Royals Rumblings - News for September 13, 2024

With The Gauntlet over, just 15 games to go

Let’s check in on those playoff odds, shall we?

• Baseball Prospectus: 92.7% to make playoffs, 3.2% to win division, 1.9% to win World Series
• Fangraphs: 94.3% to make playoffs, 6.8% to win division, 2.6% to win World Series
• Baseball-Reference: 94.1% to make playoffs, 3.4% to win division, 6.0% to win World Series

The The Star, Jaylon Thompson looks at how the Royals have done against the other playoff contenders.

The Royals are firmly in second place in the American League Wild Card race; three will make the cut for the postseason. Meanwhile, the club is just 4 ½ games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central divisional crown.

Both avenues offer viable playoff scenarios. The Royals have an outside shot to win the AL Central and host a home playoff series at Kauffman Stadium. KC also owns the regular-season series tiebreaker against the Guardians.

The AL Wild Card is the likely destination with 15 games remaining. KC is 1 ½ games ahead of the Minnesota Twins for the second wild-card spot.

At Fangraphs, Jay Jaffe looked at how Seth Lugo mixed pitches on Tuesday against the Yankees:

Indeed, Lugo’s success as a starter owes plenty to the work he’s done to expand and refine his repertoire. As The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd and Eno Sarris put it earlier this summer, he “has become the sport’s answer to Back to the Future’s Doc Brown, a mad scientist forever in search of the perfect pitch shape, a cerebral inventor underappreciated — until recently — in his own time.”

Vinnie Pasquantino talks with Bill Ladson (that’s a funny way to spell “Anne Rogers”) at MLB.com about his rehab:

MLB.com: Do you get a sense that the thumb is getting better?

Pasquantino: I was able to play video games last night.

MLB.com: With both hands?

Pasquantino: With both hands, which is a funny piece of my rehab. [The trainers] want me to move my thumb around and try to increase some mobility in it. I was able to do that for the first time. I’m able to kind of text with my right thumb. I’m able to pick things up which is nice. It’s moving forward.

Oh, here’s Anne. She profiles AA prospect Steven Zobac:

“When you get moved up, you feel it instantly,” Zobac said in a phone conversation late last month. “You’re expecting everyone to look at you and think, ‘OK, this guy just got moved up, he needs to perform right away.’ When you don’t perform well, you feel like you’re letting yourself down and letting the entire team down, like, ‘Why did we move this guy up?’ But it was really important to just blow that off to the side and go, ‘Let’s learn from the stuff I did wrong, but overall, that outing is going in the trash.’

...“When I was a two-way player, I was so overwhelmed with physical activities to do,” Zobac said. “You’re constantly moving. You never have time to sit there and contemplate your last outing or think about the hitters you’re about to face or even think about the pitcher you’re going to face as a hitter. This year, I feel like there’s a lot of reflection and getting to understand the batters you’re about to face. That’s been challenging for me. It’s also been a lot of fun.”

The broadcast crew had an outing in Pittsburgh yesterday

Listicle time? Well, we’re a little short on other stories. MLB.com lists the “most encouraging performances of the season for each team”:

Royals: LHP Cole Ragans

There were tons of questions surrounding the Royals’ rotation entering 2024 after the team made significant changes to try to improve the staff, and one was centered on Ragans. After an excellent second half following the trade that made him a Royal last June, how would the 26-year-old lefty fare across a full season as a starter? The answer: Pretty good. Ragans has a 3.32 ERA across 31 starts this year, became just the fifth Royal to record a 200-plus strikeout season and has held up well despite blowing past his career-high in innings. Not only has Ragans blossomed into the team’s young ace in 2024, but he’s established himself as part of the Royals’ core for the next several years. — Anne Rogers

Guess who was named “MLB’s Most Exciting Player” in ESPN’s bracket?

