How does WDW compare to rides outside of it? Can you name singular rides that equal or better Disney's?

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

The Beast and Millennium Force are both great rides. Son of the Beast was also awesome but got shut down. King's Island and Cedar Point are both great parks but nothing equals the charm of Disney parks because everything else just seems like "just a ride" but Disney stuff seems like you're part of a story that's playing out and that's what the difference is for me. The immersion of Disney is what sets it apart. Although it is a "theme" park and the others are "amusement" parks. There's a huge difference. Walt knew this and that's why he wanted Disneyworld because Disneyland seemed too connected to the outside world where as Disneyworld is this huge complex that really does feel like you exist in a world of fantasy all around and that's why I love it so much.

 

[Trackmaster]

The Beast and Millennium Force are both great rides. Son of the Beast was also awesome but got shut down. King's Island and Cedar Point are both great parks but nothing equals the charm of Disney parks because everything else just seems like "just a ride" but Disney stuff seems like you're part of a story that's playing out and that's what the difference is for me. The immersion of Disney is what sets it apart. Although it is a "theme" park and the others are "amusement" parks. There's a huge difference. Walt knew this and that's why he wanted Disneyworld because Disneyland seemed too connected to the outside world where as Disneyworld is this huge complex that really does feel like you exist in a world of fantasy all around and that's why I love it so much.

SoB was a failure in all respects. I rode SoB, MF, and the Beast in the same family trip for the first time when I was 15, and I was blown away by how mediocre and boring SoB was. The Beast and MF were great at the time, but they've been surpassed by better and more interesting designs. The only coaster from the early 2000's that has really stood the time well is Superman: the Ride at Six Flags New England in my opinion.

I just got back from riding i305 again, and its amazing at how a great track design can augment the quality of a giga. MF just has one of the most boring track designs imaginable. But its still a giga, so it still lands in my top 25. I see the value in the Beast, but its still rough and has no airtime. I still want to make sure it fits in my top 25 somehow. Top 50 for sure.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

SoB was a failure in all respects. I rode SoB, MF, and the Beast in the same family trip for the first time when I was 15, and I was blown away by how mediocre and boring SoB was. The Beast and MF were great at the time, but they've been surpassed by better and more interesting designs. The only coaster from the early 2000's that has really stood the time well is Superman: the Ride at Six Flags New England in my opinion.

I just got back from riding i305 again, and its amazing at how a great track design can augment the quality of a giga. MF just has one of the most boring track designs imaginable. But its still a giga, so it still lands in my top 25. I see the value in the Beast, but its still rough and has no airtime. I still want to make sure it fits in my top 25 somehow. Top 50 for sure.

I loved Son of the Beast. Me and my buddy rode it over and over and loved a wooden coaster having a loop in it. It was for sure a rough ride but wooden coasters are supposed to be pretty rough. Apparently the reason they shut it down was for safety reasons because people were supposedly getting hurt on it by how rough it was. It has been almost 20 years since I've been to Cedar Point though and they have that Top Speed Dragster I think it is? A guy told me on a bus at Disneyworld that he considered himself a huge daredevil but said there was no way he'd get on that thing. That made me want to ride it even more. LOL! Doesn't it go like 120mph or something?

 

[Trackmaster]

I loved Son of the Beast. Me and my buddy rode it over and over and loved a wooden coaster having a loop in it. It was for sure a rough ride but wooden coasters are supposed to be pretty rough. Apparently the reason they shut it down was for safety reasons because people were supposedly getting hurt on it by how rough it was. It has been almost 20 years since I've been to Cedar Point though and they have that Top Speed Dragster I think it is? A guy told me on a bus at Disneyworld that he considered himself a huge daredevil but said there was no way he'd get on that thing. That made me want to ride it even more. LOL! Doesn't it go like 120mph or something?

"Wooden coasters are supposed to be rough." Tell that to El Toro. I disagree with roughness being needed. Coasters are supposed to be able happiness and adrenaline, not about pain. There's no excuse for roughness, it just means that the designer wasn't good enough, and the park doesn't want to put money into maintaining the ride.

My main problem with SoB was with how dull it was. The fact that it was rough made it even worse. The Beast at least has an interesting track design. King's Island has made up for it with Mystic Timbers. It is certainly a classic in the makings.

 

[Trackmaster]

I loved Son of the Beast. Me and my buddy rode it over and over and loved a wooden coaster having a loop in it. It was for sure a rough ride but wooden coasters are supposed to be pretty rough. Apparently the reason they shut it down was for safety reasons because people were supposedly getting hurt on it by how rough it was. It has been almost 20 years since I've been to Cedar Point though and they have that Top Speed Dragster I think it is? A guy told me on a bus at Disneyworld that he considered himself a huge daredevil but said there was no way he'd get on that thing. That made me want to ride it even more. LOL! Doesn't it go like 120mph or something?

Yeah, the last time I rode Top Thrill Dragster, there was enough fog that when we went through the top hat, we were actually in the clouds. It was interesting disappearing up there into all whiteness, and coming back down. I'll never forget that.

 

[SirWillow]

I loved Son of the Beast. Me and my buddy rode it over and over and loved a wooden coaster having a loop in it. It was for sure a rough ride but wooden coasters are supposed to be pretty rough. Apparently the reason they shut it down was for safety reasons because people were supposedly getting hurt on it by how rough it was.

