How thrilling are Disney rides?

[ransom]

While I'm a died-in-the-wool Disney Imagineer fan, DW is a big fan of fast thrill rides such as are available at our local Six Flags theme park. She's ridden the magnetic induction ones, the ones where you ride on your stomach, the ones where your feet dangle, etc., and loved them all. She loves that traditional roller-coaster formula of speed, turns, loops, and drops.

Other than Rock 'n Roller Coaster, is there anything at the four main Disney World theme parks that is likely to measure up against the Six Flags type rides from a pure speed/twists/loops perspective?

Or should I really be looking to Universal, Busch Gardens, and Sea World for those types of rides in Orlando?

 

[hulagirl87]

Tower of Terror has those great drops!

I haven't ridden Expedition Everest yet (11 more days!!!) but I've heard that's pretty fast...

Primevel Whirl whips you around like nobody's business!

Big Thunder Mountain is pretty fast and so is Space Mountain and that's in the dark too!

I went to Six Flags recently and went on 2 roller coasters and came home thinking "this is nothing like disney!". the rides at six flags make me sick. the ones at disney don't. i still consider disney "thrill rides" just not the kind of thrill rides that hurl you around at dizzying speeds until you can't see straight!

 

[nibby]

No matter what anyone says about how wonderful Disney rides are - and there are some fabulous ones - Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster apart, nothing matches the thrill rides at IOA and Busch Gardens for the type of ride you describe.

 

[flortlebap]

Disney tends to offer all round entertainment. Yes it has thrills, but not quite on the same scale.

RnR and ToT are the most thrilling. EE, BTMR and Splash offer thrills. You could always venture off property to more thrilling parks such as IOA, or Busch Gardens, even Sea World for Kraken!

 

[Manda]

If you're a thrill ride junky, Disney rides just won't do it for you. Tower of Terror is close, but even RnR isn't all that great compared to what the big thrill parks are offering. Disney parks serve their purpose well as theme parks, but definitely not thrill parks.

 

[juligrl]

Disney is all about the show. The rides aren't the most thrilling, but the theming on them is second to none. If your wife wants thrills, stick with the Cedar Point type of park.

 

[CowboyCO]

I would recommend doing an Orlando Vacation that includes both WDW and Univesal Studios Islands of Adventure.

WDW rides are not thrilling in the speed category, other than Everest, Rockin Roller Coaster, Big Thunder Mountain and maybe Space Mountain.

By doing both, she gets her thrills and you'll get your Disney!

 

[ransom]

Wow! Thank you all for your quick replies!

It looks like I'd better look into Busch Gardens and/or Universal's Islands of Adventure.

It's getting harder to shoe-horn everything into this vacation.

 

[ransom]

I went to Six Flags recently and went on 2 roller coasters and came home thinking "this is nothing like disney!". the rides at six flags make me sick. the ones at disney don't. i still consider disney "thrill rides" just not the kind of thrill rides that hurl you around at dizzying speeds until you can't see straight!

I feel the same about the Six Flags-style amusement parks. I look around and see peeling paint on the ride carriages, dead grass and dying trees serving as landscaping, and nothing but bare metal visible on the rides. Our local latest-and-greatest, "Superman Ultimate Flight", was themed by coloring the coaster blue and red, and by having the riders lie on their stomachs during the ride (so they could "fly" like superman). It was neat, but hardly the job an Imagineer would do.

As for motion sickness -- I thought it was just me that finds that the cheaper the ride, the more I get sick! Local fair rides are the worst, with the Six Flags style ones somewhere in the middle, and Disney ones giving me no problems. Nice to know I'm not the only one.

Oh, well. I guess I was spoiled living so close to Disneyland during my teenage years.

 

[ChrisFL]

Go to IOA and get incredible detail and theming on par than WDW PLUS some great big coasters and thrill rides.

Other than that ToT and RnRC are good, but the rest of the coasters are just more tame

 

[Mme. Leota]

I feel the same about the Six Flags-style amusement parks. I look around and see peeling paint on the ride carriages, dead grass and dying trees serving as landscaping, and nothing but bare metal visible on the rides. Our local latest-and-greatest, "Superman Ultimate Flight", was themed by coloring the coaster blue and red, and by having the riders lie on their stomachs during the ride (so they could "fly" like superman). It was neat, but hardly the job an Imagineer would do.

As for motion sickness -- I thought it was just me that finds that the cheaper the ride, the more I get sick! Local fair rides are the worst, with the Six Flags style ones somewhere in the middle, and Disney ones giving me no problems. Nice to know I'm not the only one.

Oh, well. I guess I was spoiled living so close to Disneyland during my teenage years.

Well, this is off topic, but. . . laying on your stomach on a roller coaster?? I am going to look that up for a pic. . .I can't even imagine how bad my neck would hurt after that. I guess I am getting old.

And no, overall Disney rides aren't as "thrilling" as Dueling Dragons or Hulk, but the themeing totally makes it for me. Not so for everyone, I know. And Disney's customer service and crowd control bring the total experience just a notch above for me.

 

[ChrisFL]

^^ here's a pic of a "flying coaster" where you lie on your stomach. Theres 2 companies which make this kind of coaster, but I havent been on one yet (none in Orlando yet!)

 

[GSLand]

IOA does have great thrill rides. I would suggest considering staying at a Universal resort hotel. You get FRONT OF THE LINE entry for every ride with your hotel key card!

A few years ago stayed at the Hard Rock hotel - walked over to IOA and rode our hearts out on every ride, over 'n over, using the front of the line pass.

Then we stayed at Disney for the next few days. Sorry to say - it was such a let down to have to WAIT in loooong lines. The Fast Pass cannot compare with Front of the Line pass.

BTW - we did the trip with our 15 yo daughter. She loved it all.

 

[ransom]

Well, this is off topic, but. . . laying on your stomach on a roller coaster?? I am going to look that up for a pic. . .I can't even imagine how bad my neck would hurt after that. I guess I am getting old.

Here's a page where they have coasters like that (scroll to the bottom of the page for the Superman one). That's actualy from Six Flags Over Georgia, but they have the same coasters at Six Flags Great America in Illinois.

And, yes, you REALLY need to get a "seat" at the front of the coaster to fully enjoy the ride.

As an aside, the way these work is that during loading, it works just like the fairly common "feet dangling" type coasters you see all over the place these days. But just before you "launch", the seats get pulled up parallel with the track so you're in "flying" position.

It actually wasn't uncomfortable for either of us, and neither of us is a young kid any more.

It's just not the be-all and end-all for me. Gimme some *real* theming!!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Even Universal doesn't have a bunch of thrill rides. The ones they have are truly thrilling (Disney's aren't - except RnR and ToT - but only "kinda" on both, IMHO), but there aren't a lot of them. If you want bunches of thrill rides, head somewhere other than Orlando.

I love WDW and Universal - the rides are great! - but it isn't Six Flags or Cedar Point, ya know?

You haven't ridden a thrill ride until you get strapped in standing up, then "flown" through a ride - speeding (really speeding) toward the ground face first.

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

If you're looking for thrill rides, I'd stick with Cedar Point, though I am of the thought that the rides there aren't all that safe. But I'm a bit of a skeptic after dating someone who worked for the park, and it probably doesn't help I've lived less than an hour away my whole life

To me, nothing is better than the rides at Disney, but I've never personally been much of a thrill seeker. The boyfriend, who will ride Millenium Force at CP 9 times in a row, is even looking forward to the rides there. I think it depends more on your mindset than anything else. If you're looking for nothing but thrills, then Disney probably isn't the best place to go.

 

[CoolTrainerTerry]

I feel the same about the Six Flags-style amusement parks. I look around and see peeling paint on the ride carriages, dead grass and dying trees serving as landscaping, and nothing but bare metal visible on the rides. Our local latest-and-greatest, "Superman Ultimate Flight", was themed by coloring the coaster blue and red, and by having the riders lie on their stomachs during the ride (so they could "fly" like superman). It was neat, but hardly the job an Imagineer would do.

As for motion sickness -- I thought it was just me that finds that the cheaper the ride, the more I get sick! Local fair rides are the worst, with the Six Flags style ones somewhere in the middle, and Disney ones giving me no problems. Nice to know I'm not the only one.

Oh, well. I guess I was spoiled living so close to Disneyland during my teenage years.

To me, nothing is better than the rides at Disney, but I've never personally been much of a thrill seeker.

Disney=
Six Flags=

 

[Metro West]

No matter what anyone says about how wonderful Disney rides are - and there are some fabulous ones - Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster apart, nothing matches the thrill rides at IOA and Busch Gardens for the type of ride you describe.

I completely agree! I love some of the Disney rides (HM is my all time favorite at any park) but I don't go to Disney w/o riding the coasters. I always hit Space Mountain and EE w/o fail. I could care less about the shows at any park so it's all about thrills for me. I go to IOA more than Disney since it has Dueling Dragons and the Hulk in the coaster department. ROTM is cool but way too short. If you want thrills, head to IOA!

 

[ransom]

I talked with DW last night about this, and she said I shouldn't worry so much. (I'm a big worrier -- I think it goes with being the type who likes to plan vacations. ). She's looking forward to the sights, sounds, and smells of Disney styles rides, not the Six Flags style thrills.

So, I'm not going to plan any side trips this time. Our first time to WDW will be pure WDW. We can go to the other places next time, when we have some WDW experience under our belts.

Thanks to everyone who helped me through this phase of my worry-go-round.