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4. Pirates of the Caribbean

Image: Disney

Location: Disneyland Park

Almost incomprehensibly located just a few hundred feet from Rise of the Resistance exists what many call the best classic dark ride on Earth. By any measure, Walt’s original, Disneyland-exclusive Pirates of the Caribbean is a masterpiece. Clocking in at nearly twenty minutes, the marvelous attraction is the definition of a must-see. It was also the last attraction Walt himself personally directed… even if he died six months before its completion and opening. 

In fact, a heartwarming story has it that, when the ride opened, the press interviewed Walt’s daughters Diane and Sharon, saying “Isn’t it such a shame that your father didn’t get the chance to see it?” to which the daughters replied “but he did see it.” In other words, Walt knew the ride like the back of his hand. That’s why it’s often considered his magnum opus. 

While its sisters in Orlando, Tokyo, and Paris certainly have their own artistry, most are about half as long. So while the Internet will forever be embattled in (fruitless) debates about “Disneyland vs. Disney World,” you’d be hard pressed to find anyone – even the most fervent Disney World defender – who’d bother arguing that Orlando’s Pirates would come out on top. Pirates is, far and away, one of the Disneyland Exclusives That Should Make Disney World Fans Jealous. In other words, don’t let your allegiance to your home resort prevent you from putting Disneyland’s Pirates atop your bucket list… It is quite literally Imagineering 101 for any would-be Disney designers or theme park history buffs. 

3. Journey to the Center of the Earth

Image: Disney

Location: Tokyo DisneySea

For many Disney Parks fans, it may very well be that the notion of a “bucket list” of must-ride attractions started because of Journey to the Center of the Earth. Opened alongside Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, the ride was unlike anything Disney fans had seen before… especially because they literally could hardly see it thanks to low-quality video at the time mixed with the ride’s darkness. Only in the last decade have videos really been able to capture accurate glimpses of the ride armchair Imagineers have been dreaming of… but even those videos just can’t capture how cool this headlining ride is.

Famously built into DisneySea’s iconic, 189-foot tall Mount Prometheus icon and the staggering Mysterious Island land themed to Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo, the ride was set up to be an anchor. But once you mix in its literary backstory (practically unheard of in the IP-obsessed U.S. parks) and its iconic encounter with one of the most incredible Audio-Animatronics on Earth, you arrived at a ride that simply would not exist stateside… or frankly, anywhere but Tokyo.

If you really want to dig into the ride that some call Disney’s best ever, we dedicated an entire Modern Marvels: Journey to the Center of the Earth feature to the ride’s legends, lore, and experience… But suffice it to say that even two decades after its debut, this ride remains a must-see, elevating the incomparable DisneySea to a Mecca for Imagineering fans the world over.

2. Disneyland Railroad (Grand Circle Tour)

Image: Disney

Hey, not every aspirational activity on your "bucket list" needs to be the theme park equivalent of a sky-dive. For folks who grow up east of the Mississippi (or in Europe), it's all too easy to write off Disneyland as a "smaller" Disney World. Of course, neither the California resort's ride count nor its E-Ticket count bare that out. Quite the contrary, we've hopefuly proven that Disneyland is worth visiting even for Disney World regulars, and not just because of the standard "Walt walked there" arguments. 

But in this case at least, we can't help but be a bit nostalgic. You can have ridden the Railroad at Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland a thousand times each... but there's  just something about the Disneyland Railroad. Literally born of Walt's lifelong love of trains, the Disneyland Railroad is perhaps the most iconic Opening Day Attraction in any Disney Park. It is pure, unadulterated Disneyland. From Main Street to Liberty Square to Fantasyland to Tomorrowland, every segment is a joy, up to and including a few suprises along the way. 

Put simply, it feels like every Disney Parks fan – no matter their allegiances – ought to have the Disneyland Railroad at the top of their bucket list. The Grand Circle Tour is as classic as it comes... if you can resist hopping off for beignets and mint juleps. 

1. Mystic Manor

Image: Disney

Location: Hong Kong Disneyland

Of course, we have to top off our list with one last Modern Marvel: Mystic Manor. Though we may use the word “masterpiece” a lot in this list, we mean it every time… but usually for different reasons. Mystic Manor is a masterpiece for all of the reasons of the rest of the rides that made our “bucket list,” and more. The music! The mansion! The mayhem! The monkey! From start to finish, this incredible dark ride appears to have been precisely, surgically engineered to leave Imagineering fans drooling.

I mean, a sort of modern “spiritual sequel” to the Haunted Mansion, Mystic Manor is deeply tied into the continent-spanning, fan-service mythos of the secret society, S.E.A., and fittingly creates a globe-trotting adventure brought to life by some of the world’s most incredible Audio-Animatronics and Disney’s cutting edge trackless ride system. Phew. Yes, an absolute icon of Imagineering, Mystic Manor is as close to an original, timeless classic as Imagineering has come in the 21st century… and given the other attractions we rank among The Best Rides of the Century (So Far), that’s saying something.

Do we want to see Mystic Manor built in Disney California Adventure’s Grizzly Peak, or Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland? Uh, yes. But frankly, part of the ride’s otherworldly draw is its rarity; the fact that it’s the (arguably, only) irrefutable anchor attraction at a far-flung Disney Park. Mystic Manor’s purpose was to put Hong Kong Disneyland on the map; to ensure that it wasn’t a “flyover park” wedged between Shanghai and Tokyo. Mission accomplished.

Dreams... 

Image: Disney

Naturally, those selections just scratch the surface of must-see, bucket list Disney Parks masterpieces... Our runners up might include the Enchanted Tiki Room (Disneyland), Spaceship Earth (EPCOT), Sinbad's Storybook Voyage (Tokyo DisneySea), Phantom Manor (Disneyland Paris), Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway (Disney's Hollywood Studios), Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek (Tokyo Disneyland), the Dragon's Dungeon (Disneyland Paris), TEST TRACK (EPCOT), Splash Mountain (Tokyo Disneyland), Tower of Terror (Tokyo DisneySea), and many, many more.

Now you tell us – which Disney Parks attractions top your "bucket list?" Which parks do you daydream of visiting, and what do you think will be your first stop when you finally get there?

 
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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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