I wish I could destroy the myth that is "wood coasters are supposed to be rough." No, they aren't. A well built and well maintained wood coaster does not have to rough, and it especially does not have to be painful.

There are multiple reasons that SoB was torn down. It was literally tearing itself to pieces. It was hurting people. They tried to find fixes and there weren't any because of the bad engineering. Pieces fell off of it and landed on one of the trains. it was a piece of junk from the beginning. Then you add in that it had one of the most uninspiring, boring layouts on top of it- it's no wonder that ridership dropped off in a hurry and it was costing them more to attempt to fix it than it was worth.

It has been almost 20 years since I've been to Cedar Point though and they have that Top Speed Dragster I think it is? A guy told me on a bus at Disneyworld that he considered himself a huge daredevil but said there was no way he'd get on that thing. That made me want to ride it even more. LOL! Doesn't it go like 120mph or something?

It's called Top Thrill Dragster. Six Flags Great Adventure has a nearly identical ride called Kingda Ka that goes a couple of miles faster and a few feet higher. Extremely fun, though very short, rides. But nothing like what Disney would put in.

Which, trying to bring it back on topic, is where I find some of the comments on the thread almost humorous. I love coasters with a passion. But Disney isn't going to put in some big thrill coaster with no theming like most of the ones mentioned on the thread. That's not what Disney does. And trying to compare those rides to what Disney has is comparing apples to fruit salad.

 

[celluloid]

Aside from the common favorites, Raptor Encounter, even in its temporary location is the best themed/most impressive Photo Op meet and greet of any park IMHO.

Also, Universal and other parks seem to do Hard Ticketed Events better.

 

[KCheatle]

I would say the thing Disney does better than any other park I've been to (and, I've been to many) is the family attraction. Many parks have great attractions for the tween to young adult range, but the littles are too scared and the middle-aged and older (which would be my category) have had enough migraines, vertigo, and back and joint pain to deter us from taking on anything too intense and then having to stay at the park the rest of the day.

I think even Disney's most intense rides are doable for most tween-older adults. Granted, I do take Dramamine out of an abundance of caution, but I'm not sure I actually need it with the WDW rides. I do not include in this list Mission Space: Orange, where thankfully I still had a toddler at the time and could justify my extended use of the baby center to recover in the dark while watching Cinderella. That.was.miserable.

My family is older now, so we do enjoy many of Universal/IOA's rides, Busch Gardens' rides, etc. Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts are amazing. At Busch Gardens' WIlliamsburg there is a coaster called Verbolten that is crazy fast, goes forwards, backwards, and actually drops you like ToT style from one track to another track. It is crazy! But, for a long time, we avoided these other parks and stuck to WDW because there just wasn't enough for all of us to do to justify the price of admission.

 

[SirWillow]

Also, Universal and other parks seem to do Hard Ticketed Events better.

Greatly depends on the event.

I much preferred Night of Joy at Magic Kingdom to Universal's Rock the Universe, which they oversold and had the concerts much to loud. There wasn't a single person in our group that enjoyed Rock the Universe.

I'll also take Mickey's Not So Scary over Universal's Halloween stuff. But then I also don't like the blood, gore and horror. Much prefer the family friendly.

 

[celluloid]

Greatly depends on the event.

I much preferred Night of Joy at Magic Kingdom to Universal's Rock the Universe, which they oversold and had the concerts much to loud. There wasn't a single person in our group that enjoyed Rock the Universe.

I'll also take Mickey's Not So Scary over Universal's Halloween stuff. But then I also don't like the blood, gore and horror. Much prefer the family friendly.

True, it would depend on the person, but I find hard to compare Night of Joy as it is not a theme park centered event anymore.

Also, I understand taste of Horror vs Halloween and trick or treating. But objectively, the effort and budget difference is very evident. MNSSHP does not get new shows every year. And there are no build from the ground up exhibits or friendly haunt mazes every year.

Si ce you said greatly Depends on the event, what event do you feel Universal does better?

 

[Trackmaster]

Which, trying to bring it back on topic, is where I find some of the comments on the thread almost humorous. I love coasters with a passion. But Disney isn't going to put in some big thrill coaster with no theming like most of the ones mentioned on the thread. That's not what Disney does. And trying to compare those rides to what Disney has is comparing apples to fruit salad.

Yeah, and the only reason that the other parks don't do what Disney does is the lack of budget, lack of talent, and lack of IPs. Granted, roller coasters awesome, and do provide a surprisingly economic return on investment for their low cost, nothing will be as popular as the elaborate dark rides, but a proper Disney or Universal ride would blow through Cedar Fair or Six Flags entire chain ride budget for the year and then some. And, they wouldn't be able to afford to staff it or maintain it. If these parks can't figure out how to get the computers working for something as easy as a coaster, they'd be lost trying to get thousands of animatronics figured out. And the mild rides work better when you're trying to get people to buy a lot of your worthless crap--ahem-- merchandise, drink lots of alcohol, and eat lots of food. And right, most adults aren't cruel enough that they'll leave their kids at home when they go to parks, so Disney figured out that its best to make mild rides that the kids can just ride with their parents.

Six Flags isn't necessarily any more adult oriented. The difference is that the kids will just be dumped off at the parks without their parents, and they'll be running around screaming and getting into trouble. You never really see unattended kids at Disney.

I'd also wager to say that Disney and Universal do more to create a potential adult only atmosphere than other chains. They've just found that adults without kids would rather get blackout drunk, eat fancy food, and look at scenery than ride extreme coasters.