The process was simple: We chose the most exciting player from each of the 30 teams (by virtue of having the best record in their leagues at the time of our voting, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers each got two entries), seeded them by the standings and let our voters decide each matchup. The result? One superstar who can proudly wear the crown as MLB’s Mr. Excitement.

Spoiler: It was Bobby.

Blogs?

David Lesky wrote about Wednesday’s game ($):

Does anyone else feel like they went 12 rounds after watching that game? One team had to win, but I don’t think either team differentiated themselves too much in a 4-3 Yankees win in 11 innings. Everything about last night’s game felt like a playoff atmosphere, from the September 11 anniversary program before the game to the crowd to the actual game itself. It’s hard to be upset about losing that game beyond that losses are upsetting when your team is in a pennant race. Again, one team had to win in the end, and it was unfortunate that the team in pinstripes ended up pulling it out.

Craig Brown looks ahead:

On August 23, the Royals stood at 71-56 on the season. A .559 winning percentage. They were tied for the fourth-best record in the AL with the Twins and as such, they were tied in the race for the second Wild Card. Although with the convoluted tiebreaker rules, they would have the sixth, and final, spot. They were secure in their postseason spot by four games. Their odds to make the postseason were at 76 percent according to FanGraphs.

On September 12, the Royals’ record is now 80-67. That’s a .544 winning percentage. They have the fourth-best record in the AL. They are 1.5 games ahead of the Twins for the second wild card. They are secure in their postseason spot by 4.5 games. Their postseason odds at FanGraphs currently stand at 93 percent.

Patrick Glancy posted at Powder Blue Nostalgia for the first time in a while (and explained why):

Powder Blue Nostalgia remains on hiatus— most of my writing time for the last few months has been spent editing a crime novel, and I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel— but in the meantime, I wanted to check in with a couple thoughts as we hit the homestretch of the 2024 season.

Blog Roundup:

• Darin Watson at U.L.’s Toothpick: This Date In Royals History—1984 Edition: September 12 - The Royals move back into first with a win over Minnesota
• Kevin O’Brien at Farm to Fountains: Why the Royals Shouldn’t Give Up on James McArthur in the Long Term
• Zac Miller at Farm to Fountains: 2024 Report Cards: OF Spencer Nivens
• Colin Cerniglia at Kings of Kauffman: KC Royals drop series but MLB Playoffs picture still looks good
• Jackson Roberts at Kansas City Royals on SI: Could Alleged ‘Fatal Flaw’ Doom Royals’ 2024 World Series Chances?

I’m going to throw out a couple of MLB notable stories before we get into the monster 5000-word OT (You’ve been warned):

ICYMI on Wednesday night, Shohei Ohtani hit his 47th HR and swiped his 48th base as he gets ever closer to MLB’s first 50-50 season.

Over at Bleed Cubbie Blue, they explore the A’s disastrous move from Oakland and their pit (permanent?) stop in Sacramento:

That “it’s going to suck” was such a definitive statement that it wound up as the headline to the article.

I’m excited to see what Kumar Rocker can do when he makes his MLB debut tonight for the Rangers.

Last year, I ranked my favorite rides at Walt Disney World in Orlando. This past summer, I went (back) to Disneyland in Anaheim so it’s time to tackle those. FYI: I’ve been once before, about 5 years ago (also got to meet OMD at a Dodgers game; sadly, I booked my schedule too stupidly tight this time to meet up). However, that was just my wife and I for a full day. This time, it was my son and I across three days and a travel half day. Mistakes were made.

Anyhoo, I’ll throw out the couple of disclaimers from last time:

This feels more subjective than the other roller coaster rankings since it’s comparing more varied types of rides. That’s not to say that there isn’t variety in roller coasters. It’s just that Disney features a lot of dark rides, a handful of coasters and/or thrill rides, and a number of things that don’t fit into any other category. Thus, personal biases mean more.

