Thrill rides go beyond fast roller coasters. They offer drops, dips, spins, acceleration, inversions, pyrotechnics, and 3 & 4D elements! They are more than a ride but rather an experience. Today we are going to explore the thrill rides found in Walt Disney World.
Magic Kingdom Park
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Located in Frontierland of Magic Kingdom, Big Thunder is a runaway mine train you want to be on!
- Max Speed- 30 mph
- Track Length- 2,780 feet
- Ride Time- 3 min 30 sec
- Ride Vehicles- There are a total of 6 trains, with 5 in rotation at one given time, that hold a total of 30 passengers each. The train names are: U.B. Bold, U.R. Daring, U.R. Courageous, I.M. Brave, I.B. Hearty, and I.M. Fearless
- Height Requirement- 40 inches or taller
- Locations- Disneyland (1979), Magic Kingdom (1980), Tokyo Disneyland (1987), and Disneyland Paris (1992)
Fun Fact- Thunder Mountain can help guests pass kidney stones! Yes, really! A study was conducted through the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, due to patients reportedly passing kidney stones after riding the coaster. To conduct the study, a 3D model of a kidney was created. Researchers placed real urine and three different sized kidney stones into the model. They placed the model in a backpack and rode the attraction 20 times! When researchers sat in the back of the train, regardless of size, the stones passed 64% of the time, oppose to when they were seated in the front, stones passed only 17% of the time. Their study, “support the anecdotal evidence that a ride on a moderate-intensity roller coaster could benefit some patients with small kidney stones.” (Source Live Science) I know a trip to Disney is good for your mental health, but would have never guessed the benefit it has to your kidneys!
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Located in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park, this smooth coaster takes guests on a fun ride through the Dwarf’s diamond mine.
- Max Speed- 34 mph
- Biggest Drop- 39 feet
- Track Length- 2,000 feet
- Ride Time- 2 min 30 sec
- Vehicles- There are 5 trains with 5 cars each, giving a total of 20 passengers per train.
- Height Requirement- 38 inches or taller
- Location- Magic Kingdom (2014) and Shanghai Disneyland (2016)
Fun Fact- Swaying back and forth while in forward motion, this train vehicle gives an authentic feeling one would experience in a moving mine car.
Space Mountain
Located in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom Park, Space Mountain is a dark coaster filled with drops and turns.
- Max Speed- 28 mph
- Biggest Drop- 26 feet
- Track Length- 3,196: Alpha (track on the left) and 3,186: Omega (track on the right). Fast Pass+ Distribution is for the Omega track…this means while you will be waiting a shorter amount of time, the track is also 10 feet shorter. I’ll take a lesser wait time over 10 feet any day!
- Ride Time- 2 min 30 sec
- Vehicles- there are thirty, 2-car trains (6 riders per train); 15 for each track, with 13 in operation at any given time
- Height Requirements- 44 inches or taller
- Locations- Magic Kingdom (1975), Disneyland (1977), Tokyo Disneyland (1983), Disneyland Paris (1995) and Hong Kong Disneyland (2005)
Fun Fact- A roller coasters of firsts: it was the first coaster to be placed inside a darken building and the first coaster to use computers to control the ride experience. Click here to read more and to see the ride with the lights on, check out the video below! You will be surprised to see how compact it is.
Splash Mountain
Located in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom Park, this gentle boat ride with Br’er Rabbit has cute audio-animatronics®, catchy songs, and a 5-story drop.
- Max Speed- 40 mph on it’s final drop
- Biggest Drop- 52.5 feet
- Track Length- 2,600 feet
- Ride Time- 11 min 45 sec
- Vehicles- each log holds 8 passengers, with a log launched approximately every 30 seconds
- Audio-Animatronics®- 68
- Locations- Disneyland (1989), Tokyo Disneyland (1992), and Magic Kingdom (1992)
Fun Fact- Splash Mountain contains 950,000 gallons of water. The ferry in the final scene is 22 ft high by 36 ft wide!
Animal Kingdom
Avatar Flight of Passage
Located in Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Flight of Passage is a 3D flight simulator.
- Ride Time- 4 min 30 sec
- Ride Vehicle- guest sit atop and straddle a motorcycle styled seat
- Height Requirement- 44 inches or taller (children under 7 must be accompanied by someone 14 or older)
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- May 27, 2017
Fun Fact- Costing an estimated 50,000 a piece, each seat has a tilt motion base that combined with the 3D screen and effects, allows the guest to feel the sensation of flying!
Check out this video to see an in depth description of how the ride works.
DINOSAUR
Located in DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, guests travel back in time to help paleontologist rescue an Iguanadon before a meteor strikes.
- Max Speed- 12 mph
- Track Length- 1,856 feet
- Ride Time- 3 min 5 sec
- Vehicles- each “time rover” sits 12 guests
- Audio-Animatronics®- 12, some of the dinosaur AAs require 3,000 PSI of hydraulic pressure to move
- Height Requirements- 40 inches or taller
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- April 22, 1998
Fun Fact- DINOSAUR has been unofficially called Disney’s scariest ride! With it’s flashing lights, small drops, jerky movements, sudden accelerations, pyrotechnics, oh and the dinosaurs, it is enough to scare even an adult! Despite popular belief, a T-Rex is not featured in the ride. The main dino baddie is a Carnotaurus. Found on different continents, the Carnotaurus was much smaller than the T-Rex…but scary enough it terrifies riders!
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Located in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, guests conquer the famous Himalayan peaks.
- Max Speed- 50 mph
- Biggest Drop- 80 feet
- Track Length- 4,424 feet This makes it the longest coaster track in WDW
- Ride Time- 2 min 50 sec
- Vehicles- There are a total of 6 trains, with 5 in rotation at one given time, that hold a total of 34 passengers each.
- Audio-Animatronics®- 1, The Yeti is the largest and most highly advanced AA ever build by Disney. Due to his size and complexity, he has been turned off since 2008!
- Height Requirement- 44 inches or taller
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- April 7, 2006
Fun Fact- At $1 billion dollars, Expedition Everest is a Guinness World Record holder as the most expensive roller coaster ever built.
Kali River Rapids
Located in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, this river ride is a perfect cool down for a hot, summer day!
- Biggest Drop- 30 feet
- Ride Time- about 10 mins
- Vehicles- each raft sits 12 riders…there is no safe spot from getting wet! Raft names include: Himalayan Hummer, Manaslu Slammer, Bhaktapur Bubbler, Sherpa Surfer, and Kathmandoozy
- Height Requirements- 38 inches and higher
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- March 18, 1999
Fun Fact- 150,000 gallons of water circulate throughout the “river”. Click the picture to read more fun facts about Kali River Rapids.
Hollywood Studios
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Located in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Smugglers Run puts guest in control of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
- Ride Time- 4 min 30 sec
- Vehicle- the Millennium Falcon is an interactive motion simulator that can sit up to 6 riders (2 pilots, 2 gunners, 2 engineers)
- Height Requirements- 38 inches or taller
- Locations- Disneyland (2019) and Hollywood Studios (2019)
Fun Fact- This attraction requires teamwork! The success of the mission depends on how well each rider performs their task. Did you know there is an Easter Egg within the ride? There is a mode called “Chewie Mode” that will have Chewie accompany you on your mission. Click here for the code!
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Located on Sunset Boulevard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, this coaster pulls 5 G’s in 2.8 seconds!
- Max Speed- 57 mph
- Biggest Drop- 80 feet
- Track Length- 3,403 feet
- Ride Time- 1 min 22 sec This makes it the shortest ride at WDW
- Vehicles- there are 5 limos with 6 “cars” holding 4 people in each = 24 riders in each limo Limo names include: 1QKLIMO, BUHBYE, H8TRFFC, UGOBABE, and 2FAST4U
- Height Requirements- 48 inches or taller
- Locations- Hollywood Studios (1999) and Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris (2002-2019)
Fun Fact- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is the only coaster to go upside with a total of three inversions. Did you know each limo plays different Aerosmith songs? 1QKLIMO; Nine Lives, UGOBABE; Love in an Elevator & Walk This Way; BUHBYE: Young Lust, F.I.N.E. & Love in an Elevator; H8TRFFC: Back in the Saddle & Dude Looks Like a Lady; and 2FAST4U: Sweet Emotion
Slinky Dog Dash
Located in Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, guests twist and turn (with a surprise) on Andy’s slinky dog.
- Max Speed- 40 mph
- Ride Time- 2 min
- Vehicles- there are 4 Slinky trains with 5 cars on each holding a total of 18 guests per Slinky train
- Height Requirements- 38 inches or taller
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- June 30, 2018
Fun Fact- It is the first Disney coaster to have a 2nd launch mid-ride and I don’t know how this was figured out but the Slinky Dog track and it’s support columns weigh almost enough as a 125,000 gallon of milk.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Located at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, The Resistance is acquiring new recruits to take on the fight against the First Order.
- Biggest Drop- 30 feet
- Ride Time- 17 min This makes it the longest thrill ride at WDW
- Vehicles- this ride has 2 different vehicles: 1. the Intersystem Transport Ship is a motion simulator which is standing room only and 2. The Star Destroyer Fleet Transport is a trackless system holding 8 riders in each vehicle
- Audio-Animatronics®- 68
- Height Requirements- 40 inches or taller
- Locations- Hollywood Studios (2019) and Disneyland (2020)
Fun Fact- Rise Against the Resistance is a highly complex ride that includes a motion simulator, trackless system, and drop system similar to Tower of Terror. On top of that, more than 5 million lines of code were written to choreograph the movements of the props, robots, simulators, and sound effects.
This attraction in such high demand that “boarding passes” are often distributed within minutes. Guests arrive to the park as early as 5:30 am to get into the park and obtain a pass! By the way, passes are available at 7am using the Walt Disney World Experience App. This means guests arrive as early as 5:30 and must wait until 7 for the passes to become available. Anybody designated in groups 1-129 are guaranteed to ride it. If for some reason they do not, they are given a fast pass to return the next day. So I guess in addition to a complex ride system, the boarding pass system is complex as well!
Tower of Terror
Located on Sunset Boulevard at Hollywood Studios, riders beware or you may endure the same fate as the missing Hollywood Tower guests in 1939.
- Max Speed- 39 mph
- Biggest Drop- 130 feet This makes it the biggest drop at WDW
- Ride Time- 3 min 30 sec
- Vehicles- there are 8 “elevator” vehicles that can fit 21 riders in each
- Height Requirements- 40 inches or taller
- Locations- Hollywood Studios (1994), Disney’s California Adventure (2004-2017). Tokyo DisneySea (2006) and Walt Disney Studios Park Paris (2007)
Fun Fact- the “elevator” vehicles are able to move horizontally and vertically. A unique ride system randomly patterns the drops, making each ride experience different. How is it possible you can drop 130 feet and only “fall” at 39 mph? The system does not use a free-fall gravity drop, instead the elevator is pulled downwards at a controlled speed.
Epcot
Mission: Space
Located in Future World of Epcot, guests will blast off into space- destination Mars, or orbit Earth on a ride through space.
- Max Speed- 2.5 g-forces
- Ride Time- 3 min 55 sec
- Vehicles- there are 10 “capsule” which holds 4 riders each. A capsule is connected to a multiple arm centrifuge giving the illusion of accelerating with spinning and tilting.
- Height Requirements- 40 inches or taller
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- Aug 15, 2003
Fun Fact- The ride’s simulation was so intense (known as Orange Team), guests experienced dizziness, headaches, disorientation, and vomiting. Imagineers first implemented motion sickness bags and after several complications, opened up a less intense version with no spinning (known as Green Team).
Test Track
Located in Future World at Epcot, guest are able to custom build a car and then test it out on a performance track.
- Max Speed- 64.9 mph This makes it the fastest ride at WDW
- Track Length- the ride moves throughout a 150,000 sq ft attraction housing building
- Ride Time- 4 min
- Vehicles- each car holds 6 riders
- Height Requirement- 40 inches or taller
- Locations- exclusive to WDW
- Opening Date- Mar 17, 1999
Fun Fact- Each car was designed to withstand 1 million miles and their on-board computer system has more power than a U.S. Space Shuttle!
There you have it! Were there any rides that surprised you? I am in awe of the technology that Disney Imagineers have invented to bring these amazing creations to life! As the years go on, we can only expect bigger and greater things from The Happiest Place on Earth!
Awesome. Thank you for great information
Incredible insight to the Magical world of Disney! Very interesting! Thank you!
So much useful information, especially the height requirements. Great to know in advance, when traveling with kiddos.