40 Disney Attractions: 20

"And don't worry about that asteroid. You'll be in and out of there before it breaks the atmosphere. Trust me, what could go wrong?"




20. Dinosaur

Once a small highway town, Dinoland USA blew up after an amateur fossil hunter accidentally stumbled upon some dinosaur bones in 1947. Since then, scientists have bought most of the area and learned to live with the locals while searching the land for more evidence of prehistoric life.

Two residents, Chester and Hester, also saw the appeal of the new visitors flocking across the country and, determined to make a quick buck, converted their gas station into a chintzy souvenir stand and eventually opened a miniature midway adjacent to the gift shop.

At the center of the town, however, is the main attraction: The Dino Institute, a once secret research facility now open to the public. Here, scientists have perfected time travel technology and are now allowing guests to take trips back in time on scenic tours of prehistory. Following a brief explanation via video chat from Dr. Marsh (Clair Huxtable), she is interrupted by Dr. Seeker (Andy French) who asks guests to participate in a very secret mission: go back in time and find a tagged Iguanodon and bring it back to the present before the dinosaur-killing meteor hits the planet.

What begins as a peaceful search(even under killer time restraints) turns into a race to avoid a hungry Carnotaurus as your Time Rover speeds away, trying to catch the Iguanodon while trying to not get caught itself. The Rover skids left and right, taking steep drops and sharp turns, as the countdown to extinction draws closer.

The strange thing about Dinosaur is that it's virtually similar in track layout to a Disneyland ride that premiered 3 years earlier, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. For some reason, Disney World still doesn't have a legit Indiana Jones ride (we still have that dumb stunt show though). Instead we get dinosaurs.

It's still an incredibly fast paced and exciting ride! But I'm not sure which is better: Indy or dinos.

40 Disney Attractions: 21

"Attention all aliens from galaxy M-31, please keep forward facing tentacle clear of oncoming blue liner vehicles."



21. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority

Listen up. I'm gonna school you to why the TTA is the best ride in all of Tomorrowland.

First and foremost, atmosphere. No other ride at Tomorrowland represents Tomorrowland like the PeopleMover. Sitting in Rockettower Plaza, the exact center of the area, the TTA is a ride as much as it is a line. It's a queue for Tomorrowland itself. The ride is themed as an urban transit system, traveling across all of Tomorrowland, passing through many of the attractions and gives you a good idea of what the entire area is like. Add in an announcement PA system, making dumb space related puns, and it's just awesome.

Second: Convenience. Most people ignore this ride. It's not Buzz Lightyear, it's not Space Mountain. It's a slow(ish) ride around Tomorrowland. As such, there are no wait times. Literally zero. You can walk right up the moving walkway and into a Metroliner seat. Since it's high up, it's a lot cooler than most rides which is a blessing in Florida heat. You also get a good view of the park itself, nabbing pictures like this:



Lastly: Behind the scenes stuff. Traveling through attractions is a great way to view some workings, in and around the ride. Passing by Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, you can see hidden hit points and the blacklights scattered throughout. Going into the Carousel of Progress, you get a peek of a model of Walt Disney's planned city of the future. Most importantly though, you get a chance to see this monstrosity:



The TTA passes right by Space Mountain's loading area and when it needs to undergo refurbishment or it breaks down, they need to turn the lights on.

And there is nothing scarier in Walt Disney World than Space Mountain with the lights on.

40 Disney Attractions: 22

"And it rained...and it rained...and it rained...the deluge."



22. The Living Seas

Okay so just to be clear, I have nothing against the replacement attraction, The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It's cute, it's fun, it's got great atmosphere and it even tells a story. But, man, it cannot hold a candle to Sea Base Alpha.

Following a short pre-show on the creation of the oceans, guests board Hydrolators that purportedly take them down miles beneath the sea(actually just two inches) to just outside the base. From there, they board Omnimover Seacabs which take them through a tunnel and into Sea Base Alpha itself, all the while viewing the marine life in Disney World's 5,700,000 gallon aquarium.

The idea that The Living Seas was an underwater exploration base is crucial to its entire being to me. It's beautiful and simple in the open, scientific base, viewing and learning of the fascinating creatures that reside in the ocean(including my friend, the Cuttlefish). It made me want to be a marine biologist, thinking I could spend my time in a real Sea Base Alpha. The Living Seas remains close to my heart as an example of what Disney can do as an immersive educational tool. Sure, it's just a massive aquarium(the largest saltwater tank in the world until the Georgia Aquarium opened in 2005), but it's because of that feeling that you're seeing science happen that makes it all the more special to observe fish.

There's also a seafood restaurant next door with one of the walls being part of the aquarium, which is kinda messed up.