Plus, it’s hard to not let line times color your experience and you’ll notice that in some of my notes. The best rides, you’ll pay the money or wait the time for. However, more importantly, longer wait times set higher expectations. With theme parks from Cedar Fair, Six Flags, and the like - line times are usually proportional to ride experience - the better the ride, the longer the line. However, with Disney, this felt a lot less true. Also, when you start getting past those first few in the rankings, I started asking myself questions like “if I can ride one ride once or a pair of rides two additional times, does that make the experience for the latter two better?” If I can walk onto the PeopleMover versus waiting an hour for Frozen Ever After, which would I prefer? And that shaded my perception of these rides.

Another couple of notes to start us off. First, I’m trying not to be too spoiler heavy. I want to be able to give enough details to justify my rankings but a lot of the thrill is not knowing what it coming so you can be better surprised by the experience. Replayability (re-rideability?) matters but only so far. This really comes into play with ride #3.

Secondly, it should also be noted that that I’m coming at this cold. I went to Disneyland (Anaheim) a few years ago, but I’ve never been to Disney World (Orlando) and there’s not a lot of ride overlap between the two parks. In reading other people’s reviews, there’s a lot of “this used to be better” or “I miss X ride that this took over” that colors some veteran experiences. Meanwhile, they would probably take a look at these rankings and say I miss some of that magic that makes a Disney ride great or how influential a ride was at its time. We’d both be right, to some degree, but also answering different questions.

Differences between the Parks

1) Disney Orlando is just so much bigger than Disney Anaheim and feels more like the flagship park. I think if you wanted to take someone from Europe to a single Disney park for one day, you bring them to Disneyland in Anaheim. But if you want them to see DISNEY for multiple days, take them to Orlando as there are 4 parks vs only 2 in Anaheim. You’re in the “Disney bubble” and there are literally dozens more options for Disney hotels and dining. Similarly, things like PhotoPass and Lightning Lane feel optimized for Orlando and are not as well utilized in Anaheim. That said, having the parks right across from each other in Anaheim makes it a lot easier to get around and park hop between Disneyland and California Adventure.

2) Unexpectedly (for anyone who has visited the rest of the state), Florida is just run better, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s 100% true. Crowd management was better thought out, things run a bit smoother, and the park people were just perkier in Florida. Not all of the time for everyone, of course - but it just felt more, I dunno, genuine whereas this feels more California fake. Our waiter one night was gruff and seemed bothered to be there. You figure if this had been Florida, he would have gotten you sent to the Mouse dungeon to be executed. It’s not a big deal, but it does shatter the illusion a little. For instance, on Rise, they just didn’t do as well - the First Order troopers were just more jerks, which worked really well in context.

3) There are significant ride differences between the parks. Of course, since Orlando is larger - there are simply more rides there, meaning more unique rides. Beyond that, there are some rides that are similar but with very different theming (Radiator Springs Racers vs Test Track, Indiana Jones Adventure vs Dinosaur, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! vs Tower of Terror). Some have minor to major differences but I could not find a comprehensive list to link to. When this topic comes up, some of the listed rides are Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and It’s a Small World, among others. It does seem to be universally agreed upon that if there are two versions of a ride, the Anaheim version is better.

Today, it’s time to re-rank all Disney rides 1-30 with notes added in for new rides. Also, I’ve let some of those rides sit in my mind for a while now so I’ve reconsidered where I have them.

