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Magic Meets Adventure is where Disney meets Universal! This is your one stop shop for all things Disney and Universal Theme Parks. As park enthusiasts, Tim and Ayren share their ideas, rankings, travel tips, history, and more to help create an everyday escape into the incredible worlds of magic and adventure!
Ranking the Parks
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Ayren: [00:00:00] Well, hello everybody and welcome to what is episode one of a brand new podcast that we're calling magic meets adventure My name is Aaron and i'm Tim man, dude. I'm so excited that we're here is happening This is gonna be so much fun. This has been something that we've talked about for a long time and yeah, I'm just, I'm glad that it's finally here and that we're going through this.
so welcome in. This is a podcast that is all about, , theme parks in the, uh, man, I don't know. This is the part that I get tripped up on because it's kind of a little bit of everything, right? Yeah.
Tim: I mean, Disney will
Ayren: be universal. Yeah. Ultimately that's the, those are the main two ideas there. This is the magic of Disney meets the adventure of universal studios.
And, uh, we'll kind of go into that a little bit, but, but just kind of for preface, I mean, Tim, you, you're the one that brings the magic to the show.
Tim: Yeah, a little bit. I mean a little more about
Ayren: Disney. More ways than one, uh, uh, but yeah, I'm, yeah, uh, we, we are two theme park enthusiasts.
[00:01:00] And we just wanted to have a platform where we could talk about, all things Disney, all things universal, kind of meld those two things together. It feels like there's always this like kind of tribalism that happens when it comes to the park and, uh, Which I think we're both a little bit guilty of in one way or another.
No, not at all. That'll probably come up a little bit in Universal hate? Shhh.
Tim: Shhh.
Ayren: Shhh. What? That'll probably come up a little bit in, in our stories about, um, how things went. But I think that for, for people, for people who don't know us, which is probably the majority of people listening, for people who don't know us, I think it's a good, uh, place just to start by talking about, uh, why we want to do this, our history with the parks, all that sort of stuff.
So, Tim, do you want to kick us
Tim: off? Yeah, for sure. I mean, uh, parks have been a huge part of my life. So my dad was a former cast member at the Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World. My mom was a former Disney college program at the Contemporary Resort. You can see where this is going. They meet there, uh, they end up dating.
Their first date is like [00:02:00] at the beach club. Uh, and yeah, from there, like the parks were just a huge part of my life and my childhood.
Ayren: You realize now we have to do like a, like best first date spots. On Disney property episode at some point. I'm the last person to ask for this, bro. Hey, it'd be a lot of fun.
I think it'd be really
Tim: cool. Oh, for sure. For sure, but definitely. But yeah, the park's been a huge part of my life. I grew up with them. Grew up going, Oh gosh, almost every weekend? That's
Ayren: insane to me. Yeah, I know that actually blows my mind like that's yeah. Yeah I was talking to a cast member the last time I was in Disney World and They were like, yeah, like it's crazy that we still enjoy coming here so much because they're like Everywhere else you live like parents drop their kids off at the mall In Orlando, they drop them off at Disney World.
That's And that's how you spend your weekend. That,
Tim: to me, is very weird. But Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's a huge part of my life. Specifically, Walt Disney World, in particular. Had the chance to [00:03:00] visit Disneyland over, , in California in May, which was awesome. Uh, and then, of course, this past year, getting to go to Universal again.
We went, like, once or twice when I was a kid. And this was way before, like, Jurassic World I wasn't gonna ask that. and Potter and all that stuff. So it was, like I don't even remember, like, Islands of Adventure, what it was pre Hogwarts. All I remember is, like, the Dr. Seuss area, and that's about it. Yeah.
Ayren: I was gonna ask you if y'all had, like, any sort of real grounding with Universal Parks, but I guess with both your parents being cast members at one point and all that sort of stuff, I could see how that would
Tim: Yeah, no.
It wasn't really
Ayren: a major thing. So your first time going to Universal Orlando, was it, well You went as a kid like once or twice but really I guess when we went was probably like your first time of like really Getting a grip on it. And that was 2021. That was 22. That was last 22 We went for one day just kind of like at the beginning of our Disney vacation We had the Disney trip planned and we were like, let's go ahead and pack on like [00:04:00] one Universal Day on the front end of that Yeah, that's really cool.
Okay, let's let's get let's get gritty here for a second Until like leading up to that trip Cause I genuinely don't know this, so I'm interested, but like, leading up to that trip, what was your like, um, overall perspective of Universal Parks? Like, you definitely were preferential. I think you still are preferential.