40 Disney Attractions: 23

oh hi there

"Make it a stretch...In fact, make it a super stretch"

23. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster


Okay, so I mean, it's Rock n Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. But I literally cannot imagine there is a person on this planet that gives two cares about these grody old dudes who haven't been popular since Armageddon.

The gist of the ride is you're taking a tour of a record company and, just as Aerosmith is gonna treat you to a sneak peek recording, their manager tells them "Yo, Aerosmith, you're about to be late to your concert." To make up for missing out on their stupid garbage performance no one cares about, they give you free backstage passes AND a limo ride. You exit the studio into an alley with a 24 seater rolly coaster limo.

It's at that point the actual cool thing begins. You shoot out from 0 to 57 mpg in 3 seconds with Aerosmith songs specifically rewritten to be about roller coasters and sung by the band hitting corkscrews and stuff. You literally hit more gs than when an astronaut does at a space shuttle launch. It's insane.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is interesting in that it's definitely a more hardcore roller coaster with crazy speed and loops, but unlike most hardcore coasters, it's not as clunky of a ride. It's a smoother ride.

40 Disney Attractions: 24

"Two tiny wings/Eyes big and yellow/Horns of a steer/But a loveable fellow/From head to tail, he's royal purple pigment/And there, voila, you've got a Figment"



24. Journey into Imagination

Topped with giant stupid triangles, Epcot's Imagination Pavilion has been the home of Journey into Imagination since the ride opened in 1983. In its original incarnation, the ride's omnimover vehicles come across a giant blimp flying in the sky, the ride of choice for the Dreamfinder. Turns out the blimp can collect dreams and ideas to be placed in the Dreamport.

Assissting Dreamfinder is a small, purple, dragonish creature that is the literal figment of imagination, aptly named Figment(voiced by famous little person Billy Barty). Traveling through the Dreamfinder's storage room, the ride journeys past a number of rooms, experiencing how art, science, literature, performing arts and music can influence the power of imagination. Making it to the Dreamport, riders disembark as Dreamfinder explains how imagination is the key to unlocking the hidden wonders of the world.

Then Disney shut it down and screwed the whole thing up.

Following a year long renovation, the ride reopened as Journey into YOUR Imagination and featured a couple changes. First of all, the ride location now takes place in the Imagination Institute, a facility dedicated to studying imagination's power(also where the then-next-door Honey I Shrunk the Audience took place). Second, neither the Dreamfinder nor Figment are to be found, instead replaced by the Institute's head, Dr. Nigel Channing(Eric Idle). Channing, utilizing a new invention called the Imagination Scanner, discovers that the riders have literally no imagination, so he sends you through a bunch of rooms and blah blah blah your imagination is now supercharged and the scanner explodes. Surprisingly, this version sucked hard, so the ride shut down once more.

Only to reopen for the currently last time, now Channing is still the head of the Institute, but now plays the studious English foil to the wacky and fun-loving Figment(now voiced by Bunsen Honeydew/Gonzo muppeteer Dave Goelz). As Channing shows the guests through an open house, showcasing the five senses' influence on imagination, Figment interrupts at every turn, turning a boring open house into an exhibition on the magic of imagination. Eventually, Channing relents and realizes the Figment is correct in believing the imagination should be set free.

As much as people get mad at the changes made to the new Imagination ride compared to the original, I love it. It's kind of great to see a juxtaposition between the free Figment and the stuffy Channing. People just want everything to be the same as it was before, but it's funny how perception works sometimes. And imagination plays a big part in that.

40 Disney Attractions: 25

At the end of Hollywood Boulevard, the glitzy neon-encrusted Main Street surrogate for Hollywood Studios, sits the Chinese Theater. Decorated outside with the hand and footprints of folks like Jim Henson, Neil Diamond and George Lucas, the Theater(missing the Grauman's title since it was denied rights to use it) houses a display of movie items and, further in, sits a huge movie screen showing a number of trailers(slightly condensed), among them Alien, Singing in the Rain and Raiders of the Lost Ark. All in all, it's a pretty cute little tribute to Hollywood but could never really facilitate an actual r

"Hold onto your wallets and purses, folks. This looks like a bad neighborhood."



25. The Great Movie Ride


All of a sudden, the doors swing open, revealing a 1930s soundstage sitting inside the old Chinese Theater. In truth, as your tour guide reveals, this setting serves as the beginning of a tour through the movies. Not a look at sets or behind-the-scenes nonsense, a tour that literally takes you physically through famous films(or audio-animatronic equivalents). Beginning in the musicals, the ride vehicle travels past Busby Berkley's Footlight Parade and a lamppost-swinging Gene Kelly singing in the rain before passing under the rooftops of London as Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke sing Chim Chim Cheree.

