valleyfair!
Hyper Poster
I had the opportunity sort of last minute to sneak away to Orlando for 3 nights and spend two full days and two half days at the parks. I visited all four Disney parks as well as the two Universal Parks. (Already hit Sea World earlier this summer.) Surprisingly I was able to get on every single ride I wanted to hit except for one, which was Kali River Rapids. Unfortunately the wait was just too long without any FASTPASS’s left and I would’ve had to pass up more much needed time at the Magic Kingdom. All the parks were amazing and I was surprised to see that Universal Employees were equal to if not better in terms of making the whole experience enjoyable.
So I’ll do park by park reviews with whatever pictures I have from each park in each review section. I actually got some photos, not tons, but still got a good amount. Then after all the park reviews since I have now been to 3 Disney locations in the last 13 months, I will do a comparison/rankings of similar rides at Disneyland, Disney World, & Disneyland Paris.
Universal Studios Florida
The first park I hit when I arrived. Didn’t make it in until about 5:00pm, but they were doing a deal for Florida residents to get a season pass for $20 more then a two day ticket with block out dates during the winter holiday season. So, obviously I took the deal as I plan to go back during Halloween Horror Nights. The park itself was very nice and didn’t feel crammed. Not tons of thrill rides in the park but still very nice nevertheless.
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit- 8.5/10
Good coaster, but the music you pick really makes the ride. The ride kind of dies during the second half of the ride as well. The moving floor helps capacity a lot I’m sure and all 6 trains running made the line move pretty fast. (Still had an hour wait though and the single rider line was closed.) During my ride I had to test out the hidden songs so I listened to Vertigo by U2.
Ride Count- 1
First Drop
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Revenge of the Mummy- 8/10
I thought this coaster was a nice mix between dark ride and coaster. All the scenes were nice and the effects were great, but the main part of the ride was your basic coaster in the darkness it seemed like.
Ride Count- 1
Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster- 4/10
Nice family/kiddie coaster for what it’s worth. Not much too it though.
Ride Count- 1
The Simpsons Ride- 7.5/10
I didn’t know much about this ride going into it except for that it was popular being one of the newer attractions. I honestly was execting more of a sit down type ride and not a simulator. Some of the effects were nice and ride experience was nice but nothing that blew me away. I was surprised though to find out I was too tall to sit in the back row of the simulator and was advised by an employee during the preshow that if I didn’t want to hurt my head that everyone else had to leave me a seat in the front row. Worked for me cause the front is the best!
Ride Count- 1
Men In Black Alien Attack- 8/10
This has to be my favorite shooter I have ridden. The ride was quite long and everything just felt so big and lots to shoot at. What I also liked is targets (Aliens) were more subtle not big neon targets that are more obvious.
Ride Count- 1
Disaster: A Major Motion Picture Starring You- 7/10
I’m really not a fan of pre-shows and this ride had two. Though both were more entertaining then most because they involved the audience I mainly judged this on the ride itself. The “host” team member did a good job and was funny with the volunteers and the ride itself was decent but nothing I would wait a long time for.
Ride Count- 1
Islands of Adventure
This park was possibly my favorite of the trip and obviously The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was the highlight of it all! The night I got to Orlando I went to IOA after I finished everything at Universal Studios Park so I didn’t get in until about 8:30pm, but figured lines may not be as bad so worth a shot. I was right. Hulk, Spiderman, Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges, Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, and Jurassic Park River Adventure were all walk ons. After doing those five rides it was probably about 9:45. I decided to check out the Wizarding World just to look around but to my surprise Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey only had a 15 minute wait so I couldn’t pass that up. Got on very quickly and by the time I got off the park was closed. Then returned to IOA three days later for a half day in the morning just to finish off my credits mainly and had to wait just under an hour just to get into the Wizarding World and then even more lines in the land for Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge. (Which I had to wait for twice to do both sides.) Butterbeer is very good so don’t pass that up when any of you get the chance to go. (Pretty much just cream soda with extra sugar but still really good. I think the frozen is better then the regular cold one.) All employees do a very good job at staying in character in the Wizarding World and now onto ride reviews…
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Incredible Hulk- 10/10
I feel like I give a ton of coasters a 10, but Incredible Hulk is a great ride! Launch is a nice touch to a B&M and whole ride was smoother then many other B&M’s I have ridden lately. Also a nice touch is the big B&M roar the coaster has!
Ride Count- 1
Cobra Roll!
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Loop
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Dragon Challenge: Chinese Fireball- 10/10
The better of the two B&M inverts and I was pleasantly surprised. Haven’t sat down to do my rankings with the new coasters but this is probably up there with more of my favorite inverts for sure. The first drop is one of the best I’ve had on a invert and nice paced the whole way!
