4. Mad Tea Party

Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)

The original: While the relatively tame Dumbo the Flying Elephant is a staple of the Disney Parks, so too is one of Fantasyland’s more thrilling attractions. The Mad Tea Party premiered in Disneyland on Opening Day in 1955, and its ability to both delight and nauseate its guests has kept it in Disney’s wheelhouse over the years.

The variations: This Alice in Wonderland tea-party-turned-thrill-ride can be found, with limited variations to the teacup ride vehicles and surrounding decor, in the Magic Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. Shanghai Disneyland is the lone holdout, where guests are instead treated to a Winnie-the-Pooh spinning ride called Hunny Pot Spin, and, as the name suggests, control oversized jars of honey that twirl along brightly-colored turntables.

5. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

Image: HarshLight, Flickr (license)

The original: Of the five attractions found in every Disney park, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is the only one that didn’t come straight from Disneyland. It first premiered in the Magic Kingdom in 1998, a full seven years before it would be brought to Walt’s original park — or anywhere else, for that matter.

What makes this ride so unique? It was the first attraction to combine elements of both a dark ride and a shooting gallery (with a little of the manic swivel control of a spinning tea cup), allowing riders to compete against each other to rack up points as they took down the Evil Emperor Zurg.

The variations: From 2004 to 2006, every remaining Disney park received their own iteration of the ride, with fairly minor changes from attraction to attraction. Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters enabled its riders to remove their laser guns from the ride vehicle mounts, thereby increasing their ability to boost their scores, and fully enveloped its riders in a world where Buzz Lightyear was a powerful Space Ranger and not a toy at all. Hong Kong Disneyland, on the other hand, shuttered its Toy Story shooter game in August 2017 as it prepared for a massive Ant-Man overlay in 2019, while Shanghai Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue remains the most advanced of its sister parks, seamlessly integrating screens and animatronics to immerse its riders in a unique space adventure.

Just as every state fair needs its Ferris wheel and every amusement park its roller coaster, every Disney park is best remembered for its five mainstays: the iconic castle, the inspirational (and grounded) carousel, the kid-friendly aerial carousel, the whimsical thrill ride and the modern-age dark ride. What other staples, if any, would you add to the list?