From the top of London to the Underworld, the tour continues into the 1930s Chicago of the classic gangster films of years gone by. Passing by James Cagney's Tom Powers in a scene from The Public Enemy, the vehicle is halted by a traffic light, currently red, above a train tunnel. As your tour guide embarks to speak to someone about it(instead of just waiting), they are immediately met with a trio of mobsters(one real, the other two being animatronic) and, as the cops descend on the crime scene, mob boss Mugsy hijacks the car, leaving his team(and the tour guide) for pig feed and holding everyone on board hostage. But first a quick ride into the Old West, where John Wayne and Clint Eastwood warn you of what waits ahead, something the captor doesn't pay mind to. Moving past a saloon shootout, the tour enters the dingy, near dead Nostromo starship(which Mugsy mistakes for Jersey). Nervous, Mugsy speeds by scenes of the Alien popping out, trying to attack, while Sigourney Weaver's Ripley waits in the shadows with a flamethrower.

Moving through a snake-infested temple, the ride finds Indiana Jones and Sallah lifting the Ark of the Covenant out of the tomb before turning a corner to find the TEMPLE OF ANUBIS, home of a MYSTERIOUS JEWEL. Seeing an opportunity to Get Paid, Mugsy ascends the TEMPLE OF ANUBIS steps before being stopped by a temple guard who warns to not touch the MYSTERIOUS JEWEL or else face DIRE CONSEQUENCES, which Mugsy obviously ignores, touching the MYSTERIOUS JEWEL and turning into A SKELETON. The temple guard drops their robe and that's when things get sexy it turns out it's the tour guide! Back on track, the ride passes Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice, Rick and Ilsa saying their goodbyes, and Tarzan, King of the Jungle, swinging across the jungle, before finally stopping in Munchkinland.

As the Munchkins welcome you to the merry old land of Oz, the Wicked Witch poofs in, accusing the tour guide of killing her sister before poofing away again after delivering empty threats. Not knowing how to continue, the Munchkins pop back up, realizing a song cue, and sing to follow the Yellow Brick Road. Leading past Dorothy and her crew standing in front of the Emerald City, the road ends in a giant theater which shows a grand finale three minute montage of classic film moments, before ending back up at the soundstage.

The Great Movie Ride is a pretty cute and entertaining blend of live action and robots coming together, something rare at Walt Disney World and it creates a really nice atmosphere to all of Hollywood Studios as the entrance ride to a world of fantastical cinema magic.

40 Disney Attractions: 26

"When you hear the words 'Go for launch,' you'll definitely want to hang on."



26. Mission: SPACE

BOOM what up America, welcome to the future! Literally welcome to the future, because the former home of Horizons is now the International Space Training Center in the year 2036. On this, the 75th anniversary of manned spaceflight, NASA plans to shoot astronauts to Mars for the first time. And y'all are trainees for the X-2 Deep Space shuttle.

After a video starring Gary Sinise hell yes, all trainees are put in groups of four and sent to the fake shuttles for training. Here, each member is assigned a crew position and tasked with pressing a certain button when the time comes. Sure, there are other buttons on the console but they will do nothing and may God help you if you do not push that damned button. Naw, just joking, the ship's auto-pilot will get it if you don't, but you'll look like an unfun jerk.

Following a shaky lift-off, your virtual vehicle slingshots around the moon for that extra push before dropping you into hyperfuturesleep so they have an excuse for the short trip from Earth to Mars. Obviously, since this is a training exercise there are also multiple DRAMATIC PROBLEMS to enhance the drama, but of course those are solved easily, usually with buttons.

In truth, it's just a glorified 2.5 g-force centrifuge mixed with video of space travel, but what makes Mission Space so thrilling is how close to reality it is to actual training. And by that, I mean, a lot of people puked a lot on it to the point that they actually had to create a second, half-throttle version of the ride for people who still like the idea of maybe barfing, but not also possibly having a heart attack.

AND OUR DESTINY
BEGINS WITH YOU AND ME
THROUGH ALL SPACE AND TIME
THE ACHIEVEMENT OF MANKIND
AS WE SAIL THE SEA
OF DISCOVERY
ON HEROES' WINGS WE FLY

40 Disney Attractions: 27

"Hang on to them hats and glasses! 'Cause this here is the wildest ride in the wilderness!"




27. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Once upon a time in the American Southwest, specifically a small mining town known as Tumbleweed, gold was discovered in and around the mountain just outside the town. Overnight, Tumbleweed became a prosperous Gold Rush area, with trains built around the mountain to transport ore.