Ride Count- 1
Dragon Challenge: Hungarian Horntail- 9/10
A great ride but isn’t the better of the two Dragons. I prefer to have the first drop go into an inversion and at the end of the ride it dies a bit. I’ll talk about the queue as well. The first few rooms of the queue are great and have some nice Harry Potter theming to them but then you just feel like you are in a dark cave almost the entire rest of the queue, which can get very dull and make the wait seem kind of long. When it comes to choosing which Dragon you want to take on to my surprise the Hungarian Horntail was the one with people backed up into the main line waiting to go to while Chinese Fireball you could walk right through and be put on one of the next few trains.
Ride Count- 1
Entrance
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Flight of the Hippogriff- 5/10
Better of the family/kiddie type coasters I have been on mainly because of the theme and that it was quite smooth. I would have given this an extra .5 on my rating, but I really didn’t like how the restraints had nets on them going to the floor of the train which makes you wear a net over your lets during the ride like a blanket. Just sort of uncomfortable I though.
Ride Count- 1
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Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey- 10/10
This without a doubt moves up to my favorite dark ride and that’s saying something considering I loved Indiana Jones at Disneyland. I refused to let myself look at videos or read/hear spoilers on the ride as I knew I was going to get to ride it soon and I’m glad I did it made it a big surprise. I think you will enjoy the ride whether you follow Harry Potter or not, but I follow it and understand it all which made the ride much more enjoyable. The effects throughout the ride were great and you really see a ton of stuff from Harry Potter. (Starting in the queue line.) My favorite queue line I have been in! I won’t give any spoilers but experience it for yourself!
Ride Count- 1
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man- 9/10
About what I expected going into it after riding Curse of DarKastle only a few weeks earlier. I can’t decide which of the two I like more but both make my top 5 dark rides for sure. The 3-D effects are great and have some great false sensations of falling during the ride. This one uses a lot more water effects as well.
Ride Count- 1
Jurassic Park River Adventure- 9.5/10
A great water ride and my favorite part was probably the beginning with all of the animatronics and just floating through Jurassic Park. Ride did seem a bit short but still amazing and you don’t get totally soaked.
Ride Count- 1
Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges- 9/10
My new favorite rapids ride! Decent length of a ride and it is so much faster paced then any other rapids ride I have been on. Also just expect to get soaked I feel like there isn’t really the chance of a “lucky seat” on this rapids ride!
Ride Count- 1
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls- 9/10
Right up there with my favorite flume rides! Theming was great and probably the best drop on any flume I have ridden as well. The ride was a walk on but the queue alone took forever to walk through so I can only imagine what it’s like when it is very busy.
Ride Count- 1
Magic Kingdom
Very similar to the main parks at the other Disney locations I have been to. This is by far the most crowded as I expected. If you know how to use FASTPASS and single rider lines you really don’t wait tons at the Disney Parks which is nice. Since I had the most I wanted to ride here I visited 3 of the 4 days I went to parks during my trip. The day I arrived after my trip over to Universal this park had magic hours for resort guests and since I was staying on property I took advantage and stayed in the park until 2:00am. The next day I went back to close out my day again until the park closed at midnight and then the next morning I went back one last time to finish up only a couple more attractions I wanted to ride. (My last day that I drove back home I only visited IOA.) I have been to Disney World before, but this was before I was willing/tall enough to ride everything so nice to get the full experience. One warning to all: If there is a parade going on maneuvering through the park can be very complicated. Disney also seems to be the only place I ride a lot of the slow moving sit down rides because they just do such a great job with them. On to ride reviews and photos…
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Space Mountain- 7/10
I may be nice giving it this rating but the stars in the darkness give this ride it’s only real chance of being a good coaster. Nothing in comparison to the other two Space Mountains I have ridden, but still not as bad as I was expecting because I had read reviews of it being very rough and I only found it to be slightly rough in a few parts.
Ride Count- 2
(One ride on reach track Alpha & Omega to get the extra credit.)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-7/10
So similar to the other ones I have ridden don’t know yet how I’ll rank this one among the other two. Fun ride that is definitely good for a first coaster and has some good theming to go along with it. (The only credit I already had from when I visited many years ago.)
Ride Count- 1
Barnstormer- 4/10
Another family coaster credit that wasn’t too bad and has some good theming.
Ride Count- 1
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin- 7.5/10
Very similar to the ones I have ridden except for this one had all the same shape targets so it was harder to find the high point value ones. Scenes were too similar to really pick out big differences and I was able to find a few 100,000 point targets here and there.
Ride Count- 1
Stitch’s Great Escape- 8/10
Fun attraction and had some nice effects to feel like stitch was really close to you or even tapping your head. I do remember riding the old version when I went when I was young back in the day and being quite scared. (Alien something don’t remember the name.)
Ride Count- 1
Peter Pan’s Flight- 7.5/10
Got to love this classic ride. Though a bit short it has some nice scenes to it and is definitely one of the most popular rides at the Magic Kingdom.
Ride Count- 1
”it’s a small world”- 8/10
The catchy song alone makes this another fun ride. Nice slow boat ride around the world. I took a good number of pictures while on this ride some are a little blurry because of the movement.
