What attraction was a surprise favorite?

[mrstomrice]

Mickey's Philharmagic. I wasn't planning on going, but it was ready to go when we walked by and the kids wanted to go. I LOVED it. So cute.

I agree! We passed by it for a few years. No it's our must do at least once each MK visit.

 

[Priory]

Journey Into Imagination, actually. Don't throw things at me. I went to WDW for the first time about 5 years ago. Having grown up with disneyland I had never heard of figment and although I thought I knew a lot about the Sherman Brothers (I even went to a Richard Sherman show and met him) I had never heard 'One Little Spark'. I fell in love with it. Of course I have since learned about Dreamfinder and the amazing original ride. I'm so sad I never saw it and realize now how bad the currenr attraction is in comparison. However, it doesn't really take away from how great I thought it was when it was a complete surprise.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

People Mover. We rode it one afternoon when I was feeling unwell (land legs after getting off a cruise that morning) It's become one of my favourites

 

[Belle72]

We just returned and our surprise favorite was the Frozen Sing a Long at HS- so cute- and the cast was funny!! We were doing it for DD but everyone enjoyed it!

 

[Dr Gevil]

The Frozen singalong. I should have hated it. Didn't. Just got a FP to go again in December.

This. We saw this on 11/9 because my girls were dying to see this. I loved it - my new fav show at WDW. The two "historians" that tell the story of Frozen were fantastic. Humor very similar to HDDR, which I also love.

Thought we were wasting a FP+, but seats were great and was really surprised how good the show was. Wouldn't FP+ every time! but I would suggest it for the first time you see it.

 

[jenjersnap]

This trip it was 7DMT...from the review I expected it to be mega-lame but we loved it.

I am so sad we missed the Frozen singalong. They cancelled the show we had FP for, then, it poured the rest of the day and we couldn't hang in the outdoor queue (we were never positioned under the few umbrellas while waiting).

 

[NannyX6]

I second this, we first went in there because we were kind of wasting time until we could use our FP. We all surprisingly thought this was the coolest thing around. We ended up going back to the class a few more times that day (drew different characters) and now it is something we have to do each trip .

Going back to Disney in April but have never heard of an animation class my GD would love it. Can you give me more info?

 

[PoohsFan1]

Going back to Disney in April but have never heard of an animation class my GD would love it. Can you give me more info?

The Animation Academy is inside the Animation building in Animation Courtyard at DHS. This is also the area where you can visit with many Disney characters (where the characterpalooza is held) plus they have different areas that are interactive. You get into a group (not sure how many to a group) and go into a room where an animator will step by step teach you how to draw different Disney characters, you can then take your drawing home with you. When we last did it, we were able to get our drawings signed by the animator, not sure if they all do this but the one we had was happy to do it. They also have this class at DisneyQuest, but we like the one at DHS better.

 

[Jfsag123]

For me it was Philharmagic. I thought it was just going to be a cute show and it ended up becoming my happy place.

For DD it was Test Track - she is typically a very cautious kid when it comes to rides. but LOVED TT. Still talks about it all the time and it's at the top of her list for our upcoming trip.

For DS it was Spaceship Earth. I was shocked by how much he loved it, as young as he is. Both of my kiddos list Epcot as their favorite park.

 

[PetePanMan]

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect, but I laughed a lot the first time I saw the show.

same for me Plus flights of wonder show

 

[nighttowll]

Someone posted a link to an article about why people hate it. Unfortunately, I don't remember where it was posted.

Basically there are 2 main reasons:

1. Stitch got shoved down everyone's throats in the early to mid 2000's (just like Frozen today)

2. The attraction falls in between 2 groups of potential fans. It's too scary for the Stitch crowd and it's not scary enough for the ExtraTERRORestrial fans.

You're forgetting the 3rd reason. A number of people have had bad experiences with the harness that comes down hurting them. Nothing bad enough for Disney to fix the issue. I don't know of any serious injuries, but definitely painful enough to keep people from ever taking another chance it might happen again.

As far as the original post:

I expected to hate Dinosaur at AK because I thought it would jerk me around too much, but I loved it instead.

At Epcot, I was surprised to see the kids loved Spaceship Earth which I thought they would find boring.

They also loved Living with the Land which had been one of my own surprise favorites years ago.

On the other hand, no one liked Test Track which really surprised me. I was so looking forward to the ride as it was one of my favorite rides, but ended up being very disappointed. I completely hated the redo. The kids had never been on the original ride, however, so I'm not sure why exactly they disliked it so much.

At MK I remember really liking IASW the first time I rode it, but I had thought I would find it annoying. The kids also loved it this last trip which again surprised me. I think we rode it 4 or 5 times in a row.

Also, the first time I rode Jungle cruise I loved it, and I wasn't expecting that. I think we just got lucky with a really good CM because I've rode it since and not cared for it as much.

At HS, I really liked the Backstage Tour which I only did for the rest of the family and expected to be boring. As others have said the art class is great, but I never expected it not be, so not sur that counts for me.

At MVMCP, the pirate singalong / show was hilarious. We kind of stumbled across it, and it was the best. Even the Pirates were having a hard time keeping a straight face while they sang and played the bells.

 

[karly05]

As far as a surprise, I'd have to say the Winnie the Pooh ride at MK. Maybe because I grew up on Pooh, but I think this is a darling ride; I like bouncing with Tigger and floating in the rainstorm. It's a must-do every trip for me.

I'm not sure how surprised I was (because I'd read so many good things about it on the Dis), but here's another plug for "Flights of Wonder." Once Baby Elvis has flown right over your head or you've had your hair brushed by a Harris Hawk wing, you'll be hooked.

Animation Academy is awesome, too, but I totally expected to enjoy that.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I <3 figment. My husband hates it, but I MUST ride it. Must.

 

[prudence64]

Monsters laugh floor and mickeys philharmagic

 

[ZoZo]

One Man's Dream. I've been on six or seven WDW trips, and finally went to OMD this February. It was so interesting! Spent more than half an hour there, and would have spent much more time if my friend hadn't been bored ("I don't really like museums"). Next trip ,I'll spend as much time as I want - I even missed the film this trip!

Other favorites are Flights of Wonder, CoP, and Ellen's Energy Adventure. I have a soft spot for Energy Adventure because I love Ellen and Bill Nye! And it has a great conservation message.

My last one is Conservation Station. The vet procedures are fascinating. And I always time it so that we can watch the little stage show where they bring animals onto stage and talk about them. I've seen several birds includng owls, hedgehot, porcupine. So interesting! You can ask tons of questions.