Due to the desecration of the mountain(and a Native American curse), a flash flood destroyed most of the town's livelihood, leaving it to be abandoned for years. That is until folks wandering found that the trains traversing the mountains have been running constantly all this time without an engineer or crew to be found. Somehow people thought this would make a good tourist destination and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was born in little Tumbleweed, offering visitors a chance to ride a possessed train around an entirely unstable mining camp located inside a mountain. Cool ideas. Awesome.

Out of the three mountains in the Magic Kingdom, Big Thunder Mountain is probably the most exciting and yet the most overlooked. It's the fastest, going 30 mph, it's got the most atmosphere and story to it, but it tends to be pushed aside for flying in the dark and getting all wet. It's the most conventional roller coaster in Walt Disney World and that's most likely where it goes wrong, because it's an old fashioned roller coaster in an amusement park that rewrote the book on amusement parks.

40 Disney Attractions: 28

"You are not the first to pass this way...nor shall you be the last"



28. Maelstrom

Hei og velkommen til Norge! Displaying a traditional Stave church and a number of interconnected shops in four styles of Norwegian architecture, the Norway pavilion is more than just about the viking. It's also about................................................................trolls. Vikings and trolls. And a storybook buffet.

REGARDLESS, the main attraction of the most recent addition(built in 1988) to the World Showcase is really the closest thing to a thrill ride here. And considering the only other ride is the Three Caballeros Small Mexican World Adventure, it's nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnot saying much. Originally a ride exclusively about trolls, the Norwegian sponsors asked they include other aspects of Norway.

Aboard a Viking ship, the boat slowly climbs a ramp, the guests' view staring directly into the eye of Odin, as he(or possibly someone else???) speaks of the history of Norway. Passing by scenes of early Norwegian villages and Vikings sailing the seas, Maybe-Odin tells of how the myths and legends of trolls living in the swamps still live on to this day.

Leading obviously into a troll-infested swamp, an enraged three-headed troll casts a spell on the boat, sending it backwards over the falls. The falls, if you don't know, are featured outside the ride and look like this:

It's not really a huge drop, but the pool isn't really deep, so it would cause some problems.

Rushing past scenes of puffins and polar bears(??????), the boat slowly inches towards the falls, ready to plunge you into the outside, before......I dunno, the spell wears off or something? The boat turns around, only to reveal a bigger drop right into the North Sea. Falling fast, the ride drops you into a stormy sea, surrounded by massive oil rigs. Finally the boat pulls into the dock of a modern fishing village, as Possibly-But-Maybe-Not-Odin declares the spirit of Norway was, is and always will be adventure.

Then you watch a short film about modern(1988) Norway. Or you don't, because the doors are open and you can just walk right past, walking in front of everyone like a rude jerk(which is what I do). Then you go into all the shops and that's the Maelstrom.

There are no ducks on this ride.

40 Disney Attractions: 29

"If something can't be done with X-S, then it shouldn't be done at all."



29. ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

To your farthest right upon entering the Magic Kingdom is Tomorrowland is, quite obviously, a world of tomorrow. Not a true future, but the idealized future we all knew as children. A world of flying cars and daily trips to the furthest reaches of outer space. Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland is, visually, most inspired by the pre-World War 2 retrofuturism seen in works like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. In keeping with the imagery, Tomorrowland is ostensibly presented as a huge spaceport, complete with conference centers and a metroliner looping around the entire area.

A former sponsor of the Tomorrowland convention center, X-S Tech once presented a demonstration of their new transportation technology. You're given a quick example of what's to come in the pre-show as the Simulated Intelligence Robots(you may call him SIR) shows off the teleporter with the help of a cutesy little alien named Skippy. Of course, once Skippy emerges from the other side, he's completely charred to a crisp and disoriented, so maybe a few bugs need to be worked out.

Entering the main hall(with the towering teleportation tube sitting in the middle), visitors are strapped into their chairs with harnesses and are presented with a live feed from across the galaxy to X-S Tech. Here, chairman L.C. Clench and two employees, Spinlok and Dr. Femus, plan to present their new technology by transporting a single guest to X-S HQ. At least until Clench has the idea that, instead of transporting one person to meet them, he'll transport himself to meet everyone in Tomorrowland. Between the change of plans and the testy Clench's general lack of patience, the signal is WHOOPS accidentally diverted to a different planet, sooooooooooooooooooooo instead of Clench coming down, now it's a massive, winged HR Giger wet dream(although legally different from HR Giger's works and a completely original creation).

Almost predictably, the lights start to freak out until quick flashes of light reveal a shattered and completely empty teleportation tube. The monster is loose in the theater and, judging by how it handled that maintenance worker(as in pulling him into the air ducts and spilling his blood on you), it's not a vegan. But before you're made into an alien's lunch, Spinlok and Femus somehow get the beast to return to his home planet. You're freed from your harnesses as the two technicians continue their search for the now missing Clench.