Ride Count- 1
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Snow White’s Scary Adventures- 7/10
May be a little nice giving it a 7, but there are some good scenes and like all the slow moving sit downs, very nicely themed.
Ride Count- 1
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh- 7.5/10
This is another one of the most popular rides at the Magic Kingdom. Definitely would be great for kids who like Winnie the Pooh. I used to love it and I even remembered one show of it that the ride had a scene of and I was very surprised I actually remembered. A nice touch to the ride is the honey pot you sit in rocks back and forth.
Ride Count- 1
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Splash Mountain- 8.5/10
A fun flume ride that you don’t get soaking wet which is what I like. Scenes before the major drop are actually longer then one would expect and the drop itself is great!
Ride Count- 1
Pirates of the Caribbean- 8/10
By far my least favorite of the three I have ridden now. This one only has one drop and the scenes are not as great as the other two. Nevertheless still worth a ride and a lot of fun.
Ride Count- 1
Jungle Cruise- 8/10
The skipper is really all that makes the ride, and I got a great skipper, which made it a lot of fun. He didn’t always tell the same jokes that you expect from the Jungle Cruise so got some more variety and he was definitely into his job.
Ride Count- 1
The Enchanted Tiki Room- 6.5/10
Nothing super exciting, but it is another classic Disney attraction. They actually were able to sneak a few more adult jokes in there that kids wouldn’t understand which made it kind of funny. Still worth hitting if you get the chance and I wish I had done the one in Disneyland.
Ride Count- 1
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Hall of Presidents- 8.5/10
I actually enjoyed this show a lot more then I thought I was going to. You get to learn a lot about US History (Though I knew most of it but for someone like… well… you know who, this would be a great attraction for them to get some American knowledge.) All of the animatronics were very realistic and just a great show that shouldn’t be missed when there.
Ride Count- 1
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Hollywood Studios
This park definitely seemed to be the smallest of all the parks but had some of the rides I was most excited to get on. Lines generally weren’t too bad in the park except for at Toy Story Mania which was what I was expecting. I had the fewest amount of things I wanted to ride at this park and was able to get through everything in just one morning so I spent the least amount of time here.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster- 8.5/10
I had very high expectations going into this because the one in Paris was so amazing. Unfortunately this one was nowhere near the quality of the one in Paris in terms of the effects and scenery beginning right away with the queue line. Though I believe the ride layouts are the same since most is in the dark it’s the effects that really make the ride and this one really fell short.
Ride Count- 1
In the Station
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The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror- 9/10
I’m having trouble in how I would rank this one compared to the other two. This does have the great touch of going forward not just up and down, but there were less scenes and effects and the drop sequence was not nearly as surprising or impressive compared to the other two. (Though I have heard the new upgrade was actually a downgrade.) Still fun and probably still my favorite for the fact you go forward as well.
Ride Count- 1
Toy Story Mania- 10/10
This ride is a ton of fun! I wouldn’t really put it in the shooter category but if I did it would beat out Men In Black for my favorite. The variety of games is nice and you actually get a good amount of time in each game. I did turn out to be the winner of my two cars battling it out!
Ride Count- 1
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The Great Movie Ride- 7.5/10
The ride is decent and like Jungle Cruise really depends on who is operating your ride. Our guy was pretty good and acted pretty well when the robber took over our car. Didn’t totally feel like I was in the movies though.
Ride Count- 1
Star Tours- 8/10
Seemed to be the exact same as the other two I have ridden but still fun while a bit dated at the same time.
Ride Count- 1
Animal Kingdom
This park was a lot of fun just walking around in as there is lots to look at. The park felt very crowded when I was there and since I spent most of the middle of the day there (After I was at Hollywood Studios before going back to Magic Kingdom.) and that was probably the most crowded time. Still was able to get on everything I wanted except Kali River Rapids. Really bummed I missed out on it, but technically I did ride it many years ago.
Expedition Everest- 9/10
I wasn’t blown away like I thought I was going to be but still a pretty amazing and unique coaster. The ride was much shorter then I was expecting and besides going backwards and the one main drop there really isn’t much else to it. The Yeti was still down (As it has been for years now?) so they just shined strobe lights on it. Single rider line made this very easy to get on pretty quick.
Ride Count- 1
Primeval Whirl- 5.5/10
Your basic spinning mouse coaster(s) with a little extra theme to it. I did ride twice to get the extra credit on each side.
Ride Count- 2
(One on each side.)
DINOSAUR- 10/10
I thought this was amazing. I feel like it gets crap just because Indiana Jones is better, (Which is true.) but this was still in my top 5 dark rides for sure. Animatronics were great and seemed very realistic.
Ride Count- 1
It’s Tough to be a Bug!- 7.5/10
An entertaining show with some nice water, air, and smell effects in your seat. The worst part was waiting to get into the theatre and it is very claustrophobic with so many people in the small area to get in. Good show and worth seeing when going to Animal Kingdom.
