We all go to Walt Disney World for the rides, but let’s face it: we spend a lot of time standing in line. Disney invests heavily in its ride queues to simplify the wait.
Ride queues are the unsung heroes of Walt Disney World. Here are the top 5 ride queues, where every ride queue ranks from best to least favorite.
5-Star Walt Disney World Ride Queues
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
The Haunted Mansion
Avatar Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Number one is Rise of the Resistance. This thrilling attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios takes you on a daring mission to join the Resistance and fight against the First Order. As you wait in line, the queue immerses you in the Star Wars universe, where you feel like you've been captured by the First Order. The hangar bay in the queue features 50 stormtroopers and some of them move. Thanks to this attraction's detailed theming, interactive elements, and cast members, this queue is ranked number one. Get ready for an epic adventure!
Next up, we have number two: The Haunted Mansion. This classic attraction at Magic Kingdom is known for its spooky yet family-friendly experience. The queue starts outdoors in the cemetery where there are interactive tombstones, pun crypts, and more. And the queue continues as you enter the doors of the mansion and make your way to the iconic stretching room. From there, you will be transported to the eerie world of ghosts and ghouls, with haunted portraits, creepy music, and a ghostly host. It's a must-visit for all fans of the supernatural!
Moving on to number three: Flight of Passage. This extraordinary ride at Disney's Animal
Kingdom allows you to soar through the breathtaking landscape of Pandora on the back of a
banshee. Although quite long, the queue itself is a marvel, with a detailed cave, a research
laboratory, and an impressive submerged Na'vi avatar animatronic. Prepare to be amazed!
Now, let's explore number four: Expedition Everest. This chilling yet thrilling roller coaster at
Disney's Animal Kingdom takes you on an expedition to the "top of the world" where daring
travelers come face to face with a legendary Yeti. The queue sets the tone for the adventure, with artifacts, mountaineering gear, and even a museum dedicated to the Yeti. It's an exhilarating experience from start to finish.
Last but not least, we have number five: Pirates of the Caribbean. Embark on a swashbuckling
journey through the Golden Age of Piracy at Magic Kingdom. The queue immerses you in the
world of pirates, starting in the Castillo del Morro fortress, which features a cold and dark
underground cavern, a pirate's dungeon, and a catchy instrumental soundtrack. Get ready to set sail on a high-seas adventure!
4-Star Ride Queues
Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror
Dinosaur
Toy Story Mania
Smuggler’s Run
Star Tours
Tron Lightcycle Run
5-star ride queues combine stunning visuals, play well into the theme and storyline of the ride,
and add something to look forward to about the ride. It’s less about glitz and glam and more about immersion, which is why Haunted Mansion is such a highly-ranked ride queue despite being a multi-decade-old ride. The 4-star ride queues combine most if not all of the elements of a 5-star queue, just slightly less favored.
Cosmic Rewind has a fantastic queue, the sixth best at Walt Disney World. The only
aspect leaving it out of the top five is that there can be long pauses between the ride
queue videos, which interrupts the precious immersive experience. That doesn’t really
happen with the 5-star queues. Yes, there can be some pauses in Rise of the Resistance,
but that’s unavoidable when serving over 1,000 passengers an hour.
Tower of Terror features a classic, dark, and mysterious ride queue similar to Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Both attractions are stiff competition for the Tower Of Terror, as it barely falls outside the top five spots but is, undoubtedly, a 4-star ride queue.
Dinosaur’s 4-star status relies heavily on the storyline rather than the visuals. The ride
queue takes you through the history of the dinosaurs, showing fossils, artifacts, and other
cool objects. It’s a decent ride queue, but the real magic is how it builds into the storyline.
Dinosaur is an intense ride not because of the drops, but because the ride queue sets the
stage so well.
Going through Andy’s room and seeing classic games scattered on ceilings, the walls,
and the ground is unique to Toy Story Mania and Toy Story Land. You
truly feel like a toy at Toy Story Mania and Toy Story Land because the games and toys
around you are so large.
Smuggler’s Run features an excellent storyline, top-tier animatronics, and a multi-faceted
ride queue. It pairs well with Rise of the Resistance by leaning heavily on iconic
characters and an action-packed storyline.
Star Tours is yet another ride with good visuals and a fun storyline. As an older ride, we
don’t expect the same technology as the rides at Galaxy’s Edge. Star Tours is a 3-star ride
queue that gets 4-star status because of its excellent design, R2-D2 and C3PO animatronics, unique exterior ride queue, and rich history.
Tron Lightcycle Run is a borderline 3-star ride queue. For such an iconic theme, the queue itself is lacking compared to Flight of Passage or Cosmic Rewind, which build the universe out
with displays and artifacts. There is a section of the standby portion of the Tron ride
queue that is little more than a winding, cluttered line that fits the most people possible in
a small room. I like the visuals of the different teams you’re going up against, but these
are basically just posters that seem out of touch with the futuristic element we would
expect from Tron. Tron has arguably the best architecture and music of any ride at Walt
Disney World. The lighting and music make this ride queue good enough for 4-stars.
3-Star Ride Queues
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Peter Pan’s Flight
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Space Mountain
Na’vi River Journey
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
3-star ride queues feature thematic elements and solid visuals. They definitely add something to the ride, but not in the same way as the elite ride queues.
These ride queues feature talented artwork and design. The Chinese Theater is an epic setting for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has exciting elements and builds a good theme. Peter Pan’s Flight is similar to Toy Story Mania because it uses the elements of scale so effectively. However, one factor about many of these ride queues is that they are cramped or don’t build upon the theme as well as they could.
For example, Haunted Mansion introduces new spooky elements and builds out the house before you even enter the ride. Pirates of the Caribbean uses scale and multiple levels with a clear vision in mind: the Castillo del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico.
Each 3-star ride queue is good and does one or multiple things well, but not to the same level as the higher-ranked ride queues.
2-Star Ride Queues
2-star ride queues are where it falls off by quite a bit, but only by Disney’s standards. If these
rides were at any other theme park, these would all be top-tier queues.
You really start to feel like you are in a line with the 2-star ride queues. These ride queues don’t do a lot to alleviate a particularly long wait.
Rock “n” Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Slinky Dog Dash
Frozen Ever After
It’s A Small World
Mad Tea Party
It’s Tough to be a Bug!
Mission: SPACE
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
The Many Adventures of Winne the Pooh
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
Journey Into Imagination with Figment
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
1-Star Ride Queues
1-star ride queues are essentially just a line. Most of these ride queues feel like you’re waiting at airport security rather than at The Most Magical Place on Earth. There are some excellent rides with not-so-great ride queues. Luckily, some of these rides tend to have low waits, so a simple ride queue with a short wait time isn’t going to be as much of a factor as a barebones ride queue with a long wait time.
The identifying factor with 1-star ride queues is that you immediately feel in line the second you enter the queue. There’s just not a lot to make the experience more bearable. With rides with long wait times like Jungle Cruise, the lack of a top-tier ride queue is particularly noticeable.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Spaceship Earth
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
Living with the Land
Jungle Cruise
Alien Swirling Saucers
Astro Orbiter
Tomorrowland Speedway
Soarin’ Around the World
That concludes our tour of the top Walt Disney World Ride queues. We hope you enjoyed this
magical journey. Remember, the magic never ends at Walt Disney World!
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