Best Executed Theme Park Rides

[TylerDurden]

After reading Fallow's post in the 'Best Shooting Ride' thread (about how well the execution of MIB is pulled off) it got me thinking about how other theme park rides come up with their "excuse" for being rides, and how well they execute their storylines.

This isnt a thread for favorite rides or anything (I love Transformers but it is not a well-carried out ride IMO, just because why would we be going to NEAT headquarters as recruits in the first place?). This thread is about the best ways theme park attractions get you to buy into the story.

My choice is Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland...why? Ill be quick:
1. It explains why youre there--the temple promises riches and since it has opened to the public we are going to find it.
2. The queue line makes sense--the temple is meant to handle hundreds of people
3. The lighting in the queue and visibility of the exit makes sense as well, because Indy has ventures far into it, making everything accessible to everyone--this also explains the non-threatening boobytraps and the video room.
4. The ride vehicles arent just ways to give us a good ride--they are legitimate transport vehicles to go into the temple, as per the storyline.
5. Everything doesnt just go wrong for no reason--Indy makes it so that we the guest cause all the chaos. By looking into the idols eyes, WE trigger the adventure, a very clever plot device IMO, one that makes the ride almost interactive in a way.
6. There are very few effects that reek of theme park ride...all the sets are physical and gigantic, and its easy to buy into the fact that youre in a cursed temple. The ride system also adds to the detail, by giving the illusion that the floor is rugged.

What are your all's opinions?

 

[USO92]

Mine would be a toss up between Haunted Mansion and Spider-man.

Both have queue stories that uniquely bring you into the ride and make you feel completely involved in whats going on. Haunted Mansion uses the most physical sets out of the two while Spider-man utilizes both to drag you in. Both are exceptional rides that execute a story to the tee.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

FJ, MIB, Spiderman, and Jaws all fall into that category for me. Incredible execution makes for enjoyable rides that never get old.

 

[Clive]

Appreciate the shoutout to that post. I alluded to why Spider-Man and FJ don't quite seem as well executed as MIB... I'd say maybe Disaster! fits the bill, as did JAWS and KONGfrontation. ET comes close, but the ride attendants stick out like a sore thumb, as does the bluntness of the preshow.

 

[Miketheboss]

Everest is also executed great. (Besides disco yeti)

 

[Sideshow Mike]

I think ToT is one of the best executed rides out there.

 

[canobie#1]

Tower of Terror and MIB

 

[Disneyhead]

1. Tower of Terror
2. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man
3. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
4. Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye

 

[Cupcakes]

Kongfrontation was the greatest Universal attraction of all time, IMHO. Jaws, E.T., BTTF, and Men in Black are pretty up there as well.

When it comes Disney, pre-2006 Pirates of the Caribbean, hands down. Although I haven't seen the Tokyo DisneySea attractions in person yet.

 

[Clive]

Tower of Terror definitely fits the bill - employees, plot, build-up, post-show. It all works really well.

Indiana Jones Adventure is another excellent example... and still one of the best Disney attractions to date.

You could make an argument for Back to the Future, too - the employees are just with the Institute of Future Technology and whatnot.

Haunted Mansion comes really close... but I just can't get over the ride system. I know it's picky, but the Doombuggies are kind of a cop-out to me. There isn't much else they could have done to integrate it better, but it does stick out as something they kind of have to dance around.

Spider-Man doesn't work in my view because of the SCOOP "news gathering vehicles." Like, I'm sorry... it just doesn't make a lot of logical sense. The build-up is solid and the post-show great, but the justification for the ride itself feels like a plot device.

Forbidden Journey I won't even address. It's fun, I really enjoy the ride, the tech behind it is incredible, but story-wise it's an incoherent mess that involves so many lapses in basic logic within the well-established/known Harry Potter universe that it can't achieve the "execution" we're discussing here. Someone wrote a great, hilarious article on why the story made no sense a while back, maybe someone can link it?

 

[Brian G.]