Kilimanjaro Safaris- 9/10
Having real animals makes a ride much more exciting. I took a good amount of pictures and getting to see some animals you may never see elsewhere is cool. I wasn’t really a fan of the fake radio calls to the driver to go see things or avoid things and felt that could have been avoided all together.
Ride Count- 1
You can see an animal hiding through the trees
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Can you find the hippo?
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How about now?
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Crocodiles
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Termite Hill through the windshield
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Giraffe in the distance
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Elephant in the Distance
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Again
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Ostrich and the Driver
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Epcot
Probably my favorite of the four Disney parks. If this park hadn’t had the worst lines of all of them it probably would’ve been even more enjoyable. Even though there are no coasters there is still an impressive lineup of great rides! During the day I ate at the Morocco pavilion as I like that type of food and I have been to many of the countries the other pavilions are of.
Soarin’- 10/10
Identical to the one at Disney’s California Adventure and it is still without a doubt my favorite simulator ride ever. I could ride this over and over all day and not get bored. If I could go to Epcot and ride one ride this would be the one!
Ride Count- 1
Test Track- 9/10
The idea behind the ride is really great and the testing parts of the journey are nice as well. The high speed part really just feels like you are in a convertible car (Which I guess is what it’s supposed to be.) and not on a high speed thrill ride. Still tons of fun and one of my favorite rides at Disney.
Ride Count- 1
Mission: SPACE- 9/10 (Intense Orange Mission)
7/10 (Less Intense Green Mission)
The intensity between the two is actually very different. I had to ride them both just to see how different. The better is obviously the Orange more intense mission and the launch is incredible and the best part of the ride. There really are good effects with forces on the body. The Green less intense Mission uses the same video as the Orange mission but the launch and slingshot around the moon are very light in forces and intensity.
Ride Count- 2
(Once Orange Intense Mission, Once Green Less Intense Mission)
Spaceship Earth- 9/10
Probably my favorite of the slow moving sit down rides at Disney. There is a lot going on throughout the ride from past to future and you learn quite a bit along the way. The video on your touch screen at the end is a little cheesy with the video it makes for you but still fun!
Ride Count- 1
The Seas with Nemo and Friends- 8/10
A fun slow moving sit down ride with a good overall story line of Nemo. Having the real fish tank in the background with the illusion of the Nemo characters swimming with them is cool but the characters are so much brighter and more colorful they stand out a lot.
Ride Count- 1
Only photo that really came out from the ride.
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Maelstrom- 7/10
Pretty entertaining Viking ship ride in the Norway Pavilion. A nice touch is the operators are all from Norway so they have nice accents!
Ride Count- 1
Disney Comparisons/Rankings
1- Space Mountain, Disneyland
2- Space Mountain: Mission 2, Disneyland Resort Paris
3- Space Mountain, WDW: Magic Kingdom
Disneyland just has the most stars and great effects and is the smoothest. Mission 2 is close to being the best but it just isn’t quite there with being smooth and inversions aren’t always necessary. Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain was mediocre but that’s the age of the ride.
1- Phantom Manor, Disneyland Resort Paris
2- Haunted Mansion, Disneyland
3- Haunted Mansion, WDW: Magic Kingdom
Quite similar to each other but the one in Paris really stands out as the best and then the Disneyland one I ranked higher then Magic Kingdom because the outside of the ride and queue line has a nicer atmosphere.
1- Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland Resort Paris
2- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, WDW: Magic Kingdom
3- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disneyland
Again all three are very similar but the theme was best in the order I ranked them and I the one in Disneyland also seemed a bit slower which I think it actually is.
1- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, WDW: Magic Kingdom
2- Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, Disneyland
3- Buzz Lightyear Lazer Blast, Disneyland Resort Parks
Very similar between the three again. I give the Magic Kingdom one the best because of the targets all being the same so it was a bit more challenging to get a higher score. Disneyland if I remember correctly the guns were not mounted which was also nice.
1- “it’s a small world”, Disneyland Resort Paris
2- “it’s a small world”, WDW: Magic Kingdom
3- “it’s a small world”, Disneyland
The one in Paris by far had the most going on in the ride. Then the only reason the Disneyland one is on the bottom is because of the fact that there were Disney characters in it and I didn’t enjoy that.
1- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, WDW: Magic Kingdom
2- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Disneyland
3- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Disneyland Resort Paris
The forward and backward motion of the cars saved the Magic Kingdom one from being the worst. Paris and Disneyland both were too similar to rank one higher then the other besides the fact I got a better drop sequence in Disneyland it seemed like.
1- Pirates of the Caribbean, Disneyland
2- Pirates of the Caribbean, Disneyland Resort Paris
3- Pirates of the Caribbean, WDW: Magic Kingdom
Pretty much ranked in the order of which one had the most/best drops. Paris and Disneyland were similar but Disneyland seemed to have a larger drop. The Magic Kingdom had one small drop which was a let down. All three had very similar scenes as a whole though.