With positional audio, the use of hot, moist air and the seats actually pressing down on you, the ride uses fairly simple effects to simulate everything from the alien breathing down your neck to slapping you in the head to even licking you. Futurehorror where you're tortured by an alien and you can't even move. For a Disney ride, this is dark as all get out.

40 Disney Attractions: 30

"¿Dónde está Donald?"



30. Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros

World Showcase's Mexico pavilion is a pretty interesting venue. Modeled on a Mesoamerican pyramid, the outside is merely a facade for the huge colonial marketplace that sits inside, always under the night sky.

Prior to 2007, Mexico had a ride that was a cute, if plain, boat ride through the country called El Rio del Tiempo. This was a thing for 25 years until someone at Disney realized that they had their own Latin American cartoon characters to use. Their really awesome Latin American cartoon characters that they never use ever and really really should more often.

Preparing to put on a show for the guest, Jose Carioca the Brazilian parrot and Panchito Pistoles the Mexican rooster have discovered that their third member, Donald Duck, has gone missing. Using Panchito's flying serape, the duo travel across Mexico searching for the sightseeing Donald, before finally catching him doing what he does best(aside from getting angry or sounding like he's got a popcorn kernel stuck in his throat): trying to hit on some hot babes. Donald really loves babes. With the Three Caballeros together again, they finally perform their open air concert beneath a myriad of fireworks.

Short and sweet, the Gran Fiesta Tour is a simple quick ride that's just pretty cute and fun. Plus it has the Three Caballeros and they are the best.

40 Disney Attractions: 31

"I almost bounced clear out of the ride!"



31. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Following the success of 1977's Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh movie, the Imagineers at Disneyland thought it would be a good idea to make a ride out of the chubby little cubby's exploits in the soon-to-be revamped Fantasyland in Anaheim. Finally, when Fantasyland reopened in 1983, there it was: no ride. In fact it would take another 16 years before a Pooh Bear ride would be created. Oddly, the Disney World Fantasyland(where the ride was first opened) had enough space for a couple more attractions, yet they instead chose to replace an existing attraction: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

But we're not talking about that ride yet! It's fatty's time to shine. A general dark ride, Winnie the Pooh takes guests in a hunny pot through Pooh's meta-storybook world. Despite its title promising Many Adventures, it mainly focuses on the events which unfold on a particularly blustery Windsday in the Hundred Acre Wood. Driving past scenes of chaos like Piglet hanging onto a broom for dear life and Kanga trying to keep Roo from flying away, the pot heads deeper into the woods before getting ambushed by Tigger, who invites you to bounce with him. Which, of course, your pot proceeds to do along the track until you come upon Tigger pounced atop Pooh Bear, telling him all about the dangers of Heffalumps and Woozles.

What proceeds is a probably my favorite part of the ride. As Pooh Bear dreams of the hunny-stealing creatures(with a ghostly version of his body lifting into the sky, thanks to Pepper's Ghost), the doors open into a bizarre blacklighted bastarized funhouse. 2-Dimensional Heffalumps and Woozles dance around, Jack-in-the-Box Woozles pop out of their boxes and a giant Heffalump blows smoke rings right in your face from his trunk. Exiting through a water can pouring rain over a hunny pot, the scene turns into a flooded Hundred Acre Wood, with thunder and lightning going off in the background. As everyone tries to rescue Piglet from floating away, the ride vehicle itself floats around(a move achieved by having the vehicle move in all directions at a steady speed). In the final scene, everyone is enjoying a party in celebration of the end of the flood. Everyone, that is, with the exception of Pooh, who has happily stumbled upon a huge hunny stash next to the end of the ride.

As lame as it is that Mr. Toad is no more, Pooh is, personally, a welcome replacement. It's cute and fun and that's what should matter. A lot of people get really mad when things are replaced by other things, but the parks were always meant to be constantly changing so that it would never be dated. Just because you liked a ride as a kid, doesn't mean it should remain that way. The park isn't meant to just cater to you or your kid or any other one individual. It's for everyone.

So quit your complaining, you chump!

40 Disney Attractions: 32

"Roger Simba One"



32. Kilimanjaro Safaris

Salamu and welcome to Africa! Once a Dutch settlement, the small East African village of Harambe became self-governing entity following a peaceful revolution in 1963. Since then, much of Harambe has been devoted to protecting and learning of the wildlife in the area. Tourists and students both travel to Harambe to view observe Africa's animals in their naural habitats via both the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and the Harambe Wildlife Preserve, where they can tour the area thanks to the Kilimanjaro Safari Tours.