First, a little housekeeping:

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Previous Rankings from Walt Disney World (Orlando):

• 20-16: Star Tours -> Spaceship Earth -> Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover -> Na’vi River Journey -> Peter Pan’s Flight
• 15-11: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train -> Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway -> Slinky Dog Dash -> Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster -> Test Track
• 10-6: Kilimanjaro Safari -> Haunted Mansion -> Smugglers Run -> Soarin’ -> Expedition Everest
• 5-1: Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure -> Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind -> Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance -> Avatar Flight of Passage -> Tron Lightcycle Power Run

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Park Abbreviations:

• WDW:MK/EP/HS/AK - Walt Disney World (Orlando): Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom
• DLR:DL/CA - Disneyland Resort (Anaheim): Disneyland, California Adventure

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Major rides that we did not ride:

• Grizzly River Run - I love amusement parks, I love water rides, and I /hate/ water rides in an amusement park; I don’t want to be walking around with wet butt for the next 3 hours (we’ll get to that next week)
• Splash Mountain – It’s closed right now and being redesigned as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure so we did not get a chance to ride it; see also: “wet butt”
• Haunted Mansion - Closed for refurbishment, but we rode it at WDW last year and our previous time in Anaheim; it definitely makes the top 30

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Honorable Mention

These didn’t quite make the cut but I thought they deserved mention (they’re grouped by park, but, otherwise, in no particular order)

• It’s a Small World (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Annoying song stuck in head? Sure. But a classic ride? No doubt.
• Astro Orbiter (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Yes, it’s just an old carnival ride, but it has a great location that provides good views in Orlando.
• Carousel of Progress (WDW:MK) – Not so much a ride, but the room does move. It feels very “old Disney” as it’s from the 1964 World’s Fair.
• Monorail (WDW:MK to EP; DLR:DL) - Not really a ride, per se, but definitely an iconic vehicle at both resorts.
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (WDW:EP) – I had this ranked previously but I reclassified it as, again, it’s not really a ride, per se.
• Living With the Land (WDW:EP) – Sorry, MITCH! This didn’t make the top 30, but perhaps this is because we rode it before getting a snack and were already hangry.
• Mission: Space (WDW:EP) – This one deserves more love it gets and there’s rarely a line; it could use a theming update. Almost had it in the top 30 but then I realized I mis-numbered and this was an unlucky one left out.
• Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin (DLR:DL) – I love Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the ride feels like a mashup of two other classic rides I like: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (though history says it was actually Pinocchio) and the Mad Tea Party teacups. But it doesn’t work that well together.
• Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! (DLR:CA) – It’s a perfectly adequate “ride through the highlights of the movie” dark ride with some fun technology, like with Randall.
• Pixar Pal-A-Round (DLR:CA) – Just a normal Ferris wheel, right? Only for some of the riders. For the “Swinging” side, it’s an “eccentric wheel” where the gondolas swing on tracks, sometimes even when the wheel is not moving. There are some people that find this the most intense ride in the park and won’t go on it. I was tempted to put this on the top 30 but I was busy reassuring my son for most of this ride so I didn’t get to enjoy it.
• Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure (DLR:CA) – It’s a fun shooting game with an enjoyable story and some interesting technology. However it often has a very long queue and it’s a bit uncomfortable on your arms. This is the one I had the most difficulty leaving off the list but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to kick out of the Top 30 as a replacement.

30. Indiana Jones Adventure (DLR:DL) – It’s not that good of a ride, as evidenced by its “sister ride” Dinosaur not even making honorable mention last time. However, the theming is tremendous, especially for its age, and that “being in a movie” feel is the reason it’s often one of the longest queues in all of Disneyland. Well, that and it’s propensity to break down.

29. Toy Story Mania! (WDW:HS, DLR:CA) – Truth be told, this is probably the ride that stole Web Slingers’s spot. Both are shooters, but Toy Story’s game is more responsive and more fun with some quality Easter Eggs and ability scaling, even if the story isn’t quite as highly produced. It also has great Toy Story theming.

