For Those Keeping Score At Home: DLR vs. WDW Attraction Tally '17

[TP2000]

As an aging and native West Coaster who lived on the East Coast for the last couple decades of the 20th century, I’ve always been fascinated by the differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

Three months ago Walt Disney World opened its long-awaited Pandora land in Animal Kingdom, with two new rides including the E Ticket Flight of Passage. And today two classic E Ticket attractions close forever at Walt Disney World; Universe of Energy and The Great Movie Ride. Both of these old-school attractions defined their respective parks when they opened as headliners in 1982 and 1989. They will be replaced obviously, but their replacements won’t be opening for three years or more from now.

So how does the attraction lineup stand when the parks open for the day tomorrow on August 14th, 2017?

The Disneyland Resort has 75 Attractions.
55 of which are “rides” that involve moving vehicles.
16 of those are major E Ticket rides.

Disneyland Park has 45 Attractions, 34 are rides, and 11 of those are E Tickets (Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Small World, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Submarine Voyage, Space Mountain, Star Tours)

Disney California Adventure Park has 30 Attractions, 21 are rides, and 5 of those are E Tickets (Soarin', Radiator Springs Racers, Mission: BREAKOUT, California Screamin', Grizzly River Run).

Walt Disney World has 83 Attractions.
45 of which are “rides” that involve moving vehicles.
19 of those are major E Ticket rides.

Magic Kingdom Park has 36 Attractions, 25 are rides, and 7 of those are E Tickets (Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Small World, Space Mountain).

EPCOT has 21 Attractions, 7 are rides, 4 are E Tickets (Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space, Test Track, Soarin').

Disney's Hollywood Studios has 12 Attractions, 4 are rides, 3 are E Tickets (Rock n' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours).

Disney's Animal Kingdom has 15 Attractions, 9 are rides, 5 are E Tickets (Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, Kali River Run, Dinosaur).

Surprised? I'm not. But then I'm weird enough to keep track of this sort of thing.

 

[RMichael21]

Disney's Hollywood Studios has 12 Attractions, 4 are rides, 3 are E Tickets (Rock n' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours).

When it comes to this, Midway Mania over at WDW is most definitely considered an E-Ticket IMO, compared to it being a D-Ticket at DCA. This is due to the lack of actual rides at the park, so anything relatively exciting has to be considered an E-Ticket. To be honest, I'd say that all four rides currently operating at DHS are E-Tickets. And then three quarters of those come with a height restriction while the last remaining one (Toy Story) is pretty much unplayable for kids who are too short. Mega operational fail.

 

[TP2000]

Thank goodness we have the 'blessing of size' so we can one day catch up with our older sister...oh wait

It's an odd thing, isn't it?

Let's jump ahead to 2021, when the new rides announced at D23 will be opening at WDW for the 50th Anniversary. The next four years will be HUGE for WDW, with a total of eight new rides opening there. After decades of stagnation, this is a massive investment and expansion for WDW.

Star Wars Land on both coasts will be two years old by 2021, and let's assume Marvel Land also opens in Spring '21 after a Spring '18 announcement (assuming the Cold War with Anaheim thaws by spring).

2018 - Incredibles Spinner C Ticket opens at Pixar Pier (see last Miceage Update), Toy Story Land opens two rides at DHS
2019 - Two Star Wars Land E Tickets open at Disneyland and DHS
2020 - Guardians E Ticket opens at Epcot, Mickey's Runaway Railway opens at DHS
2021 - Tron Coaster opens at MK, Ratatouille opens at Epcot, Marvel Land with E Ticket coaster and C Ticket opens at DCA

By Summer, 2021 that would net the following for both coasts;

Disneyland Resort has 80 Attractions
60 are rides that involve moving vehicles.
19 are major E Ticket rides

Walt Disney World Resort has 91 Attractions
53 are rides that involve moving vehicles.
23 are major E Ticket rides

Also, I counted each World Showcase pavilion as an "Attraction" for WDW, even if it's just a themed courtyard of shopping and dining like Japan, UK, Morocco, Italy, Germany. At DAK, Conservation Station was counted as two attractions, with one being a ride (Train to Conservation Station).