1- Star Tours, Disneyland Paris
2- Star Tours, Disneyland
3- Star Tours, WDW: Magic Kingdom
All three had identical video in the simulator but I put the Paris one as the best because hearing it in French was cool. Other two were identical and so I just judged off the queues which even then seemed almost identical.
If anyone read the entire thing you have a lot of time on your hands! Great trip overall and I hope you enjoyed.
So I’ll do park by park reviews with whatever pictures I have from each park in each review section. I actually got some photos, not tons, but still got a good amount. Then after all the park reviews since I have now been to 3 Disney locations in the last 13 months, I will do a comparison/rankings of similar rides at Disneyland, Disney World, & Disneyland Paris.
Universal Studios Florida
The first park I hit when I arrived. Didn’t make it in until about 5:00pm, but they were doing a deal for Florida residents to get a season pass for $20 more then a two day ticket with block out dates during the winter holiday season. So, obviously I took the deal as I plan to go back during Halloween Horror Nights. The park itself was very nice and didn’t feel crammed. Not tons of thrill rides in the park but still very nice nevertheless.
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit- 8.5/10
Good coaster, but the music you pick really makes the ride. The ride kind of dies during the second half of the ride as well. The moving floor helps capacity a lot I’m sure and all 6 trains running made the line move pretty fast. (Still had an hour wait though and the single rider line was closed.) During my ride I had to test out the hidden songs so I listened to Vertigo by U2.
Ride Count- 1
First Drop
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Revenge of the Mummy- 8/10
I thought this coaster was a nice mix between dark ride and coaster. All the scenes were nice and the effects were great, but the main part of the ride was your basic coaster in the darkness it seemed like.
Ride Count- 1
Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster- 4/10
Nice family/kiddie coaster for what it’s worth. Not much too it though.
Ride Count- 1
The Simpsons Ride- 7.5/10
I didn’t know much about this ride going into it except for that it was popular being one of the newer attractions. I honestly was execting more of a sit down type ride and not a simulator. Some of the effects were nice and ride experience was nice but nothing that blew me away. I was surprised though to find out I was too tall to sit in the back row of the simulator and was advised by an employee during the preshow that if I didn’t want to hurt my head that everyone else had to leave me a seat in the front row. Worked for me cause the front is the best!
Ride Count- 1
Men In Black Alien Attack- 8/10
This has to be my favorite shooter I have ridden. The ride was quite long and everything just felt so big and lots to shoot at. What I also liked is targets (Aliens) were more subtle not big neon targets that are more obvious.
Ride Count- 1
Disaster: A Major Motion Picture Starring You- 7/10
I’m really not a fan of pre-shows and this ride had two. Though both were more entertaining then most because they involved the audience I mainly judged this on the ride itself. The “host” team member did a good job and was funny with the volunteers and the ride itself was decent but nothing I would wait a long time for.
Ride Count- 1
Islands of Adventure
This park was possibly my favorite of the trip and obviously The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was the highlight of it all! The night I got to Orlando I went to IOA after I finished everything at Universal Studios Park so I didn’t get in until about 8:30pm, but figured lines may not be as bad so worth a shot. I was right. Hulk, Spiderman, Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges, Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, and Jurassic Park River Adventure were all walk ons. After doing those five rides it was probably about 9:45. I decided to check out the Wizarding World just to look around but to my surprise Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey only had a 15 minute wait so I couldn’t pass that up. Got on very quickly and by the time I got off the park was closed. Then returned to IOA three days later for a half day in the morning just to finish off my credits mainly and had to wait just under an hour just to get into the Wizarding World and then even more lines in the land for Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge. (Which I had to wait for twice to do both sides.) Butterbeer is very good so don’t pass that up when any of you get the chance to go. (Pretty much just cream soda with extra sugar but still really good. I think the frozen is better then the regular cold one.) All employees do a very good job at staying in character in the Wizarding World and now onto ride reviews…
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Incredible Hulk- 10/10
I feel like I give a ton of coasters a 10, but Incredible Hulk is a great ride! Launch is a nice touch to a B&M and whole ride was smoother then many other B&M’s I have ridden lately. Also a nice touch is the big B&M roar the coaster has!
Ride Count- 1
Cobra Roll!
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Loop
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Dragon Challenge: Chinese Fireball- 10/10
The better of the two B&M inverts and I was pleasantly surprised. Haven’t sat down to do my rankings with the new coasters but this is probably up there with more of my favorite inverts for sure. The first drop is one of the best I’ve had on a invert and nice paced the whole way!
Ride Count- 1
Dragon Challenge: Hungarian Horntail- 9/10
A great ride but isn’t the better of the two Dragons. I prefer to have the first drop go into an inversion and at the end of the ride it dies a bit. I’ll talk about the queue as well. The first few rooms of the queue are great and have some nice Harry Potter theming to them but then you just feel like you are in a dark cave almost the entire rest of the queue, which can get very dull and make the wait seem kind of long. When it comes to choosing which Dragon you want to take on to my surprise the Hungarian Horntail was the one with people backed up into the main line waiting to go to while Chinese Fireball you could walk right through and be put on one of the next few trains.