Arranged by Preserve warden Wilson Matua, the two-week safari tour allows guests to safely explore the Ituri forest, Safi River valley and Serengeti Savana, among others. Aboard the Simba One(simba is swahili for lion, you jerks), guests are offered a look at a number of native creatures, among them lions, elephants and zebras. While there's a few dangerous moments, mainly driving on a rickety bridge over crocodile infested waters, the tour goes fairly smoothly. At least until Matua spots a couple poachers lurking in the preserve. With your guide as the closest available ride to the poachers, the vehicle races to stop them from shooting mother elephant Big Red and taking her child. Will you get there in time?(Yes you will).

Even without the added factor of action, Kilimanjaro Safaris is a relaxing ride with the bonus of getting a close look at animals interacting in their natural habitat(which is why the ride closes in the late afternoon or else all the animals would just be sleepin).

40 Disney Attractions: 33

"Our journey begins as dramatic and sudden changes are sweeping over the land."



33. Living with the Land

While the east side of Epcot's Future World focuses on the technological sciences, the west side is more natural. A look at how we can live in harmony with our planet and how we can harness the power of imagination to do it. The centerpiece of this side is The Land, a two story building that houses three attractions, two restaurants and much of the entire resort's produce production facility. Less of a ride, more of a tour, Living with the Land takes you on a boat ride through that facility.

Starting in a series of setpieces depicting different climate areas, the ride explains how man and animal has been able to adapt and live within the area or modifying it to fit our purposes without harming it. Soon after, the ride opens out into the greenhouse within The Land. Here is where the park's "living laboratory" resides, exploring the future of agriculture. All the plants are grown using hydroponics(the plants are grown in sand, perlite, coconut coir and rockwood).

While the majority of areas seem like regular greenhouses, most have something special about them. The Aquacell practices safe fish farming, housing high and low-denisty tanks and tubes to store everything from shrimp to alligator to bass. The String Greenhouse focuses on a number of innovative techniques, such as Nutrient film, which recycles plant nutrients for the plants themselves, and "vertical growing" which is exactly what it sounds like.

Before departing the ride, the boat takes you through the Creative Greenhouse, which explores future ways to make and preserve plants and vegetables. All plants here are grown via Aeroponics, which suspend the plant in the air and spray the (sometimes exposed) roots with a mist of water and nutrients. Also housed in this area is the biotechnology labs of the living laboratory, where several USDA scientists reside to research crop improvement, as well as a pest management lab which handles a number of beneficial insects used to deal with pests that would be harmful to the plants.

Disney is known for its seriousness in keeping the visage of the park intact, making sure characters don't walk in the wrong areas or maintenance can't be seen. Heck, that's the entire reason the Magic Kingdom has the underground Utilidoors, to take cast members from one side of the park to the other without being seen. What makes Living with the Land so cool and special is that this is the closest to a backstage pass most of us will really get.

40 Disney Attractions: 34

"Did he just say 'action'?"



34. Studio Backlot Tour

Hollywood Studios is dedicated to the Hollywood of old. Not the one in California, but the one in our minds. A Hollywood where the streets are paved with gold and the famous never grow old, a place that never was, yet always will be.

Originally the Disney-MGM Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer allowed their name to be used and helped fund the park until they realized Disney were violating their contract by building a working studio in the park and they sued with Disney filing a countersuit due to MGM opening a theme park in Vegas. A judge eventually decided that both were allowed to do what they want and it wasn't until 2008 that Disney changed its name to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Like a movie studio, the park has multiple areas that blend into each other as a mass of streets. It can sometimes be a bit confusing to traverse but it's easy to get used to. The other real con is a lot of the attractions are spaced out/are shows, so there aren't too many rides around the park, leaving it sometimes feeling a little empty. Like, most parks might take a whole day or more to really explore, but this one feels like half a day. Luckily, most of the rides here are worth the visit.

Fittingly located in the one area that really looks like the other side of the studio, the Studio Backlot Tour is exactly what it sounds like: a tram ride through the backlot area of the studio, beginning at first in a standing show area based around special effects(explained by a pre-taped Michael Bay). Filming the fictional "Harbor Attack," a couple "special volunteers"(usually found by asking guests at the entrance if they'd like to skip the line) are put in the place of stuntmen and are rocked by explosions and doused in water(one unlucky guest in the "engine room" is overcome by a massive deluge of water), before the scenes are put together, with the final result being shown to the audience. After a brief queue through a prop room, the tram ride really begins.

The tram takes you through a number of sights, among them the Earful Tower(a water tower that used to be the park's symbol), the costumes building and a vehicle boneyard featuring everything from Herbie the Love Bug to Judge Doom's steamroller to the escape pod from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The tour climaxes at a movie set that is currently being used for filming, but the crew is on break right now so it's no big d if we check it out. Too bad Catastrophe Canyon begins filming during the tram's stop. Suddenly the whole area shakes, the fuel truck EXPLODES IN A MASSIVE FIREBALL and the whole canyon floods, with the tram at the end of the flood's path. Just because you didn't participate in Harbor Attack doesn't mean you get out of getting soaked.

