Favorite rides/attractions?

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This might require some longer posts, but tell us what your favorite ride/attraction or two are, and why. Also, what is your favorite ride/attraction of the past that Disney ripped out along with your heart? Feel free to include any that they’ve revamped because that qualifies IMO. Lastly, if you were king, what would you rip out first and what would you replace it with? Btw, this is all your personal opinion, so I don’t anticipate anyone telling you why you’re wrong about your favorite ride. 😁

I have a dozen+ favorite Disney rides (obviously or I wouldn’t be on these forums), but the best one is the Haunted Mansion. I’ve always been a huge Halloween fan (I’m that Halloween house in town), and a fan of all things spooky and thrilling. After being a Halloween fan all my life, and visiting Disney for the first time in the later 90s in my mid-20s, visiting the HM for the first time was like coming "home". It fits my personality perfectly… spooky, fun, and funny… all things I love. Add a genius use of Pepper’s Ghost and you have a masterpiece. Before that first visit in my 20s, I didn't know the HM existed explaining why it was thrilling for me. Having thought all my life that WDW was just a kids' vacation destination, I never expected they'd have something that cool. 🤣

After that I’d have to vote for RnRC. I grew up with 80s & 90s rock, so Aerosmith is part of the fabric of my youth. Now turn that into a thrilling roller coaster, and shoot me down a tunnel from 0 to 60 in under 3 seconds and I’m happier than a pig in $h!#.

A ride Disney ripped my heart out with is SoC. Every time I was on that ride, for about 5 mins I was floating on clouds. My heart felt free and unhindered. It’s hard to explain if you don’t feel it yourself. IMO on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being the best, if SatW is a 5, SoC was a 72. Every scene IMO was just absolutely superior to SatW. I couldn’t care less that SoC didn’t fit the “world” theme of the pavilions. The ride was superior.

A ride/attraction I’d rip out would be Tomorrowland Speedway. I understand it’s a kids’ ride, but I think it takes up too much valuable real estate and could be replaced with something 100x better. I’d replace it with either some kind of giant drop ride similar to ToT with a different theme, or I’d be happy with an omni-mover dark ride to eat large crowds. I know this isn’t popular but I actually think that Swiss Family TH is a waste of space too, but it has such a small footprint that you couldn’t really replace it with anything. I know we have Swiss Family fans on these boards, but it hasn’t been relevant for 60 years. The only reason I wouldn’t touch it is because it’s a small attraction that takes nothing away from the park, so I personally have no issue with it. After having done it once, it’s now a walk past attraction for me without taking notice.

Anyone else who can narrow their favorite rides down to 1 or 2?
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Splash was but since its going away my next fav is EE. Even with an unworkable Yeti it still brings a ton of thrills to a coaster loving guy. Second has recently become Galaxies Edge. Being a SW fan, and sharing an enjoyment of the series with my DS, moving through the well themed attraction and experiencing all that it delivers makes it a very must do part of our trip.
Disney definitely ripped my heart out by taking away Alien Encounter. It was at the time the most heart pumping, dark, scary thrill of the parks and I loved it!!! I thought, now Disneys bringing in attractions that will add a more diverse sensation and thrill to those who seek it. I was devastated when the decision was made to rip it out and replace it with Stitch.
I'd rip out all the Dinoland area and put in either a better Dino themed area or something Beastly Kingdom related that brings us back to what originally was once designed for AK.
 

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney definitely ripped my heart out by taking away Alien Encounter. It was at the time the most heart pumping, dark, scary thrill of the parks and I loved it!!! I thought, now Disneys bringing in attractions that will add a more diverse sensation and thrill to those who seek it. I was devastated when the decision was made to rip it out and replace it with Stitch.
So true! This was probably second on my list of Disney ripping out my heart. Feeling the alien sneaking around back of your chair with the speakers right in your ears and puffs of air when he snorts... man, I miss that too. It was also one of my favorites at MK. It was an experience like no other. I agree 100%!
 

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
Ok, favorite attractions: Splash (more about that later)
HM, iconic, plain and simple
EE, even with the defective Yeti, still an AWESOME ride
Both trains on property…
Pandora FoP…AWESOME…the whole land…oh, how I miss Joe Rhode!
BTMRR…great ride, great queue and theming on the ride… Tony Baxter, imagineer on that and Splash…

Attractions that I’m sad about:
Splash Mtn. There is no way, NO WAY Tiana will be as good as SM…I know the screens will go up and many of the AA’s will go into Spike’s collection, lol, and yes, I’m condemning it prematurely, but I KNOW the best imagineers are gone and it will never be what once was.
Also, like the OP, Soarin over California was head and shoulders above the world tour. I’ll say it until I’m worm food…with 3 theatres, world version in 2, and Cali in 1…the lines will be double in the California version (but that would mean admitting TWDC made a mistake…think that’ll happen)? NOPE, but I can dream…
 

Dead2009

Horror Movie Guru
Big Thunder Mountain will always be my #1 go to whenever I'm in Disney. Splash is a close second but I guess I'll have to relive that through YouTube videos.
 

