Favourite roller coaster at Walt Disney World?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Walt Disney World in Florida is the world’s most visited theme park resort, and in total, it has had 10 roller coasters across its 4 parks since the resort’s inception in 1971. But my question to you today is; which roller coaster at the resort is your favourite?

 

[Pokemaniac]

Honestly, Everest beats the others by an order of magnitude or so. Space Mountain is excellent too, and Rock'n'Rollercoaster has its moments, but the rest are minetrains at most and don't hold a candle to Everest.

 

[Matt N]

I realise that I accidentally posted the topic while I was still in the middle of writing my opening post; sorry about that!

In terms of my favourite WDW roller coasters, I might actually do a ranking list of all the roller coasters I’ve done at WDW (I’m only missing Space Mountain Omega), but I’ll preface this by saying that my favourite ride at WDW wasn’t actually a roller coaster (overall, my favourite WDW ride is Tower of Terror by some distance), and WDW isn’t really somewhere you go for roller coasters. As ashamed as I am to say it, my favourite roller coaster I rode on my last Florida trip, where we went primarily to Disney parks, was actually Mine Blower at Fun Spot Kissimmee, which entered my top 5!

But let’s get to the ranking, though, shall we?

1. Rock’n’Rollercoaster - Disney’s Hollywood Studios: I really liked this! Even though it has an LSM launch, I would have genuinely guessed it to be hydraulic if I hadn’t known, because it’s a true gut punch, and combined with the great first inversion, it’s an explosive start to the ride! The rest of the layout also feels fast and adrenaline-filled, and combined with the theming & audio, it makes for a really fun ride! I will say, though; although not unbearably rough by any means, the ride is a little bit rattly, which detracted ever so slightly for me. Overall, though, RnRC is certainly a fun ride! 7/10, #17/74
2. Slinky Dog Dash - Disney’s Hollywood Studios: This may come across as a slightly left-field choice for #2, but I genuinely really enjoyed this! I went in with pretty low expectations after hearing the ride getting mostly maligned for the best part of a year, but those expectations were most certainly exceeded by a fair amount; Slinky was a huge surprise for me! Despite not being the most intense of coasters, I personally found it to be a fun, smooth, and dynamic family roller coaster, with some nice twists and fun pops of airtime! It did have one or two spots where it seemed to be struggling a little pacing-wise (namely the two high points following the launches), but I think this is probably me nit-picking too much, as it is a roller coaster aimed at families after all! Overall, Slinky was a great family coaster, a huge surprise for me, and definitely a worthy #2 in my eyes! 7/10, #23/74
3. Expedition Everest - Disney’s Animal Kingdom: I can sense that this will raise a few eyebrows, as Everest seems to be most people’s favourite coaster at Disney World, but I’ll admit that even though the ride’s grown on me somewhat since I first did it back in 2014, I still don’t really dig it like most people do. Don’t get me wrong, though, it’s a fun family coaster, with some fast sections and cool tricks up its sleeves, as well as spectacular theming! However, I can’t put my finger on why, but I’ve had 3 rides on it now, in August 2014 and in April 2019, and I’ve always come off it feeling a bit underwhelmed. Maybe it’s because I had overly high expectations when I first rode it (“world’s most expensive coaster” was implanted firmly in my head when I first rode in 2014. However, I’d hoped that I might have fallen in love with the ride in 2019 when this hype was gone, and I still didn’t.), maybe it’s because the backwards section and the way it’s implemented kind of ruins the flow a bit (the main flaw I can think of with Everest), maybe it’s something else entirely; I don’t really know. For whatever reason, Everest has just never enthralled me like it does a lot of people, in spite of being a fun ride. 6/10, #25/74
4. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - Disney’s Magic Kingdom: Like Slinky, this might seem like a slightly left-field choice for such a high ranking, but I did really like this ride for what it was! Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a very fun, smooth family coaster with some nice twisty sections and fun turns, in my opinion, and when combined with the upbeat soundtrack and excellent animatronics, it’s perhaps the very definition of a feel-good coaster! 6/10, #27/74
5. Space Mountain Alpha - Disney’s Magic Kingdom: I only rode the Alpha side of Space Mountain, and it has quite a fun layout, in my opinion, with some surprising pops of airtime in places! It also feels like a surprisingly fast coaster, although that could be the darkness talking! However, while I wouldn’t call Space Mountain unbearably rough, it was marred somewhat for me by being quite rattly, as well as having a slightly odd seating position that didn’t make it the most comfortable; it is certainly showing its age a bit. 6/10, #29/74
6. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Disney’s Magic Kingdom: BTMR was a fun mine train coaster, with some thrilling moments and surprising pops of airtime, but it had a fair few moments where it felt a bit sluggish, and I’d also say that like Space Mountain, it is showing its age a bit in terms of how it rides. 6/10, #30/74
7. Barnstormer - Disney’s Magic Kingdom: This is what it is really; a perfectly fine coaster for families. The layout felt a little slower compared to the likes of Flight of the Hippogriff, however, and it was surprisingly quite rough for a coaster aimed at small children! 3/10, #63/74
8. Primeval Whirl - Disney’s Animal Kingdom (both sides): I do feel kind of sorry for the Primeval Whirls being in last place, as I know they were never particularly well-loved in their operating lives, but as much as I hate to say it, they aren’t coasters I’ll miss. I’m not a fan of the Reverchon spinning mice to begin with, but in spite of the rides’ nice theming, I’d actually say they were perhaps the two roughest Reverchon mice I’ve done; my 2019 ride on the right side in particular was absolutely dreadful, and has to go down as one of my least favourite coaster rides ever. As I say, I do feel bad for placing them last, but I’m afraid I couldn’t really think of anything else. 2/10, #71/74 & #72/74

 

[FistedColossus]

Everest, closely followed by Space Mountain.

BTM is good fun but the Paris version is far superior.

 

[Eyebrows]

Rock n Roller Coaster
Everest
Thunder Mountain
Space Mountain
Slinky Dog Dash
Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Primeval Whirl
Barnstormer

Honestly, Everest beats the others by an order of magnitude or so. Space Mountain is excellent too, and Rock'n'Rollercoaster has its moments, but the rest are minetrains at most and don't hold a candle to Everest.

Big agree here

 

[ECG]

Everest +1

 

[Matt N]

To be honest; after a bit of thought, I dare to suggest Everest might actually drop to 4th or 5th for me! I hate to say it, but it’s never really enamoured me like it does many, in spite of me liking it.
EDIT: I ultimately settled on 4th, between 7DMT & Space Mountain Alpha.

 

[Nitefly]

Space Mountain ftw. It’s still crazy and thrilling to this day.

Everest was a bit of a meh for me.

 

[nadroJ]

Jesus, it's only when you step back and look at it like this you realise what a game-changer TRON is going to be. Anyways, Everest. Obviously.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Everest! Not only is it one of the most aesthetically pleasing coasters out there, but it's a ton of fun and is more intense than many other family coasters. I also think the pacing is superior to similar coasters I've been on.

 

[Will]

I have only been to Paris.

Rock n Rollercoaster is good. The other coasters in the studios park are OK.

I do not like the coasters in the main park.

I like cats.

 

[EmmaUK]

Everest by some distance. In my view a criminally underrated ride. Probably followed by Big Thunder, although to be honest that, Space Mountain, RnR are pretty much interchangeable and ask me on any given day and I'll probably change my mind.

I've never really thought about Space Mountain or Primeval Whirl as 2 coasters. Surely picking between R and L on PW is like choosing which eye to have gauged out. Its essentially the same experience but I'll still go with no thanks