That was obviously a challenge. There's both a lot of attractions and a lot of ways to consider the relative value of each attraction. I would like to say that this ranking is super scientific and perfectly accurate, but really it was a bit more instinctive based on how I feel after the most recent trip. But there were a couple big things I considered: if it is fun, if it is innovative or unique, and if its theme fits its location. So a good attraction could be boosted by being one of a kind, or penalized if I think the theme doesn't work well. I think that forms a pretty good general value system for attractions.
So I'll go through each of the 4 parks and then do an overall ranking of my top attractions. Let's go.
Magic Kingdom
- Tomorrowland Speedway - It's loud, takes up a lot of space, doesn't look very interesting, and this version doesn't make much sense in Tomorrowland. Easy choice for last place for me.
- Astro Orbiter
- Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It! Parade
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor - This one gets majorly penalized for being in Tomorrowland.
- Philharmagic - Would have been higher in the past, but the render and 3D quality is so far behind everything else in the resort just because of its age. Needs an update badly.
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin - This starts a chunk of flat ride and kids attractions that aren't exactly bad, but just not interesting for me. Something has to be near the bottom.
- Barnstormer Starring The Great Goofini
- Mad Tea Party - Not a fan of spinning attractions, so I've never even been on this.
- Prince Charming Regal Carousel
- Dumbo The Flying Elephant
- The Hall of Presidents
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Enchanted Tales with Belle - What is just a meet and greet is surprisingly high on this list for me, and I think it is entirely because of the awesome Lumiere animatronic.
- Under The Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid
- It's a Small World - The first of a couple attractions that would have been higher before I rode their twin at Disneyland.
- Festival of Fantasy Parade - Really solid daytime parade, and way better than what it replaced. Sad though that this is the only parade I can rank in the whole resort.
- Tom Sawyer Island
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin - Here's a real challenging one. Fun ride, innovative for its time as the first shooter in the resort, but I don't think it fits in Tomorrowland. Hard to balance that, so it ends up middle of the pack.
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Liberty Square Riverboat
- Walt Disney World Railroad
- Peter Pan's Flight - A classic that gets a lot of points for its unique ride system and history. Always try to ride once, but I don't think I would ever actually wait in line for it.
- Swiss Family Treehouse - I'm sure very few people would have the treehouse this high on the list, but I love it and I think its because it combines a bunch of my favorite things: Adventureland, explorable themed design, architecture, and great views of the park below. I'll always climb the treehouse at least once.
- Jungle Cruise
- Country Bear Jamboree - Country Bears is so simple but still really entertaining. Higher than I would have expected before this trip.
- Carousel of Progress
- Happily Ever After
- Splash Mountain
- Pirates of the Caribbean - Another drop versus a pre-Disneyland trip list.
- The Tiki Room
- Big Thunder Mountain - Challenging to decide between these coasters. I think Big Thunder might be a better coaster by itself, but the theme and the dark factor of Space Mountain pushed it ahead.
- Space Mountain
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority - The peoplemover was close to being top pick for me. I think it says a lot that it was even in contention. But really its so good as everyone should already know.
- Haunted Mansion - Top place for the Magic Kingdom for a ton of reasons. The effects were innovative for their time and still impressive, the theme is thorough and well done, and it is fun.
EPCOT
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival - This is just kind of sad that this counts as an attraction.
- Circle of Life - It was open when I was there, so I counted it. But I think I only ever saw it once about 10 years ago. So no loss.
- Journey Into Imagination With Figment - Its sad to put this so low, but it really just isn't that great when you know what used to be there.
- Innoventions
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends - I miss the hydrolaters.
- O Canada
- Reflections of China
- Turtle Talk with Crush
- Frozen Ever After - Good ride, great animatronics, bad location. So a ranking near the middle.
- Grand Fiesta Tour
- Test Track - I think Test Track 1.0 would have been higher, which is weird to me. Objectively, 2.0 is better themed and better fits the tone of the park. But I just don't think its as fun. So many blank spaces and screens and projections. Still worth it for the speed run however.
- Soarin - I preferred over California. Wish they could run both.
- The American Adventure
- Living with the Land - This is so classic EPCOT and its great that it still exists.
- Mission: Space - It's probably shocking that I put this above the two heavy hitters of Future World, but I honestly think this is a better EPCOT attraction. Innovative and fun ride system tells a story that directly aligns with the concept of EPCOT. I know few will agree, but I appreciate what this attraction tries to do.