Following the big finish, the tram goes around the set and explains how this movie magic was made(it involves water and fire). Tram moves towards the end and you can walk through a building and look at an AFI gallery of the greatest movie villains(look it's the Alien costume oh boyyyyy) and that's it. Tram end. It's probably the closest thing to a Universal-style "behind the scenes" thing in the park.

40 Disney Attractions: 35

"I tend to get hungry after a couple billion years"



35. Ellen's Energy Adventure

Initially a serious film with a short interlude of riding through a scene of robot dinosaurs, the whole thing got turned around in the mid-90's. Gone was the serious film, replaced by a film where Ellen Degeneres, after having a discussion about energy with her neighbor Bill Nye(wha), falls asleep while watching an old rival compete on Jeopardy. Since this a bizarre sitcom world where no one locks their doors and Ellen Degeneres lives next door to Bill Nye, she subsequently dreams about being on an energy-themed episode of Jeopardy against Albert Einstein and rival Judy Peterson(played by Jamie Lee Curtis). The dream, quite predictably, turns into a nightmare in the first round since Ellen knows jack about energy, so Bill Nye takes Ellen to the beginning of time and shows her just How Important Energy Is.

At the point the whole theater moves into the "Moving Theater" portion. After a segment where Bill and Ellen literally see the Big Bang, they're suddenly in the middle of a prehistoric jungle. That's where the animatronic dinos come into play. So the moving theaters turn around and travel through a couple scenes with dinosaurs. These dinos:



These scenes are basically the same as the one from Universe of Energy, except they put in an animatronic Ellen hiding and trying to fight off said dinosaurs. That's about it. Then it's back into another damn theater, this time a caveman(Kramer) discovers fire and sets off the history of man controlling energy in a quick montage. In a very forward-thinking moment, Bill and Ellen then discuss the future of energy, among them wind and solar power(the Universe of Energy building itself was actually an innovation in solar energy as its roof is made up of around 80,000 photovoltaic solar cells that partly power the entire ride).

You can see where Ellen's dream goes from here. She returns in the second round of Jeopardy and does really well and wins. Then Ellen pretty much tells you to get the hell out.

This ride hasn't been changed since 1996.

40 Disney Attractions: 36

"C'mon, everybody. Here we goooo!"



36. Peter Pan's Flight

Fantasyland, more than any other section in the Magic Kingdom, the place where dreams come true, regardless of whether or not you wish upon a star. While Disneyland's version is modeled on an old-thyme Bavarian village, Disney World's is modeled on a renaissance Fantasie Faire, mainly out of necessity. Florida is pretty rainy a lot so there needs to be a lot of coverings to make sure the rides don't get all rained up. Currently at the Magic Kingdom, things are a little cramped, seeing as Fantasyland is going through a full-on facelift adding huge areas devoted to the princesses and adding a second Dumbo ride.

Probably the most common ride at Disney theme parks is the "dark ride". Dark rides are indoor attractions where vehicles travel through specially-lit scenes containing music, sound, animation, etc.

Peter Pan's Flight is a fairly traditional dark ride with one caveat. It's the only dark ride with a suspended ride vehicle. Instead of traveling on an Omnimover track on the floor, the vehicles(modeled after the flying galleon at the end of the film) travel with an overhead thingy to "simulate" """"flight""". From there though, it's pretty straightforward. You travel through all the big scenes from Peter Pan: Pete arriving in the Darling home, flying over London, the sword fight, all that good stuff.

The thing that always confused me is how popular the dang thing is. Wait times can go up to over an hour, even if it feels shorter thanks to the efficient Omnimover system. It's a normal, short dark ride and yet people go nuts over it? Maybe that's not it, maybe it's just that it's a super quick ride and it gives folks something to do before they go eat a burger at Liberty Tree Tavern(located adjacent to beautiful Gracey Manor). Who knows?

More importantly, who cares. It's fun.

40 Disney Attractions: 37

"Expedition Everest team members should proceed to the loading platform."



37. Expedition Everest

Disney's Animal Kingdom is just as the name implies. It's an animal kingdom, of both the modern and ancient, real and mythical. You can come face to face with the largest beasts to roam the earth or get shrunk to the tiniest bug. Animal Kingdom is a world of animals in their natural habitats(theme parks) with us as tourists in their land. In terms of the other parks, it is the most natural of the resort. Here, vast expanses of land do their best to simulate each animal's most familiar surroundings and the park also dedicates much of its time to conservation and animal protection. You know how all the other parks have fireworks shows? Animal Kingdom doesn't haven't that because it would make the animals freak out.

