What is the worst ride in Animal Kingdom? (quality-wise)

What is the worst ride in Animal Kingdom? (quality)


  • Total voters
    171

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
People seem to be confusing "worst" with "least favorite." I don't care if Primeval Whirl makes you nauseated, it's objectively not WORSE than TriceraTop Spin.

That's like saying "I'm afraid of heights, so Splash Mountain is worse than Stitch's Great Escape." No, no it isn't.

You seem to miss the point. People are saying Primeval Whirl is bad because it's cheap and badly made. It is more objectionable than the trikes. Every ride has a goal. What makes a ride good is how well it accomplished that goal of experience, not the goal itself.

I rated Trike worst because I think both need to go, but honestly it's just a spinner made to be a spinner.
 

DisneyAndUniversalFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm just gonna rank all the Animal Kingdom rides from best to worst:
  1. Expedition Everest: An all-around timeless, mystical, and amazing coaster. The greatest ride in all of Walt Disney World IMO. Never a dull moment while you're on board. My only nitpick here is that the Yeti should still be fixed.
  2. Avatar Flight of Passage: The most beautiful and impressive simulator ride that Disney has ever created, complete with a wonderful score and some realistic breathing effects from the banshee you're riding on. Seriously worth the 3-hour wait.
  3. Dinosaur: Disney's most underrated thrill ride. Legitimately scary, has a lot of awesome dinosaur animatronics, and just a ton of fun to ride all around. However, there are still some animatronics that are in serious need of a repair, and even the preshow itself is a bit dated.
  4. Kilimanjaro Safaris: A scenic and peaceful tour through the African savanna, complete with real animals. Feels like an actual safari.
  5. Kali River Rapids: Decent but not nearly as exciting as its counterparts at Anaheim and Shanghai.
  6. Na'vi River Journey: Gorgeous colors and sets throughout, and an extremely realistic animatronic at the end, but the entire presentation is just lacking in compelling storytelling.
  7. Wildlife Express Train (seasonal at the moment): Boring but at least it serves (served?) a purpose.
  8. Triceratop Spin: Easily the worst of Disney's flat spinner rides. Ugly and generic.
  9. Primeval Whirl: Painfully unpleasant and hideously themed. Disney's worst coaster bar none.
good rank! do you think i should put the wildlife express train in now?
 

Family_Man

Member
I voted for Primeval Whirl - it is really low quality. Disney is the best at theming amusement parks, but the whole idea of replicating a crappy parking lot carnival should have been dismissed out of hand.

That said.... I actually rather enjoy the primeval whirl ride. I like the spinning and the swooping. I usually ride a few times with my kids.
 

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
It's notable that with the exception of Flight of Passage, all the major Animal Kingdom rides have serious flaws. All of them either have important elements that were installed but later deactivated (Safaris, Everest), were designed to be absurdly short (Kali, River Journey), or suffer by being clearly inferior versions of existing Disney rides (Dinosaur, Kali again).
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
It's notable that with the exception of Flight of Passage, all the major Animal Kingdom rides have serious flaws. All of them either have important elements that were installed but later deactivated (Safaris, Everest), were designed to be absurdly short (Kali, River Journey), or suffer by being clearly inferior versions of existing Disney rides (Dinosaur, Kali again).

No, no, no. They aren't 'flawed' they just aren't all perfect. Dinosaur's flaw is the corny head that replaced the meteor at the end. But DAK is known for it's really good attractions for a reason. The Yeti is a flaw but as far as how the attractions were designed, the only flawed ones are Kali and Na'vi for being far too short. The four E ticket rides are all very good - three being some of the greatest rides Disney's created, the other being inferior to Indy sure but still a great E.

And I hopefully speak for most when I say the safari is much better without that contrived poaching distraction. The main part of the ride has always been going on safari. The poachers were an annoying distraction from immersive wild Africa that makes the attraction great. So it has become better without that.

I remember the poacher storyline. It was very annoying.
 

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
No, no, no. They aren't 'flawed' they just aren't all perfect. Dinosaur's flaw is the corny head that replaced the meteor at the end. But DAK is known for it's really good attractions for a reason. The Yeti is a flaw but as far as how the attractions were designed, the only flawed ones are Kali and Na'vi for being far too short. The four E ticket rides are all very good - three being some of the greatest rides Disney's created, the other being inferior to Indy sure but still a great E.