Ride Count- 1
Entrance
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Flight of the Hippogriff- 5/10
Better of the family/kiddie type coasters I have been on mainly because of the theme and that it was quite smooth. I would have given this an extra .5 on my rating, but I really didn’t like how the restraints had nets on them going to the floor of the train which makes you wear a net over your lets during the ride like a blanket. Just sort of uncomfortable I though.
Ride Count- 1
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Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey- 10/10
This without a doubt moves up to my favorite dark ride and that’s saying something considering I loved Indiana Jones at Disneyland. I refused to let myself look at videos or read/hear spoilers on the ride as I knew I was going to get to ride it soon and I’m glad I did it made it a big surprise. I think you will enjoy the ride whether you follow Harry Potter or not, but I follow it and understand it all which made the ride much more enjoyable. The effects throughout the ride were great and you really see a ton of stuff from Harry Potter. (Starting in the queue line.) My favorite queue line I have been in! I won’t give any spoilers but experience it for yourself!
Ride Count- 1
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man- 9/10
About what I expected going into it after riding Curse of DarKastle only a few weeks earlier. I can’t decide which of the two I like more but both make my top 5 dark rides for sure. The 3-D effects are great and have some great false sensations of falling during the ride. This one uses a lot more water effects as well.
Ride Count- 1
Jurassic Park River Adventure- 9.5/10
A great water ride and my favorite part was probably the beginning with all of the animatronics and just floating through Jurassic Park. Ride did seem a bit short but still amazing and you don’t get totally soaked.
Ride Count- 1
Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges- 9/10
My new favorite rapids ride! Decent length of a ride and it is so much faster paced then any other rapids ride I have been on. Also just expect to get soaked I feel like there isn’t really the chance of a “lucky seat” on this rapids ride!
Ride Count- 1
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls- 9/10
Right up there with my favorite flume rides! Theming was great and probably the best drop on any flume I have ridden as well. The ride was a walk on but the queue alone took forever to walk through so I can only imagine what it’s like when it is very busy.
Ride Count- 1
Magic Kingdom
Very similar to the main parks at the other Disney locations I have been to. This is by far the most crowded as I expected. If you know how to use FASTPASS and single rider lines you really don’t wait tons at the Disney Parks which is nice. Since I had the most I wanted to ride here I visited 3 of the 4 days I went to parks during my trip. The day I arrived after my trip over to Universal this park had magic hours for resort guests and since I was staying on property I took advantage and stayed in the park until 2:00am. The next day I went back to close out my day again until the park closed at midnight and then the next morning I went back one last time to finish up only a couple more attractions I wanted to ride. (My last day that I drove back home I only visited IOA.) I have been to Disney World before, but this was before I was willing/tall enough to ride everything so nice to get the full experience. One warning to all: If there is a parade going on maneuvering through the park can be very complicated. Disney also seems to be the only place I ride a lot of the slow moving sit down rides because they just do such a great job with them. On to ride reviews and photos…
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Space Mountain- 7/10
I may be nice giving it this rating but the stars in the darkness give this ride it’s only real chance of being a good coaster. Nothing in comparison to the other two Space Mountains I have ridden, but still not as bad as I was expecting because I had read reviews of it being very rough and I only found it to be slightly rough in a few parts.
Ride Count- 2
(One ride on reach track Alpha & Omega to get the extra credit.)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-7/10
So similar to the other ones I have ridden don’t know yet how I’ll rank this one among the other two. Fun ride that is definitely good for a first coaster and has some good theming to go along with it. (The only credit I already had from when I visited many years ago.)
Ride Count- 1
Barnstormer- 4/10
Another family coaster credit that wasn’t too bad and has some good theming.
Ride Count- 1
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin- 7.5/10
Very similar to the ones I have ridden except for this one had all the same shape targets so it was harder to find the high point value ones. Scenes were too similar to really pick out big differences and I was able to find a few 100,000 point targets here and there.
Ride Count- 1
Stitch’s Great Escape- 8/10
Fun attraction and had some nice effects to feel like stitch was really close to you or even tapping your head. I do remember riding the old version when I went when I was young back in the day and being quite scared. (Alien something don’t remember the name.)
Ride Count- 1
Peter Pan’s Flight- 7.5/10
Got to love this classic ride. Though a bit short it has some nice scenes to it and is definitely one of the most popular rides at the Magic Kingdom.
Ride Count- 1
”it’s a small world”- 8/10
The catchy song alone makes this another fun ride. Nice slow boat ride around the world. I took a good number of pictures while on this ride some are a little blurry because of the movement.
Ride Count- 1
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Snow White’s Scary Adventures- 7/10
May be a little nice giving it a 7, but there are some good scenes and like all the slow moving sit downs, very nicely themed.
