6.  Maelstrom

Image: DisneyWhen Maelstrom gets shut out of the top five, you know that the 1980s featured several remarkable attractions. While I love Frozen Ever After, I'm an evangelist about Maelstrom, the former pride of the Norway pavilion. It cleverly embraced Norse mythology in a palatable way for children and adults alike.

Maelstrom also featured a unique ride mechanic for the era. At one point, guests on the boat ride suddenly changed positions, causing the vessel to go backward. It also included a brief moment of sunlight, an unprecedented addition to an indoor dark ride.

I would definitely describe this attraction as more than just a standard Disney boat ride. Due to the level of competition during the 1980s, I cannot place it ahead of anything else on this list, though.

5. Journey into Imagination

Image: DisneyThose of you who weren't around for the 1980s are tilting your heads quizzically right now. The Imagination! pavilion attraction that you know has a similar name, Journey into Imagination with Figment. The current version is less than the original in every way, though.

Back in 1983, Imagineers introduced Epcot visitors to Dreamfinder, an inventor who immediately created a dragon named Figment. The ride was delightful in every way, combining music and clever writing to tell an engaging story. And the attraction itself was innovative as well.

Journey into Imagination improved on some of the ideas of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. A turntable under the ride carts transported guests from scene to scene. It was efficient and impressive.

For some reason, Disney “upgraded” it in time for the turn of the millennium. Journey into Imagination has been an abomination ever since then, which breaks the hearts of all of us who love the classics at Epcot.

4. Star Tours

Image: DisneyAccording to legend, George Lucas developed a relationship with Disney’s Imagineers during the production of Captain EO. At some point, he hinted that he’d love a Star Wars ride at a theme park. Soon afterward, they pitched him on the premise for a previously abandoned ride concept, a theme park adaptation of Black Hole. Disney highlighted the potential of Star Tours, a humorous failed vacation in a galaxy far, far away. The rest is theme park history.

The Imagineering team invented an entirely new kind of ride mechanic for Star Tours. They purchased $2 million worth of military flight simulators and retrofitted them for a theme park attraction. Then, Disney filmed a short story in the Star Wars universe, one where an inexperienced pilot named RX-24 aka Rex took tourists on the scariest vacation of their lives.

The original Star Tours represented more than just a sublime ride design. It also perfectly mimicked the ton of Star Wars, a film trilogy predicated on the premise that incompetent droids somehow help to save the day in the end. It’s a masterpiece of theming in addition to being the first great motion simulator attraction.