Much like the World Showcase, Animal Kingdom uses real places(for the most part) as the starting off point of its attractions. Here, Africa and today's article Asia are given the fantasy backstory treatment. Animal Kingdom's Asia takes visitors to the peaceful, and fictional, kingdom of Anandapur(which translates to "place of delight" in Sanskrit). The village of Anandapur was formerly part of a much larger kingdom ruled over by many kind maharajahs before destruction of the land whittled the kingdom down to two small villages, Anandapur and Serka Zong, located at the base of the Himalayas. Since then, many of the residents have devoted their time to conservation efforts and the study of native animal life.

In Serka Zong, an expedition team has set up shop to scale Mount Everest. However, the train up to the mountain must first pass through the town's legendary "forbidden mountain," said by locals to be the home of the mythical yeti. As you wind through the queue, you explore the village's local wildlife museum, with a large section devoted to the yeti itself. Upon reaching and entering the train, it winds around a path(with a little drop) before heading into the mountains. Here, a temple devoted to the yeti has been ransacked and murals warn the rider of the fictional beast. Making it near the top of the mountain, the train grinds to a halt. The track ahead of it has been torn up, presumably by some animal. No worries, the train begins a backwards trek on a different track, spiraling backwards down the mountain before heading back up on another path.

But soon enough, the track comes to a halt again, this time inside a huge cave. The illuminated cave wall shows the shadow of a massive creature tearing up more track before it notices something and runs off. The train moves away again, carefully traveling further down another track, until that track turns out to go the wrong way. Soon enough, you're plunging 80 feet down, banking left and right and spiraling around mountains and as you plummet you fall through another cave and you see him.



The yeti is real. He swipes at you, trying to derail the train once more, but you escape to safety. Finally reaching the base, your train docks and you unload, those myths and legends proved true.

Despite its immense size(it's not only the tallest thing in the entire Walt Disney World resort, it would also be the second tallest summit in Florida if it were a real mountain) and somewhat imposing nature, it is commonly billed as a family thrill ride. In other words, for all its flash and ambience(which is very nice, though), it's somewhat tame. Strange for a ride starring a monstrous yeti.

40 Disney Attractions: 38

"Hey Henry! What's holdin' you up? Let's get on with the show!"



38. The Country Bear Jamboree

Disney World's original park, the Magic Kingdom, is more or less a recreation of California's Disneyland. From the park's layout of multiple themed lands to the centerpiece, a brilliant and beautiful castle, Magic Kingdom is a tribute to the young and young of heart and a place where dreams come true.

Full of red rock buttes and sitting beside an old gold rush river, Frontierland is a land pieced together from the most fantastical Westerns. Here, cowboys uphold the law of the land, pioneers set up shops and saloons and miners explore the beauty of the old west searching for that great promise of gold.

While Disneyland has the Critter County, Magic Kingdom places all its "Souther talking animal" attractions in Frontierland. Because why the heck not. So that's why the Country Bear Jambaroo is here, then!

Anyways, rustic Grizzly Hall houses an old-timey country revue full of robot bears and the heads of other robot animals on the wall providing commentary, but not in a snarky Statler and Waldorf kind of way. Just regular old commentary.

Henry, your master of ceremonies, introduces a number of goofy-lookin bears who all sing a little song and play their instruments before the next bear comes out. It may not be that enjoyable to most people, it remains pretty cute. Plus, there is literally 0% chance you're going to hate a giant, fat slow bear named Big Al singing "Blood on the Saddle".

Also,

Big dumb belchin bear!

40 Disney Attractions: 39

"Horizons 1 is now departing. Our final destination today, the 21st century."



39. Horizons

To the south of World Showcase is Future World, Epcot's celebration of the human application of nature and technology. One of the original landmarks of the park was Horizons.

As the Carousel of Progress was initially a look into the future from the post-war '50s and '60s, Horizons, the spiritual successor of the Carousel, is the modern age's view of the future. The modern age in this case being 1983, but hey, that's better than 1964.

An innocuous airport concourse("futureport") transforms into an omnimover port, where the ride begins in the most obvious of places: the past. Entitled "Looking Back At Tomorrow," the vehicles move past scenes of previous predictions of the future, from Jules Verne on. Your omnicar moves on to a view of the present, brought to you by two giant honkin' OMNIMAX dome screens, showing how we can utilize modern(1983) technologies and ideas to further the future.

Finally it moves into the ride's finale: the future. A grand city of the future, desert, space and underwater colonization are all featured and you're given the choice of viewing one further in a quick 30-second film

While Horizons was one of the earliest Epcot attractions to close, it stands as the first attraction in Disney history with something special: interactivity.