28. Frozen Ever After (WDW:EP) – Was “Honorable Mention”; Previous notes: Really, it’s a fairly mediocre log flume ride, but it has a great Frozen soundtrack; Unfortunately, the line is completely disproportionate to ride experience

27. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Was “Honorable Mention”; Previous notes: Rough, older ride; not a favorite of mine but deserves mention

26. Na’vi River Journey (WDW:AK) – I might have had it a hair too high at #17 but I wonder if this is a little low now. Previous notes: I know a lot of people don’t like this one, especially considering the wait, but both Pandora rides deliver exactly what I wanted and expected. We’ll get to Flight in a bit, but this one is a slow river ride that captures the “natural wonder” part of the first movie. The people who want to say Avatar is just Fergully or whatever missed the part where James Cameron made the only movie that’s ever truly used 3D to its fullest potential. Those beautiful parts in the forest with the animals are faithfully recreated in this relaxing ride. That said, the over 1 hour waits for this are not worth it for what it is.

25. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (DLR:DL) – They could have just gone with another Little Mermaid-esque ride for Finding Nemo and people would have been happy. But repurposing the Submarine Voyage to have the whole thing underwater in the lagoon makes this a unique and underrated experience.

24. Jungle Cruise (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Was “Honorable Mention”; I bumped up a few of the classics since the last rankings as I really did enjoy them after more rides. Previous notes: Old school ride with captains telling dad puns; Again a lot of classics in Magic Kingdom

23. Spaceship Earth (WDW:EP) – Previous notes: This is more of a “how do you rank something like this” sort of problem. For those unfamiliar, it’s the giant globe that is the icon of Epcot. it’s a slow ride through the history of invention from cavemen to modern times. Technically, it’s from 1982, but feels decidedly 70s to me.

22. Matterhorn Bobsleds (DLR:DL) - I’m not sure how comfortable I feel about this ranking. It’s a little rough and more than a bit old. However, it’s an impressive technological marvel, especially for it’s 1959 opening date, and dominates big parts of the Disneyland skyline. It also feels like the forerunner for Expedition Everest.

21. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (WDW:HS) – This one took a bit of a tumble, as evidenced by the notes below. It’s not like it got worse - it’s not as memorable as some of the higher ones to the point where I forgot to include it in my rankings and had to renumber. Previous notes: Above here, I’m pretty solid about what my top 11 rides were. They were the ones I didn’t even have to think about what were my favorites, though there’s room for a little internal movement. But this is the last of the ones where you could push me off this ranking with a good argument. It’s a decent coaster but short and simplistic theming – I mean, I like Aerosmith and they make the ride work with this, but I could totally see them repurposing this in 20 years with another band or another idea entirely.

20. Pirates of the Caribbean (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Was “Honorable Mention”; Last time, I said I could be talked into putting it into the top 20 and this time I did. It truly is a classic with some updating to keep it relevant. This is one of those rides where the Disneyland version is superior to versions at other parks and is significantly longer (15:30 vs 8:30 in Orlando).

19. Star Tours (WDW:HS, DLR:DL) – This one got a little bump for being so good at what it does, even if we got a number of repeats this time because they were promoting new scenarios for Disney+ shows. Previous notes: It’s one of the few rides from the 80s/90s era that is still around today. Look at most of the things on these lists: they’re either from the 70s or older and retro or built since 2000. It’s maybe the best bargain ride in the park – the line is usually less than 10 minutes so you can walk right on. It’s simple, but the multiple missions make it feel like a slightly different ride each time. We rode 3 times and didn’t get a single repeated segment. Unfortunately, it’s away from Galaxy’s Edge and the other Star Wars rides.

18. Peter Pan’s Flight (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – It looks better with the lighting in Anaheim and is still a classic, even if dated. Previous notes: I don’t get the insane wait times for this ride as it’s often the longest line at Magic Kingdom. It doesn’t help that it likes to break, either, being nearly 80 years old. After seeing the lines, I had higher expectations going in than a suspended boat ride, but that’s on me, not on Disney. That said, it’s one of the best of the dozen-ish rides that are “ride a condensed five-minute version of the movie, complete with animatronics and music”, especially considering its age.

17. Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! (DLR:CA) – I’m not a big drop tower guy but this is about as good as you can do with a drop tower for me. It’s not just a single drop, but a bunch of ups and downs punctuated with frantic, humorous Guardians scenes. My son really didn’t care for this ride so I didn’t get to appreciate it as much as I would have liked. Reminder: we also didn’t get to do The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror last year.

16. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (WDW:MK) – Previous notes: We really are in the middle of the “I don’t understand the huge wait and that takes away from the ride experience” part of these rankings. Yes, I get that everything has waits at Disney, but some are just disproportionately long and make you go “this is it?” The swinging train design is kindof cool, but definitely not “paid Lightning Lane cool”, especially when compared to the other paid LL rides that are all in my top 10 and I don’t think it’s even “line drop cool” like, say, Slinky or Remy. I think a lot of people get a lot out of the mid-course break run through the caves with the singing and the ride being themed around one of the all-time Disney greats. If this were a 30-minute wait instead of a 90-minute wait, I think I’d like it a lot more.

15. Slinky Dog Dash (WDW:HS) – Previous notes: It’s probably unfair that I have this ride this low, but it also speaks to what comes ahead of it. I wish I had another chance to ride it as it could jump into the top 10. However, this is often the longest line in Hollywood Studios: during our off-peak vacation, lines were often longer than 120 minutes long so it has to either be a line drop or something you’re comfortable tying up your Lightning Lane for half a day. The coaster itself is pretty good – it’s like the Pixar version of a roller coaster: designed for kids but with elements that parents could also enjoy. Where this ride really stands out is the amazing theming. The theming in the Toy Story area is clever, in general, with real effort put into making the whole area look like toys. However, along with the giant Scrabble tiles, Uno cards, dominoes, army men, etc. in the rest of Toy Story Land, Slinky goes to the next level with a giant box for the roller coaster set with Andy’s Slinky design scribbled onto it and kid blueprints of the whole ride. My description isn’t doing it justice.

14. Incredicoaster (DLR:CA) – When I walked up, I saw the telltale triangle tracks and I was like “Wait a second: is this an Intamin?!?” Yes! While Intamin was building the roller coaster work of art known as Millennium Force (opened May 2000), they also were building California Screamer (opened 2001) for Disney. It’s interesting to see the two different audiences and the approach. Both are among the 10 longest steel coasters in the world at more than 6K feet but while Milly is 300’/93 mph, Incredicoaster is 108’/55 mph. Both are skyline-defining coasters with interesting features but Disney’s cost twice as much ($50M vs $25M) and has some unique features: tunnels, a single loop that used to be part of a giant Mickey, launchers, and a steel that looked like a wooden coaster.

13. Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run (WDW:HS, DLR:DL) – I did slide this down a little because it does have two significant weaknesses with difficulty and that four of the six jobs have limited visibility limiting the experience. Previous notes: I suspect I have this rated higher than most people and it’s the little brother to Rise. However, the entry area is amazing and the detail only gets better when you go into the cockpit – you feel like you’re in the Millennium Falcon. Yes, the degree of difficulty could be dialed back a little. Yes, there need to be more missions. Yes, gunners and engineers don’t always see enough to enjoy the ride to its fullest. Aside: Imagineers, have their panels in front of them and not to the side for a much better experience. But the flight is fun and insanely immersive. If you can, let the biggest Star Wars junkie in your group get right side pilot for (minor spoiler) the jump to hyperspace.

12. Expedition Everest (WDW:AK) – I also slid this one down a little, perhaps too far, because of recency bias for other rides. I need a re-ride to properly rate it. Previous notes: If you go straight to it to start your day at Animal Kingdom, you can walk right onto it a number of times as everyone else is crowding towards Pandora. However, my son didn’t want to go on it again, so, sadly, we only went on it once. I could see this moving up to #5 if I got another couple of rides on it. It does a lot of cool things for a roller coaster, especially one that’s more than 15 years old. It doesn’t have any huge drops (80-foot max) but the continual lift hills to make it appear like you’re climbing the mountain are used extremely effectively.

