While Walt Disney World generally has amazing rides and attractions, we all have those that just don’t do it for us. Maybe we find them boring. Perhaps they make us uncomfortable. But we all have those rides that we end up skipping.
Today, I (Buster) will be unveiling MY Top Ten LEAST favorite rides.
DISCLAIMER: This is my own personal opinion, based upon my own personal preference. I freely recognize that many of these attractions are probably on people’s Top Ten most favorite rides. That perfectly fine. We are all different with our own likes and dislikes. But that doesn’t mean I’ll be experiencing any of these anytime soon!
#10: Canada Far and Wide
Look, it’s a beautiful movie. I would really would like to like it more. All you have to do, Canada, is put in some darn seats!
Movie attractions are supposed to be a time when we can rest in the air conditioning after spending a day walking around in the theme park heat. But it is hard to rest when you are forced to STAND for 12 minutes. Sorry Canada…
#9: Reflections of China
See #10. The only reason why I put China above Canada in my least favorite list is that it is 14 minutes long… two minutes longer than Canada Far and Wide. But otherwise, both these movies are pretty much equivalent in my book.
#8: Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind
This is probably the first of many controversial ones. I completely understand that this is some people’s favorite ride in all of Walt Disney World. I mean, I wish I could love the ride too. The standby line is amazing, especially with the video interviews with our heroes. I love it when Quill reminisces about the EPCOT of his 1980’s childhood, not realizing that Horizons is no longer a thing. The pre-show is super fun… Terry Crews is a treasure. And as an 80’s child, all of the ride song tracks are completely my jam. I love everything about this ride except for one thing…
The ride itself.
A roller coaster + in the dark + spinning cars = my worst nightmare. Anytime I hear “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, I get flashbacks to the longest three minutes of my life!
When I got off the ride, my head was completely scrambled. Little Buster, who rode with me, had to steady me as I went up and down the stairs at the end of the ride. And what sadist makes guests walk up and down stairs after riding a dark, spinning, rollercoaster?! It took me at least a few hours to get my bearings.
I told Banshee that if they could make a “green” version of the ride, where you could just watch a movie of the visuals, it would probably be my favorite ride. Everything is so much fun about the ride except for all the moving and stuff!
#7: Expedition Everest
This is another one where I love everything about it, but the ride itself. I love the queue where you get to see the history of past expeditions to Everest and past encounters with the Yeti. You can tell that the imagineers went all out to come up with all sorts of details, artifacts, visuals, to really immerse you in the story.
Plus. the real Everest has a bit of a soft spot in my heart. Although I have never been there, I have read and watched all sorts of media about mountain climbing on the world’s highest peak. I can even tell you about the positions of the different camps, some of the prominent features that the climbers encounter in real life. I am a bit weird in that respect!
But, again, the ride gets in the way of a perfectly good attraction.
It’s a roller coaster. And a decently intense one at that. I used to be able to handle it better when I was younger to the point where I borderline enjoyed it. But I think age has made me less tolerant of all of the motion, particularly the backwards part of the ride. So now it is a hard pass for me.
The reason why I put this higher than Cosmic Rewind is that, although I love the theming of Everest, I think that Cosmic Rewind has an even more amazing queue and pre-show. But at least Everest doesn’t make you climb up and down stairs as you exit, so there’s that!
#6: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Buster’s rule of thumb is that anything with “Terror” in the name is going to be a no-go!
In all seriousness, this is yet another one that has great theming. When you walk through the queue, you really feel like you are walking through an abandoned 1920’s era hotel. No detail is spared, including the dust and cobwebs! Even the exterior was thoughtfully designed to fit into the vista when viewed from EPCOT, as it seamlessly blends in with the Moroccan pavilion. SIghtlines, people. SIGHTLINES!
I also love how the lobby and library have cool Easter Eggs referencing famous Twilight Zone episodes: the cracked glasses, the book “To Serve Man”, and many more. I know Twilight Zone may not be as culturally relevant today, but I strongly urge readers to go back and watch some of the more famous episodes. They truly are timeless!
The engineering of the ride itself is a marvel in and of itself. They use a ride system which actually accelerates you FASTER than you would go if you were to free fall. Not to mention the clever randomization of the drops, giving riders a unique experience every time they ride it. Bravo, imagineers!
Anyway, what I am getting to is that this is another ride where everything is amazing… except for riding the ride itself. While this is truly one of the best themed and best engineered rides in all of WDW, there is no way I want to have my body hurled up and down like a puppet in the dark. My head is hurting just thinking of the experience.
No thank you!
#5: Tron Lightcycle / Run
The exterior of the ride is beautiful with its smooth futuristic lines and its glowing colors at night. The queue has a really cool pre-show reveal. But, again, thrill rides just don’t do it for me.
While I admit that the forward leaning ride position is pretty unique in theory, in practice, it probably made me feel worse than if it were a regular roller coaster. My knees and back were super uncomfortable leaning forward like that while going 50 MPH. Plus, lying on my stomach just made the nausea that I felt even worse. I couldn’t wait to get out of that unnatural position.
Adding to my dislike for the ride was the fact that I nearly blacked out on the initial launch. I have vague memories in my head of flying outside through the concourse before re-entering the indoor portion of the ride. But they are all just a gray blur.
Even beyond the ride experience itself, the ride does a poor job of telling its story. Since I have seen the original Tron movie, I generally understand the concept of being digitized into the computer. I am familiar with Lightcycles and how they compete against each other in video game fashion. However, very little of that is conveyed during the pre-show. If you were unfamiliar with Tron, you’d just think that you were riding a roller coaster with some cool visuals. That’s why I put this above some of the others on the list: poor theming and storytelling.
I know that some people bemoan the fact that the ride itself is only a minute long. To me, that was actually a HUGE positive. I couldn’t wait for it to end!
#4: Space Mountain
I know that this one is a beloved classic that’s probably among people’s favorites. Certainly, the exterior facade is iconic. However, by now you should have figured out that I hate indoor dark roller coasters!
I have two problems with this ride. First, the ride vehicles are build for someone who is under six feet. For those of us who are tall, the cars are extremely uncomfortable. Every time I ride it, I feel like I am either going to break a knee cap or tear an ACL.
My second problem is the dark aspect of the ride. Without being able to anticipate where the vehicle is moving next, you cannot brace yourself for the turns and drops. You just end up being thrown around like a ragdoll in random directions. By the end of the ride, if I don’t need a knee replacement from the ride vehicle, I need a chiropractor to put my spine back into place. In fact, if they replaced the gift ship with a chiropractic office, Disney would make a killing! You’re welcome, Bob Iger.
Now I have heard that during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, they run Space Mountain completely in the dark! While that might seem like fun for some, that’s my worse nightmare. I thought it was supposed to be “Not So Scary”!
#3: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
This attraction takes the worst aspects of Tron and Space Mountain and combines them together into one hellish nightmare.
First, the ride is mostly in the dark, other than some neon and strobes and such. To be honest, I don’t remember a lot of the visuals since I had to take my glasses off. I was literally riding it blind.
Then they start you off right out of the gate with a blackout inducing launch which really gets you in the mood to want the ride to end. But of course, it doesn’t. You are not only thrown around through high G turns, but it is the only roller coaster at WDW where you are actually inverted! MOMMY!!!
I do give WDW credit for coming up with a unique antagonist for the ride. The bad guy isn’t your standard unrealistic Disney baddie. It’s traffic! That’s something that I can actually relate to!
#2: Mad Tea Party
Any ride whose sole purpose is to make you as dizzy as possible is automatically going to be near the top of my “least favorite” list.
The ride itself is just a clone of the spinner rides that you’ll find at pretty much every amusement park or state fair midway. Yes, I know it is Alice in Wonderland themed, but Disney pretty much did nothing to “plus” it up. I mean, Tower of Terror is just a drop ride at its heart, but at least they created this elaborate theme, queue, pre-show, and buildup to make it uniquely Disney. It is clear the the imagineers just mailed this one in.
DISCLAIMER: I have never actually ridden the Mad Tea Party myself. However, I have ridden many similar style rides. All of them are unpleasant. I am sure the Mad Tea Party isn’t any different, which is why I still included it in the list.
#1: Mission Space
Based upon reading my other least favorites, this should come as no surprise.
On this attraction, you are locked in a room in a tight enclosed space. You are spun around on a centrifuge, accelerating your body to 2.5G’s. The only thing between you and certain death is the Disney-supplied motion sickness bag. Does this sound like fun to anyone?
I am pretty much convinced that nobody really likes this ride. The people who ride it are the same people who eat hot peppers or drink Beverly for fun. They aren’t doing it because they enjoy the taste. They are doing it so that they can boast to their friends how they endured the pain and suffering.
Now I should note that I have only ridden the “Green” side of the attraction, which is the side that has minimal spinning. But even that was uncomfortable to me. I don’t have to endure the vomit inducing “Orange” side to know that I would hate it. It’s the same way that I don’t have to swallow razor blades to know that it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.
Wrap Up
I fully expect to get a lot of hate mail about my least favorite rides, as many of these are fan favorites. That’s great. This just represents my opinion and my preferences. If you love Mission Space, then that’s great for you. With me not in line to ride it, you’ll have a shorter wait time! Meanwhile I’ll be enjoying myself on Living with the Land where there are no barf bags in sight!
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