Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: With versions found in almost all the Disney castle parks, this ride is one of our family's all-time favorites. Every trip to every resort, it remains a must-do. Each rendition has its charms, but if I had to choose one to ride during this time, it would be the attraction found in Disneyland Paris. Oui! Beginning and ending by journeying under the river is an experience unsurpassed! It truly is the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!
Flight of Passage: It may be the newest of Animal Kingdom's epic E Ticket adventures, but it is also one of the best ever created by Disney Imagineering. Thrilling yet peaceful, the airborne piggyback ride on Pandora's banshee is everything you'd expect to experience... and more! I'm always left wanting an additional ride or two, aren't you?
Impressions de France: My singular choice of Epcot attractions for the list. (Sad, isn't it? It's my favorite park, but the attraction roster has increasingly become less and less unique and compelling since its heyday.) You may ask how a mere film can rank among my Top Ten. The travelogue is so much more than just the filmed locations! It's a slice of French life set to the most stunning music found in any theme park. I'm instantly transported to Europe- dated images and all.
Splash Mountain: One of two adventures selected from the Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida. (The other may surprise you.) Those highly sensitive to the tales told would do well to remember the source film's concerns are not the content. These retelling of African folk tales comes together in a fresh and engaging manner complete with perhaps the catchiest of all Disney songs. Tiana may come to Disneyland in a Princess and the Frog revisiting (and that's 100% fine), but Florida's epic flume ride will remain as one of my all time beloved rides. It's time to relax and quit being so politically correct that we lose any sense of fun.
Radiator Springs Racers: Speaking of fun, my next choice fits the description any way you look at it. Cars may not be Pixar's best film, but it's ride is the best attraction built around a Pixar movie. As with Epcot, this is the only attraction chosen from Disney California Adventure. That alone says quite a bit. Also like Epcot, the park's attraction line up has moved backwards since the new improved California Adventure premiered in 2012.
Indiana Jones Adventure: Walt's park continues to have the most well-rounded set of attractions and adventures of all. I was blessed to ride during the opening weekend of this groundbreaking piece of Imagineering genius. The line was so long, it took hours to finally board a jeep, (remember this was way back when ride capacity was very important to the suits), but once my journey was over, I turned around and got right back in line. Among Imagineer Tony Baxter's best work. Right up there with my beloved and sadly long gone Journey into Imagination.
Peoplemover / Tomorrowland Transit Authority: My other Magic Kingdom pick. Not every attraction has to be a headliner to have an impact. Cruising along the track in the evening breeze surveying the lay of Tomorrowland is an every trip must-do.
Phantom Manor: Back to Paris. While all Haunted Mansions (and Mystic Manor) are among Disney's best of the genre, there's something special about this reimagined attraction. The storyline is darker, the architecture and setting equally spectacular to those in the States, but the musical score elevates the attraction to a new level. All proving once again that beauty is in the eye - and ear - of the beholder.
Expedition: Everest: "Big Thunder on Steroids". This description is what I give newbies when they decide to travel to Walt Disney World for the first time. The last two spirals around the mountain before encountering "Disco Yeti" is worth the price of admission. Animal Kingdom certainly needs much more before it will be a full day for a majority of Disney visitors, but for me, this park is steadily moving toward the top of all four Florida parks.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Last but not least, Pirates of the Caribbean. The grandest Disney adventure of all time. Nothing else in any park says "I'm home" like rounding the bend into New Orleans Square and boarding a boat next to the Blue Bayou restaurant and its twinkling fireflies. (Yeah, they ruined the elegant original entrance as they were forced to deal with crowds once Fast Past came into play.) The very lengthy original version remains the pinnacle of Disney Imagineering- and of course, it was under the guidance of Walt Disney. An American Original.
(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)
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