While Disney officially ended the E-ticket attraction many years ago, the concept persists to this day. In fact, Disney executives sometimes utilize this term to sell the idea that an upcoming attraction will dazzle guests. The title has become a marketing ploy of sorts, a way to differentiate the company’s best rides over the ones with low expectations.
Over the past few decades, park officials have introduced nine attractions that merit the description of E-ticket attraction. Most of them reside at Disney California Adventure, but Disneyland Park has built a handful of worthy rides, too. Here’s how I would rank the nine E-ticket attractions Disney has produced since the company officially retired the term.
9. Grizzly River Run
Six out of the nine E-ticket attractions that Disney has built over the last 30 years reside at Disney California Adventure. Most of them are newer, but two trace their origins back to the park’s opening day in 2001. I’m somewhat ambivalent about one of them, the river rapids ride.
Grizzly River Run is undeniably a thrilling, soaking experience. It mirrors Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, albeit with slightly improved functionality. It’s the superior version of the water ride, although the theming is better at the Orlando version. Neither one of them really moves me, though. I view this list as eight sublime E-ticket attractions…and Grizzly River Run.
8. Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT!
A few years ago, I discussed Disney’s decision to shutter the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure. While I didn’t state an opinion at the time, I’ve maintained that change is generally good at Disney theme parks. An outdated attraction should cede its position to an original concept. However, I don’t believe that Tower of Terror showed any signs of growing stale.
I happen to like the Guardians of the Galaxy re-skin quite a bit. The ride experience feels like it thrusts the guest squarely into the middle of a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Imagineers also did a marvelous job of marrying a soundtrack to elevator shaft bouncing. The music reinforces the sensation that you’re having a rocking-good time. Even so, I rank this one toward the bottom of the list because it’s just not as good as Tower of Terror, in my opinion.
7. Toy Story Mania
The brilliance of Toy Story Mania! circles back to its underlying concept. This “ride” is really an interactive shooter wherein guests keep pulling a trigger in hopes that they’ll hit various targets. In that way, it hearkens back to the earliest days of Disneyland, a time when Davy Crockett dominated the conversation among kids at the park. They loved playing carnival games, wherein they fired their fake guns at targets. Disney’s returned that premise to glory through technology, which makes Toy Story Mania! the greatest retro attraction in Southern California.
6. Splash Mountain
With this list, I’ve intended to demonstrate how much E-ticket attractions have advanced since Disney dropped that label. Splash Mountain creates the most difficulty in that it arrived only a few years afterward. It’s only 10 years younger than an entry from the other list, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the two attractions bear some similarities as man-made mountain thrill rides.
So, I’ve ranked it lower on this list due to its lack of innovation, at least relative to the more modern attractions. In terms of the pure ride experience, I’d argue that it’s top three on this list, though. Splash Mountain celebrated its 30th anniversary in July of 2019, yet it still seems like one of the most enjoyable rides at Disney theme parks today.
5. Indiana Jones Adventure
I’ve loved Indiana Jones since the beginning. I’m old enough to have watched Raiders of the Lost Ark on VHS back in the day, and it was one of the first movies I purchased on DVD and digitally. Even now, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade remains one of the best movies that I’ve ever seen. In other words, I’m the target audience for this ride.
Even if I weren’t, I would still adore Indiana Jones Adventure, just as I’m passionate about its sibling, DINOSAUR, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Imagineers designed and constructed an innovative ride cart for these attractions. It creates a new level of excitement and danger, one that comes from the vehicle itself. That sensation blends perfectly with the vibe that riders are stuck with Indiana Jones in a place where humans don’t belong. It’s an incredibly engaging attraction that some members of our staff believe is the best in the world.
4. Incredicoaster
Earlier, I said that only two Disney California Adventure attractions have remained open since the beginning. That’s technically accurate, but a third almost qualifies. The former California Screamin’ remained in operation from 2001 until the start of 2018. Then, it shut down for a few months and returned as the Incredicoaster.
The newly repurposed coaster takes an already-phenomenal ride and elevates the experience through character theming. The tunnels that once served a modest purpose, blocking out the sun and unsightly views, now tell a story. The Parr family demonstrates each member’s superpowers in these tunnels, as they attempt to retrieve runaway baby, Jack-Jack.
While I’m ambivalent about Mission: BREAKOUT! as a replacement due to what was lost, I wholeheartedly support the upgrades to California Screamin’. The “new” ride is effectively the old ride combined with characters that I adore. This update represents one of the best things that Disney has done this decade.
3. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
You know that the top three is phenomenal when Smugglers Run doesn’t win! Yes, one of the two new attractions at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge certain embodies everything about the E-ticket premise. Guests happily pay to visit this themed land, which recreates the Star Wars universe in an eerily accurate fashion.
Both of the Star Wars attractions are breathtaking, but the Disneyland version of Rise of the Resistance isn’t open to the public yet. So, I had to exclude it. That leaves the “lesser” ride, the one where you get to live out your lifelong fantasy of flying the Millennium Falcon.
The realism of this attraction is such that the complaint I hear the most involves its length. The ride lasts five minutes, but it seems much shorter due to the hypnotic aspect of videogame immersion. You’re so actively engaged in the story that it seems over too quickly. Some call that a negative, but I believe it speaks to the greatness of the attraction.
2. Soarin’
I agonized over what should win. Something that should be readily apparent about this list is how much better E-ticket attractions are today than they were a generation ago. Imagineers have stood on the shoulders on the talented cast members who came before them and raised the bar for greatness that much higher.
Soarin’ demonstrates this statement better than any other attraction here. An Imagineer felt stymied by the limited options to construct a ride that his workers had discussed. This individual sifted through his old toys and discovered an old erector set. At that moment, inspiration struck. Disney could build a large-scale version of the same premise and provide guests with an unforgettable ride, one that mimicked the sensation of flight.
On that day, Soarin’ was born. Imagineers added an IMAX digital screen in front of the ginormous erector set seats, giving each guest an eye-level view of the majestic surroundings. And it really does feel like you’re flying when you ride Soarin’!
- Radiator Springs Racers
What’s the best E-ticket attraction at Disneyland Resort? I must vote for the one that a person loves so much that they’ve ridden it more than 10,000 times. Anything that merits that degree of devotion must be special, right?
Radiator Springs Racers invites guests to visit Radiator Springs, a sleepy little town off of Highway 66. I should mention that all of the inhabitants here are anthropomorphic automobiles, which may feel like Maximum Overdrive come to life, at least at first. Once you’re comfortable with the creep factor and reminded that you’ve been transported into a Pixar movie, you’ll quickly warm to the town.
This ride is a sibling to Test Track at Epcot and Journey to the Center of the Earth at Tokyo DisneySea. While those two attractions are more thrilling, I actually prefer the genteel nature of Radiator Springs Racers. It encapsulates that lost era when people would drive lazily down Highway 66 with no particular destination in mind. It was the thrill of adventure and the possibility of meeting kindly strangers that provided the excitement.
This E-ticket attraction brings Pixar to life in a way that’s never been done before since then, even as Disney builds Toy Story Lands at several parks. I would argue that it’s the best overall ride at Disneyland Resort and the one that guests would willingly pay the most to ride…especially that one guy.
