My Favorite Rides in Orlando

My Top Ten Rides in Orlando

Well. I was writing this blog before and I was on number ten before my computer just completely shut down. I should have known I was a paper and pencil type of writer. I love the tactile option. Similar with reading books. I couldn’t imagine reading a book on a kindle.

With that frustration out of the way let’s talk about my favorite rides in Orlando. I had this discussion with my girlfriend a few days ago and she did not like my list. She is a full thrill ride Universal Orlando Resort type of girl, so it didn’t go over well with her when I had the Walt Disney World classic, Haunted Mansion, in my list. Now that I spoiled one, let’s get into this. It won’t be in order as these fluctuate so much with how I am feeling.

I want to make three honorable mentions before we start, I was fighting to just add two to this list but I wanted to keep it as a clean top ten.

My first honorable mention is Flight of Passage. This is the best simulator in the world right now, I love the immersion and the soundtrack that accompanies this ride. The first time I rode it I could feel myself getting a bit emotional when the score swells and you do a nosedive and come out the other side and stare into Pandora while the Banshee is breathing on your legs. It is a good queue, and Pandora is gorgeous on and off ride. Unfortunately, the screen is in a rough state at the moment, and I just don’t think the wait is worth the ride anymore. Maybe it is just my eyes getting worse.

My second is Pirates of the Caribbean. I will always get on this attraction if I am in the Magic Kingdom. It is almost always a walk on, and it is a tremendous ride that is full of animatronics. It is an absolute classic too. The drop used to scare me as a kid but now it feels like nothing. I remembered the skeleton driving the ship before the drop when I was younger. That is my best memory of this ride. That reveal to Barbosa on the pirate ship is incredible and immersive. The queue gives you a good disconnect from the 95-degree Florida weather to night-time in the Caribbean. This attraction will always be up here.

People Mover- I don’t think I could write this article without bringing this attraction up. It is the most relaxing ride I have ever been on. To go from fighting through crowds in the heat of Central Florida to riding above the crowds in the fresh air, the shade, gives amazing views of the castle, and air conditioned at parts. I love it. I could get on that ride for hours.

Another quick mention to Dinosaur. I love that attraction. I love Animal Kingdom. I remember I had to tough that ride out, I used to be so scared of it until I was sitting in between both of my middle school crushes so I had to be tough.

My Disney fan is coming out, I need to go to Universal.

Men in Black- This attraction is huge for me and my family. It is a ride we competed with each other on. We would ride it over and over again to try and be the best on the day. It was usually the first attraction we would get on at Universal. When I first moved to Orlando, I knew no one in the parks so I would go single rider on this attraction repeatedly. It was common on our checkout day if we stayed at the Royal Pacific, we would always go to Men in Black and ride it with our express passes before we drove back home. We got caught in a thunderstorm once and we just rode Men in Black the entire time it rained. This ride is a big piece of my family. I also love the movies, my girlfriend and I watched them all last year.

The Mummy- The perfect indoor roller coaster. It blends theming of dark rides with the thrill of a roller coaster. It is what Gringott’s tried to replicate but missed the mark. The queue is great with its interactive portions. The live feed of later in the line where you can blow air on them is pretty funny. The ride is very quotable. “Are you insane? Get out of here” “I would have enjoyed this interview more if I had gotten my cup of coffee!” Both of these lines are set up from moments in the queue on TV screens where Brendan Frazier asks the assistant for coffee. The same assistant who has his soul taken on the first scene of the ride. The roller coaster portions are fun, the dark ride sections are cool, the launch into the mouth is funny, the fake out ride exit is great, I mean the whole ceiling catches on fire. I have actually gotten stuck in that scene fun fact. Overall, it is just a really strong attraction.

Haunted Mansion – A classic. Usually, a shorter wait with how quick this line moves. A big portion of the line is the iconic stretching room as well which makes this queue fantastic. This ride does a great job easing you into the theming. The gravestones you pass are funny to look at as well. The mansion itself is beautiful to look at and I remember back in the day there used to be howling wolves that added to the theme. Overall, it is a strong attraction that you don’t have to wait very long for. Any time I go to the Magic Kingdom, I almost always hop aboard the doom buggy.