1. Tower of Terror
2. Indy Adventure
3. Haunted Mansion
4. Potter
5. Bilge-Rat Barges

 

[JungleSkip]

1) Forbidden Journey
2) Tower of Terror/Spider-man/Pirates of the Caribbean DLP
3) Haunted Mansion/Phantom Manor
4) Bilgerat Barges
5) Great Movie Ride

 

[Cupcakes]

Spider-Man doesn't work in my view because of the SCOOP "news gathering vehicles." Like, I'm sorry... it just doesn't make a lot of logical sense. The build-up is solid and the post-show great, but the justification for the ride itself feels like a plot device.

Forbidden Journey I won't even address. It's fun, I really enjoy the ride, the tech behind it is incredible, but story-wise it's an incoherent mess that involves so many lapses in basic logic within the well-established/known Harry Potter universe that it can't achieve the "execution" we're discussing here. Someone wrote a great, hilarious article on why the story made no sense a while back, maybe someone can link it?

THANK YOU. These are some points I've always been trying to make. The whole story behind Spidey just comes off as too forced. What they should of done is just drop the whole "SCOOP" vehicle thing and have the ride vehicles just be themed as generic automobiles, and then the guests could just use their imaginations for what their role in the ride is, similar to how POTC and Haunted Mansion work. I also feel the whole levitation ray thing is forced, as it was just a plot device to get us up into the air, but I'm not sure what else they could do for that.

Totally agree on Forbidden Journey as well. One particular thing I think they really dropped the ball on was having the role of the riders be that they were Muggles being given a tour of Hogwarts. What the story SHOULD have been is that we should have been wizards being brought into Hogwarts for the first time. In other words, we would have been following in Harry's footsteps - his journey is now ours.

Following in the footsteps of the characters is what I think really gave Universal a lot of its emotional connection. For example:

In Back to the Future, we are now walking in Marty's footsteps; getting into the DeLorean and being blasted off onto a time-travel adventure to who knows where.
In JAWS and Kongfrontation, we are now the ones being threatened by these legendary movie monsters.
In Men in Black, we are now in Agent J's footsteps; training to be the next MIB agents to save the universe.
In E.T. Adventure, the powerful connection between E.T. and Elliot is now our connection as well.
Even in Transformers, we are now in the role of Sam, teaming up with these massive robots to defend the planet from evil.

Perhaps in some ways I'm polishing nostalgia, but this is just one aspect of Universal I've always loved. We truly are "riding the movies". Forbidden Journey would have been so much more enjoyable and magical had it been done like this.

 

[JungleSkip]

What the story SHOULD have been is that we should have been wizards being brought into Hogwarts for the first time. In other words, we would have been following in Harry's footsteps - his journey is now ours

Yup. All those 45 year old first years would have fit right in.

 

[Cupcakes]

Yup. All those 45 year old first years would have fit right in.

Well, I suppose that's just one of those things that would require a bit of a leap in imagination/suspension of disbelief. I think a really mesmerizing theme park attraction makes all of us feel like little kids again, anyway.

But my main point is that for us to enter this amazing, magical world full of exciting adventures and wonders but then be told that we're not really a part of it, well, just feels like a pretty big slap-in-the-face to me.

 

[Bryce]

That I've ridden:

- Tower of Terror (Disney's Hollywood Studios)
- The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
- Haunted Mansion
- Men in Black: Alien Attack
- Splash Mountain
- Spaceship Earth

That I haven't ridden:

- Radiator Springs Racers
- Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Indiana Jones Adventure

 

[Clive]

I guess I'm just so baffled people give Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey a pass. Seriously guys, it makes next to no sense. I would've preferred 45 year old "wizards" to the muggle conceit any day.

Bilge Rat Barges, Disneyland Paris's Pirates, and Great Movie Ride are two other awesome examples, though.

 

[JungleSkip]

I guess I'm just so baffled people give Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey a pass.

It's not a pass. It's a greatly executed attraction. From the TMs as students who are "in" on the gang's plan to bust you out of the boring lecture, to the way they manage to sneak you out, to the thrilling "best of" the Harry Potter series. Love every minute of it.

 

[Uncle_Darren]

I would love to see the Indiana Jones Adventure at the Hollywood Studios but I am guessing that ship has now sailed......

 

[UNIrd]

Yeah, I have to give #1 to Journey To the Center of the Earth.