As we approach the Holiday Season, for some weird reason, I have been longing for another trip to "The Most Magical Place on Earth". It could perhaps be that the last time I was within the confines of this most bewitching and delightful of places, was the Holiday Season of 2011, when I spent Christmas and New Years beside Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, Genie, Ariel, among an assortment of other characters from my childhood. It could also be due to the miserable 2017 I have endured, a year that never seemed to improve no matter how brutal a situation I encountered. It could also be due to using my Pandora Account to listen to the Disneyland Legacy Collection endlessly, tuning in to the familiar tunes of the Briar Patch, the whistles of the Steamboat Willie, and the exciting Fantasmic! spectacular at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Well, unluckily for me, I am unable to venture off on a journey to Florida to revisit my days as a little boy this year, and barring me winning the lottery, it remains the same odds for 2018. However, I have been fortunate enough to go to this great place four times in my life time (2000, 2005, 2007, and 2011). I have many upon many fond memories of being there with family and friends (from an Uncle taking us on our own "Wild Ride" when his distraught kids, niece and nephew learned that "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" was closed down a year before we came, to falling through the tracks at Thunder Mountain as a six year old (this seriously did happen, fortunately I only got a little scraped and bruised, though I did get a Simba stuffed animal I still have to this day), to spending an entire day with my childhood crush at Epcot, to golfing with my mother at the Fantasia Gardens, to even managing to cut lines at Magic Kingdom when my sister hurt herself at the park (they paid for her wheelchair and even gave us two days of permanent tickets we could use whenever we wanted to avoid a potential lawsuit). I saw characters that only existed on my TV come to life, saw stunt shows, and spent at least $1000 of my parents money on useless souvenirs I doubt I even have anymore. But hands down the most memorable time spent at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida was on the many rides that have encompassed themselves within the four theme parks and two water parks within the enormous 27,000 acre property Walt himself purchased before his death in 1966. Seeing as how I am slowly recovering from a brutal year that taxed me more than I ever thought a year before marriage and children would, I figured I would go back to a much better time in my life and recount for you all my Top 10 Favorite Rides at Walt Disney World. Please note this list is all opinion based and may not necessarily reflect your personal opinions. With that said, let's kick this list off with a few honorable mentions:
"The Flying Carpets of Aladdin" - No real reason, but I do have a personal affinity for the Aladdin franchise and I definitely prefer this to the ride it was cloned from: "Dumbo the Flying Elephant"
"Mission SPACE" - Truth be told, I never managed to go on this ride due to my sister's intense claustrophobia, but I was caught completely off guard when I realized my crush had grabbed my hand and held on when the ride was about to begin. In fact, she didn't let go until her sister started teasing us about it. So, obviously, this was good memory for me :D
"Jungle Cruise" - This was the closest I had ever been to "wild animals" I had ever been and would cherish this memory for two whole days before I went to Animal Kingdom...
"Pirates of the Caribbean" - Having the boyhood dream of wanting to be a pirate at the height of the Pirate's franchise's popularity, this certainly made a few dreams come true for me.
"Snow White's Scary Adventures" - This Dark Ride no longer exists in the Magic Kingdom, though it was always my favorite for a few bizarre reasons, chiefly because of my sister's absolute refusal to let me finish
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs until we were 6 or 7, so I finally saw the whole film...well technically...
"Primeval Whirl" - Was not expecting a fun Roller Coaster like this to pop up in Animal Kingdom, but I have never had a bad experience on this spinning ride of madness and chaos (but never put me on the Mad Tea Cups).
10. The Backlot Tour
Going to Walt Disney World with my sister was always a double-edge sword. On the one hand, you would definitely have a memorable ride on the thrill rides (some of which I will get to later), but on the other hand she was insufferable when it came to doing the non-rides, so things like The Art of Animation show, the Walt Disney Biographical Museum, and other shows and events were never on the radar when she was with us. So, in 2011, when it was just my mother and I on this trip, we were able to do things we were never able to do before, including taking a trip on the Backlot Tour, where my Mother volunteered her and I to take part in one of the stunt events (where I got drenched with water during a special effects storm). While I was embarrassed at first, I realized while we were doing it that this was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that I could not pass up. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole tour, exploring through movie artifacts (many of which were from properties Disney did not own as of that point such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones), being a big movie buff myself. Unfortunately, the phone that I had all the pictures I took from this trip was damaged and they were lost. Adding insult to injury, this ride no longer exists thanks to Star Wars Land being built, but at least my Mom and I will have memories.
9. The Haunted Mansion
I've never had issues with dealing with scary things in my lifetime, mostly due to my personal fears being more introverted than extroverted. While my cousins and sister shivered at the sheer thought of going inside a ride literally called "The Haunted Mansion", I was able to convince them it would be a fun ride. This ride is Disney Imagineering at it's finest, with specters that phase in and out of existence every second, but nothing too scary to frighten the little ones. The soundtrack was also eerie yet playful. While you're always on guard in this mysterious dwelling for specters, there is no denying the immense fun to be had in this Disney Classic. If only they made a good movie based on it...
8. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
If ever I had a bigger dream than being a pirate, than it was to become a Space Ranger like Buzz Lightyear. While I'll never be able to fly through outer space shooting lasers or exploring dangerous new planets, this ride in Tomorrow Land definitely gives me a look into what it would be like. You and a friend/rival/loved one enter a space ship and try to earn more points than your partner by shooting more targets than he/she. This has caused intense rivalries to flare up, including one that will likely never be resolved between me and NoblePanda (who has never been to Disney World the same time I was). You don't truly win more than bragging rights in this ride, but to even have the slightest taste of what being a Space Ranger was is more than enough to crack my list.
7. Kilimanjaro Safari
While Jungle Cruise was my first excited time seeing animals in their, ahem, "natural habitats", this ride swept me off of my feet and still does to this day. Jumping into a Safari Jeep, you are guided through a wildlife preserve carefully made to resemble one of the wildlife preserves in Africa. You can see Giraffes, Elephants, Cheetahs, Rhinos, Hippos, and Lions, with some even coming within sniffing distance of you. While it will never be exactly the same as going to Africa on an actual Safari, I can safely say that as a big
Lion King fanatic, this definitely will never dip below this spot on the list at any point.
6. Test Track
While ghosts and goblins have never truly intimidated me, going ridiculously fast (my parents were always safe drivers before my sister and I turned 10) on this test driving course at Epcot definitely made me a little more weary of cars than before. But since then, "Test Track" has become a must ride attraction each time we go to Disney World, as the thrills of travelling that fast on the track now make my adrenaline pump to never before felt levels (this would change after riding monstrous rides like The Griffon in Busch Gardens and Kingda Ka at Six Flags). The Tomorrow Land Speedway may always be a special ride, but this one took the cake for me personally. I just wish I had been able to go on by myself once, but the lines were either too long or I was too young to be able to go like that on my own. One of these days, I hope.
5. Dinosaur
Remember how I said going on rides with my sister could always be a memorable experience? This ride in Animal Kingdom was definitely one of those truly memorable rides to go on with her. While you are in a time travelling jeep looking for an Iguanadon reminiscent of Aladar from the movie
Dinosaur, you come across a variety of those prehistoric beasts Dino Land USA is so used to having. The first time we went on this ride, however, our truck got a little too close to the Carnotaur (pictured to the left), and the beast plucked a scrunchie out of my sister's hair. Naturally, she was devastated when we left the ride, but there was little my parents or the park could do for her. She simply let her hair down for the rest of the humid day at the park, but has never let us live it down since. This ride is always a blast to go on whenever we find ourselves in Animal Kingdom.
4. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
I think this ride forever prevented me from being intimidated by all other rides. Because this ride did leave me in a messy pile of tears with my Mom and aunt while the others went on Rock N Roller Coaster. Despite this utter feeling of dread being stuck in this free falling elevator, there are few if any true thrills to find in the Walt Disney World Resort that can top the Tower of Terror in Disney's Hollywood Studios. Seeing as how every drop and ascent is randomly selected by the computer operating the ride, you never have the same ride twice. Unpredictability combined with the notion of free falling makes for a ride unlike any attempted before it, though many other free fall rides have attempted it.
3. Expedition Everest
While I have never been to Disneyland in California, I am unafraid to admit when they have it better than we do over here on the East Coast. They have the Indiana Jones Ride, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and several Dark Rides I would have loved to have in Walt Disney World. With that said, I think Disney World won the contest of the Mountain Battles. While Disneyland has the Matterhorn, Disney World has Expedition Everest, one of the most monstrous and exciting roller coasters Disney has ever made. With almost complete vertical drops, a separate track that runs backwards, and a huge mountain face larger than any building in all of Disney World. This ride is nothing short of a marvel and I am proud to have gone on it multiple times in two separate trips.
2. Space Mountain
I had to reserve a space for the first roller coaster I was ever on. Firsts for me hold more water than one would think, but it's not as if Space Mountain has not held up after all the years it's been since I first got on board the ship in 2000. In this ride, you are "launched" to the moon in a rocket ship that zooms throughout the stars before landing on a "space station". As is tradition in my family, Space Mountain is always the first ride we go on whenever we go to Magic Kingdom. Because this ride is a staple for so many in our family. What better way to show off the wonder of Walt Disney World than to have our first ride be one so good and memorable? I can see only one ride ever being more entertaining and memorable in our family than Space Mountain...
1. Splash Mountain
There are a plethora of reasons to have Splash Mountain top all the other rides on this list. I have ridden this ride far more times than any other ride in Walt Disney World with the possible exception of Space Mountain or the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It was the ride to wash away my frown after falling through the tracks at Thunder Mountain. It was the ride we spent the most time on in our first "After Hours" experience when the park was closed to all but people staying on the Disney property. It could also be my childish desire to find something
Song of the South related, as it was such a memorable ride, yet I could never find a single hint of it's existence on video anywhere here in America. Regardless of the reason I could choose, all of them combined make Splash Mountain a delight no matter how many times I ride it in one trip (or in one day), and always makes me leave the ride in a better mood than I was when I got on line.
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