Friday Fun: What’s your favourite attraction in a theme park?

Now that Game of Thrones has finished, We need a new challenge in our life.
But also because “Summer is coming”, sorry I could’t avoid it ;)

Summer season is the perfect one to visit Theme parks .

I’m sure you heard about “Star Wars: Galaxy edge” (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/hollywood-studios/star-wars-galaxys-edge/) opening .

“The Simpsons” at Universal Studios Hollywood is my #1 , just because I’m a Simpsons fan. However , I also had a lot of fun at “Jurassic World” (Universal Studios , Hollywood)

Sky is not the limit , so … What’s your favourite attraction in a theme park ? Why?

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This is a fansastic topic! And to answer the question: Bumber Cars!

I've always enjoyed them and my 1 1/2 year old son loves watching them. So I can't wait until he's old enough to introduce him to them!

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

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The food stalls tbh. So many to choose from 🤤

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lol --I went to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot Center one year and it was super fun. Nibbles from all over the world!

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This is half the reason Epcot is my favorite park at Disney! We will be there tomorrow and its the first time I have been there when there is no food festival in awhile.

Like • Antonio Ferruz likes this

Funnel cakes, Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Like • Antonio Ferruz likes this

@Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM - How was your Epcot experience? I'd like to go in a couple weeks. Any tips or "don't miss" things for adults to do (or eat) there?

@Rachel Wright - Epcot is my favorite park at Disney. There are so many things to do down there as far as eating and drinking (if you choose) around the world showcase. Which is one thing I always tell people to do is to explore World Showcase, with all the countries and various foods it's a great time. There won't be a festival as they call them with all separate food booths, but there is no lack of food options. One of my favorites is Biergarten in Germany pavilion, buffet style food (very good) with family style seating. There is also a band that plays on the stage and they invite others to get up and dance. The theming is amazing in the restaurant as most of them are in Epcot. Honestly, though I like to go around to each country and get something from the snack booths so I can try a little something from every country. That goes along with the drinking as well. There is wine tasting that you can do that involves a few countries pavillions, so you get some variety in there.

As far as rides I always love to ride Spaceship Earth, not the most exciting ride but its always a must do for us. Also, Test Track is another great ride to shoot for, but you will certainly need a fast pass for that ride.

The other must-do item is the fireworks at the end of the night in the Worlds Showcase at 9:00 p.m. The show is called Illuminations: Reflections of Earth and it's actually ending on 9/30. It is one of my favorite fireworks show of all times!

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Thank you so much for this wonderful information @Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM !! I feel like I have a game plan now, and won't just be wandering aimlessly like a tourist. :) I'm a foodie so I'll definitely try your idea of sampling snacks from all the country areas.

Thanks again!

@Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM I love fireworks but I don't think we will be able to make it down there before it's gone :(

But thanks for the information, we are planning to make the trip in a couple of years when our two year old is a little bit older.

My wife and I were there for our honeymoon, and we didn't spend too much time in Epcot mainly because we were the "Aimlessly wandering tourists" as @Rachel Wright put it!

I grew up in Southern California and am a Disneyland fan (although shoutout to the Universal Studios tram). I've also been to Disney World and one of my top rides is better at WDW. So here's my list:

1. Jungle Cruise -- has always been my favorite. I love the "backside of water" joke and all the other dumb jokes over the years. Pure nostalgia.

2. Tower of Terror -- I was so sad when they got rid of the version in DCA (not into Marvel) but the Disney World version has always been better. I love the immersive theme of the run-down hotel. Just amazing.

3. Storybookland Canal Boats -- I'm a sucker for miniatures, so this miniature little boat ride has always been a favorite.

4. Haunted Mansion -- of course! I love both the Disneyland and WDW versions of this ride.

5. The Little Mermaid -- Underrated dark ride that I rode with my daughter 17 times in one day, and never got sick of. And there's never a line!

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Oh! I love all of these, not sure if they had the equivalent at Disney World but most sound familiar - I loved the Honey I shrunk the Kids, the Back to the future and ET rides at Disney World when I was a kid :)

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Little Mermaid and Mr. Toad's wild ride are two fantastic dark rides. I am sad we don't have Toads down here anymore. Also, the Alice in Wonderland ride at DL is fantastic as well! Just wish more of the queues were inside in DL and DCA.

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@Monique vdB , we need to have Summit at a theme park!

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I 100% support this idea!

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Yes!

Like • Thomas Schlegel likes this

I am in :)

There used to be a Swiss Family Robinson house in Disneyland. As a kid, I thought that was super cool.

Rainbow Valley was PEI's little theme park, we used to go there with our class and spend the day there as a field trip. I feel sad for those kids who never got to experience it before it closed. I loved the Witch's Cave, swan boats, animal farm, water slides, swinging bridge, giant checkers, UFO, castles slides, etc.. Such a magical little place with so many childhood memories:

https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/unexplained-allure-to-rainbow-valley-in-cavendish-99828/

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Near us we have Children's Fairyland, reportedly the inspiration for Disneyland! http://fairyland.org/

We need to go this summer, we won 2 tickets in a school auction and my daughter is almost ready to outgrow it 😢

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Oh also that reminds me of a park by our house that had an archway like the Rainbow Valley one. We called it "Wizard of Oz Park" and spent many happy hours there. Of course decades later it just looks like a plain old boring park. Childhood is magical :)

Like • Jodi LeBlanc likes this

Going down memory lane this is the park my parents took my sister and I to as kids and we had a blast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boblo_Island_Amusement_Park

Again, too bad it has shutdown since because the really neat part was the fact that you needed to take a ferry in order to get to the park.

Yes I agree @Monique vdB if it was still around today it would like like a boring old park, but the childhood memories and imagination made it so magical :) They turned it into a Parks Canada walking and biking trail, but to this day the maze made of shrubs still exists, so nostalgic. When I visit the trails, all the memories come flooding back.

Wow that's neat that you took a ferry to get there @Jimmy Seddon . Yes too bad it shut down but your family memories there will last a lifetime :)

@Monique vdB I LOVE the look of Fairyland. It's super cool that you can buy keys to the kingdom online. That would be a great way to tell your kids they are going.

I love rollercoasters. And one of the best coasters in Germany is „Silver Star“ in Europa Park.

Here you can watch the ride:

https://youtu.be/0m3zU9H77vE

Europa Park is the biggest theme park in Germany and can definitely compete with Disney parks. Last year, there was a big fire in the park and one of my favourite childhood memories burnt down: Pirates in Batavia. I was very sad, but they say, it will be rebuilt, bigger and better, next year. We‘ll see. But it will never be the ride of my childhood.

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Add this to my list of things I want to do when I make it that way eventually!

Like • Thomas Schlegel likes this

love coasters too or at least used to. age has made my tolerance a bit challenge for any of the newer looping coasters.

Does the lazy river at a water park count?

First place: Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas - "The Current"
I rode this all day! It's really long, full of large waves, and there are additional water conveyor belts that take you to slides without needing to leave your inner tube. Laziness at its finest!
https://www.atlantisbahamas.com/thingstodo/waterpark/riverrides

Second place: Schlitterbahn in South Padre Island, Texas - "Los Rios Azul Torrent"
"Torrent" is right! There's nothing lazy about this river! I went in the winter, so only the inside section was open. I think that may have created some "extra" power. The crazy current and waves knocked out of my inner tube more than once. The lifeguards got a good laugh each time. So fun!
https://www.schlitterbahn.com/home/south-padre-island/attractions/los-rios-azul-torrent

Sadly, I missed the lazy river when we were at Mandalay Bay for Summit Las Vegas 2019. https://mandalaybay.mgmresorts.com/en/amenities/beach.html I'll have another chance at Summit 2020 though! Only 298 days away...

Like • Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM likes this

Those all sound awesome! I definitely want to try the lazy river as well in 298 days :)

Like • Rachel Wright likes this

Adding the Atlantis resort to my bucket list...

@Monique vdB - I've been there as a part of a Disney Cruise package it's really cool. Though the thing I remember the most was the warning we were given by the tour guide. On the beach there are a number of boats offering paragliding rides for $1. What they don't tell you is they will charge you an additional $59 upon your return to the ground.

@Chris Lutz makes the "spinning teacups" ride at Disney into "EXTREME spinning teacups"! ;) I thought he was going to break the ride...

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/magic-kingdom/mad-tea-party/

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I also enjoy doing that! Then I instantly regret it the moment I get off the ride and can't walk straight for the next few minutes.

I have a fear of heights so at the West Edmonton Mall I purchased a theme package for giant trampolines, zip line, king swing and bungee jump - in that order! I had so much adrenaline overcoming my fears that I couldn't eat for days - was on such a high! Then the next day did the upside down roller coasters and pirate ships. It was a memorable visit to Alberta that is for sure!

@Jodi LeBlanc you have more guts than I would. Though I have always said I don't have a fear of heights, I have a fear of falling from heights ;)

Thanks @Jimmy Seddon the hardest part was the bungee as unlike the zipline and king swing you have to throw yourself off the platform, when your "fight or flight" responses are screaming "don't you dare". Glad I did it but not sure if I would be lining up to do it again lol

@Jodi LeBlanc , huge congrats ! I have a huge fear of heights and I would definitely not do the last one. Rollercoasters have always been a trauma just because of the initial ascent, you can really feel the gravity and it is really slow making the anxiety even worse. I usually enjoy the rest of the ride though.

Thanks @Antoine Berry it was fun to challenge myself, but not sure if I will go back to see if I am now no longer afraid of heights. When I was young I tripped and fell on those stairs that you can see through, the ones with risers without backs, and you could see all the way to the bottom many floors up. I think that childhood memory gave me the fear of heights. A few years ago I was on a tour and we went to the top of a lighthouse, the last set of stairs was a ladder and if you looked through the rungs you could see the bottom (didn't seem very safe in my mind). I did it, but I was so sore the next day from tensing up going up and down that ladder in fear I would fall through.

Ahah I've done a similar thing when I was doing via ferrata (it was horrible), at the end you had to climb a vertical suspended ladder. I was almost paralyzed. Now I am done challenging myself losing my fear of heights because I have not noticed any progress while it is just a terrible experience every time. So congrats on keeping faith. :)

Thanks @Antoine Berry that sounds awful! Good for you, it is hard on our system always pushing ourselves. Our body has a "fight or flight" defense mechanism for a reason. Yes I think I am done challenging myself as well, until the next exciting thing comes up lol :)

I love Disneyland (and world) with all of my being because I'm a huge Disney fanatic.

My favorite ride would have to be Space Mountain! I love that you're in the dark the whole time and "flying through space" at high speeds!

@JUDY okay I'm going to get into the nerdy details, have you ridden any of the trackless, "4D" rides? I've never been to a park that has them but I love the ride-throughs like Mystic Manor.

@Monique vdB OMG. That looks amazing!!! I don't think I have?! Does "Soaring Through California" or Indiana Jones count?

I would 100% be down though.

@JUDY no, those are great! But I think only Hong Kong Disney and Shanghai have the fancy ones. I've been to Tokyo DisneySea but they didn't have it :(

Check out the 4D Pirates!

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I loved the Indiana Jones ride at DL! I can't wait to do one of the trackless 4d rides. I have spent too many hours on youtube watching ride through of Mystic Manor dreaming of going there!

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I absolutely love this topic and it being the day before we head down to Disneyworld tomorrow! We are big Disney fans and those parks are our favorite so much that we moved down here to Florida to be closer to Disneyworld. We are going down tomorrow (2-hour drive) to do all 4 parks in one day with a minimum of 2 rides at each park challenge, this is something my son wanted to do to celebrate the end of the school year! I think we are actually going to try and officially start off our vlog with this challenge (we tried to do a vlog when we drove from Ne to Disneyland but got lazy). With that being said below are my top rides (Disney ones):

1. Pirates of the Carribean (Disneyworld & Disneyland)

2. Haunted Mansion ( I like both US Disney locations for different reasons, ride at DW is better, but facade and queue are better at DL including Hatbox ghost).

3. Journey Into Imagination (The old version was my favorite but I am a Figment fan til the end!)

4. Big Thunder Mountain (DL version)

5. Expedition Everest & Tower of Terror

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This Top 5 is subject to change and might when we go on grand opening day to Galaxy's Edge at DW in August!

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This makes me want to whip out my teleporter and go to Disney World today!

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@Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM I love Figment! The classics are the best. I also forgot to mention America Sings! which is another one I miss. Oh, and the old submarine ride at DL.

@Monique vdB - I have never done America sings for some reason I need to. We did the Finding Nemo version of the submarine ride at DL, it was fantastic.

As long as no one votes for "It's a Small World" i'm ok. Boy talk about nails on chalk board! :P

Haha, I saw (and had to listen to) „It‘s a small world“ in Disneyland Paris - it was so annoying 😊

I'm offering this not just because I grew up by it, but because it truly is the best out thrill ride park on the planet... CEDAR POINT in Sandusky, Ohio. It has a couple significant nicknames: Roller Coaster Capital of the World, The Disneyland of the Midwest, and America's Roller Coast.

They regularly are the origin of new styles of roller coasters. They have 18 World-class roller coasters. At one point (2013), Cedar Point had hit an ASTONISHING 16 consecutive years as "Best Amusement Park in the World" from Amusement Today. It's in the national registry of historic places, and for Thrill-Seekers around the world, is a right of passage.

It is because of Cedar Point that I am a massive adrenaline junkie. I've been to tons of amusement parks, and many have a ride or two that are truly amazing. To that point, Cedar Point (which rolls out a new world-class (and often world record breaking) roller coaster EVERY TWO YEARS is a park chock-full of so many world-class roller coasters, it's difficult to ride them all in one day.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/

Wow there are so many great rides and even more memories for me.

My first coaster was at the South Carolina Myrtle Beach Pavilion. It was one of the originals on the eastern seaboard and loved going there. I also loved the bumper cars.

My first time on Spiderman at Universal was amazing and I rode it over and over.

Tower of Terror was one of my many repeat rides

Haunted Mansion at Disney was always a lot of fun.

The Rock 'n' Rollercoaster with Aerosmith blasting remains a go to for me when I visit Disney in Orlando.

and many many more....

So what is my favorite? Well I would have to say the one I'm riding next. ;-)

What a spectacularly good topic! I enjoyed your post as well as all the responses. I grew up near Disneyland and began going in the early 60s when Walt was still alive. It was always magical to me--and because we had to buy tickets for six kids, we learned to save the E tickets for our favorites--and then we learned to appreciate the A-D rides (nowadays you just buy an all-access pass). I'm glad I went to Disney when Walt was still alive, because he wanted a family-friendly park that everyone could afford to visit. We wouldn't be able to afford to go if we were growing up now.

I remember liking Pirates of the Caribbean the best, followed by the Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Room. They used to also have the Carousel of Progress and the Hall of Presidents, both of which I loved. The rides tended to be longer when I was young. I notice that at Walt Disney World, the rides are shorter and they all spit you out into a gift shop. It's so much more commercial and expensive.

That being said, I love Epcot, which I thought was delightful. Everything there was just great. I'd like to go back.

We also used to go to Universal Studios and Knott's Berry Farm as kids. I'm guessing Knott's might seem kitschy these days, but I loved it as a kid. I LOVE Universal Studios--and while I haven't been to Harry Potter world yet, I can't wait.

One of my favorite places to visit over the years was an old resort, super popular in the 50s and 60s, called Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida (near Tampa). The whole resort is like stepping back in time to the 60s, with the best part being the Jungle Cruise (a far cry from Disney's) and the Mermaid Show. In the Mermaid Show, men and women act out the story of the Little Mermaid COMPLETELY UNDERWATER and WITHOUT SCUBA equipment. It's pretty remarkable and fun.

I love all the rides. It sounds like a cop out answer. But I just love theme parks as evidenced by me being a Disney Vacation Club member and also having an Instagram dedicated to All things Disney (disneymagicalday)

But I’d say I enjoy coasters. Love the speed and excitement. Those are easy wins. But I what I really love are the rides that mix movement and simulation like the Ratatouille ride in Disneyland Paris (coming soon to Epcot) and the Amazing Spider-Man at Universal’s Island of Adventure.

The Avatar ride at Animal Kingdom is also amazing and very immersive. You can feel the Banshee breathe while you fly with it through the world of Pandora. Those rides make it feel like you are transported into their world and that for me is what Theme Parks are all about.

Can’t wait to try Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in January.

I really like the Skyride a Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. I enjoy the cable car style ride that lets you relax as you traverse the park and get to see all the animals below! I went to Epcot with my wife late December and also had a great time on simulated ride Soarin'.

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Friday Fun: What’s your favourite attraction in a theme park?

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