Can you pick just one?

How do you pick one favorite Disney attraction? John Frost of The Disney Blog posed this question to his readers and it has me stumped. I have had so many favorites over the years it is hard to narrow it down to just one.


When I first visited Disneyland in the early eighties I couldn't get enough of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. To this day it is my favorite dark ride. I knew it was on a track but I was five and I wanted to feel like I was driving. My two favorite parts of this were driving through the fireplace (I swear there used to be steam so it looked like you went through smoke) and visiting hell. I still make sure I ride this every trip.


During the early nineties I was very into Star Wars and this translated to riding Star Tours non stop. I would get off walk through the store and back around into the queue. For fifteen years I have been hoping for a new Star Tours movie so I hope the rumors of Star Tours 2.0 are true.


I waited in a three and a half hour line in 1995 to ride the Indiana Jones Adventure for the first time. We got in line in Frontierland, went out onto Main Street, down into Adventureland, all through the outside queue and finally to the temple. Little did we know that this was only the beginning. They made the wait fun with ancient writings on the temple walls and decoders so you could translate. When we finally rode for the first time this blew me away. I could not believe how impressive this attraction was. There was so much to see that I know I missed a lot that first ride. Thankfully I have been able to ride it many, many more times to take it all in.


In 1998 I visited Walt Disney World for the first time. I had never been on an attraction like Tower of Terror. I did not know many people that had been to Walt Disney World so I did not know what to expect. When the elevator left the shaft for the first time I was in awe. That was amazing then and it is amazing now. I very much wish that Tower of Terror in Disney's California Adventure was built the same way but I love it anyway.

During that first visit to Walt Disney World I was also able to experience the Carousel of Progress for the fist time. I hadn't been in a show like that since America Sings closed more than ten years earlier. I had forgotten how fun they were. This show was one that my dad remembered from his first visit to Disneyland so that made it a little more special to me.

If you put me on the spot now I would probably respond with the stock answer of Pirates of the Caribbean or the Haunted Mansion. They are both classic and make New Orleans Square my favorite "land" in Disneyland. I don't know that either of them are my absolute favorite though. I miss the Peoplemover and I would jump for joy if they brought it back, but I don't think that would be my favorite either. There are many shows and attractions that I love and yet I have to pick one favorite. Then it came to me.


At Disneyland I love that the monorail gives an aerial tour of Tomorrowland that you used to get on the Peoplemover then you wrap around the Matterhorn and take a peek at Fantasyland before you reach the station. When you are at Walt Disney World it may be viewed more as transportation than an attraction but it is still amazing. The Magic Kingdom monorail takes you around Seven Seas Lagoon and through three of the hotels. The Epcot line runs through the park and around Spaceship Earth before they drop you off giving a wonderful view of Future World and offering a small preview of the World Showcase. The trains themselves are sleek, beautiful works of art. Futuristic looking yet they are here today for your use. You are able to sit down and relax and enjoy the views. The monorail is my favorite Disney attraction.

To Fastpass or Not to Fastpass, That is the Title

Fastpass. This one word can cause a lot of emotion in the Disney Park fan community. When I first learned of this system I thought it was the greatest idea I had ever heard. You would only have to wait for 10-15 minutes and then the E-ticket of your dreams is all yours. There have also been a few downsides to skipping the wait.


When it comes to Space Mountain I can't imagine that I would like to wait outside during the hot summer months. It would be crazy to stand in line for an hour or two when you can grab a fastpass then sit down, have some lunch, and cool off. After an hour or three you come back, walk up the ramp and into the building.


At the same time that Space Mountain is a great time saver the fastpass has ruined half the fun of Indiana Jones Adventure. You miss out on most of the greatest queue in a US Disney park. When you run to the safety movie room you don't really take in all the little details that are packed in this queue. The decoder card that used to be passed out to you made the time a lot easier to deal with. Now you wouldn't even have a chance to look at the glyphs let alone translate them.

Big Thunder Mountain is still a different situation. The standby line could have a 20 minute wait and people are still getting fastpasses. There is no real reason to have fastpass here. So maybe there would be a 20 to 30 minute wait. Who can't wait that long?


I have heard people moaning about both the fastpass system in general and the lack of fastpass on certain attractions. You often hear Matterhorn, Peter Pan, and Dumbo mentioned as attractions that should be fastpass enabled. I have even seen posts mentioning Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Tours as possible attractions.

I laugh every time I see Star Tours since it used to have fastpass but they took all the machines out when it didn't prove worthwhile. Pirates of the Caribbean is probably the fastest moving line in the park. If you had to deal with taking fastpasses and separating the queue would only slow the entire attraction down.

Peter Pan and Dumbo have issues that can't be solved by fastpass. They need to increase capacity for those attractions before they could even consider an option like this.

I think that Disneyland would be just fine without fastpass and you would still enjoy yourself. As long as it is still there I am going to continue using it though.