Best and Worst Attraction inprovements

[Gator]

I'm going against the flow here, but my favorite improvement was the Tiki Room. It was sooooooo boooooorriiiiinngg. Iago gives it an entertainment factor. If you like the old version, go to Disneyland and remember how boring it truly was. So a for the new Tiki Room.

The worst is Stich's Escape. Alien Encounter was a truly frightening experience and fit Tomorrowland. Stich's Escape is gross and not scary at all.

[NJ Camper]

best was tough potc and hm tie

worst stitch and taken away 20,000 leages under the seas that was a unique ride i'm sure there is more but those are the 2 big ones i can think of now

[Ian]

For worst it's simply no contest ... Yes, Stitch is bad, but Alien Encounter wasn't that great to begin with. The Tiki Room is bad for sure, but nothing can even come close to the disaster that is now Imagination.

If you're looking purely at the amount an attraction was degraded by a refurb, Imagination went from, arguably, the best attraction in Future World to, inarguably, the worst. That's an epic fall. It astounds me that they actually spent money (however paltry the sum may have been) to completely and totally ruin an attraction. How stupid that was .... it's just mind-boggling.

Best is probably Toy Story Mania. Millionaire was fun, but it was getting old and worn out. TSM is a BLAST and a sure-fire must do for each trip.

[DigitalDaredevil]

Best improved:
Haunted Mansion. I usually do not care for the updates that are done to attractions, but HM was done perfectly.

Worst Improved:
Rio Del Tiempo. Not nearly as enjoyable as it was.
Alien Encounter/Stitch. What a horrible improvement.

Indifferent:
Spaceship Earth. I love the Jeremy Irons narration, but like the new animatronics. The descent could have more to see though.

[Renata]

From what I've seen, what I'd consider 'the best' right now is the recent Haunted Mansion update.

The worst...Alien Encounter becoming Stitche's Great Escape. That attraction is a tragedy now!

Chris

I agree with you... Stitche's Great Escape is horrible.. !!!

[Kairi_7378]

Best= Haunted Mansion.

Worst (for me)= Stitch

For DH, worst= Pooh's Playful Spot and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

[henry.james.s]

HM is the best to me with POTC a very close 2nd.
The worst..The Tiki Room. It was a classic.

[steamboatwilly]

Worst would have to be Journey. It was great to ride, now intollerable.

[SandmanGStefani24]

i know it's not exactly the same ride, but Soarin's transformation from If You Had Wings/Dreamflight was huge. Or, if we want to get technical, the change from Wings/Dreamflight to Buzz's adventure was great too. I love both rides and they are both must-rides for newbies or veterans.

Another big thumbs down for the change of El Rio Del Tiempo. I loved it before, but now it's too silly/kiddy for Epoct IMO. I also don't think the ending of Spaceship Earth is better. I love the ride, and love the language settings, but I would have preferred to have seen some more anamatronics or scenes instead of the slapsitcky ending. I'll still ride them, but they were better before.

[wdwfansince75]

Old guy here! Loved what they did with POTC....and looking forward to first ride on new HM this Friday night.

Worst makeover was Imagination.

Biggest mistake....Destroying Horizons

Also miss the Skyway. Never really missed 2,422 feet Under the Sea (not sure of real distance)....as I explained to my friends in the Submarine Navy (Sewer Pipe Sailors), "What goes up must come down, but the opposite is not always true!

[JabberJaws]

Here are my top 3 best and worst with explanations for each:

BEST

1. The most recent set of additions to the HM - they only added to the attraction and did not change any of what made it classic. The improvements on the sound (especially in the stretching room) and the MC Esher endless stairs room were the best additions.
2. Upgrades made to POTC in 2006 - same reasons as the HM upgrades. Managed to update the attraction without changing any of the "classic" elements.
3. The "Tower 4" upgrade made to ToT in 2002 - the "random" drop sequences and added SFX took my already favorite attraction to another level!

WORST

1. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - Although in its own right, Pooh is a decent attraction, MTWR was one of my all-time favs and I will never forgive WDW for replacing it (I did get to ride it back in Dec. at DL though!)
2. Alien Encounter - Again, one of my all-time favorite WDW attractions (and the most thrilling attraction WDI has ever produced IMHO). SGE doesn't even deserve to be in the same building that AE used to be in!
3. Journey Into Imagination - no explanation needed...

[Imagineer1981]

I still can't figure out the reasoning behind that change. The worst part about it is that they removed the catchy tune and replaced it with the Three Caballeros song. It's not that I dislike the Three Caballeros song, but it just doesn't give me the happy feeling that the original song did.

My favorite update by far is the Haunted Mansion refurbishment. I feel that they removed the only weaknesses that the ride had and replaced them with elements that make it an even better ride than before.

My least favorite is the change from Alien Encounter to Stitch's Great Escape. I'm not even going to get started on how that went wrong.

