Disney/Universal ride counts…

As of March 1, 2026…

In the past, it was well-known that the two Disneyland Resort parks (Disneyland and Disney California Adventure) had about as many attractions as all four Walt Disney World parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom). I was curious how things stand today with so many ride closures at Walt Disney World. I was also curious to see where Universal Epic Universe stands in the mix, since the overwhelming opinion I read online is that this new park has far too few rides.

I will dive into this more later, but for now, I refer only to rides with a vehicle you get in that moves — such as a roller coaster, or even a motion simulator. Later, I may do a follow-up post about non-ride attractions such as stage shows, parades and fireworks.

I also did not count double-rides, such as the two Dumbos at Magic Kingdom (it is the same ride, just increased capacity). I also wonder if I should count two-track rides when they are even slightly different – such as the two tracks of Matterhorn Bobsleds (quite different) or Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain (slightly different though in opposite directions). Universal’s Stardust Racers also has two tracks, but I have not checked to see how different they are. Should these be counted? I think probably, since someone who likes coasters would want to ride both tracks. But for now, that is not included in the totals.

Please let me know if I missed any. I will place the ride data at the end of this article.

Here is my quick count, from most to least actual “rides”:

  • Disneyland – 36
  • Magic Kingdom – 22
  • Disney California Adventure – 18
  • Islands of Adventure – 18
  • Universal Studios Florida – 13
  • Epcot – 12
  • Epic Univesse – 11
  • Disney Hollywood Studios – 9
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 6

Looking at resorts, this breaks down to:

  • Disneyland Resort – 54
  • Walt Disney World – 49
  • Universal Orlando Resort – 42

Yes, Virginia, you could ride more things at the two small parks in Disneyland than all The Walt Disney World parks, or at all three Universal Orlando parks.

Some of you (mostly fans of Disneyland) are aware of this.

For the rest of you, if you like rides, would you consider visiting Disneyland instead of Walt Disney World?

More to come, including a breakdown (and verification) of these numbers…

NOTE: For the pedantic/OCD types out there, some of the names in this list are not the official names. For example, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is just listed as Smugglers Run. I am happy to correct them if you bring them to my attention. (And I see at least one that has changed names since the name I was familiar with, so I need to fix that one at some point, too.)

Rides at Disneyland

  1. Alice in Wonderland
  2. Astro Orbiter
  3. Autopia
  4. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  5. Buzz Lightyear
  6. Car Toon Spin
  7. Casey Jr. Circus Train
  8. Davy Crocket Canoes
  9. Disneyland Railroad
  10. Dumbo
  11. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
  12. Gadget’s Go Coaster
  13. Haunted Mansion
  14. Indiana Jones Adventure
  15. It’s a Small World
  16. Jungle Cruise
  17. King Arthurs Carousel
  18. Mad Tea Party
  19. Main Street Vehicles
  20. Mark Twain Riverboat
  21. Matterhorn Bobsleds (x2)
  22. Monorail
  23. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
  24. Peter Pan’s Flight
  25. Pinnocchio’s Daring Journey
  26. Pirates of Caribbean
  27. Rise of the Resistance
  28. Runaway Railway
  29. Sailing SHip Columbia
  30. Smuggler’s Run
  31. Snow White’s Happy Time Adventure
  32. Space Mountain
  33. Star Tours
  34. Storybookland Canal Boats
  35. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
  36. Winnie the Pooh

Rides at The Magic Kingdom

  1. Astro Orbitor
  2. Barnstormer
  3. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  4. Buzz Lightyear
  5. Carousel
  6. Disney World Railroad
  7. Dumbo (x2)
  8. Haunted Mansion
  9. It’s a Small World
  10. Jungle Cruise
  11. Mad Tea Party
  12. Magic Carpets
  13. Peoplemover
  14. Peter Pan’s Flight
  15. Pirates of the Caribbean
  16. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  17. Space Mountain (x2)
  18. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
  19. Tomorrowland Speedway
  20. TRON Lightcycle Run
  21. Under the Sea
  22. Winnie the Pooh

Rides at Disney California Adventure

  1. Critter Carousel
  2. Emotional Whirlwind
  3. Golden Zephyr
  4. Goofy’s Sky School
  5. Grizzly River Run
  6. Incredicoaster
  7. Jumpin’ Jellyfish
  8. Junkyard Jamboree
  9. Littler Mermaid
  10. Luigi’s Rollikin’ Roadsters
  11. Midway Mania
  12. Mission: Breakout
  13. Monsters Inc
  14. Pal-A-Round
  15. Radiator Springs Racers
  16. Silly Symphony
  17. Soarin’
  18. Web Slingers

Rides at Universal Islands of Adventure

  1. Accelatron
  2. Bilge-Rat Barges
  3. Caro-Seuss-el
  4. Cat in the Hat
  5. Dr. Doom’s Fearfall
  6. Forbidden Journey
  7. Hagrid’s Motorbike
  8. Hippogriff
  9. Hogwarts Express
  10. Incredible Hulk
  11. One Fish, Two Fish
  12. Pteranodon Flyers
  13. Ripsaw Falls
  14. River Adventure
  15. Skull Island
  16. Spider-Man
  17. Trolley Train
  18. VelociCoaster

