11. Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)

Those who grew up watching this production will undoubtedly return to it with rose-colored glasses. On the surface, it’s an engaging stage show with impressive effects (like a 12-foot-tall Ursula puppet) and may even stretch its lifeline further than the 26 years it’s already racked up at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The only issue here? The entire show feels a little dated, especially given the 3-D and CGI capabilities of Disney’s other productions.

10. Storytelling at the Royal Theatre (Disneyland Resort)

While the Royal Theatre alternates two different shows per day—currently, it’s Beauty and the Beast and Tangled—we’ll lump them in together for this list. There’s not much to see in the way of special effects, but repertory players Smythe and Jones combine candid humor with innovative reenactments that are enhanced, rather than hampered, by their minimal set design and prop usage. It’s also a fairly flexible setup than can be easily changed to feature the newest Disney princesses; for example, the Royal Theatre offered a limited-time engagement for the stage show Frozen in 2015.

9. Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage! (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)

There’s something undeniably fun about Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage!. Perhaps it’s the peak 1990s feel—the show doesn’t look like it’s received a single upgrade since the newest iteration debuted 17 years ago—or the way human-sized versions of Lumiere, Chip, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts try to pivot around the stage. There aren’t any special effects to be seen here, just glitzy costumes, classic songs, and entertaining choreography (the highlight being an upbeat “Be Our Guest” performed with enormous cutlery). It may not be the most innovative show in the parks, but it still manages to hit all the high points of one of Disney’s best films.

8. Finding Nemo – The Musical (Disney's Animal Kingdom)

Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)

Where the Voyage of the Little Mermaid feels dated and worn, Finding Nemo – The Musical proves that not all puppetry-based stage shows are relics of the past. It offers audiences a fresh perspective on a beloved Pixar classic (remember how Finding Nemo wasn’t a musical?) and uses colorful lighting and animated effects to bring the entire ocean to life within the theater. Assuming Disney continues to plus this show as it ages, it should be a staple of the park for decades more.

7. Mickey and the Magical Map (Disneyland Resort)

Image: Disney

It’s a testament to the quality and ingenuity of Disney Parks shows that a production this spellbinding is left this low on the list. Mickey and the Magical Map does a fantastic job of blending animation with a traditional, high-energy stage performance, using tiered platforms to transform Mickey into his CGI self and back again. While much of the story is used to highlight various Disney characters—King Louie, Sebastian, Stitch, and Tiana, among others—it also finds new ways to fuse classic songs and moments in a way that feels original. (Case in point: a three-princess power chorus of Pocahontas, Mulan, and Rapunzel that steals the show every time.) Given the high rate of turnover at the Fantasyland Theatre, however, the show’s creativity and limited but tasteful special effects may not be enough to keep it there on a permanent basis.