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In your opinion, what Disney ride is the pinnacle of Imagineering?
- Thread starter Zeock
- Start date
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
I think Disney have been forced to up their game with the level of attractions Universal have added over the last 5 years.
Alastair
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Rise of the Resistance
Not ridden ROTR, which I suspect would be the best by the sounds of it. For me though from the rest of the list Indiana Jones Adventure is a very easy winner. Remains my favourite dark ride ever due to it being an incredible themed experience, no screens or cheap tricks to be found. Just an unbelievably effective combination of creative ride vehicle, lighting, physical set pieces, amazing scale, music and sound. Puts a smile on my face every time I ride it, which should be a prerequisite for any dark ride!
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Voted Indiana Jones. It's 25 years old and still world class.
Love the ride system.
Love the ride system.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
It looked incredible back then, if only Disney kept up with its maintenance, though the new photo of the snake Animatronic being repaired behind the rides building is giving me hope it'll relive its glory days once again!!
Zeock
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Is Wastelands Penitentiary (Tulleys Shocktober Fest) a ride? If not, my favourite ride is Nemesis.
I'd love the rotating room at the beginning to return but I don't think it will happen.
Having got to ride both ROTR and Indiana back in October the general consensus in our family was that Indy was our favourite. The detail in that ride is another level bearing in mind it's age and even still all these years later it stands up against anything in our opinion. It's also just a bloody good fun ride!
I spent the entire time humming the theme tune as we were going along just made me feel like I was actually part of the adventure.
That doesn't take away the fact ROTR is a brilliant ride in its own right but Indy has that nostalgic proper Disney Imagineering magic.
Llama
TS Member
Very difficult one to answer. If we're talking about the rides as they were when they opened then Indiana Jones Adventure, without question. I haven't been on it in years (thankfully, as I hear it's in bad shape these days) but when it was new and every effect worked, it was truly something revolutionary. Basically every scene is iconic, leading up to the finale which is probably the best example of taking something on a film and making it happen in real life, every 30 or so seconds. Even now it's an incredible ride, especially if you go on the Tokyo one which has been kept in good shape. I hope they're able to restore the Anaheim one to its former glory during this refurbishment.
Rise of the Resistance, which I was lucky enough to ride twice, is an incredible achievement, and the way the experience takes about a half hour is really cool and remarkable, but for some reason it feels pretty sterile to me. Maybe it's the cold metal interior of the Star Destroyer, or the way it's based on the new movies which I don't think anyone really cares about, but it feels like something is missing.
One attraction that isn't on the list that should be is Radiator Springs Racers. It's not necessarily a technical achievement in the same way some of these other rides are, but it's one of the best examples of what Disney can do really well when it wants to: an exciting ride with a bit of a story. Especially at night, the surrounding area and the views from the ride are some of the best in any park.
And finally, though I've only seen POV videos of these, the two more recent rides that tell me that Imagineering still has the spark (when time and budget allow, of course) are Runaway Railway and the Beauty and the Beast ride in Japan. Runaway Railway especially is nice to see, as we expect greatness from the Japanese parks, but such a wacky and entertaining ride that also uses cutting edge technology in the stateside parks was a good sign. And Beauty and the Beast looks absolutely mind blowing, and does something I don't think I've seen on any other ride: instead of moving 4 or 8 or 10 people in one car through a number of scenes quickly, you have (I believe) 6 cars of 8 people moving through the ride as a group, which means they can linger in each scene for a much longer time and still maintain overall throughput in the ride. This is something that's only been possible with the trackless rides, but it seems to make possible something that wasn't until now: letting you hear an entire song, rather than just a part of it!
Rise of the Resistance, which I was lucky enough to ride twice, is an incredible achievement, and the way the experience takes about a half hour is really cool and remarkable, but for some reason it feels pretty sterile to me. Maybe it's the cold metal interior of the Star Destroyer, or the way it's based on the new movies which I don't think anyone really cares about, but it feels like something is missing.
One attraction that isn't on the list that should be is Radiator Springs Racers. It's not necessarily a technical achievement in the same way some of these other rides are, but it's one of the best examples of what Disney can do really well when it wants to: an exciting ride with a bit of a story. Especially at night, the surrounding area and the views from the ride are some of the best in any park.
And finally, though I've only seen POV videos of these, the two more recent rides that tell me that Imagineering still has the spark (when time and budget allow, of course) are Runaway Railway and the Beauty and the Beast ride in Japan. Runaway Railway especially is nice to see, as we expect greatness from the Japanese parks, but such a wacky and entertaining ride that also uses cutting edge technology in the stateside parks was a good sign. And Beauty and the Beast looks absolutely mind blowing, and does something I don't think I've seen on any other ride: instead of moving 4 or 8 or 10 people in one car through a number of scenes quickly, you have (I believe) 6 cars of 8 people moving through the ride as a group, which means they can linger in each scene for a much longer time and still maintain overall throughput in the ride. This is something that's only been possible with the trackless rides, but it seems to make possible something that wasn't until now: letting you hear an entire song, rather than just a part of it!
Trooper Looper
TS Member
The only ride I wish was on here would be The Original Journey Into Imagination. What a unique and important theme The ride had! The ideas in it were never really done before, the soundtrack is still one of my favourites for a Theme Park attraction, and the characters, Dream Finder and Figment are probably some of the most memorable characters in a park. This ride really did inspire a generation!
Kudos to Tony Baxter creating one of Disnrys last true masterpieces in terms of creativity.
(With From the Earth to the Moon and Journey into the Centre of the Earth being their last proper creative rides IMO.)
Kudos to Tony Baxter creating one of Disnrys last true masterpieces in terms of creativity.
(With From the Earth to the Moon and Journey into the Centre of the Earth being their last proper creative rides IMO.)