Rides at Universal Studios Florida

  1. E.T.
  2. Escape from Gringotts
  3. Fast and Furious
  4. Hogwarts Express
  5. Men in Black
  6. Minon Blast
  7. Minon Mayhem
  8. Race Through NY
  9. Revenge of the Mummy
  10. Simpsons Ride
  11. Transformers
  12. Trollercoaster
  13. Twirl ‘n’ Hurl

Rides at Epcot

  1. Cosmic Rewind
  2. Friendship Boats
  3. Frozen Ever After
  4. Gran Fiesta Tour
  5. Journey into Imagination
  6. Living with the Land
  7. Mission: Space
  8. Ratatoullie
  9. Soarin’
  10. Spaceship Earth
  11. Test Track
  12. The Seas

Rides at Universal Epic Universe

  1. Battle at the Ministry
  2. Constellation Carousel
  3. Curse of the Werewolf
  4. Dragon Racer’s Rally
  5. Fyre Drill
  6. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
  7. Mario Kart
  8. Mine-Cart Madness
  9. Monsters Unchained
  10. Stardust Racers (x2)
  11. Yoshi’s Adventure

Rides at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

  1. Alien Swirling Saucers
  2. Rise of the Resistence
  3. Rock n Rollercoaster
  4. Runaway Railway
  5. Slinky Dog Dash
  6. Smugglers Run
  7. Star Tours
  8. Tower of Terror
  9. Toy Story Mania

What did I miss? Please let me know in the comments.

New Epic Universe and SeaWorld photos

I have finally had time to update the photo galleries. New photos have been added to the Universal/SeaWorld gallery including:

  • Universal Epic Universe
  • Universal Studios Florida – Mardi Gras celebration.
  • Islands of Adventure
  • SeaWorld Orlando – Seven Seas food festival.

I have also spent some time regenerating all the other galleries to shut off that annoying “cookie” pop-up, as well as updating the main page banner with links to the other galleries.

You can find them all here:

To be continued… My hosting lease is increasing prices again, so I may need to scale back these huge sites at some point later this year.

Truth Traveller in Branson, MO and more photos

Another small batch of photos has been added the the Misc. gallery. These include images from the new VR experience Truth Traveller, plus restaurants like Steamy Joe Cafe, Hidden Pines, and more.

https://misc.disneyfans.com/OtherPlaces/Missouri/Branson/Branson2025/index.html

Happy holidays!

Wild West World in Kansas

My Park Hopping Podcast sign-off was usually some variation of this…

“So the next time you’re there, be sure to take an extra picture and shoot some extra video because you never know when something you like, love or hate will go away and never be around again…”

Over the decades, there have been many things I decided to skip during a visit that ended up being shut down or removed by the time I made a return visit.

But I never expected it would be an entire amusement park.

In May 2007, we make a road trip to visit the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival. On Sunday afternoon, we headed back on the eight hour drive home. I was aware of the new Wild West World amusement park opening in Kansas, and we considered making a detour to go see it. Due to the long drive home, it would have had to be a short visit so we decided to skip it this time and come back to see it later.

Later never happened. Wild West World closed less than two months after it opened. Here is the Wikipedia entry for the park:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West_World

This has been one of my regrets. It would have been a visit to an amusement park that few people know about, and even fewer people ever got to see.

Here is the flyer for the park:

If you have ever been to Iowa’s Aventureland, you may spot something familiar. Wild West World used a photo of Adventureland’s River Rapids log flume ride (with the logo replaced) and a photo of Adventureland’s Sidewinder ride. I think the tea cups ride may even be from Adventureland.

When I first picked up this flyer, I recall contacting Adventureland to ask about it. They were aware, and had given permission for this new park to use some photos from Adventureland. Nice.

I am posting this for the search engines… Did you get to visit Will West Park during the two months it was open? Leave a comment and let us know.

Until next time…

Did Disney’s The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights end up at Silver Dollar City?

During a visit to the Orlando area, we were chatting with a server at a restaurant and mentioned we had been to Silver Dollar City in Missouri. Across the room, a bartender perked up and ran over to join in to the conversation. He had grown up in Arkansas, and had visited Silver Dollar City many times growing up in the area.

One of the things he mentioned was that the Disney World The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights had moved to Silver Dollar City after it was shut down at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly known as Disney/MGM Studios). He said there were photos online showing displays installed at Disney, then later at Silver Dollar City, matching up.

Could this be true? Casual searching does not reveal any confirmation of this, but Disney usually ensures that anything they once had (such as the MaliBoomer drop tower in California) is not to be promoted as an “ex-Disney” attraction when it is installed elsewhere. I would assume the same would go for a light display.

Silver Dollar City began their Old Time Christmas event in 1988. If A.I. results are to be believed (ahem), it was in the 2010s that the park added 1.5 million lights to the event:

2010s: Introduction of the massive five-story special effects Christmas tree and the Christmas in Midtown expansion, which alone added 1.5 million lights.

Bing Copilot

Today, they boast over 6.5 million lights.

So when did they jump to that number?

