Do you have a favorite Disney World ride?

If you’re like us, you might have SEVERAL favorites, but the truth of the matter is that almost EVERY Disney World ride just SLAPS. Disney Imagineering has blown our minds on MULTIPLE occasions with attractions like Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. But what if we could only choose the three that are practically perfect in every way?

Yes, we’re doing the impossible. We’re picking the three PERFECT rides in Disney World. This is a completely unscientific list based on our own personal opinions, but we’re still not going to argue with anyone about these. So let’s see which rides we think are flawless.

Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom is one of those rides that should not work but somehow does. This ride somehow blends the utterly spooky with the downright farcical. Its horror meets humor and it all melds together to create a ride that we want to hop in over and over again.

The whole experience of the Haunted Mansion begins well before you get in a Doom Buggy, though. The queue is delightful with its pet cemetery, the busts, the ghost horse and carriage, and all the other little details that only Disney Imagineers could have dreamed up. There is SO much to take in just in the queue alone, including tons of Imagineering Easter Eggs that would take us thousands of words to tell you about.

The experience continues when everyone is gathered in the stretching room, which is where the special effects start getting you into the mansion’s mood. The Ghost Host is PERFECTION, as is his dialogue, as well as this pre-show that then leads you to where you board your Doom Buggy.

We can’t even start to talk about how amazing the ride itself is once that Doom Buggy takes you through the mansion itself. What’s even more impressive is that many of the special effects are OLD SCHOOL — we’re talking traditional projections, smoke, and mirrors. But even in our modern age, it still all JUST WORKS.

All we can say is when Little Leota tells us to “hurry back” at the end of the ride, we are ready to do just that. Of course, we do have to look at one skeleton in the mansion’s closet: the Hatbox Ghost will soon be appearing in Disney World’s Haunted Mansion, and many fans of the ride are questioning where he’ll be placed in the ride. We, though, will withhold our judgment until we witness his appearance and trust that the Imagineers know what they’re doing.

Here’s more about the Hatbox Ghost’s placement in Disney World’s Haunted Mansion

Soarin’

Yep, we’re also saying that Soarin’ in EPCOT is a perfect ride. This is about as close as you can get to hang gliding, and it’s far safer than real hang gliding. Plus you get to hang glide OVER THE WHOLE WORLD.  Let’s start with the iconic pre-show, too, which stars the one and only Patrick Warburton. The pre-boarding video is FANTASTIC while being both entertaining and educational about safety on the ride. 

Then you go soaring over some of the most iconic structures in the world, including the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower (even if it does look a little bendy), the Matterhorn, and more. It’s utterly breathtaking. We also love how the ride ends with you soaring over Disney World, complete with those classic Disney fireworks.

This is the most exhilarating, yet also strangely relaxing, ride that we will never hesitate to get in line for in Disney World, no questions asked.

The 5 Best Rides at EPCOT (And the 5 Worst!)

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Okay, we know this may be a controversial opinion, but Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Hollywood Studios is one of the most FUN rides in Disney World. Yes, we still miss The Great Movie Ride, which Runaway Railway replaced, but let’s face it — Runaway  Railway is an incredible ride. It was also the first ride in Disney Parks HISTORY to actually feature Mickey Mouse and friends.

This is another ride with a perfect pre-show. You step into a room with a projection screen where you see Mickey and Minnie in an animated movie getting ready to go on a picnic, then things go awry, and BOOM, there’s a hole in the screen and you WALK THROUGH THE CARTOON to get to the ride’s loading area, essentially stepping into the cartoon.

The rest of the ride is based on that premise: you’re IN a Mickey Mouse cartoon. You get inside a trackless ride vehicle, which takes you through the story, with loads of twists and turns. It really DOES feel like you’re in a cartoon — the colors are vibrant and Mickey, Minnie, and their friends all come to life with projection mapping technology that we believe is WAY better than had they made this of 3D screens. This somehow feels way more REAL.

There is no other ride in Disney World quite like it. Also, we HAVE to mention the original soundtrack which will have you singing “Nothing Can Stop Us Now” for DAYS (we bet you’re singing it right now!). Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is charming, it’s fresh, it’s high-tech, and it’s perfect.

Why You Should Look UP in the Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Line in Disney World!

Honorable Mention: Flight of Passage

Okay, so poor Animal Kingdom got left out on our list, so we decided to add an honorable mention for Flight of Passage, which is another ride where Disney Imagineers just went ALL high-tech to create an immersive experience unlike anything else. The ride is in Pandora, which might be one of the most beautiful lands in all of Disney World.

Flight of Passage takes you through a pre-show that puts you into a compatible avatar so that you can be a Na’vi for a while (if you’ve seen the Avatar movies, this will make sense). Then you get on the back of a Banshee and go soaring over Pandora for a thrilling ride.

Now, Flight of Passage is a 3D experience, though, and we get that not everyone likes that, but for us, there’s nothing like flying on the back of a Banshee, especially when you can feel it breathing underneath you as you ride it — yep, Disney Imagineers decided to involve ALL of your senses during this ride. But this is the main reason it was left off of our top three list.

All we can say is that there’s a reason that this is STILL one of the most popular rides in Disney World with some of the highest wait times — it’s worth it.

Is A Major CHANGE Coming to Flight of Passage?

So the next time you find yourself on these rides, be sure to think about what makes them all work so well, making them absolutely PERFECT.

Stay tuned to DFB for more!

 

What are your top three perfect rides in Disney World? Let us know in the comments!