 

[TP2000]

When it comes to this, Midway Mania over at WDW is most definitely considered an E-Ticket IMO, compared to it being a D-Ticket at DCA. This is due to the lack of actual rides at the park, so anything relatively exciting has to be considered an E-Ticket. To be honest, I'd say that all four rides currently operating at DHS are E-Tickets. And then three quarters of those come with a height restriction while the last remaining one (Toy Story) is pretty much unplayable for kids who are too short. Mega operational fail.

When you have a theme park that has only four rides, even a Tilt-A-Whirl could be an E Ticket. But for comparison's sake, I just kept the rides rated the same ticket category across both coasts.

You could argue that Small World at WDW is a D Ticket since it's only half as long as Disneyland's 16 minute long indoor/outdoor version. You could also argue that the 5 minute long (with one drop) Kali River Rapids is a D Ticket, compared to the 8 minute long (with two drops) Grizzly River Run at DCA. But for comparison's sake, I kept Small World and Kali as E Tickets since their Disneyland counterparts are most certainly E Tickets.

 

[BrianLo]

It's an odd thing, isn't it?

Let's jump ahead to 2021, when the new rides announced at D23 will be opening at WDW for the 50th Anniversary. The next four years will be HUGE for WDW, with a total of eight new rides opening there. After decades of stagnation, this is a massive investment and expansion for WDW.

Star Wars Land on both coasts will be two years old by 2021, and let's assume Marvel Land also opens in Spring '21 after a Spring '18 announcement (assuming the Cold War with Anaheim thaws by spring).

2018 - Incredibles Spinner C Ticket opens at Pixar Pier (see last Miceage Update), Toy Story Land opens two rides at DHS
2019 - Two Star Wars Land E Tickets open at Disneyland and DHS
2020 - Guardians E Ticket opens at Epcot, Mickey's Runaway Railway opens at DHS
2021 - Tron Coaster opens at MK, Ratatouille opens at Epcot, Marvel Land with E Ticket coaster and C Ticket opens at DCA

By Summer, 2021 that would net the following for both coasts;

Disneyland Resort has 80 Attractions
60 are rides that involve moving vehicles.
19 are major E Ticket rides

Walt Disney World Resort has 91 Attractions
53 are rides that involve moving vehicles.
23 are major E Ticket rides

Also, I counted each World Showcase pavilion as an "Attraction" for WDW, even if it's just a themed courtyard of shopping and dining like Japan, UK, Morocco, Italy, Germany. At DAK, Conservation Station was counted as two attractions, with one being a ride (Train to Conservation Station).

I'm actually surprised that WDW has more E-tickets than DLR... for some reason I thought that DLR still had the slight lead in that factor.

I think your math also got knocked off somehow, if WDW has 19 E tickets now, it will have 25 in 2021 (Star Wars x2, Mickey, GoTG, Rat, Tron). Timeline doesn't totally matter, but for semantics I'm pretty sure it goes Star Wars and Mickey in 2019, Rat in 2020, GoTG and Tron in 2021.

Plus if we are banking on the C-ticket rumour for DCA, the UK B/C seems like a pretty solid match.

It's still not ideal, but it is actually getting slowly better. WDW should be running at least 50% more than DLR with 4 parks. Still not close, but at least it's finally pulling ahead in the E-ticket category, albeit total ride count still trails.

 

[BrianLo]

When you have a theme park that has only four rides, even a Tilt-A-Whirl could be an E Ticket. But for comparison's sake, I just kept the rides rated the same ticket category across both coasts.

You could argue that Small World at WDW is a D Ticket since it's only half as long as Disneyland's 16 minute long indoor/outdoor version. You could also argue that the 5 minute long (with one drop) Kali River Rapids is a D Ticket, compared to the 8 minute long (with two drops) Grizzly River Run at DCA. But for comparison's sake, I kept Small World and Kali as E Tickets since their Disneyland counterparts are most certainly E Tickets.

I think your actual count winds up being pretty fair. Tit for tat Matterhorn and the subs are soft E-tickets. But then I'd really consider the new train at DLR a borderline E. The tally seems pretty good...

But then I bet WDW has quite a few more D-tickets - DLR I feel like majorly boosts their numbers with a ton of flats. I'm sure someone will quickly do the math to prove that wrong...

 

[spacemt354]

While fun to analyze the statistics of both resorts, I think there are several important factors that are left out of the surface level attraction count equation.

Naturally, for the 47 square miles of land Walt Disney World occupies, you'd think it'd have many more attractions than the Disneyland Resort can hold. It doesn't for a variety of reasons. Some reasons pointing towards years of irritating management decisions, but not all of which point directly to negative connotations.

For one, Disneyland's attraction count benefits from older and more quaint attractions that just aren't built as much nowadays unless part of a larger land expansion. Rarely, if ever, do you see 3-4 mins dark rides with cardboard cut outs and minimal movement animatronics anymore, all crunched in close quarters like Disneyland's Fantasyland. The footprint of several singular attractions in Walt Disney World (Test Track, Expedition Everest, and more) would fit multiple attractions in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park. Heck -- Kilimanjaro Safari (one attraction) is the size of the entire Magic Kingdom!

A second reason stems from Walt Disney World's 'Resort' tag, with much more to see and do outside the theme parks, on-property, compared to the Disneyland Resort. A popular niche is 'resort hopping' -- going from Deluxe Resort to Deluxe Resort and taking in the eclectic themes. There's also 2 Disney Water Parks, Disney Springs, and more. These activities take days out of vacations to see and do, and if the attraction count was increased to a much higher margin, it would diminish the returns from these locations.

Now, with that said, the number is awfully close for the 3rd reason of replacing attractions in recent years, rather than expanding at WDW. Even many of the new additions coming over the next few years are replacements, however I am glad to see investment into large scale E-ticket attractions, the likes of which until recently, hadn't been seen since 2006.

The close count is also a reason for WDW regulars to go and visit the Disneyland Resort, because there is plenty to do in order to satisfy any Disney theme park fan's desires!

 

[TP2000]

I'm actually surprised that WDW has more E-tickets than DLR... for some reason I thought that DLR still had the slight lead in that factor.

I think your math also got knocked off somehow, if WDW has 19 E tickets now, it will have 25 in 2021 (Star Wars x2, Mickey, GoTG, Rat, Tron). Timeline doesn't totally matter, but for semantics I'm pretty sure it goes Star Wars and Mickey in 2019, Rat in 2020, GoTG and Tron in 2021.

Ah, yes, the 21st century question of what is a D Ticket and what is an E Ticket. This would be the part of the evening where we light the firepit, go to the wine fridge for a bottle of Malbec and a few good cigars, and settle in on the back deck for a philosophical debate.

I haven't been on Rat, but have seen the YouTube videos. It looks like a solid family-fun D Ticket dark ride to me, similar in scope and D Ticket rating to Little Mermaid or Midway Mania. A Frenchman might disagree with me, but I think Rat will be a solid D Ticket for Epcot, comparing favorably to the park's other D Ticket dark rides like Gran Fiesta Tour and Frozen.

As for Mickey's Runaway Railway, we have very few details on it. But from what was explained by Kevin Rafferty at D23, it appears to be another solid family-fun D Ticket dark ride. We may be surprised, and perhaps it's a jaw-dropping E Ticket extravaganza, even though it has no height requirement or physical thrill factor. But it sounded like a D Ticket from the D23 announcement and info.

The two Star Wars rides are obviously E Tickets, and the rumors are it will rewrite the book on what an E Ticket is. Perhaps after Star Wars opens we'd need to re-evaluate classic E Tickets like Small World, Jungle Cruise, Star Tours, etc. But for now if a ride was an E Ticket when tickets were last collected in 1983, then it's still an E Ticket.

Gaurdians, we know so little. Hardly anything really except what the IP is. But judging from Mission: BREAKOUT!, the Epcot Gaurdians ride will be an E Ticket thrill ride. Tron is obviously an E Ticket, even though it's rather short and modestly thrilling without loops. But from a show perspective and visually speaking, we can call it an E Ticket.

 

[TP2000]

But then I bet WDW has quite a few more D-tickets - DLR I feel like majorly boosts their numbers with a ton of flats. I'm sure someone will quickly do the math to prove that wrong...

I haven't tallied exactly, but it seems that Disneyland has many more C Tickets than WDW. Paradise Pier and Fantasyland in particular are chock full of rides, many C Ticket spinners and dark rides. Disneyland alone has seven C Ticket dark rides (Toad, Pan, Alice, Snow White, Pinnocchio, Roger Rabbit, Pooh), plus Monsters Inc. at DCA for a total of eight, where the entirety of WDW only has two C Ticket dark rides (Pan, Pooh).

Then there's classic Disneyland stuff like the Rivers of America, which has double the rides available compared to Magic Kingdom; Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, Davy Crockett Canoes, Tom Sawyer Island.

It all adds up.

WDW parks seem to do a few big headliner E Tickets with a handful of smaller rides in each park. Whereas DLR has the big headliner E Tickets, but then with dozens of B, C and D Ticket rides filling in the day. Disneyland is like a beautifully rich tapestry, woven with many different threads and experiences that reflect back a shared culture. WDW is like a giant sheet of metallic polyester, impressively dazzling but lacking diversity and depth. Now please pass the Malbec.

 

[mickEblu]

Perhaps after Star Wars opens we'd need to re-evaluate classic E Tickets like Small World, Jungle Cruise, Star Tours, etc.

Or do we just create a fictional F ticket?

 

[BrianLo]

Ah, yes, the 21st century question of what is a D Ticket and what is an E Ticket. This would be the part of the evening where we light the firepit, go to the wine fridge for a bottle of Malbec and a few good cigars, and settle in on the back deck for a philosophical debate.

I haven't been on Rat, but have seen the YouTube videos. It looks like a solid family-fun D Ticket dark ride to me, similar in scope and D Ticket rating to Little Mermaid or Midway Mania. A Frenchman might disagree with me, but I think Rat will be a solid D Ticket for Epcot, comparing favorably to the park's other D Ticket dark rides like Gran Fiesta Tour and Frozen.

As for Mickey's Runaway Railway, we have very few details on it. But from what was explained by Kevin Rafferty at D23, it appears to be another solid family-fun D Ticket dark ride. We may be surprised, and perhaps it's a jaw-dropping E Ticket extravaganza, even though it has no height requirement or physical thrill factor. But it sounded like a D Ticket from the D23 announcement and info.

The two Star Wars rides are obviously E Tickets, and the rumors are it will rewrite the book on what an E Ticket is. Perhaps after Star Wars opens we'd need to re-evaluate classic E Tickets like Small World, Jungle Cruise, Star Tours, etc. But for now if a ride was an E Ticket when tickets were last collected in 1983, then it's still an E Ticket.

Gaurdians, we know so little. Hardly anything really except what the IP is. But judging from Mission: BREAKOUT!, the Epcot Gaurdians ride will be an E Ticket thrill ride. Tron is obviously an E Ticket, even though it's rather short and modestly thrilling without loops. But from a show perspective and visually speaking, we can call it an E Ticket.

Oh, that was a purposeful miscount!

You've gotta trust me on this one that both are very much E tickets. I don't think Rat is the greatest ride in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a glitzy headliner. I don't think anyone who has actually been on it would categorize it as a D. (@GiveMeTheMusic @Animaniac93-98)

As per Mickey, it's purportedly a 7-8 minutes LPS. Those who know have been more than positive on it. Guardians is a launched coaster.

Tron, yes is also a headliner.

Not all E tickets being equal, I tend to call some E+ - being the top offering in their category. But that's another debate. If Matterhorn, Subs or Soaring is your bar than ya all of the above qualify (from what I've personally experienced of two and pieced together of the other four).

 

[Travel Junkie]

You've gotta trust me on this one that both are very much E tickets. I don't think Rat is the greatest ride in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a glitzy headliner. I don't think anyone who has actually been on it would categorize it as a D. (@GiveMeTheMusic @Animaniac93-98)

It was built to be the headliner for the whole park. Their RSR if it were. Personally I thought it was a big miss, but have to admit it is an E-ticket. I'm sure it will be a hit at Epcot, but it is not a good attraction IMO.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don't think Rat is the greatest ride in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a glitzy headliner. I don't think anyone who has actually been on it would categorize it as a D. (@GiveMeTheMusic @Animaniac93-98)

If Soarin' is an E, than Rat is an E.

I do think however, that the line between D & E has been blurred a bit (not that it was always clear to begin with). E seems to be whatever's a big build that draws a line, even if there's an obvious gap in quality and showmanship between something like RSR and RnRC.

 

[mickEblu]

So do the subs win the award for worst E ticket in the world? I get why they could be considered an E when it comes to scope/ scale but...

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Oh, that was a purposeful miscount!

You've gotta trust me on this one that both are very much E tickets. I don't think Rat is the greatest ride in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a glitzy headliner. I don't think anyone who has actually been on it would categorize it as a D. (@GiveMeTheMusic @Animaniac93-98)

As per Mickey, it's purportedly a 7-8 minutes LPS. Those who know have been more than positive on it. Guardians is a launched coaster.

Tron, yes is also a headliner.

Not all E tickets being equal, I tend to call some E+ - being the top offering in their category. But that's another debate. If Matterhorn, Subs or Soaring is your bar than ya all of the above qualify (from what I've personally experienced of two and pieced together of the other four).

I'd call Rat an Aspirational D.

Which would be a great Tinder handle for a few people I can think of

 

[mickEblu]

I'd call Rat an Aspirational D.

Which would be a great Tinder handle for a few people I can think of

Lol.

So on another note, are you saying it's a C aspiring to be a D?

 

[No Name]

I understand it's tradition for Disneyland fans, particlarly those who've never been to WDW, to point out the ride statistic as a way of elevating their home resort. But it's one of the most absurd and shallow ways of measuring theme parks, and anyone who draws a conclusion from those numbers alone is a certified idiot. Good thing @TP2000 isn't!

DHS opened with two "rides," DAK opened with three. DCA opened with quite a few. But I wonder which park was the least successful? I have no interest in defending WDW, but if I did, I could point out many counter statistics or points, the most obvious being the quality of the rides. But that would be no better. It's about how the whole park works together as a whole, and everything from the lowest toilet to the tallest mountain plays a role.

Many out-of-touch execs like to break down the parks into numbers, because that's how they look at the world. I hope, as passionate members of a theme park discussion forum, we can be smarter than that.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Lol.

So on another note, are you saying it's a C aspiring to be a D?

No sorry, meant a D aspiring to an E. It has moments, but never soars. It's a real shame it's being wholesale cloned in Florida, as it could benefit from a lot of revising.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I understand it's tradition for Disneyland fans, particlarly those who've never been to WDW, to point out the ride statistic as a way of elevating their home resort. But it's one of the most absurd and shallow ways of measuring theme parks, and anyone who draws a conclusion from those numbers alone is a certified idiot. Good thing @TP2000 isn't!

DHS opened with two "rides," DAK opened with three. DCA opened with quite a few. But I wonder which park was the least successful? I have no interest in defending WDW, but if I did, I could point out many counter statistics or points, the most obvious being the quality of the rides. But that would be no better. It's about how the whole park works together as a whole, and everything from the lowest toilet to the tallest mountain plays a role.

Many out-of-touch execs like to break down the parks into numbers, because that's how they look at the world. I hope, as passionate members of a theme park discussion forum, we can be smarter than that.

I'd say it's tradition for Disneyland fans to point out the park's connection to Walt Disney for brownie points. Wouldn't say the same thing about the number of rides. Speaking of shallow, WDW fans like to point out how much bigger Cinderella Castle is in comparison to Sleeping Beauty Castle for brownie points.

TP is the only Disneyland vet on the site who brings up the number of attractions between the two resorts. It's all in good fun. I don't believe this is a competition thread. Just a comparison and some simple arithmetic.

 

[spacemt354]

I'd say it's tradition for Disneyland fans to point out the park's connection to Walt Disney for brownie points. Wouldn't say the same thing about the number of rides. Speaking of shallow, WDW fans like to point out how much bigger Cinderella Castle is in comparison to Sleeping Beauty Castle for brownie points.

TP is the only Disneyland vet on the site who brings up the number of attractions between the two resorts. It's all in good fun. I don't believe this is a competition thread. Just a comparison and some simple arithmetic.

I wouldn't lump all WDW fans into a group who brag about the size of their castle... ha. If you've come in contact with those discussions, it's definitely not the majority as I've rarely if ever even heard it mentioned in all my years here. In fact, the quaintness of Sleeping Beauty Castle actually entices me more than Cinderella's Castle, so there's that.

Like I was saying before - it's fun to see the ride count comparison, but there are several variables excluded from the simple ride stats that can paint rational reasons for why the numbers are more similar than one would expect.