Everyone knows of Disney World as a destination for children, but what about the young at heart or the teenagers of the family?!?! While we, as adults, love meeting characters and riding Prince Charming’s Carousel we also love thrill rides. Each park at Walt Disney World has at least two rides that we class as the top thrill rides at Walt Disney World. In this post we will tell you all about the best thrill rides Walt Disney World has to offer. Buckle up and enjoy the tour of the top thrill rides at WDW.
We apologize for the lack of new content, but we have a lot of new ideas coming your way. The Theme Park Vacations crew just got back from a weeklong trip at Walt Disney World and are ready to share it all with you.
Magic Kingdom Top Thrill Rides
Space Mountain
Space Mountain is a unique thrill ride. A roller coaster and a dark ride combined. While not the fastest ride in the park (28 miles per hour), it consistently has a 60+ minute queue wait time. Opened in 1975, this ride takes you past the planets in our solar system and through a worm hole before returning to Earth in near complete darkness. The ride vehicles are 3 single-wide seats in a line and 2 vehicles per train. Bear the ride seating arrangement in mind when riding with younger passengers that like to hold onto a parent or other rider. Do not let its slower speed trick you into not thinking Space Mountain is not one of the top thrill rides at WDW.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened in 1980 at Walt Disney World and features a mine train roller coaster that is “the wildest ride in the wilderness.” After a flood destroyed the town of Tumbleweed, someone notices the mine trains running without engineers. You have a chance to jump onboard and ride through the mountains and abandoned mineshafts where folks have been mining for gold. The queue is one of the most immersive at Walt Disney World. It features many overlooks of the ride, dynamite detonators, and even canary cages tying closely to the mining theme. This ride tops out at 36 miles per hour. What we love about this ride is it features a few “false endings” where you feel like the ride could be over as you head up another hill. Riding in the back of the train enhances the intensity of this roller coaster.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster almost always tops out the queue wait time at Magic Kingdom sometimes hitting 180 minutes in peak season. The queue is another one that is well done by Walt Disney World. It features light up gems and weaves its way through many mining relics from the dwarfs. The ride features a swinging ride vehicle. There is a pivot pin on the front and the back allowing the ride to swing on the roller coaster chassis. This makes it one of the smoothest roller coasters while enhancing the thrilling feeling of the ride. Topping out at 34 miles per hour you will weave through the mountains and forests along with a quick drop into the mine to see the dwarfs at work “Heigh-HOOOOOOO”.
TRON: Lightcycle/Run
The newest attraction at Magic Kingdom is also the fastest in Magic Kingdom and 3rd fastest on Walt Disney World Property. What sets this roller coaster apart is the ride vehicle. You straddle the ride seat and lean forward. The ride position is VERY similar to what you see on a sport bike motorcycle. This creates a problem for some riders as you need to hold your head up which puts strain on your back and neck. Also, if you are a larger rider, particularly if you have large calves, try the test seat at the beginning of the queue before you get in line.
TRON features a propelled launch at 59 miles per hour and multiple turns that twist you nearly horizontally. It is a -very short-timed ride at roughly 60 seconds but it feels much shorter. This ride is one of two at Walt Disney World to use their virtual queue. Watch for a future blog post about how to use the virtual queue and increased your odds of getting into the virtual queue. TRON has been thrust into our top thrill rides at WDW for all the right reasons.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Top Thrill Rides
Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster
One of the top thrill rides on Walt Disney World property for sure. You meet the band, Aerosmith, in the studio and they invite you to attend a show. The problem is it is all the way across Los Angeles. You load up into the limo for a wild ride across town. You launch 0-57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds into a dark ride roller coaster. It is also the only ride at Walt Disney World that goes upside down.
Tower of Terror
The pre-ride show for this attraction is a large part of what makes this a must-do ride. It plays on the old hotel vibe and the common fear of a lot of people… an elevator. In 1939 five people loaded into an elevator. Lightning struck the elevator and the people vanished along with the wing of the hotel. As you go through the queue, you’ll notice the look of the abandoned hotel. The cobwebs, antique era luggage, and vintage furniture and decorations all make the experience immersive. You are loaded into the only working service elevator and are transported into the Twilight Zone. More of the story plays distracting you from the fact that you are moving about the hotel.
Before you know it, you are in the “drop shaft” and are dropping or raising at speeds up to 36 miles per hour. Each ride can be different as there are multiple drop patterns for this ride. Sometimes you will drop first and others you will rise up the shaft first. Jut another part of the thrill.
EPCOT Top Thrill Rides
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Up next on our top thrill rides of WDW takes us to EPCOT. You are transported to Xander Pavilion via brand new technology, a jump hole powered by a cosmic generator. While visiting Xander the cosmic generator is stolen. The Guardians of the Galaxy show up and you are loaded up on a spaceship to track down and reclaim the cosmic generator. In classic Guardians of the Galaxy style, you have music and lighting effects the whole ride. Without giving too much of the ride away, you will face different directions and ride part of the way sideways on the roller coaster. This is one of the more intense rides at Walt Disney World and some people struggle with nausea and disorientation from the ride. This is the other ride on Walt Disney World property that uses the virtual queue.
Test Track
You start this ride off in, sort of, a museum of Chevrolet. They have many models and prototypes of designs by Chevrolet. You step into a design studio and design your own car. You can change the profile and aesthetics of the car. Bear in mind each change you make affects the performance parameters of the car. This design process along with the huge popularity of the ride does lead to one of the most consistently long queue times of Walt Disney World. Once your design is perfect you move along to test your vehicle on the test track. Test Track is the fastest ride on Walt Disney World Property at 65 miles per hour.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Top Thrill Rides
Expedition Everest
Next up one the top thrill rides at WDW is the tallest ride on Walt Disney World property at 199.5 feet tall (ever wonder why the rides at Walt Disney World are all less than 200 feet tall? We will drop the answer at the end of the blog post). You start the queue in base camp and a walk through an Everest Museum talking about rumors and experiences involving the yeti. You load onto a train to travel through the Himalayas. Once you get close to the top of the mountain you discover the tracks have been destroyed by the yeti. You drop backwards into darkness and narrowly escape the yeti as you roll back down the mountain to base camp at speeds up to 38 miles per hour.
Flight of Passage
This is the only thrill ride that does not move along a track. It is an immersive simulator style ride. You travel to Pandora and are on an expedition to the Hallelujah Mountains. The queue on the ride is truly amazing. It makes you believe you are on Pandora. You are disinfected and then they create an Avatar for you to ride on a banshee. The restraints on this ride do prohibit certain riders from riding. You can feel the banshee breathing beneath you and the views on Pandora are breathtaking. Please use the test seat at the beginning of the queue before waiting in line. The queue often exceeds 120 minutes and could be as high as 200 minutes during peak season.
Fun Fact
All attractions at Walt Disney World are below 200 feet so the imagineers do not have to incorporate red warning lights to warn aviators. It allows a more immersive experience.
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