14. Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular

Location: Disney California Adventure (TPT#45)

Note: This show closed forever in 2016 to make way for Frozen: Live at the Hyperion

When Disney California Adventure opened in 2001, it received chilly reception from fans, visitors, locals, and travelers. The park was short on things to do, well-designed lands, and (worst of all) Disney characters! Take the park’s Hollywood Pictures Backlot land, which was themed to a modern Hollywood set… depicting Hollywood… despite the real Hollywood being a few miles north. It contained the massive Hyperion Theatre with 2,000 seats in orchestra, mezzanine, and balcony sections with professional lighting and sound systems. A series of fly-by-night shows made little impact and the Hyperion (and all of the Backlot land) were a dead space.

That changed when Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular opened in 2003. Despite convention saying that theme park shows should be short and simple, Aladdin is 50-minutes of (and we’re not kidding here) Broadway-style sets and musical numbers. Now in its 11th season, the show still plays to sold-out crowds at every single showing (usually five per day) as even the intensely annual-passholder base of Disneyland Resort just sees the show again and again and again.

Aladdin shows no signs of slowing, either. In 2009, Disney officially announced that the show would be replaced by Toy Story: The Musical. So many folks rioted against the idea that it was cancelled, and Aladdin continues to play. The most recent rumors suggest that the theatre would be ideal for a Frozen musical. That’s true, but we’ll see if Disney can convince fans to send the Genie back to his lamp this time… 

13. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

Location: Disney's Hollywood Studios (TPT#25), Walt Disney Studios Park (TPT#44)

Disney’s first sincere attempt at entering the white-knuckle-coaster market, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster has the dubious distinction of being Disney’s first American coaster to go upside down. Apparently undaunted by the challenge, it goes upside down three times, making it the most thrilling coaster at its respective resorts by far. If the inversions don’t care you, maybe the launch will. Traveling from a stand-still 0 miles per hour to 57 miles per hour in less than 3 seconds, it's also among Disney's fastest.

The Floridian version of the ride depicts a white-knuckle race through Los Angeles en route to a Hollywood movie premier. The ride darts past blacklight comic-book style palm trees and highway signs. The Parisian version is more abstract, placing guests into music thanks to a really astounding lighting package that brings the ride to life in a really unusul way! Both versions are set to custom music by Aerosmith.

12. Phantom Manor

Image: Disney

Location: Disneyland Paris (TPT#24)

When Imagineers designed Disneyland Paris, they were given unprecedented budgets and tasked with giving the Disneyland-style park a European makeover. That meant classic rides presented in new ways. Enter Phantom Manor, a completely original take on Disney’s classic Haunted Mansion. Forget the red-brick New England manor of Magic Kingdom or the stark white plantation house of Disneyland. Here, the Haunted Mansion looks haunted. A dilapidated, ramshackle wooden manor in Frontierland, Phantom Manor is given an intricate backstory that blends into the land, telling one giant tale of the town of Thunder Mesa.

The miserly Mr. Ravenswood struck it rich when he discovered gold in Big Thunder Mountain and developed the Big Thunder Mining Company. With his riches, he built an elegant manor up on Boot Hill for himself and his daughter Melanie. But when Melanie fell in love with a lowly miner from her father’s company, Mr. Ravenswood was furious. On their intended wedding day, the groom to be was hung from the rafters and a mysterious phantom was seen cackling in victory. Now, locals say that Melanie’s ghost is still up there, waiting for her beloved…

In addition to new and original scenes and a re-worked score, Phantom Manor features all of your Haunted Mansion favorites but gives them new meaning. The unconnected vignettes of Haunted Mansion work, but given the new backstory, the hanging man in the stretching gallery, the celebration in the banquet hall, and the bride in the attic all take on new meaning… And it’s actually much scarier than Haunted Mansion, too!