Like, if somebody told you, you can only go to one for the rest of your life. Oh, for sure. You're definitely going to Disney World, but I just want to know, kind of, what was your perspective and stuff? Cause I think that could be helpful for people who are used to only listening to Disney podcasts, or only Universal
Tim: podcasts.
I mean, I, I thought they had some pretty cool stuff. I was envious of the fact they had Marvel. Uh, because, as someone who loves Marvel and the MCU and a whole bunch of that stuff, wanting it in Orlando parks, specifically Walt Disney World, would have been great. Uh, but I thought like, sure, it's stuff like, I enjoy Jurassic Park, I enjoy Harry Potter, those are fine, but they're not [00:05:00] like, my go to favorites to say, like, you know, Star Wars, or Pixar, or Walt Disney Animation, and so, It felt kind of lesser in that sense, but it still was like, yeah at some point I would love to go because it's been way too long.
I don't really remember the last time I went Yeah, and experience something just a little bit different.
Ayren: Yeah. No, I get that dude. I get that. That's cool So for me, it's weird. Okay, so I went to Walt Disney World when I was Seven that was the first time that I went And I hated it. I don't know if I ever told you this.
You didn't. I genuinely hated it because as a kid, I was afraid of mannequins. And I was like, okay, here was my fear. Legit. So when I was growing up, I always thought like, if I stared at a mannequin too You know like when you like, look in the corner of your room too long in a dark corner? Like eventually you'll start to see stuff?
For me, I felt like if I stared at a mannequin long enough, I could see it moving. And it freaked me [00:06:00] out. So you take a seven year old kid who's afraid of mannequins. And the possibility that they move, and you bring them to Disney World where it's all animatronics. It's all things that like move when you get closer to them and stuff like that.
So, excuse me, I'm not going to say that I like I'm not gonna say that I hated it. Like, I enjoyed it, I'm glad that I went, all that sort of stuff, but like, I was scared of everything. I was scared of Peter Pan. Fair enough. Uh, I was scared of, like, every ride we, this was like, pre YouTube, so there, like, POVs wasn't like a normal thing.
Like, now, like, I went with my younger siblings a few years ago, took them for the first time, and it was like, well, make sure they watch videos first so they can brace themselves. No, you just go into this, you lock yourself into this ride vehicle, go into a dark room, and just pray for the best, right? Uh, and I remember so I did.
I also went to universal on that trip. I don't remember a ton. The only things I remember was I remember going on jaws and there was a scene in jaws where you went into this shack and it closed and it was like super dark in there. So I panicked during that. And back then they had twister ride it out where they like recreated a [00:07:00] tornado.
So we walk in and there were like two giant like Mechanical barn doors that would close behind you when you went in and as they were closing I sprinted out So it's one of those things like as the doors shut like the ride is supposed to initiate and stuff where like my mom had to convince The person that was working there to like let her out So she can come and find me because I had just run out like I completely disrupted the entire ride experience for however many people Were in there.
That is awesome. Yeah, so that was that and then when I moved to California, I moved to california in 2018 I moved there in 2017. In 2018, before I moved to North Carolina, I had been in California for about a year and I was like, I can't leave California without going to Disneyland. That's the thing, right?
So the day before I moved away from California, I went to Disneyland and I was like, crap, I love it. And I like totally fell in love with it. And I was heartbroken because I'm like, dang it. I'm Never going to be able to do this again because I'm moving, but I knew that there was [00:08:00] Disney world on the East coast.
So yeah, my love for Disney actually started at Disneyland. That's like kind of where I caught the bug and then was like, yeah, I'm in. And then I went through like a really weird phase of like being full sent Disney adult. I feel like having a podcast about theme parks makes you a Disney adult no matter how much you want to try to deny it.
Welcome to the club. But that's it. Yeah. So when I moved to the East coast, um, Yeah, I admit, my Now my wife at the time we were dating and we were like we should go to Disney World together But before that like some like we ended up going back to California for a wedding while we were there went to Disneyland That's where she caught the bug.
So we both kind of did that and then later on that year. We went to Disney Walt Disney World I ended up proposing in that trip. So like that became like a soft spot for me yeah, and then once we were married was actually that's when we went to Universal and Dude, I was so sold out for [00:09:00] Disney thought it was the greatest place ever.
Still do think like in a lot of ways it's the greatest place ever. But then when I went to universal, like my eyes opened so much. And to be fair, prior to that, I was not a thrill seeker by any means. So when I got to universal, universal was kind of like my gateway drug into. like, uh, more thrilling attractions and stuff like that.