Stardust Racers – One of the newest additions to the list is the incredible coaster at Epic Universe. Every time I get off this ride, it blows my mind. The last time I went on it at night in the back row. It was indescribable, the amount of whip the back row gets over some of the layout is just plain crazy. Unfortunately, the coasters weren’t dueling at that moment but during the night I don’t even think it needs it. Of course, it loses a little bit but this is a strong coaster dueling or not. Seeing that beautiful park at night while zipping through the layout is one of my favorite theme park experiences. I can say I like this attraction better than Velocicoaster, even with a weaker queue.

Velociocoaster – Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies of all time. Jurassic World… Is a movie of all time. Not great but enjoyable. To add this theme to an incredible coaster was a great fit. It is one of the best attractions in the world and very close to the best in its own park. Hagrid is just too strong of a ride to put this over it. This coaster has some incredible moments, the first launch, the second launch, the hill climb, and the mosasaurus roll. It kicks ass from beginning to end.

Monster’s Unchained – My favorite attraction at Epic Universe with Stardust being a close second. This attraction raises the level of theming that I have been very blessed to be able to go on it so many times. The amount of incredible animatronics to tell this story, even in the pre-show, is mind blowing. How close you get to each of these animatronics increases the fear aspect of this ride. It tells a good story, very easy to follow, and the story begins as soon as you see the façade. This castle looks amazing and at nighttime, it just increases to a whole new level. I feel like I can say that about almost every ride at Epic Universe. The queue is also great as it reveals more elements of story. The preshows are fun with one including two animatronics. The best part of this line is the wait time. Unless I walked into a delay, this attraction is a walk on, every time. So much of a walk on that you don’t even get to take in the small details, and you get to skip the preshows. Just writing about this makes me want to go back to Epic Universe to ride this attraction. I love this love letter to the Universal Monsters and I can’t wait for them to expand this land. There is just something about being able to walk on one of the best attractions in a theme park that is very appealing. Only a few rides on this list am I able to get on them every time I enter the park, and I am glad that this is one of those.

Cosmic Rewind – The most fun I have ever had on a ride. I laughed almost the entire time, and it is glass smooth. There is a small story attached to this attraction, but it doesn’t matter too much to me, the backwards launch, the music, and the train movement sell this attraction. I wish I rode it more during the virtual queue days because this line is CRAZY. I’m hoping for some new E-tickets to come to Epcot to level out the demand for this attraction.  I am very happy they chose this ride to bring in the Guardians of the Galaxy and didn’t change our Tower of Terror.

Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure –  The most popular attraction at Universal Orlando Resort still. This is THE rope drop attraction and sadly because of that, I don’t get to ride it as much as I would like to. I rope dropped a few weeks ago, I got to the line at 8:03 with the park opening at about 750 and the line was a 75-minute posted wait with the express line being longer than standby…. I turned around and walked right onto Velocicoaster. I am still a little sad that Dueling Dragons got taken away, but this ride is world class.

Tower of Terror – This attraction is a classic. The theming, the thrill, the little surprise at the top of the elevator, the views of the park, the queue, the cast members, the intimidating show building. This ride is nearly perfect. Riding with people who had never ridden it before is one of my favorite things because they know it is a drop tower, but when the elevator starts to move forward? It is funny to see their reactions. This is also one ride where I still have some anxiety when I get on the ride. Most drop towers give me that and I love that feeling. No attractions used to give me that nervous feeling, but Stardust has been added to the list of Tower of Terror, Doctor Doom’s Fearfall, The Rockit, and Velociocoaster.

Expedition Everest – My entry point into rides. When I was young, I wouldn’t ride anything. I would wait at the ride exit with my mom and our bags while my brother and father rode all of them. It wasn’t until my brother’s middle school band trip where I decided to let peer pressure get the best of me and get on this ride. I couldn’t be the only one to not get on this attraction, and I am glad peer pressure got me. I started riding more and more attractions with my largest being Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. A ride that went 120 MPH and went up 400 feet. Expedition Everest has been a part of all of my trips to Animal Kingdom. During my math team trip in middle school, we rode it as many times as we could without getting sick. During my grad bash trip, we went in the single rider line for Everest as many times as we could as well. This has always been my favorite ride, and I am not sure if it will ever get replaced. It was such a large part of my theme park journey that I might chain myself to the front if they ever plan on changing it. This year marks its 19^th year of operation so it could be up for elimination.