Silver Dollar City’s “An Old Time Christmas” festival expanded from 1.5 million lights to 6.5 million lights in 2017 with the debut of the Christmas in Midtown Light Spectacular. This was the park’s largest single lighting expansion in two decades, adding 1.5 million new lights to towering structures and tunnels, which brought the total across the park to 6.5 million.

Bing Copilot, reference Missouri Magazine

2017 is an interesting year. The last year the Osbourne lights were on display at Walt Disney World was … 2015 (though, they run Christmas through early January, so technically 2016 for you nitpickers).

So after the 2015 season, Disney took the lights down and prepared for construction of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Two years later, in 2017, Silver Dollar City added millions of lights to their display.

And this, my friends, is how rumors get started.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Osborne_Family_Spectacle_of_Dancing_Lights

For those of you too FULL OF FEAR, one last chance to EXIT HERE.

Is this door still labeled as such inside Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion? I just read a reference that said “it used to be” labeled like this.

I believe this exists outside to this door:

…but in all my years visiting the park and riding Haunted Mansion (starting as a tot around 1974 or so), I have never taken the chicken exit to see it for myself 😉

My 2002 Haunted Mansion adventure game returns!

On a whim, I decided to see if one of the A.I.s could resurrect my 2002 Haunted Mansion adventure game. Back then, Java was all the rage. My game was a Java applet that ran in a web browser. Fast forward some years and Java is no longer a standard feature in web browsers…

My original work-in-progress has been translated (bugs and all) to Javascript so it can now play in a modern web browser. Check it out:

https://www.disneyfans.com/adventure/index.html

Or, if you want to see the new version I am working on now, try here:

https://www.disneyfans.com/adventure-new

I have been working on it tonight adding new commands and things that will let me build an actual game with puzzles to solve. There may be a door to unlock, and a secret to find, already… (But no “game” to win yet.)

I hope to resume work on it (many new features have already been added, thanks to partnering with a robot).

There’s no turning back now…

Wizard of Oz at The Sphere is Las Vegas

Wizard of Oz at The Sphere in Las Vegas is an interesting attraction. It would fit right at home with classic Disneyland/World, though on a scale you could never do inside a theme park. It was very much like one of the Disney 4-D theater attractions, except instead of a 3-D movie, you see a huge surrounding dome image and “real” theater effects. There is wind, blowing “leaves” (paper), falling (foam) apples, flying monkeys (yep, a really cool drone thing) as well as some huge butterflies that fly around during one of the sequences. Add to that fog and fire and lighting effects and you have something far beyond just seeing an old movie upscaled and “special edition-ed” to fit a dome screen.

And, the seats also vibrate.

One real clever thing they do is project this on the dome as you are entering the theater:

The Sphere – Las Vegas

I wish I had not already know about this. The transition from what appears to be a stage with a curtain and speakers hanging around to this…

The Sphere – Las Vegas

…us truly a “wow” moment.

When I get some time, I will write up some thoughts about it from a theme park perspective. It was quite the unique experience.

More to come…

Discovery Cove photos added…and more.

A batch of photos from Discovery Cove have been sorted and added to the Universal/SeaWorld gallery:

https://us-sw.disneyfans.com

While I was there, I found some Disney Skyliner photos I never added to the Walt Disney World gallery:

https://wdw.disneyfans.com

I had completely forgot that while we were in town last year, we took a ride share over to one of the resorts and then explored the Skyliner routes. (Probably the “cheapest” day to spend in Orlando, if you don’t stop and buy food and drink while visiting them 😉

I am still going through the VR360 footage and uploading it to my Park Hopping in VR YouTube Channel as time permits:

https://www.youtube.com/@ParkHoppingInVR

There are a few nighttime ones taken at Universal Epic Universe in the Dark Universe area of the park. They are pretty cool to watch, even if the low-light quality is pretty poor. It is a much more accurate way to “see” what it is like in that immersive area compared to photos.

I also have a similar on walking through the portal (green pipe) to Super Nintendo World all the way to the entrance to Donkey Kong Country. These, and more, will be showing up soon-ish.

Meanwhile, my submission to Google Street View of the walking path from Stella Nova Resort to the entrance of Universal Epic Universe has been processing for 11 days so far. While it is promising that it did not get rejected the first day, as often is the case (gaps in the GPS signal being the usual suspect), it is bothersome that it is taking this long. I am now bracing for some new error telling me to try again.

More to come, I am sure.

Universal Horror Unleashed and selfie sticks. And cameras.

Before visiting a new theme park or such, I like to verify what they do or do not allow to be brought in. While Universal Orlando allows selfie sticks, Universal Horror Unleashed Las Vegas does not. This makes me wonder if Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights even allows them. I’ve had mine with me the times I have gone, but we were already in the park. The park may allow them in, but perhaps they stop allowing once they are letting in HHN guests. Does anyone here know?

I reached out to UHU Vegas to clarify something about camera equipment after seeing someone sharing their point and shoot was not allowed in. While no photography is allowed inside the haunted houses at Universal, I saw plenty of cameras and YouTubers there with their cameras.

Guess we have to go sometime and find out.