And so that's kind of when the pendulum started shifting a little bit for me. We're gonna do our rankings here in a minute and you're gonna be able to see just how much that's like infiltrated the way that I view the parks and stuff like that. But yeah, that's kind of my story and how I got into things.
So over the course of this podcast, we're going to cover a lot of ground. We're going to talk about some of the history. We're going to talk about Uh, planning and travel tips. We're probably going to get into just like dreaming a little bit about like how we think the parks could be better.
All that sort of junk. Um, but I think a good place for people to know where we stand, where we are, the reason why you're the magic, the reason why I'm the adventure is to just rank the parks. Yep. So let's go into the rules. Explain the [00:10:00] rules of this ranking for us real quick, Tim, before we get into it.
Yeah. So
Tim: each of us, we've been to, uh, both parks at Universal Orlando. Uh, so, Universal Florida, Islands of Adventure, all four Walt Disney World parks, as well as the two parks over in Disneyland. We've not done Hollywood. No. So, Universal Hollywood or any of the international parks, yet. Yes. Uh, you will
Ayren: be soon.
Yeah. We're going to Disneyland Paris. Yeah. At the time of recording this, we were two weeks away from our Disneyland Paris trip. So, super excited
Tim: about that. Very envious. But, here's how it's going to work. Start at the bottom at number eight, all the way to number one, which is going to be our favorite. Uh, and then we've also tacked on our best and worst attractions at each park.
So
Ayren: this could get I'm excited because I don't know what you said at all. And if I'm completely honest with you, I don't know fully my rankings yet. I have an idea in my head. I have everything [00:11:00] open in front of me. We're just going to do this in real time and see how it goes.
Tim: You're going to do this in real time.
I
Ayren: planned ahead. You planned ahead. Because you're a planner you're better than me. Yeah. No, we get that. You're also going to learn. Yeah listeners You're going to learn that tim is uh way more Uh prepared for all of this But okay, uh sweet.
Tim: Let's go ahead strap on our seat belts Pull on the yellow tab.
We're gonna dive into this and it's gonna be Awesome, let's have a ride.
Ayren: All right, Tim. I think you should kick us off because i'm still trying to figure out my number I'm still trying to lock it in. I think I know what it is, but I don't mind
Tim: mine is uh, I gotta go universal florida. I hate that. This is last because like tribalist other Yeah, sure Go for it There's a lot that needs help.
Granted, I've not seen Minions Land yet, so that might help a little bit. But like, it needs help.
Ayren: So, okay, for context. That's where I stand. [00:12:00] For context, let's just, let's be fair. How much experience do you have in Universal Florida?
Tim: Not, not, not a lot. Couple hours.
Ayren: Couple hours. We did one park hopping day. At least that you remember.
Like, from being a kid and stuff, you don't remember stuff from it.
Tim: And also for context, that means my best and worst is a little skewed. Well, best is, I'd say fairly accurate. Worst is a little skewed because there is, I'm sure worst
Ayren: ones than this. Yeah. So this is important to mention.
So when we went, I was kind of like. For lack of better term like I'm the only one that had real universal experience. Yeah, so I was like, oh, let's go And then like because we were park hopping we didn't have like all day to hit everything So I was like in my mind this ride sucks. So let's skip it So you only experience what I think are the best attractions in that park?
Tim: So my worst is like probably
Ayren: a c tier i'm interested to hear i'm
Tim: really interested I hate that i'm putting this one Last dude, it's the worst, but, uh, Oh [00:13:00] gosh, I'm so nervous. Yeah. My worst attraction, I hate, I hate putting this, I'm gonna have to go Jason Bourne stunt double chair. Oh my
Ayren: gosh! I have to! Oh my
Tim: gosh!
Cause, I mean
Ayren: To be fair, if that's your worst at Universal Orlando, then it's only bad. I mean, that means the other ones are pretty good because I think that one's
Tim: but like in thinking of the Attractions we did which is you know, the Hogwarts Express really enjoyed that I liked Men in Black a lot just because I enjoyed that style of attraction.
I enjoyed Transformers Then, you know, revenge of the Mummy. I think there's a few, there's one or two others that we did. I don't remember. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. But like of the ones we did, I know there are worse attractions at Universal Florida. Yeah, I know that for a fact. Okay, so don't kill me.
Please don't come at 'em.
Ayren: First episode the next time we're starting. Hot
Tim: Man. . Yeah. The next time, the next time I go back I'm gonna do a lot more. Yeah. Um, a [00:14:00] hundred percent. And spend a full day at both. But, uh, yeah, that's my, my worst, my best. I feel like I redeemed myself here for it. What's your favorite?