And I hopefully speak for most when I say the safari is much better without that contrived poaching distraction. The main part of the ride has always been going on safari. The poachers were an annoying distraction from immersive wild Africa that makes the attraction great. So it has become better without that.

I remember the poacher storyline. It was very annoying.

The original poacher finale, with the high(er) speed chase and simulated machine gun fire was awesome. Ditto the the collapsing bridge effects. The current ride is neat but lacks the variety and ambition of the original.


Dinosaur/Countdown to Extinction was never actually fully installed or completed to original spec because they ran out of time. That's why there are so many periods of complete darkness. According to some reports they actually had a good deal of plastic plants and greenery on site to be installed but time constraints forced them to go with darkness and camo netting for large segments of the attraction. Overall, the final result is still a pretty good attraction but absolutely pales in comparison to its Indiana Jones siblings.
 

The Pho

Well-Known Member
People seem to be confusing "worst" with "least favorite." I don't care if Primeval Whirl makes you nauseated, it's objectively not WORSE than TriceraTop Spin.

That's like saying "I'm afraid of heights, so Splash Mountain is worse than Stitch's Great Escape." No, no it isn't.

It’s funny because I agree with you. But I voted for Primeval mostly because I forgot TriceraTop Spin existed despite having been next to it shortly before hitting the button. I’d also say Kali is worse as a ride, but the theming on it raises it a bit.

The original poacher finale, with the high(er) speed chase and simulated machine gun fire was awesome. Ditto the the collapsing bridge effects. The current ride is neat but lacks the variety and ambition of the original.

The poachers took away from the focus on the animals. The ride is better without the distraction. Not every ride needs a story where something goes wrong and then the rider saves the day. It was lazy and way too common of a ride element. And the bridge still does it’s thing, just not everytime.
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
So as a fan of Animal Kingdom, I'll rank the rides from best to worst as has another poster. I believe I have credibility (even though it is 100% subjective lol)

1. Kilimanjaro Safaris - It's the most immersive Disney attraction hands down, it's like a true African safari with real biotypes and accurate fauna to those biomes. Wildlife at the forefront makes the attraction different everytime, it has a message and a great feel of adventure into the wilderness with all kinds of beasts. The entire time and it actually is a part of the Harambe lore itself.

2. Expedition Everest/Flight of Passage - a tie, both are great. Theming is totally on point, themed into immersive lands and with great ride experiences. EE needs to fix it's Yeti but with it, the Yeti is pretty real. FOP is perfect and is the best example of how to effectively create a screen based experience. Fills the mythical creatute void left by Beastly Kingdom.

3. DINOSAUR - underrated. Great ride makes it feel rough as if you are truly traveraing the primeval jungle. Animatronics feel real and are genuinely scary. Some good thrills and an immersive environment.

4. Kali River Rapids - thrilling, very wet, and like nearly everything at DAK, it effectively transports you to a new place. It has a nice message, but it's a bit short and could use a more engaging story other than the forest is being destroyed, so run. Maybe show us animals losing their homes to drive the point home.

Na'vi River Journey - not too bad. Way too short and lacks a true story, but it's a beautifully themed attraction than has a very lifelike AA at the end - though this AA should be in animal in an animal park.

5. Primeval Whirl/Triceratops Spin - another tie. I tried to choose one but no, both are equally heinous and should be destroyed, with the rest of Dinoland USA, ans turned into either a land set in the past or one that is themed to the badland - the red deserts out west, a paleontological site out there. Could be done well with great rockwork and we can keep Dinosaur.
You lose all credibility not having FoP listed ;)
 

EricPZ

Active Member
Primeval Whirl just edges Dinosaur. I'm a fat guy show both those rides are uncomfortable. Didn't include Triceratops Spin cuz....well, I'm a fat guy and never bothered to try it). ;)
 

Family_Man

Member
It’s funny because I agree with you. But I voted for Primeval mostly because I forgot TriceraTop Spin existed despite having been next to it shortly before hitting the button. I’d also say Kali is worse as a ride, but the theming on it raises it a bit.



The poachers took away from the focus on the animals. The ride is better without the distraction. Not every ride needs a story where something goes wrong and then the rider saves the day. It was lazy and way too common of a ride element. And the bridge still does it’s thing, just not everytime.

I never rode the poacher version of the safari. Its hard to imagine how the attraction would be improved by the drama of a speed chases, machine gun sounds and bad bridge. The current safari is very authentic and I it always sounded like the other stuff would detract from the attraction, not improve it.
 

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