What I Did On My Summer Vacation, or The Night I Counted All The Disney Attractions In America, by TP2000
I was wrong Wikkler. The number of attractions floats around 80 on each coast, not 70. And Disneyland Resort has 9 more "rides" than WDW has, even though WDW has 8 more "attractions" than Disneyland.
Okay, here we go kids. To prepare for this I dumped all the Russian vodka I had in the house down the drain because of the horrible way the Ruskies are treating The Gays lately, and I went down to BevMo and found a bottle of a great American vodka made in Oregon by non-bigots, and then I picked a ripe lime off the tree in the backyard and I made myself a nice mid-summer American Vodka Tonic.
With that very important prep work completed, I got out all my recent WDW and DLR Guidemaps and fired up the official Disney websites on Mr. Gore's Internet, and I came up with this...
Walt Disney World Resort’s four theme parks (MK, Epcot, DHS, DAK) have 86 Attractions, 46 of which are "rides".
Disneyland Resort’s two theme parks (Disneyland, DCA) have 77 Attractions, 55 of which are "rides".
Of that tally the total number of “rides” where you get in a moving vehicle and travel some measurable distance is 55 rides at the Disneyland Resort and 46 rides at Walt Disney World. Both WDW and Disneyland Resort have 16 major E Ticket rides each, many of them cloned between each other.
The methodology behind my madness is at the end, like how I counted every World Showcase pavilion as an attraction even if it’s just a restaurant and a shop (Germany, Italy, Japan, etc.). Or why I had to count stage shows to give WDW an edge and prevent some Floridians from having a heart attack.
For those keeping score at home, here’s the list for Disneyland Resort.
Disneyland Park, 46 Attractions, 34 of which are rides:
Main Street Vehicles, Horse Drawn Streetcar, Disneyland Railroad, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Main Street Cinema, Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones Adventure, Tarzan’s Treehouse, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, Davy Crockett Canoes, Rafts to Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Big Thunder Petting Zoo, Pinnochio’s Daring Journey, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Castle Tour, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Alice In Wonderland, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Storybookland Canal Boats, Mad Tea Party, Carousel, Dumbo, Matterhorn Bobsleds, it’s a small world, Fantasyland Theater stage show, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, Mickey’s House and Movie Barn, Go Coaster, Goofy’s Playhouse, Autopia, Submarine Voyage, Monorail, Innoventions, Captain EO, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Astro Orbiter
Disney California Adventure has 31 Attractions, 21 of which are rides:
Red Car Trolley, Soarin’ Over California, Grizzly River Run, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, The Little Mermaid, Golden Zephyr, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Goofy’s Sky School, Silly Symphony Swings, Mickey’s Fun Wheel, Toy Story Midway Mania, Carousel, California Screamin’, Boudin Bakery Tour, Blue Sky Cellar, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi’s Flying Tires, Radiator Springs Racers, It’s Tough To Be A Bug, Hemlich’s Chew Chew Train, Drive ‘Em Buggies, Francis Ladybug Boogie, Flik’s Flyers, Tower of Terror, Animation Academy, Turtle Talk, Sorcerers Workshop, Disney Jr. Live On Stage, Monsters Inc., MuppetVision, Hyperion Theater Aladdin show
Here’s the list for Walt Disney World.
Magic Kingdom Park has 34 Attractions, 25 of which are rides:
Main Street Vehicles, Horse Drawn Streetcar, WDW Railroad, Meet Mickey, Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, Country Bear Jamboree, Riverboat, Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Mickey’s Philharmagic, it’s a small world, Peter Pan’s Flight, Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, The Little Mermaid, Storytime with Belle, Carousel, Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, The Barnstormer, Speedway, PeopleMover, Space Mountain, Rocket Jets, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc., Stich’s Great Escape
Epcot has 23 Attractions, 8 of which are rides:
Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo, Turtle Talk, Seabase Alpha, Journey Into Your Imagination, Captain EO, Innoventions East, Innoventions West, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Mission: Space, Test Track, Gran Fiesta Tour, China CircleVision, Maelstrom, The Spirit of Norway (film at exit of Maelstrom), Germany, American Adventure, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Impessions de France, United Kingdom, O Canada!
Disney Hollywood Studios has 16 Attractions, 6 of which are rides:
Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Rock N’ Roller Coaster, Great Movie Ride, Backlot Tram Tour, Midway Mania, MuppetVision, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Indy Stunt Show, Lights Motors Action, American Idol, One Man’s Dream, Disney Jr. Live On Stage, Animation Academy, Beauty & The Beast Live On Stage, The Legend of Jack Sparrow
Disney’s Animal Kingdom has 13 Attractions, 7 of which are rides:
Pangani Forest Trails, It’s Tough To Be A Bug, Maharajah Trek, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Triceratops Spin, Kilimanjaro Safari, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo Stage Show, Train to Conservation Station, Exhibits at Conservation Station
For the two people who are still with me, a few random notes. I didn't want to count stage shows, I really didn't, because they are "entertainment" and I feel that once you've seen one theme park stage show with talented dancers from the local Junior College dancing their perky hearts out in a furry animal costume to pre-recorded music you've seen them all. But if I left out the major stage shows then the tally for DHS and DAK would collapse into single digits and the Disneyland Resort would win both the ride tally and the attraction tally. So I let the dozen stage shows in WDW count, every last one of them in DHS and DAK, and then I included the three (3) major stage shows in Anaheim as well; Mickey & The Magical Map at the Fantasyland Theater and Alladin The Musical at DCA's Hyperion Theater and Disney Jr.
Fantasmic, water shows, parades and fireworks didn't count on either coast.
Small playgrounds and toddler fountains also didn't count.
I counted every World Showcase pavilion as at least one attraction, even if it's Italy or Germany or Japan which are really just gift shops and a restaurant. But they are pretty to look at, and they're our old enemies in World War II who are so nice about it now, so they get to be counted.
The Main Street Vehicles in both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom count as one ride attraction, even though they are three separate rides; Omnibus, Horseless Carriage, Fire Truck. But you have to draw the line somewhere. Epcot, God bless it, got weird. The Seas and The Land count as three attractions each, while massive Energy only counts as one. I thought about having Test Track be two attractions, with the post-show General Motors showroom display counting as a second attraction, but then I remembered that horrible Chevy Malibu I rented a few months ago on a business trip and I reconsidered. Yes, the Boudin Bakery Tour at DCA counts as an attraction, so does The Legend of Jack Sparrow at DHS, so we'll just have to deal with that. At least at the bakery tour they give you free samples.
But there it is as it stands in 2013, subject to debate and deep contemplation. Interesting, don't you think?