I don't have to say a thing, you did it for me

[Georgesgirl1]

Best- POTC and what I have seen of the videos of HM (haven't gotten to visit since the changes)

Worst- Imagination- It went from my favorite ride in all of WDW to a ride that I only bother with for that last few seconds when the original ride returns.
Also getting rid of Horizons :-(

[WEDTOPIA]

Gotta agree with many of you , especially Ian's assessment ,on the JII ride. They couldn't have done a poorer job of representing imagination .The original ride would stand up today , intact , as a much better example of Disney's ingenuity.

The best replacement , for my money , is Winnie -the- Pooh. Sorry , all you hard-core Toadies.

Incidentally . I think that there are a number of " break even " attractions . These would be shows that are at least as good as or a little better than their predecessors :
Soarin'
Buzz
Laugh Floor
Mickey's Philharmagic
Test Track ( only because it's not comparable to World of Motion )

Haven't seen Toy Story Mania , but that appears to be a no-brainer.

[frakers]

There are several changes that I like and several I dislike. It's hard to pick one of each....
So I won't.

Best:
1. The Haunted Mansion changes - Much much better
2. Soarin' - Replaced an empty corner. What a great upgrade!
3. Primeval Whirl - I don't love the area but I love this ride.

Worst:
1. Main Street U.S.A. - What a terrible, terrible change. Like they needed another shop.
2. Fast Pass at Peter Pan - Since it went in the line has stretched to places I never knew it could extend
3. Princess Dining - I know, it's not an attraction but they took my favorite restaurant, Akershus, brought in princesses and tacked on a large "surcharge" to eat less food than I got before. I have 2 boys, 6 and 2, one of whom is blind. They could care less about princesses.
4. Special nights, like the Pirate and Princess party - So, I can get a ticket to the park that costs the same as every other day but I can't stay in as long unless I buy another ticket?

Oh, and the most unneccessary update would have to be the "new" POTC. Base a movie on a ride that is based on a movie? I didn't need the change in story line, although I guess I do like the last scene better than it was before.

[DisneyNut2005]

I'm going against the flow here, but my favorite improvement was the Tiki Room. It was sooooooo boooooorriiiiinngg. Iago gives it an entertainment factor. If you like the old version, go to Disneyland and remember how boring it truly was. So a for the new Tiki Room.

The worst is Stich's Escape. Alien Encounter was a truly frightening experience and fit Tomorrowland. Stich's Escape is gross and not scary at all.

I agree with you on the Tiki Room, but I disagree with you on Stitch.

[tink'72]

I really enjoyed the recent updates to Space Ship Earth. Getting off the ride was very interactive which my 5 year old loved.

[Rhetoric2000]

For best I would have to go with:

1) The Ellen upgrade to UOE. A while ago now but it still stands up today as a great "Edutainment" piece. I loved original future world for the most part but crimeny the original UOE was BORING.
2) The Land (In General). I have always adored Living with the Land and am delighted it remains, but sitting in that pavillion circa 2002 was depressing. What a job they did, not just with Soarin' but the whole feel of the place!
3) Monsters Inc Comedy Club. I know it's not everybody's cup of tea and I loved Timekeeper - but I'd seen it at least 291 (maybe a couple less) times and it was time to move on. This is a good show IMO.

For Worst:

3) Stich. Awful. That's all I have to say really.
2 tied) Mainstreet USA. So sad to see the last area of indivualistic shops in the parks get sucked up into the whole.
2 tied) Akershus. Very personal really this. As a child this was my favourite favourite favourite favourite restaurant in, quite possibly, the World. In my head, I don't have a problem with the changes as they make sense I suppose; but in my heart it will always be a sad thing to walk past and no longer consider.

1) Well this as far as I'm concerned is a no-brainer and has been described far more eloquently than I could by Ian:

If you're looking purely at the amount an attraction was degraded by a refurb, Imagination went to, arguably, the best attraction in Future World to, inarguably, the worst. That's an epic fall. It astounds me that they actually spent money (however paltry the sum may have been) to completely and totally ruin an attraction. How stupid that was .... it's just mind-boggling.

[gresh00]

The new version of Imagination is awful awful, awful. This is hands down the worst replacement.

Though I love Test Track I do miss World of Motion ride

In regards to things like 20,000 leagues, original Tiki Birds, and Mr. Toads, at least these attractions still exist in some form at Disneyland. So, if you want to see them, you still can. Unlike extinct attractions like original Imagination, Horizons, Dreamflight, and Motion, where we have only memories - and YOUTUBE.

The best refurb in my opinion is Pirates. I don't think anything is lost by adding Jack Sparrow, but Disney was able to add a more mainstream movie theme to it as well.

On a side note, when was this refurb of Haunted Mansion? We were just there in Feb, and I don't remember the ride being any different. Did the refurb happen after 2/08? Please forgive my ignorance.

[MaxPower]

Rio Del Tiempo is definitely the worst