To paraphrase a famous quote, the 1960s were the best of times and the worst of times for The Walt Disney Company. The technology wizards at WED Enterprises earned global acclaim for their work at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Then, they watched helplessly as their leader, Walt Disney, quickly succumbed to cancer in 1966.
In a span of two years, the original Imagineers reached the pinnacle of their profession, only to see the heart of the company get ripped apart. The work that they did during this era has proven timeless; it genuinely altered the course of theme park history. Let’s take a look back at what WED Enterprises accomplished during this era. Here are the best attractions of the 1960s.
9. Flying Saucers
Anyone with any awareness of Disney history knows what the top two attractions will be on this list. A reasonable argument could be made for any of third through sixth entrants to deserve a place on the podium alongside those two iconic attractions.
I’ve chosen to include shows this time in addition to attractions for a couple of reasons. The presentations are unforgettable and influential. Also, Disney built less than 10 true rides during this decade. The list would be thin without them.
Two of the rides built during the 1960s were disappointing. Flying Saucers deserves credit for its ambition, though. Disney tried to construct a giant ride platform scaled up from the same scientific principle as the air hockey table. Cast members have always loved the idea, which is why Disney tried it again roughly 50 years later with Luigi’s Flying Tires.
Both versions failed mightily. Weight distribution issues derailed the underlying mechanics of “floating” ride carts. Some guests were too heavy and negated the floating element, while others were too light to move the cart.
8. Adventures Thru Inner Space
The other failed but somehow still seminal attraction from the 1960s had a lasting impact for different reasons. Adventures Thru Inner Space also explored concepts of scale, only it went the opposite direction. It turned riders into insignificant specks, reducing them in size to microscopic levels. Snowflakes became giant structural bodies relative to the shrunken adventurers. And no one cared. The ride never proved popular and closed after 18 years in operation.
The legacy of Adventures Thru Inner Space is a much different story. This attraction employed a historic ride system, one that’s still popular today. Yes, this ride was the first true Omnimover at Disneyland. Its dedicated transport system guaranteed steady throughput all day. The Omnimover was a byproduct of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, one that was better utilized on an attraction that came a couple of years later.
7. Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
The recurring theme throughout this list is that Disney’s diligent work in preparation for the World’s Fair paid dividends for many years afterward. At first, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was the centerpiece of the State of Illinois Pavilion at the exhibition. As part of the agreement, Disney would later have the attraction transferred to Disneyland, where it’s remained since July of 1965.
This attraction became the talk of the World’s Fair due to its groundbreaking technology. Audio-Animatronics (AA) were an unknown technology at the time. To gullible onlookers, it appeared as if Abraham Lincoln had come back to life. Sure, that seems like an exaggeration now, but the hyper-realistic movements of the Lincoln AA seemed like wizardry to people in the early 1960s.
Half a century later, it’s Lincoln’s words that resonate with modern audiences. In an age of true robotics, his gestures seem a bit quaint.
6. Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
This presentation goes hand-in-hand with the one above it. The AAs are what once mesmerized audiences during the 1960s. The birds all mimicked realistic movements and actually seemed to be talking and singing. Kids today can maintain that suspension of disbelief. Their parents and grandparents, however, find the whole motion aspect quite silly, albeit in the most adorable and engaging way.
5. PeopleMover
I may be guilty of overrating this one. My bias here is extreme. It’s one of my all-time favorite attractions, but I’m speaking of the Walt Disney World version when I say this. The Disneyland original closed forever in 1995, part of an ill-fated decision to repurpose the tracks into a kind of roller coaster.
I don’t care about what went wrong with the PeopleMover. I care about what went right and what it represented. During those golden days when Walt Disney dreamt of a better tomorrow, he envisioned a city that wouldn’t rely on cars for transportation. His capitalist utopia would rely on monorails and the PeopleMover instead.
While I question how much exercise guests would have gotten in such a society, the prescience of Uncle Walt is striking. He anticipated a future where guests would prefer other forms of transportation rather than gas-guzzling automobiles. Even today, 50 years later, municipal governments wrestle with the same issue. They’ve been much slower to react, though. Disney knew that a system with no need for gasoline would be more efficient and better for the environment. The man was a savant.
4. Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
On the surface level, this attraction is more of a show than a ride. That undersells the underlying schematics, though. The clever part of the ride is right here in the name. It’s a carousel, only the spinning happens in a novel way. You don’t see it happen by whirling around in a circle like on a standard carousel. You’ll never get your bearings here.
Instead, the Carousel of Progress shows four acts of the same story. You’ll learn about “modern life” during several stages of American society. After the end of each act, the ride vehicle aka the carousel spins you along to the next spot. It’s a genuinely brilliant design. As is the case with the PeopleMover, however, I can’t rank it any higher since the Disneyland version has become the Magic Kingdom version. The best rides from the 1960s really ought to be ones that are still packing in guests at both parks today.
3. It’s a Small World
Everything listed in the top seven is truly iconic. After all, the mere fact that all of these attractions maintain a park presence to this day is remarkable. The rides receive higher placement than the shows since they’re more ambitious, though.
It’s a Small World isn’t often described as ambitious, at least not today. Back in the 1960s, however, Walt Disney’s little boat ride inspired guests with its message and its tranquility. Water rides weren’t ubiquitous back then, and this one told dozens of international stories during a tight 12-minute presentation.
The dolls were all dressed in attention-grabbing but authentic garb. The set pieces, while a bit stereotypical, were stunningly detailed for the era. Also, there’s a melody played during the attraction that you might know. The sum of It’s a Small World is greater than its parts, each of which is pretty great individually.
It’s a Small World is undeniably one of the most recognized attractions in the history of the industry. The only reason why it’s not ranked higher is that the underlying technology is kind of meh, while the story told on the ride is oddly nonspecific.
2. Haunted Mansion
Sure, Adventures Thru Inner Space was the first Omnimover ride, but it’s not the famous one. It’s not even the most famous one from the late 1960s. That honor clearly belongs to the Doom Buggy, the most macabre ride cart in Disney history. It demonstrated the utility of the Omnimover concept while simultaneously adding a bit of depth to the attraction’s theme.
In terms of lasting impact, Haunted Mansion is right there with the greatest theme park attractions ever built. Its combination of chills and giggles redefined the possibilities of ride experiences. Sure, one of the special effects, the Hatbox Ghost, famously didn’t work and had to be shuttered for decades, but that’s a small complaint.
Overall, this ride embodies everything that theme park tourists love about dark rides. The sets are memorable, the dialogue is quotable, and the characters are probably the best that Imagineers have ever explicitly created for attractions. Haunted Mansion is undoubtedly one of the greatest theme park attractions of the 20th century. Due to an odd quirk, however, it’s somehow only the second-best attraction at New Orleans Square that opened during the late 1960s, though. The ride that beats it is…
1. Pirates of the Caribbean
Realistically, how many theme park attractions have become part of the zeitgeist? Which ones would you say are internationally recognized simply by their names? It’s a short list comprised almost entirely of Disney attractions. The top two entries on this list both qualify, but most places have a Haunted Mansion or something similarly named. There’s only one Pirates of the Caribbean.
What I admire the most about this attraction is how Walt Disney turned a weakness into a strength. He had to take Disneyland guests under the railroad tracks so that they could experience the full version of the boat ride. At some point, the creative genius had an epiphany. The boat could have a pair of drops, thereby causing an exciting splash element. More importantly, guests would sink to a lower floor of the ride building without putting any thought into the why of it. That’s epic immersion.
In terms of ride quality, the difference that I see between the otherwise similar It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean is the story aspect. The former is a series of slice-of-life recreations of various cultural representations, some of which are too broad and lazy for the modern era.
Pirates of the Caribbean is the most impacting dark ride in theme park history. Several of its scenes are seminal to the point that when Disney changes one, some fans openly revolt. People are just that passionate about the best ride of the 1960s, as they should be. After all, Walt Disney loved it so much that he would strap himself to a harness just to ride the prototype version.
