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12. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

Image: Disney

Location: Disneyland Park

For better or worse, Disneyland is hallowed ground. Sure, sure, Walt himself stepped there… But more to the point, Disneyland is a locals’ park. It caters largely to Southern Californian audiences who visit with their grandparents, who visited with their grandparents, etc. To some extent, that makes change a much more difficult battle in California than it is in Florida (despite Disney World fans’ earnest attempts to protect classics). In Disneyland, the result is a Fantasyland with all (yes, all) of its Opening Day Originals still represented. 

Yes, Disneyland still features its version of the Lost Legend: Snow White’s Scary Adventures that Magic Kingdom dumped for a meet-and-greet. It also has dark rides themed to Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland, plus the original “it’s a small world” and, of course, Peter Pan’s Flight… But the perfect representation of the park’s commitment to classics is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. An absolutely absurd attraction connected to an obscure character from the 1940s, the dark ride reads to modern audiences as an original IP concocted just for the parks.

Frankly, we explored the full story of the fan-favorite in a standalone feature dedicated to Walt Disney World’s closed version of the classic – the Lost Legend: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride – but for Imagineering fans, this seemingly simple Fantasyland favorite is an absolutely must-see. 

11. Space Mountain (Disneyland Paris)

Image: Disney

Location: Disneyland Paris

Really, Disneyland Paris as a whole is a must-see that should make your bucket list. But if we were to select just one attraction in the park that you ought to pay special attention to, it’s the French version of Space Mountain. It’s true that Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain (the original) differs from all that follow (which all are basically clones – Anaheim, Tokyo, and Hong Kong). But Disneyland Paris didn’t just reinvent Space Mountain; it rewrote the entire land that surrounds it.

In fitting with the French park’s need to cater to European audiences (who would have little interest in a Space Age Tomorrowland inspired by America’s mid-century race to the moon), Disneyland Paris opted for Discoveryland; a rich, golden, romantic, 19th century vision of tomorrow based on the books of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. In fact, the park’s Space Mountain was literally themed to a novel by the latter – From the Earth to the Moon, telling of Victorian explorers who construct the Columbiad Cannon to be launched to the moon.

Okay, yet again, we dedicated an entire Lost Legend: Space Mountain - De la Terre a la Lune to the subject, hopefully convincing you that the 1995 ride was one of Disney’s best ever. Be sure to make the jump to that feature for the full story. Though the ride has (first) lost its literary basis and (second) been given a Star Wars overlay, Paris’ Space Mountain is still a sensation. Imagine: a Space Mountain where you board outdoors, are launched out of a cannon, and invert three times to a synchronized on-ride audio score… Phew! 

10. Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure

Image: Disney

Location: Shanghai Disneyland

When Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016, the park took Disney Parks fans by surprise. First of all, Imagineers had used the mainland Chinese park to rewrite the rules set by Disneyland over sixty years earlier. The tried-and-true layout shared by all Disneyland-style parks prior had been scrambled, edited, and reimagined. No Main Street. No Adventureland. No Frontierland. But even moreso, the park purposefully excluded any anchor attractions you'd find in America. No Space Mountain. No Big Thunder Mountain. No Haunted Mansion. No Pirates of the Caribbean... well... kind of.

In place of the traditional Pirates, Shanghai debuted a brand new E-Ticket in a stand-alone Pirates-themed land called Treasure Cove. And Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure isn't your grandfather's seafaring adventure, nor is it Walt's. Instead, it's a high-energy, technologically-jam-packed, multi-media experience based on the Pirates film franchise. The scale of the ride is, frankly, incomprehensible. This is another one where even well-circulated videos just can't quite capture the experience, as the ride blurs the lines between sets and screens; the physical world and the fantasy one.

Pirates isn't the only must-see, "bucket list" worthy ride at Shanghai Disneyland, but the other notable attraction – the Modern Marvel: TRON Lightcycle Power Run – is en route to Magic Kingdom as we speak... So in terms of "bucket lists," Battle for Sunken Treasure is the one to keep atop your daydreaming and, for many Imagineering fans, may be worth the flight to Shanghai alone.

9. Radiator Springs Racers

Image: Disney

Location: Disney California Adventure

The anchor attraction of the billion-dollar rebirth of Disney California Adventure, the Modern Marvel: Radiator Springs Racers is a whole lot more than just an E-Ticket. The ride was practically an Imagineering showcase. You have to remember that Cars Land was really the first of Disney’s attempts to apply the Wizarding World formula of “living lands,” and Racers was the company’s first staggering E-Ticket after a decade of pretty piecemeal projects.

To that end, Radiator Springs Racers is a triumph. It not only includes some of the best Audio-Animatronics on Earth, but is set within one of the most beautiful “natural” wonders of the theme park world – the staggering Cadillac Range and Ornament Valley. Now California Adventure’s signature attraction, the ride has never been duplicated elsewhere and it’s difficult to imagine that ever happening… it’s just too perfect for the park; too at home at California Adventure; too grand and expensive to ever be worth pursuing post-COVID. 

Our hint? If you manage to check this one off your bucket list, enter Cars Land via the park’s Pacific Wharf. The view of Radiator Springs Racers from that vantage point has been known to make even the most stalwart Disney non-believers get a little misty… Talk about needing to be seen to be believed!

 
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Comments

How could you leave Incredicoaster out of there? It’s the most thrilling coaster in the entire Disneyland Resort! Not to mention fans say the new theme fixes the previously story-less coaster!

How could you not mention the Peoplemover?

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