11. Kilimanjaro Safari (WDW:AK) – Previous notes: Speaking of different, how do you rank something like this? How do you compare driving a car at 65 mph to riding by an elephant? How could I disagree if someone said this was the best ride at Disney? Sure, It’s a Small World has a singing hippo but Kilimanjaro Safari has real ones. It’s not a traditional thrill ride, but it’s a long ride with a lot of great things to see.

10. Space Mountain (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Last time I said “I’d slot it around 8ish” and I’m happy it’s in the top 10. If I did a re-rank, this icon would be more likely to move up a couple spots rather than back. What more can I say about this classic than has already been said? Like the best Disney rides, it’s a simple premise expertly executed.

9. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (WDW:HS, DLR:DL) – This one I strongly reconsidered after riding again in Anaheim. I bumped it up a number of spots and now think it’s going to be a classic that people will still be riding in 50 years due to its simple but immersive premise and gorgeous “hand-drawn” art look. Caveat: it needs to improve reliability as it’s a ride that often breaks down. I prefer WDW’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre replica to DL’s El CapiTOON Theater. Previous notes: I really want to like this ride more. I think maybe if I rode it again, I would – but, again, long lines. It’s similar to my #5, but I think that ride does it better. I really like the ride itself and the cartoon setup, but I really find the new retro Mickey animation style, especially Goofy, really off-putting and that hurts the immersion.

8. Haunted Mansion (WDW:MK, DLR:DL) – Previous notes: It is amazing how well this has stood the test of time. It’s a simple dark ride but it’s so well done. The initial room is brilliant: the movement, the paintings, and the ending. The rest of the ride does a great job of showing just how spooky, but not necessarily scary, that the dark and ghosts can be. It’s easily the oldest of my top 10*, probably to the disappointment of any Disney traditionalists.

*Technically not true any more because of #10

7. Soarin’ (WDW:EP, DLR:CA) – Somehow we did “Soarin’ Over California” in Florida and “Soarin’ Around the World” in California but both were great. Previous notes: It pains me to put this ride this low as it’s one of my favorites. It’s so simple yet so well executed: make plane-themed ride, people get in row of airplane seats, seats lift up in front of giant screen, screen shows flying video, seats move along with video, and passengers feel like they’re flying. We rode it 4 different times and I’m not sure I’d ever get tired of it, even on the second or third row (feet). It’s impressive that Disney can go get someone like Patrick Warburton to be an extra for one of their rides and his dry airplane humor usually has people reciting the pre-flight video by the end of the night. While we were there, it was “Soarin’ over California” versus “Soarin’ Around the World” or any of the other flights.

6. Radiator Springs Racers (DLR:CA) – I didn’t realize that this Cars-themed ride was basically a re-skinned version of Test Track from Epcot (ranked #11 last time). The theming makes the experience so much better. It combines a good thrill ride with the “entire movie story in five minutes” and is definitely the top ride at California Adventure. Previous notes (Test Track): Yes, it’s a thrill ride that gets up to 64.9 mph. But that’s not the appeal of this ride to me. It’s that it’s something different. Yes, it’s blatantly an ad for Chevy. But having those marketing people work on the ride helped. I love the design phase where you get to customize your vehicle. It’s the perfect use of the waiting room minutes. Heck, I wish we had more time to design as there’s never enough time to design more than 1 car. The ride in the dark is a little boring, but it’s also there to give the design part weight. Then the outside finale gives people a rush. Even the stuff after where you can make a commercial for your car or pose in front of a car is fun in limited doses.

5. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (WDW:EP) – Previous notes: Even better than Peter Pan and all the others, this is the best of the “live a short version of the movie” rides. It’s one of the most modern and tries to really throw you into the movie with lots of “4D” effects. The fall is more effective than Mickey & Minnie, the water splash is perfectly done, the 3D works great with the trackless ride, and the scents are effectively used like in Soarin’. It’s so simple and magical. It doesn’t get as much love as it should from the Disney review sites. However, the crowds love it as you basically have to line drop it or wait 90 minutes plus. I’m siding with the masses here.

4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (WDW:EP) – Previous notes: There’s 4 brand new “best in park” headliner rides and they made my top 4. The Disney traditionalists would hate that about my list and that’s why I put my caveats and my experience at the top. If someone wanted to put Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jungle Cruise in their top 5, they’re not wrong. They’re just coming at it from a different point of view than I am. Similarly, if you polled 1000 average Disney park goers, the plurality (but not majority) #1 is probably Guardians. It’s got good, but not great theming - the ship outside, Terry Crews, the Guardians, and the soundtrack are excellent, but the whole “Wonders of Xandar” area that takes up a lot of the line feels like a real miss. It has a lot of elements of good, modern coasters while being a next level Space Mountain. They borrowed from a lot of good places but it feels like it’s not a wholly new creation, but an amalgam of a lot of good old ones.

3. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (WDW:HS, DLR:DL) – Previous notes: This is probably the hardest one for me to rank and I can’t argue with anyone putting it #1: It is an incredible experience. If you only get to do one thing at Disney, this might be the one to do. You’re basically playing a role in a 20-minute movie, complete with actors and props around you. However, it’s not #1 so you know there’s a “but” coming. It has absolutely no replayability. Once I did it the first time, I had no desire to ride it again, especially not at $20 a person or wait in a 90+ minute long line. It is amazingly done and amazingly immersive, but once you’ve seen it, you’ve seen it. The “ride” part isn’t that exciting - I think Remy is actually the better trackless ride. It really is top notch and it’s the crown jewel in the immensely impressive Galaxy’s Edge part of the park. I just can’t rank it higher because, if given infinite time and money, I could just ride the top 2 rides over and over again.

2. Avatar Flight of Passage (WDW:AK) – Previous notes: This is probably the best ride across all 4 parks, if we take everything into account. It just does everything right. The area around it in Pandora is well done. I can’t speak to the non-Lightning Lane experience, but the LL queue is well done. The interactive introduction tells you all you need to know, whether you know about Avatar or not. Then you get on a next-gen miniature version of Soarin’ where you feel like you’re flying on the back of a dragon for almost 5 minutes. It’s awesome.

1. Tron Lightcycle Power Run (WDW:MK) – Previous notes: This won’t be the top on most lists and my biases are showing. In this case, I don’t care. Yes, I like the flawed Tron: Legacy more than most people but the ride knocks it out of the park with amazing theming and is a pure adrenaline rush. The only sad part is that it’s much too short and that it’s VQ or pay only (like Guardians). Also, a number of people don’t like the fit on the lightcycle - but, unlike some other rides, I didn’t have that problem. (Spoiler warning here last year since it was a new ride and all) The walkup is dramatic with part of the ride racing above the queue. Once inside, the ride story plays on a screen wall. When it’s over, the video fades and reveals the opaque screen to be glass doors. They open onto a dark bridge with the neon colored lightcycles launching below and Daft Punk blaring. My son all but had a meltdown and we had to talk him down. For those ready for it, though, it does a great job of pumping you up. There are Tron-themed lockers and a giant video board over the queue showing race highlights. Riders board their lightcycle and launch at 60 mph, but with lights going the opposite direction, it gives the optical illusion of going faster. Riders are launched out into the daylight to scream and waive at the crowd and then plunged back into the dark to complete the second half of the race. I would love to do this ride at night. I would love for a better interaction between blue and orange team. But what I’d really love is for this ride to be longer. Still, it was the ride I enjoyed the most and would love to go back on.

A POV video with some Daft Punk seems like an easy choice here for SotD. It’s better than “It’s a Small World” I left last year: