the action on screen. Like I said, I wish there was more set dressing, but that was not the huge negative I thought it was going to be.

In terms of pacing, I thought the ride’s story flowed really well. The pacing of the scenes never dragged but also never felt rushed, except for maybe the Gazelle scene but that only felt rushed because I wish we had more time to admire the animatronic. Other than that, the ride was both quick and long, with so many scenes and a respectably long runtime for a dark ride.

It also never felt jarring to go from one set piece to another, and the transitions for the most part felt well-executed. The only one I have a minor gripe about is the transition to the Rainforest District as it felt a bit awkward that all of a sudden we were in the Rainforest District without passing through a weather wall or something, but that’s really minor and most of the ride does transitions pretty well.

I love the inclusion of the Naturalists Club into the ride. I thought it was unhinged in a good way, and the scene felt in-tune to the tone of the Zootopia movies. Another part of the ride I loved is the gondola scene with its double screens. It’s a small detail but it sold me on the idea that I was actually in the rainforest district. I wish the gondola actually dropped like in Rise of the Resistance, but we can’t have everything!

This is really just an all-around, well executed dark ride. Since riding it, it has propelled itself into my top 5 dark rides of all time in ANY Disney Park. It’s up there with Mystic Manor for sure. Mystic Manor is still better, in my opinion, but Zootopia: Hot Pursuit is such a delight that I would make sure I ride it every time I visit the park in the future.

The POVs I watched on YouTube didn’t fully encapsulate the entire ride experience, as I should have known. I mean, how can it, when so many of the little sensory changes you can’t really pick up on in a video. Things like the temperature change from Tundra Town to Sahara Square, or the movement of the cars during the gondola and screen dome scenes. Themed entertainment experiences were meant to be seen and judged in person, and I will not make the same mistake of pre-judging a ride without having experienced it first.

This ride made me hopeful for the future of Walt Disney Imagineering. This ride proves that they are still capable of creating amazing worlds and stories if given the time, money, and resources. Some of their recent decisions have made me nervous, I’ll admit, but if every ride had the scale, range, and fun of Zootopia: Hot Pursuit, then the future is bright.

Guide

If you purchased Early Entry, I would recommend heading here first thing in the morning. Online it says that Zootopia won’t be open for Early Entry, but it has been consistently open for Early Entry every day of my visit. You’ll want to head here first so that you can experience the whole queue. I think if you’re riding it for the first time, you need to experience the whole queue. So arrive early and head straight here so you can peruse the queue before the crowds arrive.

If you didn’t purchase early entry, but you’ve ridden the ride before, then I would suggest using the single rider line first thing in the morning. Single Rider isn’t open during Early Entry, so if you hop in it as soon as the park opens, you’re probably looking at a 20-30 minute wait, which is way better than the 100-minute wait it’ll probably be at.

If you want to ride it in the middle of the day, I would suggest buying Premier Access for it. Premiere Access not only gets you in the ride quicker, but it also gets you access to the land quicker if the queueing system to enter the land is being used that day. Just a tip for you, but do note that you won’t get to experience the whole queue from the Premier Access line. But if that’s not a priority for you then by all means purchase Premier Access.

When you get to the pre-show room, I’d recommend lining up on the right hand side. This sets you up to be right in front of Chief Bogo in the pre-show room, which is good for those of you that want to get pictures and videos of the animatronic. In terms of where to sit on the ride, I would recommend sitting in front. I was lucky that on all 6 of my rides, I was in front. The views cannot be beat.

It also doesn’t really matter which car you sit in. Both cars have great views of the attraction, and neither of them lag behind or miss scenes because of their placement, unlike in other trackless dark rides. Remember, however, that if you use the single rider line, you cannot choose where to sit.

You can also ride this ride after the sun sets as the line will shrink to 40-50 minutes, with the single rider line being even shorter. As a rule of thumb, if the single rider line is inside the building, then that’s about a 20-30 minute wait. If it extends outside, you’re looking at a longer wait. This ride also carries no health and safety warnings with it. The vehicles on Zootopia: Hot Pursuit can be a little jerky, but on the whole they’re gentle.

Rating

Zootopia: Hot Pursuit is an incredible ride. It’s one of the best rides in Shanghai Disneyland, and definitely lives up to the hype. It’s everything a trackless dark ride should be. There are a couple of moments where I think the set dressing could be better, as well as a transition that could have been more seamless. The ride vehicle can also feel a bit tight for taller guests. But other than that, it’s so well conceptualized and executed that you’ll feel like you’re actually on an adventure in Zootopia.

9.5/10

Zootopia: Hot Pursuit at Shanghai Disneyland Review and Guide Conclusion

I hope this review and guide helped you get a better grasp of Zootopia: Hot Pursuit. If you’re thinking of planning a trip to Shanghai Disneyland to see Zootopia, I can honestly say that it’s worth visiting just for Zootopia and Zootopia: Hot Pursuit alone. Couple that with the rest of the attractions, entertainment, and lands and you have a solid theme park that you could spend 2-3 days in. If you have any questions, feel free to message me on my socials!

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