Ride Count- 1
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh- 7.5/10
This is another one of the most popular rides at the Magic Kingdom. Definitely would be great for kids who like Winnie the Pooh. I used to love it and I even remembered one show of it that the ride had a scene of and I was very surprised I actually remembered. A nice touch to the ride is the honey pot you sit in rocks back and forth.
Ride Count- 1
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Splash Mountain- 8.5/10
A fun flume ride that you don’t get soaking wet which is what I like. Scenes before the major drop are actually longer then one would expect and the drop itself is great!
Ride Count- 1
Pirates of the Caribbean- 8/10
By far my least favorite of the three I have ridden now. This one only has one drop and the scenes are not as great as the other two. Nevertheless still worth a ride and a lot of fun.
Ride Count- 1
Jungle Cruise- 8/10
The skipper is really all that makes the ride, and I got a great skipper, which made it a lot of fun. He didn’t always tell the same jokes that you expect from the Jungle Cruise so got some more variety and he was definitely into his job.
Ride Count- 1
The Enchanted Tiki Room- 6.5/10
Nothing super exciting, but it is another classic Disney attraction. They actually were able to sneak a few more adult jokes in there that kids wouldn’t understand which made it kind of funny. Still worth hitting if you get the chance and I wish I had done the one in Disneyland.
Ride Count- 1
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Hall of Presidents- 8.5/10
I actually enjoyed this show a lot more then I thought I was going to. You get to learn a lot about US History (Though I knew most of it but for someone like… well… you know who, this would be a great attraction for them to get some American knowledge.) All of the animatronics were very realistic and just a great show that shouldn’t be missed when there.
Ride Count- 1
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Hollywood Studios
This park definitely seemed to be the smallest of all the parks but had some of the rides I was most excited to get on. Lines generally weren’t too bad in the park except for at Toy Story Mania which was what I was expecting. I had the fewest amount of things I wanted to ride at this park and was able to get through everything in just one morning so I spent the least amount of time here.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster- 8.5/10
I had very high expectations going into this because the one in Paris was so amazing. Unfortunately this one was nowhere near the quality of the one in Paris in terms of the effects and scenery beginning right away with the queue line. Though I believe the ride layouts are the same since most is in the dark it’s the effects that really make the ride and this one really fell short.
Ride Count- 1
In the Station
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The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror- 9/10
I’m having trouble in how I would rank this one compared to the other two. This does have the great touch of going forward not just up and down, but there were less scenes and effects and the drop sequence was not nearly as surprising or impressive compared to the other two. (Though I have heard the new upgrade was actually a downgrade.) Still fun and probably still my favorite for the fact you go forward as well.
Ride Count- 1
Toy Story Mania- 10/10
This ride is a ton of fun! I wouldn’t really put it in the shooter category but if I did it would beat out Men In Black for my favorite. The variety of games is nice and you actually get a good amount of time in each game. I did turn out to be the winner of my two cars battling it out!
Ride Count- 1
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The Great Movie Ride- 7.5/10
The ride is decent and like Jungle Cruise really depends on who is operating your ride. Our guy was pretty good and acted pretty well when the robber took over our car. Didn’t totally feel like I was in the movies though.
Ride Count- 1
Star Tours- 8/10
Seemed to be the exact same as the other two I have ridden but still fun while a bit dated at the same time.
Ride Count- 1
Animal Kingdom
This park was a lot of fun just walking around in as there is lots to look at. The park felt very crowded when I was there and since I spent most of the middle of the day there (After I was at Hollywood Studios before going back to Magic Kingdom.) and that was probably the most crowded time. Still was able to get on everything I wanted except Kali River Rapids. Really bummed I missed out on it, but technically I did ride it many years ago.
Expedition Everest- 9/10
I wasn’t blown away like I thought I was going to be but still a pretty amazing and unique coaster. The ride was much shorter then I was expecting and besides going backwards and the one main drop there really isn’t much else to it. The Yeti was still down (As it has been for years now?) so they just shined strobe lights on it. Single rider line made this very easy to get on pretty quick.
Ride Count- 1
Primeval Whirl- 5.5/10
Your basic spinning mouse coaster(s) with a little extra theme to it. I did ride twice to get the extra credit on each side.
Ride Count- 2
(One on each side.)
DINOSAUR- 10/10
I thought this was amazing. I feel like it gets crap just because Indiana Jones is better, (Which is true.) but this was still in my top 5 dark rides for sure. Animatronics were great and seemed very realistic.
Ride Count- 1
It’s Tough to be a Bug!- 7.5/10
An entertaining show with some nice water, air, and smell effects in your seat. The worst part was waiting to get into the theatre and it is very claustrophobic with so many people in the small area to get in. Good show and worth seeing when going to Animal Kingdom.
Kilimanjaro Safaris- 9/10
Having real animals makes a ride much more exciting. I took a good amount of pictures and getting to see some animals you may never see elsewhere is cool. I wasn’t really a fan of the fake radio calls to the driver to go see things or avoid things and felt that could have been avoided all together.
Ride Count- 1
You can see an animal hiding through the trees
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Can you find the hippo?