11. Fantasmic!

Image: Disney

Location: Disneyland (TPT#23), Disney's Hollywood Studios (TPT#27), Tokyo DisneySea

The other famous Disney nighttime spectacular, Fantasmic! is simply a classic. Opening at Disneyland in 1992, the nighttime show combines fountains, flames, fireworks, live action characters, groundbreaking mist screens, puppets, animatronics, and a rousing and unforgettable musical score into one magnificent show. Even after two decades, folks camp out for hours for a front-row view of Fantasmic at both Disneyland Park (where it’s presented on the Rivers of America) and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (where it has its own permanent, dedicated amphitheater). The show is astounding and well-loved by most all Disney fans.

Disneyland’s edges ahead in our countdown, probably for a few reasons. First of all, it features more “classic” characters (like Pinocchio, Jungle Book, and an unbelievable Peter Pan scene using the park’s very real, full-sized pirate ship) whereas Walt Disney World’s version hoped to capitalize on 90s successes (like Pocahontas and Aladdin). Secondly, Disneyland’s was upgraded tremendously over the last few years, ending with a brand new and unforgettable Maleficent dragon Audio Animatronic of unparalleled size and scope.

10. Space Mountain

Location: Disneyland (TPT#22), Magic Kingdom (TPT#35), Tokyo Disneyland

Even though Magic Kingdom’s was the original, it’s Disneyland’s Space Mountain that has the highest spot on our TPT100. There are probably a few reasons for that. First of all, Disneyland’s was re-built from scratch in 2005 to prepare for the resort’s 50th Anniversary celebration. That re-build came with updated 21st century effects on the ride, and a perfectly-synchronized on-board audio track that adds immeasurable excitement and intensity to the ride.

Also, despite the identical names, Space Mountain is very different in California than Florida. Florida’s is actually made up of two coasters, mirror-imaged and set next to each other. Both are actually modeled after Disneyland’s Matterhorn. Magic Kingdom’s version has its own cult-like following (and deservedly, with its retro-70s theme and inspired queue) but it’s Disneyland’s blueprint that’s been borrowed at subsequent recreations of the ride. 

9. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Location: Magic Kingdom (TPT#20)

When a complete rebuild of Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland was announced in 2011, fans noticed a very unfortunate lean. Most of the new land would be dedicated entirely to character meet-and-greets, and all of those meet-and-greets would be with fairies, princesses, or mermaids. Fans rightfully called out the resort for its bias, and plans were reversed. An entire sub-land dedicated to Tinker Bell and her fairies became the charming Storybook Circus. Meanwhile, separate large-scale meet-and-greet attractions for Cinderella and Aurora were eliminated entirely.

Instead, the royal gals would cohabitate, combined into a new Princess Fairytale Hall that would – unfortunately – have to replace Snow White’s Scary Adventures, one of the park’s original opening day dark rides.

The good news is that the ride’s sacrifice to relocate the princesses would open up a large plot of land in which to build the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, allowing Snow White’s story to live on. The ride got lukewarm reception upon its announcement, but has since become a new classic. With swinging vehicles, some of the most advanced animatronics in the world, and a cheerful testament to the past, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is already beloved, and a piece of Fantasyland that we never even knew was missing. 

8. Big Thunder Mountain

Location: Disneyland Paris (TPT#15), Disneyland (TPT#30), Magic Kingdom (TPT#41), Tokyo Disneyland

When it comes to Disney’s classic coasters, it gets no better than Big Thunder Mountain. With similar (but slightly different) versions at Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disneyland, the ride is simply a fan favorite. Themed after a wild runaway mine train through an active (or in some cases, rusted out) gold mining operation, the ride features bounding hills, surprising turns, and smile-inducing family thrills as it races around the red rock bluffs of the American Southwest.

It's Paris' version of the ride that scores highest on the TPT100, thanks to its incredible location (surrounded by the Rivers of the West, basically taking Tom Sawyer Island's spot). Then comes Disneyland’s version, and probably for the same reason that its Space Mountain did: it was entirely rebuilt from scratch in 2013, re-opening after a full year in 2014 with renewed effects, fresh track, and an explosive new finale that uses Disney’s projected texture mapping technology to outstanding effect.