Welcome to Top 10, where we rank things based on personal opinions. Today, I will be ranking the Top 10 Retired Walt Disney World Rides. Before we start, let me clarify that attractions that do not involve a large amount of motion, such as Alien Encounter or Captain EO, are included in my Top 10 Retired Walt Disney World Shows list, which I will post fairly soon. Let's get to it!
10. Maelstrom (Epcot)
10. Maelstrom (Epcot)
Maelstrom was a boat ride in Epcot's Norway Pavilion. On the ride, you rode through a neon depiction of Norway and ran into Vikings, Trolls, drops and an oil rig. It was the first "thrill ride" at Epcot and it remained popular until it closed in 2014 to make way for Frozen Ever After.
9. Body Wars (Epcot)
Body Wars was a simulator thrill ride housed inside the Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot. On it, you were shrunk down to the size of a blood cell and entered the body of a patient to rescue a doctor who was lost while researching an injury. It was a fun attraction that was very quickly overshadowed by Star Tours, which opened shortly after at Disney-MGM Studios.
8. Studio Backlot Tour (Disney's Hollywood Studios)
When Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, the park was designed to be part theme park, part working production studio. The Studio Backlot Tour was a way for a guest to experience the production side without being in front of the camera. Originally, the tour included a walking portion and a tram tour portion that toured you through large scale sets and cumulated with Catastrophe Canyon. Over the years the theme park side expanded into what use to be the production section of the park and each time it did, the Backlot Tour began to shrink . The biggest change occured in 2004 when the Backlot Tour lost the residential street portion to the construction of Lights, Motors, Action and became the tour we knew up until it's closing in 2014.
7. Delta Dreamflight (Magic Kingdom)
Delta Dreamflight was an aviation themed dark ride in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom. In it, you flew through a pop up book filled with exotic locations as well as a cartoony look at the history of aviation. Dreamflight became Take Flight after Delta dropped it's sponsorship and closed in 1998 to become Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.
6. Snow White's Scary Adventures (Magic Kingdom)
Snow White's Scary Adventures was an opening day Fantasyland dark ride that was replaced by a meet and greet complex in 2013 due to the construction of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It was a classic that can still be enjoyed at Disneyland, although the storyline there is in a slightly different order than Orlando's was.
5. World of Motion (Epcot)
Now we get to the classic Epcot dark ride portion of this list. World of Motion was an opening day pavilion in Future World. Sponsored by General Motors and partially inspired by Magic Skyway from the 1964 World's Fair, World of Motion went through a fantastical history of modern transportation complete with it's catchy theme song "It's Fun to Be Free". World of Motion closed in 1995 to bring Epcot a much needed new thrill ride: Test Track.
4. Spaceship Earth '94 (Epcot)
iOk, I kinda cheated here by including an past version of an existing attraction, but never the less... What made the 1994 version so good was the script/narration and the music. The '94 version was narrated by Jeremy Irons and his performance gave the entire attraction a classy and nuanced feel. The script was very polished and sounded like something out of a classic novel. The musical score was just beautiful and is one of the best musical scores for any attraction. An honorable mention goes to the decent of the attraction, which gave you lots to look at and enjoy to the beautiful score rather than a screen with a dumb picture of yourself. The '94 version closed in 2007 shortly after Siemens became the attraction's sponsor and became the version we all know today.
3. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (Magic Kingdom)
No list of the best retired attractions of Disney would be complete without this Magic Kingdom classic. By today's standards, Toad would probably have never been greenlit, but it remains a fan favorite that has gathered it's own strong following. Inspired by the short film adaptation of The Wind and the Willows, you board a "motor car" and follow Toad through Toad Hall and about town on a madcap journey to nowhere in particular which ends with you driving on a train track, getting hit by a train and going to hell. The Florida version of Mr. Toad actually had two different tracks which gave it more re-rideability. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride closed in 1998 to become The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
2. Journey Into Imagination (Epcot)
The original version of Journey Into Imagination was arguably the best dark ride Disney has ever built (except for our #1 attraction). In the original version, join Dreamfinder as he turns a figment of his imagination into the purple dragon we all know and love. Next, travel through different aspects of Figment's imagination on elaborate sets with some fantastic visual effects. The original Journey Into Imagination closed in 2000 when sponsor Kodak needed to change the ride in order to lower operating costs and remove often breaking portions of the ride. The result was the awful Journey Into Your Imagination, which was replaced just two years after opening by Journey Into Imagination with Figment.
1. Horizons (Epcot)
Those who have known me for a while know how obsessed I am with Horizons. It was my favorite ride as a kid and one I will never quite get over closing. Horizons was the spiritual successor to the Carousel of Progress and featured a husband and wife taking you step by step through how the future was created, then showing off their vision of the future. It had every aspect you'd expect from a classic Disney Dark Ride, but with a ton of animatronics, special effects and the ability to choose your own ending, which was way before it's time. Spaceship Earth has always been the icon of Epcot, but Horizons was the soul. It closed in 1995 before being revived in 1997 due to Test Track and Universe of Energy both taking longer than expected with their construction. Horizons closed for good in 1999 and was replaced by Mission: SPACE in 2003.
And that is my list. What are your rankings? Feel free to comment them below. Thanks for reading!
Written by Chris Coburn
Written by Chris Coburn