5. Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

Location: Disney California Adventure

Off the beaten path at Disney California Adventure, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail doesn’t look like much on the surface. But this interactive playground has a lot going for it. With ziplines, scalable fire towers, babbling brooks, caves, and bridges, the Trail is actually probably superior to Tom Sawyer Island in many ways. And right now, it’s home to the Wilderness Explorers (from Disney / Pixar’s Up) who are offering Scout Badges for completed tasks!

Upon entering, guests can pick up a map of the Trail with foil badges marking the location of Scout Challenges. Complete them and scratch off the foil on your map to reveal a badge underneath! Sure, it’s the honor system, but it’s actually a nice diversion from the hustle and bustle of the park to retreat to the Trail and follow the map around, spotting Kevin’s footprints and discovering your spirit animal in the mystical caves outside camp. The Challenge Trail is often overlooked, but it’s a really fun diversion and a simple kind of interactive attraction. Guests who complete all the challenges (again, honor system) can be part of the WIlderness Explorer Camp Ceremony daily. A similar Wilderness Explorer themed scavenger hunt migrated to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida in 2014.

6. Magic Spells

Location: Universal's Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios Hollywood

When the snow-covered town of Hogsmeade and the towering Hogwarts castle beyond opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure, fans queued for hours to buy wands, robes, and exclusive food. It was a theme park operator's wildest dream, and allegedly even Disney was shocked at the complete coup Universal had landed as $40 plastic wands flew off the shelves. (By the way, if you ask insiders, they'll tell you that, for the first time a long time, this made Disney nervous... nervous enough to turn around and purchase the theme park rights to something – anything – that could rival Harry Potter. So, they gobbled up the rights to the highest-grossing film ever, which had just been released...) 

But Universal wasn't done. They'd open three more Wizarding World before Disney managed to open Pandora – The World of Avatar, and it was at the awe-inspiring Diagon Alley that they debuted interactive wands for just a few dollars more. Throughout the Wizarding Worlds, bronze medallions embedded in the pavement instruct guests how to wave their wands and which magical incantation to read. Perform the correct spell and something around you will happen. That may sound vague, but that's because of the tremendous variety here. "Incendio!" and flames spew from a chimney; "Lumos!" and hundreds of chandeliers in the overhead shop come to life; "Aguamenti!" and water leaps from a fountain.

The amazing technology is as much fun to watch as it is to perform, as guests try again and again to move their wands just right (like something straight out of Charms class! "Those Muggles are hopeless," you can imagine Draco Malfoy spewing as he watches from the window of Bourgin and Bourkes). More than anything, the wands turn the Wizarding Worlds into interactive attractions that must be explored. Look no further than the lines, still forming years later, of guests willing to hand of $45 for a wand. As of press time, we don't yet know if Avatar tails will earn as much fervor. (That's a joke.) 

7. Spaceship Earth

Location: Epcot

Sort of the thesis statement for Epcot’s pavilions, Spaceship Earth was designed to focus on communication as an element of technology and progress. The magnificent dark ride – easily one of Disney’s best ever – travels from the Stone Age to the modern era of wireless global communication. The ride’s finale occurs in the very top dome of Spaceship Earth’s geodesic sphere, showing the endless wonders of the galaxy.

During the reverse return trip to Earth, guests are given the opportunity to personalize their own futures via on-board touch screens. Following in the vein of Horizons, one of the greatest interactive dark rides ever, guests are tasked to choose where they’d like to live in the future, what they’ll do, where they’ll vacation, etc. Spaceship Earth then constructs a delightfully retro-futuristic interpretation of the future using guests’ photographs to show just how they’ll live, work, and play in the world of tomorrow. Then, in the Project Tomorrow post-show, guests futures are shown on a giant interactive globe. In terms of Epcot’s overall concept, the interactivity is spot-on perfect and enlivening.

8. Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure

Location: Epcot

Even from its earliest days, Epcot has struggled with its image, casting it more as a science center than a theme park. Parents, it seems, just knew that their kids would rather be immersed in the fantasy of Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom than in the sterile, concrete world of Epcot, which felt almost… *gulp*… educational. Worst of all was the massive World Showcase, with pavilions representing a dozen countries around the world. With stunning architecture, ample food and beverage, and an educational film here and there, World Showcase is a delight for adults... but for kids? Pre-teens?

Disney tried valiantly to breathe youth into World Showcase with Kidcot stations featuring coloring pages and other cultural crafts, but the real breakthrough was Kim Possible’s World Showcase Adventure, sending guests on an espionage-themed race around the countries of the park with a very special cell phone in hand. The game has since been updated and converted to Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure themed after Disney Channel’s more modern Phineas & Ferb and the secret agent teal platypus Perry. Whatever the case, the attraction is fun and surprisingly in-depth as guests find hidden clues, read smoke signals, and more as they bounce around the World Showcase Lagoon with a cell-phone communicator in hand, delivering messages and leading guests around until the bad guy is caught.

Think About It

The idea here is that, as times change, so do standards. Maybe modern audiences wouldn't be wowed by Adventure Thru Inner Space or World of Motion. Maybe they need to feel that they're part of the story as never before. Parks' overreliance on laser-guns, though, is tiring, and the point-and-shoot rides covered in glowing targets distract from any semblence of story or setting.

Luckily, designers are thinking one step ahead as they design the next generation of interactive attractions. Laser guns are disappearing and in their place, guests are making real choices that determine attraction outcomes and experiences, using new technologies to create one-on-one interactions, and (perhaps most importantly) making valuable memories. Seeing your spell come to life in the Wizarding World, unlocking the Observatory of Knowledge, saving the day with Agent P... These experiences are full, rich, wonderful attractions that add to a park visit and create lasting impressions. That's exactly what all attractions should work toward!