8. AVATAR Flight of Passage

Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Speaking of non-believers, let’s be honest: you can try to deny it, but you did not have high hopes for Pandora: The World of Avatar when the land was announced. In fact, many Disney fans (perhaps yourself included...) spent quite a few spent years crossing their fingers that persistent rumors of the project’s cancelation would be true. However, Pandora did come to be… and its staggering centerpiece attraction is often considered one of the best modern attractions on Earth, period.

Yep, despite the hurdles inherent in adapting an IP that folks just weren’t that excited about, Disney Imagineers managed to craft a one-of-a-kind, emotional, and outright masterpiece attraction that took the world by storm. Flight of Passage “pairs” guests with a native Na’vi avatar as it completes the culture’s right of passage: flying on the back of a dragon-like Ikran through the floating mountains and glowing forests of the moon. The result is a ride that isn’t just a thrill or an emotional whirlwind; it sticks with you like all great Disney attractions should.

Even years after opening, Flight of Passage remains among the most sought-after Disney Parks experiences on Earth, garnering substantial waits… and massive reactions. So like Guardians of the Galaxy, you don’t have to love this IP or even necessarily agree with its place in Disney Parks to recognize that this one-of-a-kind ride is one that you absolutely have to experience for yourself.

7. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Location: Disney's Hollywood Studios

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a star in its own right. Seriously. Generations of Florida Disney fans will tell you in no uncertain terms that the Hollywood Studios anchor-turned-icon is unbeatable. They may be right. Disney's three spin-off rides (in Anaheim, Paris, and Tokyo, with various themes overlaid) are fun and all, but they don't hold a candle to this beacon of cinematic wonder. A masterpiece of storytelling, embedded technology, and a surprisingly authentic thrill, the ride is practically legendary. In fact, I (pun intended) checked into the complete story of the Hollywood Tower Hotel and its legendary thrill ride in an exclusive deep dive feature – hopefully, a must-read for Imagineering fans. 

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a ride you probably think you know through images, videos, or those spin-offs around the world. But as you stand at the end of Sunset Blvd. and gaze at the looming, decrepid, scorched remains of a genuine Tinseltown legend, you can't help but feel your heartrate increase. It's a living, breathing icon of Imagineering that you just can't ignore. And frankly, it's one you simply need to experience in person. Some say that Orlando's Tower of Terror is the living embodiment and peak of Disney's fabled '90s "Ride the Movies" era. But even if that's true, it's one side of the coin that's shared by its West Coast cinematic counterpart... 

6. Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye

Location: Disneyland

The Modern Marvel: Indiana Jones Adventure is one of the most mysterious attractions on Earth. Located exclusively at Disneyland (with a sister attraction at the even-more-hard-to-reach Tokyo DisneySea), the dark ride was famously the first of Disney’s limited uses of the Enhanced Motion Vehicle technology… but it’s the scale and story of this E-Ticket that elevate the experience to something no video can capture.

It begins with the quarter-mile queue to even reach the ride, traveling through the sunken ruins of the Lost River Delta’s Temple of the Forbidden Eye, where ancient murals, carvings, and a whole decipherable language tell the story of a lost god whose promise of otherworldly gifts ends in disaster for those foolhardy enough to gaze into his decaying eyes. Upon boarding, riders face three locked doors – one of each of Mara’s gifts – before one unlocks, ushering them into a trap. The ride races through collapsing caverns dealing with snakes, spiders, and some booby traps you just have to see for yourself, all centered on a massive central room where a forty-foot tall state of the decaying god overlooks a rickety suspension bridge… 

Look: Indiana Jones Adventure is the icon of the “Ride the Movies” era of the ‘90s. It’s quite literally a blockbuster. All of Disneyland’s Adventureland is absorbed into its 1940s time frame, and the ride literally casts a spell over the whole park. Once you’ve seen Indiana Jones Adventure for yourself, it’s frankly a bit disappointing to step into any other Adventureland… it just feels like something big is missing. Please, please put this one on your list.

5. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Location: Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Going forward, there’s really no discussion about Imagineering, Disney Parks, or superb rides that won’t include Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. The undisputed anchor of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the massive, mega attraction is so complex, so astounding, and so intricate, we offer that it really exists in a realm beyond even the most ambitious E-Tickets. We’ve taken to calling it an ultra-E-Ticket, or U-Ticket; an entirely new category of attraction.

Rise of the Resistance is a modern masterpiece, mixing every tool in Imagineering’s toolbox from the last sixty years into one attraction with three ride systems and then some. It’s not an exaggeration to suppose that the ride may be the most technologically advanced on Earth today. Even more, it’s deeply tied to the mythology of Star Wars and the “living land” of Batuu; a case study of everything Imagineering fans crave.

Given that Rise of the Resistance exists on two coasts, the trouble isn’t even getting to it; it’s getting on it. The ride is very, very, very temperamental. Its exceeding low capacity (the result of its complexity, frequent breakdowns, and pauses in operations) make the most sought-after attraction on the planet so fragile, its demand far outweighs its supply on a daily basis. Even if fans don’t like to hear it, Disney’s solution – Boarding Groups – works, at the inevitable cost of keeping many people in the park from getting on board on any given day. To say that this ride is worthy of your bucket list is so obvious, it doesn’t even need mentioned. But we did anyway.