Favorite is revenge of the mummy. Dude, nice. It is. Nice. It is. It impressed the heck out of me.
Ayren: That was my first time riding It was on that trip as well because it had been through a really long refurbishment process before that So I didn't even get to try it. But yeah, that was dope. No,
Tim: it was my mind was blown the entire time and it was A good amount of theming and intensity and
Marker
---
Tim: it's everything you want from a coaster of that style and it was it was awesome I loved it
Ayren: yeah. That's good. Well, I'll go ahead and, uh, and hit it up. Uh, this might be surprising.
Um, don't kill me here, please. I don't know if I'm going to kill you in number eight. I'm probably going to kill you with number seven, but number eight, uh, universal studios, Florida is also my number eight. Okay, uh, my biggest gripe, at least with the state of the park right now, there's just so many screen based [00:15:00] rides.
Oh, 100%. When me and my wife went for the first time in I can't remember if it was 21 or 20 It was 21. Mm hmm. Dude. We like by like the third one. She was like, oh, let me guess I have to grab 3d glasses and we're gonna move on this motion simulator Like yeah it's just so copy and paste like so many of the rides feel the same with just like a little bit of like oh You're watching a different movie this time.
I love the park overall. Don't get me wrong. I do think there's some pretty decent theming I think there's really good food in the park. I think there's a Like, just the energy of that park I think is really cool, but like, Oh my gosh, dude, the, all the screen based ride, whatever. Okay, so with that, before I get like too ranty, On that note, my least favorite ride in this park, I have two.
Go for them. Okay, my like, definitive Least favorite is the Simpsons ride. I've not
Tim: done that, so.
Ayren: [00:16:00] It makes me motion sick, and I don't get motion sick. It's the only ride that like makes me feel a little off and like weird when I get off of it. Simpsons is
Tim: a little off and weird, but that's
Ayren: besides the point.
Yeah, and like so what's also the other reason why it earned its spot in the last place is because one of the few rides I remember from going as a kid was Back to the Future. So the Simpsons ride replaced Back to the Future, and I'm still a little bit bitter about that. As you should be. I think next year or in two years, Fox loses the right or universal use, loses the rights to use the Simpsons in their park.
So I'm really interested to see what they do. I would not be mad if they like. Retrofitted it back to back to the future. That would be nobody would be mad about that. No And it's even heartbreaking because like the ride in the the portion of the park itself with the Simpsons part I feel like the theming in that park is so dope like you genuinely feel like you walked into an episode of the Simpsons But yeah, the ride is the ride is cheeks My favorite ride This one's a little bit [00:17:00] tough.
Because I do have some that I, that I really like here. Mummy's a good one. But I'm, I'm actually, I'm gonna go escape from green gods. Ooh, I like it, I like it. It's probably gonna be my favorite ride there. Like, I just love the whole experience. From the beginning, going down in the elevator. That's like, not really an elevator, I think.
Yeah. I'd love to know, like, from people listening to this, if it's, if you think it's a real elevator or not. I'm pretty sure it's not. It just, I don't understand why the elevator rides so long if it's fake. It
Tim: feels like it's I think it is
Ayren: partially. Yeah, it probably moves you like some, but not as far as you think it does.
Because it
Tim: goes up, right?
Ayren: No, it just goes down. So it's like it's bringing you down into the caverns. Yeah,
Tim: that's my bad I thought if it went up that would make sense because of where the Scaffold
Ayren: like all the stuff. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, I this ride is just it's perfect from beginning to end Like when you walk into diagon alley First thing you see the dragon on time.
First of all, I'm not a Harry Potter fans. Let me preface with that. But like, you see the dragon, uh, [00:18:00] you go into the bank. One of the best cues on universal property is like walking into the bank. That's really cool. Um, and just the way that it utilizes, like, it's like rollercoaster and yes, you do have screens.
That is a part of it, which is just. Universal gonna universal, but like I just feel like it's it incorporates it so well So yeah, that's probably gonna be if it's not that one. It's gonna be revenge of the money mummy. But yeah, I think that was
Tim: dope
Ayren: I feel like both of us are pretty gracious with our number eights I feel like as we get closer to number one, that's where more of the crap talk is going to happen. Oh, 100%. Where we're going to like start, yeah. I'm already
Tim: hearing one of your least favorite attractions.
Ayren: You already know because I'm so vocal about it already. You are. It's gonna, it's gonna get heated in here real quick. All right, Tim, number seven. What's your number seven for
Tim: me? I hate this so much. Animal Kingdom. Wow. Okay. Animal Kingdom's number seven. Alright. That's a little surprising. I love Joe Rohde and the theming and all that stuff is done extremely [00:19:00] well.