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How about now?
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Crocodiles
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Termite Hill through the windshield
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Giraffe in the distance
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Elephant in the Distance
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Again
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Ostrich and the Driver
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Epcot
Probably my favorite of the four Disney parks. If this park hadn’t had the worst lines of all of them it probably would’ve been even more enjoyable. Even though there are no coasters there is still an impressive lineup of great rides! During the day I ate at the Morocco pavilion as I like that type of food and I have been to many of the countries the other pavilions are of.
Soarin’- 10/10
Identical to the one at Disney’s California Adventure and it is still without a doubt my favorite simulator ride ever. I could ride this over and over all day and not get bored. If I could go to Epcot and ride one ride this would be the one!
Ride Count- 1
Test Track- 9/10
The idea behind the ride is really great and the testing parts of the journey are nice as well. The high speed part really just feels like you are in a convertible car (Which I guess is what it’s supposed to be.) and not on a high speed thrill ride. Still tons of fun and one of my favorite rides at Disney.
Ride Count- 1
Mission: SPACE- 9/10 (Intense Orange Mission)
7/10 (Less Intense Green Mission)
The intensity between the two is actually very different. I had to ride them both just to see how different. The better is obviously the Orange more intense mission and the launch is incredible and the best part of the ride. There really are good effects with forces on the body. The Green less intense Mission uses the same video as the Orange mission but the launch and slingshot around the moon are very light in forces and intensity.
Ride Count- 2
(Once Orange Intense Mission, Once Green Less Intense Mission)
Spaceship Earth- 9/10
Probably my favorite of the slow moving sit down rides at Disney. There is a lot going on throughout the ride from past to future and you learn quite a bit along the way. The video on your touch screen at the end is a little cheesy with the video it makes for you but still fun!
Ride Count- 1
The Seas with Nemo and Friends- 8/10
A fun slow moving sit down ride with a good overall story line of Nemo. Having the real fish tank in the background with the illusion of the Nemo characters swimming with them is cool but the characters are so much brighter and more colorful they stand out a lot.
Ride Count- 1
Only photo that really came out from the ride.
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Maelstrom- 7/10
Pretty entertaining Viking ship ride in the Norway Pavilion. A nice touch is the operators are all from Norway so they have nice accents!
Ride Count- 1
Disney Comparisons/Rankings
1- Space Mountain, Disneyland
2- Space Mountain: Mission 2, Disneyland Resort Paris
3- Space Mountain, WDW: Magic Kingdom
Disneyland just has the most stars and great effects and is the smoothest. Mission 2 is close to being the best but it just isn’t quite there with being smooth and inversions aren’t always necessary. Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain was mediocre but that’s the age of the ride.
1- Phantom Manor, Disneyland Resort Paris
2- Haunted Mansion, Disneyland
3- Haunted Mansion, WDW: Magic Kingdom
Quite similar to each other but the one in Paris really stands out as the best and then the Disneyland one I ranked higher then Magic Kingdom because the outside of the ride and queue line has a nicer atmosphere.
1- Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland Resort Paris
2- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, WDW: Magic Kingdom
3- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disneyland
Again all three are very similar but the theme was best in the order I ranked them and I the one in Disneyland also seemed a bit slower which I think it actually is.
1- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, WDW: Magic Kingdom
2- Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, Disneyland
3- Buzz Lightyear Lazer Blast, Disneyland Resort Parks
Very similar between the three again. I give the Magic Kingdom one the best because of the targets all being the same so it was a bit more challenging to get a higher score. Disneyland if I remember correctly the guns were not mounted which was also nice.
1- “it’s a small world”, Disneyland Resort Paris
2- “it’s a small world”, WDW: Magic Kingdom
3- “it’s a small world”, Disneyland
The one in Paris by far had the most going on in the ride. Then the only reason the Disneyland one is on the bottom is because of the fact that there were Disney characters in it and I didn’t enjoy that.
1- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, WDW: Magic Kingdom
2- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Disneyland
3- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Disneyland Resort Paris
The forward and backward motion of the cars saved the Magic Kingdom one from being the worst. Paris and Disneyland both were too similar to rank one higher then the other besides the fact I got a better drop sequence in Disneyland it seemed like.
1- Pirates of the Caribbean, Disneyland
2- Pirates of the Caribbean, Disneyland Resort Paris
3- Pirates of the Caribbean, WDW: Magic Kingdom
Pretty much ranked in the order of which one had the most/best drops. Paris and Disneyland were similar but Disneyland seemed to have a larger drop. The Magic Kingdom had one small drop which was a let down. All three had very similar scenes as a whole though.
1- Star Tours, Disneyland Paris
2- Star Tours, Disneyland
3- Star Tours, WDW: Magic Kingdom
All three had identical video in the simulator but I put the Paris one as the best because hearing it in French was cool. Other two were identical and so I just judged off the queues which even then seemed almost identical.
If anyone read the entire thing you have a lot of time on your hands! Great trip overall and I hope you enjoyed.