- Impressions de France - Best and most timeless of the movies. I think a lot of it is because I don't have to be constantly turning to see it all. And France is a beautiful place, so that helps too.
- Illuminations - Favorite nightime/fireworks show by a lot. I love that its not Disney, and that is what I am most afraid of losing when it is eventually replaced. We've already got Happily Ever After, we don't need it again in another park.
- Spaceship Earth - The top spot for this park is one of the high points of Imagineering. It constantly amazing me still that they built a dark ride in a giant floating sphere, filled it with maybe the most animatronics in the resort, and it still holds up after so many years.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Star Wars: Path of the Jedi - It's just a movie trailer.
- Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Star Wars Launch Bay
- Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage - This pair of shows are fine for what they are, but have been around unchanged for way too long.
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid
- Jedi Training Academy
- Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular Fireworks - The only fireworks show that I am ranking that I have not actually seen. But this feels like a good place for it.
- Fantasmic - After seeing Disneyland's, I feel like I can skip this in the future.
- Rockin Roller Coaster
- Walt Disney Presents - This ranking is really based on its old version as One Man's Dream, but I think its value holds, even if just for all the cool models.
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Muppet Vision 3D
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular - The original and still the best theme park stunt show. I think it's scale is still impressive for a theme park setting and it really is the only thing left that reflects the original park idea of putting you behind the scenes of the movie making process.
- Star Tours - Even though this is an old attraction and a common ride system, points for it being one of the first and for the randomization of sequences. Adds a lot to re-ridability.
- Tower of Terror - Both an incredibly fun attraction and an example of really great and thorough theming. Basically the only attraction that would make me strongly consider going to Hollywood Studios for a day right now.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Triceratops Spin
- It's Tough to be a Bug
- Primeval Whirl - I used to think this was fun, but my memory of the last time I rode it is that it was pretty rough. Plus, penalty for the area around it.
- Rakiki's Planet Watch
- The Boneyard
- Kali River Rapids - Last couple trips have been in winter, when getting soaked was not a great idea, so I don't have the best view of this attraction.
- Finding Nemo: The Musical
- The Oasis Animals
- Flights of Wonder
- Dinosaur - It hurts to ride this and know that it is basically the same thing as Indiana Jones. It's just so dark and rough and empty compared to the better version.
- Rivers of Light - I liked it, loved the idea and the style and the music, but felt it needed something more. Still, good show and middle ranking in a strong park.
- Navi River Journey - That animatronic is super great, but it is only worth like a 20 minute wait.
- Maharajah Jungle Trek
- Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
- Festival of the Lion King - This show shouldn't be as good as it is. It's old and uses parade floats, but it is still really fun and entertaining after so long.
- Discovery Island Animals - This wins among the animal trails because of the views of the Tree of Life along the way. There's some incredibly photogenic paths in this area.
- Expedition Everest
- Kilimanjaro Safaris - Safe to say this is the most ambitious attraction in all the parks, right? So that gives it a lot of points, plus is a good attraction anyway.
- Flight of Passage - I went into this trip expecting to like Flight of Passage, but didn't really think it could take the top spot. It easily did.
Top 10 for the Overall Resort
- Big Thunder Mountain - I start with a trio of coasters. All really fun, all well themed, all fit really well in their land. Three really solid attractions that I absolutely have to ride each trip.
- Expedition Everest
- Space Mountain
- Kilimanjaro Safaris - It just amazes me that this attraction exists. It's nearly the size of Hollywood Studios by itself and is so ambitious. I don't think this would ever be built now.
- Illuminations - Best way to end a night in the parks I think, and it says a lot that a fireworks show is so high on my list.
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority - It's just so relaxing, and you get great views, plus it makes you feel like your a true futuristic Progress City.
- Spaceship Earth - Here's a pair of really well done traditional dark rides that are the absolute best examples of the attraction type.
- Haunted Mansion
- Tower of Terror - This is what I previously thought was my favorite of the resort, making it hard to skip the park all together this last trip.
- Flight of Passage - But because this is the one attraction that even weeks later I most want to ride again, I think that means it is my favorite attraction in the resort. Really amazing overall experience that ups the bar for themed attractions.
I think it is interesting how I ended up with one from each park in the top 4, but overall more from Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, and less from the other two parks. I foresee though that the list could change at some point in 2019.
So those are the decisions I have come to for my best attractions of the four Walt Disney World Parks and the Resort overall.
So now that I have shared my list, what about you? Do we share any opinions about the best of the resort?