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
what if I were to say that my opinion is that your opinion is wrong???............am I on safe ground here or a rule breaker?
Safe ground, but then others can freely say your opinion about the other person's opinion is wrong. To which you can say that person's opinion about your opinion about another person's opinion... "yada, yada, yada, I never heard from him again."
yada yada.gif

Sorry, I yada-yadaed and couldn't not quote the rest of the line.
 

bryanfze55

Well-Known Member
I could not narrow it down to 1 or 2. My favorites, in no particular order:

Liberty Square Riverboat / Mark Twain Riverboat
Enchanted Tiki Room
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
The American Adventure
Jungle Cruise
Indiana Jones Adventure (Disneyland)
Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland version)
Spaceship Earth
PeopleMover
Disneyland Railroad
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Haunted Mansion
Main Street Vehicles
Splash Mountain (R.I.P.)

It would appear I have an affinity for being ushered around by Disney in various different modes of transportation.
 

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Also, like the OP, Soarin over California was head and shoulders above the world tour. I’ll say it until I’m worm food…with 3 theatres, world version in 2, and Cali in 1…the lines will be double in the California version (but that would mean admitting TWDC made a mistake…think that’ll happen)? NOPE, but I can dream…
I'm on board with this 100%. I think it should be the other way though... 2 screens of SoC, and 1 of SatW. With 3 theaters, there's really no reason not to. Let people choose the adventure they want to go on. SoC's line would be so long that they'd be forced to ask people to switch to SatW. I'd wait 2hrs for SoC even if the wait for SatW was 20 mins. Every scene is just iconic... the Golden Gate, the kayaks on the river, the skiers, the cliff/waterfall, the orange groves, the fighter jets in the desert, and flying into the fireworks above Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Man, it's all just chill inducing. And I didn't even name all the scenes.
 

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
I'm on board with this 100%. I think it should be the other way though... 2 screens of SoC, and 1 of SatW. With 3 theaters, there's really no reason not to. Let people choose the adventure they want to go on. SoC's line would be so long that they'd be forced to ask people to switch to SatW. I'd wait 2hrs for SoC even if the wait for SatW was 20 mins. Every scene is just iconic... the Golden Gate, the kayaks on the river, the skiers, the cliff/waterfall, the orange groves, the fighter jets in the desert, and flying into the fireworks above Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Man, it's all just chill inducing. And I didn't even name all the scenes.
And the scents are so much better…when my daughters were younger, we used to “kick” the kayakers in the river and the Golden Gate Bridge never looked bent like the Eiffel Tower…I didn’t want to get too greedy asking for 2, but I agree…the lines for the 2 would be longer than the 1 line for the world version. But like I said, that would mean TWDC fubar’ed up and Chappie would NEVER do that…
 

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And the scents are so much better…when my daughters were younger, we used to “kick” the kayakers in the river and the Golden Gate Bridge never looked bent like the Eiffel Tower…I didn’t want to get too greedy asking for 2, but I agree…the lines for the 2 would be longer than the 1 line for the world version. But like I said, that would mean TWDC fubar’ed up and Chappie would NEVER do that…
While I agree with you, the bent Eiffel Tower is really just a perception problem. It's not the projection or the video per se. It's the curved screen and the fact that depending on the seat you sit in, and that SatW shows a lot more straight lines, or lines of icons that we're familiar with, the bend is much more noticeable. When you're looking at mountains, rivers, etc. the bend disappears in the nature shots. When you see the Eiffel Tower with it's very familiar dimensions, it looks bent from the sides seats.

Either way, SoC is the superior attraction, but it had this problem too if you paid close attention. Below you can see the tower in the distance is fairly straight, but the one in the foreground is obviously bent.
SoC screenshot.JPG
 

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
While I agree with you, the bent Eiffel Tower is really just a perception problem. It's not the projection or the video per se. It's the curved screen and the fact that depending on the seat you sit in, and that SatW shows a lot more straight lines, or lines of icons that we're familiar with, the bend is much more noticeable. When you're looking at mountains, rivers, etc. the bend disappears in the nature shots. When you see the Eiffel Tower with it's very familiar dimensions, it looks bent from the sides seats.

Either way, SoC is the superior attraction, but it had this problem too if you paid close attention. Below you can see the tower in the distance is fairly straight, but the one in the foreground is obviously bent.
View attachment 650733
I guess because it’s so centralized it’s much more obvious…either way I’m with you, bring back SOC in at least 1
 

bryanfze55

Well-Known Member
The reason the curvature stands out so much in Soarin’ Around the World is because it focuses on landmarks (mostly manmade) whereas Soarin’ over California focused on landscapes. Not exclusively, but generally. Even in the Golden Gate scene, while the bridge itself has some curvature, the overall landscape still dominates. In the Eiffel Tower scene, you are front and center in front of the tower with nothing else to focus on.

I have no idea why Disney refuses to run at least one theater as SoC. They know it’s a better ride. During Food & Wine at California Adventure every spring, they bring SoC back to attract the locals. It gets significantly longer waits than SatW. Then they take it away after F&W is over.
 

UpAllNight

Well-Known Member
For me it changes frequently and often "new" gets pushed up the list.

But in our queue-line discussions we decided that it was how a ride makes you feel when you come off it that defines it's true greatness, and for me, on that basis, Tower of Terror is king. Your experience changes depending on your riding partners, but it's nearly always a scream.
 

mysto

Well-Known Member
Disney definitely ripped my heart out by taking away Alien Encounter.

That ride was completely original, unique in the world, and perfectly done. It predecessors and successors are all unique too, but Alien Encounter was best of breed for sure. I do miss a lot of other stuff.

My favorite has to be Tower of Terror. Perfect theming, creates suspense, then a satisfying whallop. I'm sure GOG is nice too but this is the one. I have lots of other favorites.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom