The Walt Disney Company didn’t always own Pixar. At one point, the masters of CGI animation were the Mouse House’s chief competitor…and a superior one at that. Disney executives employed the strategy of “if you can’t beat them, join them” in purchasing their animation opponents. The film industry is all the better for the acquisition.
Even before Disney bought Pixar, they licensed intellectual properties from their peers for theme park attractions. Since the purchase, Disney has dialed up Pixar’s presence in the parks. You’ll find a Pixar-based ride at every Disney theme park on the planet. Which one is the best? Ah, that’s the reason why we make lists. Here are my choices for the best Pixar rides at Disney theme parks.
10. Pixar Pal-A-Round
Image: DisneyLet’s start with the rules. This list is for rides only. No, other attractions or shows are eligible. Sorry, It’s Tough to Be a Bug! Also, I’m selecting only one attraction per Pixar character and, in one special circumstance, I’m limiting a certain movie to a maximum of three rides.
This ride is the toughest to rank since I have to cheat on my own rule about one attraction per character. Many Pixar movie stars appear on the sides of these gondolas, but I don’t view any of them as a star. Pixar Pal-A-Round merits mention because it’s one of the signature sights at Pixar Pier…and this is a Pixar article. Skipping it would be too great an oversight for this list. Plus, I like Ferris Wheels, even when they’re technically eccentric wheels.
9. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Image: DisneyI love rides that have gaming elements, and Disney has two of the best ones. The Buzz Lightyear attraction is so entertaining and efficient that versions of it exist at all six Disney theme parks. While some of them are a bit more advanced, Space Ranger Spin merits special notice as the original.
In this game-ride, you shoot blasters to stop Emperor Zurg from stealing crystallic fusion cells aka batteries. The genius of this attraction is that Disney has found a way to marry a dark ride with the classic shooting gallery arcade game. And I don’t mean a videogame arcade. It’s the oldest of old school gaming elements modernized with Omnimover technology.
8. The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Image: DisneyI had a difficult time settling on where to slot this ride because I unabashedly love it. To me, it’s everything that a family-friendly attraction should be. It’s an indoors dark ride in a heavily air-conditioned area. The temperature is part of the theme that you’re underwater with Nemo and his friends. In the Florida heat, it’s a wonderful escape from harsh humidity, with the added bonus of a wonderful expansion of the Finding Nemo story. I’m also deeply impressed by the technologically impressive East Australian Current “surfing” sequence.
7. Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek
Image: DisneyI recently watched a vodcast featuring several Disney influencers who had recently returned from a trip to Tokyo Disneyland. The experience had blown their minds, forcing them to question the quality of The Walt Disney Company’s theme parks relative to the one owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company.
One of the stars of Tokyo Disneyland is a Monsters, Inc. attraction that shames the one at Disney California Adventure. The technology of Ride & Go Seek isn’t mesmerizing inasmuch as it’s fun-focused. You’re given a flashlight that you point at pieces on the ride set. They’ll provoke interactive responses, and it’s delightful. This ride is fun-focused, which is precisely what everyone should want from a Pixar attraction.
6. Alien Swirling Saucers
Image: DisneyWhen Toy Story Land opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, one of the attractions received much more hype than the other. It was an understandable turn of events, as one was a roller coaster and the other seemed like a lame derivative of Mad Tea Party. Don’t believe the early buzz.
Alien Swirling Saucers is delightful. Once the ride begins, you’ll get thrown around as if you have no control over the laws of physics. Like the entry above it, this attraction isn’t complex. It’s just silly fun. I had the best time riding it of just about anything at Walt Disney World the last time I visited…
5. Toy Story Mania!
Image: DisneyBut I can’t overlook the fact that Toy Story Mania! is a classic. While the gaming elements in Buzz Lightyear are entertaining in an old school way, Toy Story Mania! elevates the concept with 3-D glasses and a more exciting control mechanic.
You use a knob on a string to fire projectiles across several different games, and they’re variable. You’ll play different ones on each of the different ride tracks and paths. Whether you’re popping balloons or tossing rings on hooks, you’re participating in old carnival games given a modern spin.
4. Slinky Dog Dash
Image: DisneyYes, the last three attractions are all based on the Toy Story franchise. More than anything, this speaks to the overriding quality of the movies plus Disney’s passion for the extended Toy Story family. I mean, the Slinky Dog, Rex, and the Little Green Men have their own attractions, and they’re not exactly A-listers.
While Woody and Buzz may have the name recognition in the realm of Toy Story, Slinky Dog claims bragging rights of the best ride. His roller coaster is gem of a ride concept. The premise is that Andy won a construction set at Pizza Planet but since he’s a kid, he has half-assed the construction. There’s a bit of childish creativity tossed in, too.
In other words, this roller coaster isn’t in any way safe to toys, but they don’t get a vote in riding it. And since you’re in Toy Story Land, you’ve shrunk down and now count as one of Andy’s toys. In other words, that roller coaster ride is as unavoidable as it’s needlessly eventful. The best part is when the coaster stops, only to rev back up again, thereby enhancing the tension of the high-speed journey through the incomplete playset.
3. Incredicoaster
Image: DisneyI would argue that the top five Pixar attractions in the world are all magnificent. Still, tiers are apparently inside the top five. Toy Story Mania! is wonderful but less impressive than the new family-friendly roller coaster, Slinky Dog Dash. Both of them fall short of the rest of the top three, each of which is 10 out of 10 in my opinion. Ranking the top three is so difficult that I suspect the order could be completely different if I tried it again on another day.
The Incredicoaster’s recent repurposing of California Screamin’ is an unqualified success. Imagineers somehow found a way to modify a terrific roller coaster with tight theming. It now features the Parr family aka The Incredibles in their most dangerous adventure yet. They must retrieve overpowered super-baby Jack-Jack, who has ditched his underwhelming babysitter, Edna Mode.
Throughout the ride, Disney has turned tunnels into set pieces that display thrilling comic book action. Mr. Incredible punches through a wall, Jack-Jack shoots laser beams out of his eyes, and Elastigirl stretches almost the full length of a tunnel. Even the final portion is appropriately thematic, as several different Jack-Jacks pop up along the last piece of track. Disney has taken a kickass coaster and turned it into something that’s also adorable.
2. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Image: DisneyIn creating a ride based on a Pixar attraction, Imagineers face some hard choices. How closely should they follow the concepts of the movie? In the case of The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Disney extended the story told in the film. With the Incredicoaster, they took ideas from the movies and built an entirely new story around them.
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure takes a similar approach but does the same thing even better. When you board the ride, you become a guest at Gusteau’s Restaurant. While the rat debates which dish to prepare for you, your innocent meal turns into a grand adventure. Your Ratmobile has shrunk you down to the size of a rat, allowing for a recreation of the memorable restaurant chase scene from the movie. Events don’t play out exactly the same, providing several surprises along the way. It’s a wonderful tribute to a hilarious scene from one of Pixar’s best movies.
1. Radiator Springs Racers
Image: DisneyImagine if someone took the ride experience of Test Track and added characters from the Cars franchise. Well, you don’t have to imagine it, because Disney already did it. They built a slot car ride that’s a fraternal twin of Epcot’s E-ticket attraction, only they set it in the world of Radiator Springs. Imagineers even built a fake mountain range to enhance the immersion of a drive through the sleepy town based off of Route 66.
Radiator Springs Racers is so good that one dude has ridden it more than 10,000 times. Let’s not fixate on his OCD. Instead, let’s think about just how great the ride must be for someone to give up a significant portion of their free time to obsess on it. Why would anyone do this?
Image: DisneyOut of all of the Pixar rides available at Disney theme parks, this one does the best job of hypnotizing the rider into believing that they have entered a Pixar movie. You’ll not drive a car inasmuch as you’ll BE a car for a while. During your Radiator Springs visit, you’ll nearly wreck into Mack, the 18-wheeler, you’ll engage in a bit of tractor tipping with Mater, and you’ll get your tires changed by Luigi. It’s the closest possible approximation of a real world version of Pixar thus far.
To date, Radiator Springs Racers is clearly the best Pixar attraction that Disney has built. However, this title will be up for grabs in coming years as Pixar Pier expands and other theme parks open entirely new Pixar-based attractions.