Joe Rohde is the GOAT. Joe Rohde is one of the GOATs. There's a lot of GOATs. Joe Rohde is my GOAT. Oh, trust me. He's phenomenal. Um, but it just, it needs a little something extra. And I think like with the inclusion of South America, which by the way, Disney, if you are listening to this, uh, can we get an up attraction please in that area?
That would be fantastic because Paradise Falls is in South America. That would be dope. And you already have up in the park, so add it please. That's a tangent. Dang, that would be dope. I'm here for it. Yeah, just I think it needs a little more like I spend a good amount of time there But it needs it needs a little something extra for it to be a full day
Ayren: park for I was gonna ask you if you consider It
Tim: a half day park.
I think it's more of a half day park Okay, like I'll use My next trip as an example going to animal kingdom gonna spend as much time as I can I'm gonna say my last goodbye to dinosaur and then also from there head over to Jollywood night Do you
Ayren: think [00:20:00] dinosaurs getting the?
If
Tim: it does, that'll be awesome. Indy is a phenomenal attraction. Indy's so good. Although I prefer the pre show for
Ayren: Dinoland. I always get, I always get jealous of my wife because her first Disney attraction ever was Indiana Jones in Disneyland. And I'm like, dang, that's such a good way to start. Yeah,
Tim: it was gonna be mine, but it was closed.
Mm hmm. Well, it crashed as normal. But, uh, anyways, let me get into my worst, uh, attraction here. I gotta go Navi River Journey, to be honest. That might be a take, and I know Triceratops spin exists. I've not done it for obvious reasons. I think it's
Ayren: fair to, , exclude rides that we just know are buns. Like, if it's not good, let's not even, like, entertain that with a
Tim: spot.
I'm like, do I really want to ride Dumbo 4. 0, but this time it's a Triceratops? Like, don't get me wrong, Dumbo's a classic. It
Ayren: serves its purpose though. Like, in a park, you need family [00:21:00] rides.
Tim: Yeah, it does. But, like, Navi River Journey, like, low key hot take, both that and Flight of Passage accomplish the same thing of exploring Pandora.
And I think Flight of Passage does that a thousand times better. Interesting. But like the animatronics cool slash slightly creepy. It's so cool
Ayren: I genuinely was like that's a human but
Tim: everything else is low key kind of boring.
Ayren: My issue with Navi River Journey isn't the ride itself.
It's the weight. It's not worth whatever the weight is for it No anytime. I think it's a cool ride, but I would never wait more than probably 20 25 minutes for it. No me
Tim: neither 100% Uh, my favorite though, and this, this, this one is one of the best, at Walt Disney World, is Expedition Everest. I would put Flight of Passage, but there's just something about Expedition Everest for me.
It's In my opinion one of the most perfect coasters because you have the right mix of [00:22:00] thrill And you have great theming and then on top of that you have disco yeti We love him very much. Uh,
Ayren: but I wish I could have experienced the yeti in a mode, dude It breaks my heart me too, but i'm with you bro the theming Expedition Everest is my favorite Q.
I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite Q in Florida. It's so good. I want to go in when like the rides not Operating or like if there's not a line and just like walk around and like follow the story and all that sort of stuff We'll probably do a story episode on like what's going on in the traction That's that's one of the shows we talked about doing was like So many of these rides have great theming and great backstories, but you can't really, like on a roller coaster, you can't really pick up the story, right?
There's like all this lore behind the scenes that nobody knows about, and so I think we're gonna do a series where Um, we look at some of those rides and some of the stories behind them. So I'm really excited about that. Cause this is one that, yeah, the cue is like, once you realize what's going on, you're like, dang, this is
Tim: really dope.
Yeah. The only thing is I wish I can ride [00:23:00] it at night. Hmm. That'd be the only thing, but it is a phenomenal, phenomenal attraction. I absolutely love it. Yeah.
Ayren: All right. You ready to get spicy, Tim? Oh, here's my number seven. Oh, geez.
Tim: Here's my number seven. If I hear this word, give
Ayren: it, I'm going with Epcot, baby.
All right. Um, is that what you thought I was gonna say? Turn the mic off. I knew that's, is that what you thought? I was gonna say? Epcot is my number seven. I hate it. Uh, which to be fair, okay. If you drop me an Epcot, I'm going to have a great day. So let me just get that out of the way.
Like this, isn't me saying it's a horrible park. That's not what I'm saying. It's not a horrible park. Universal Orlando, I think is almost a horrible park. It has redeeming qualities. Epcot overall. Is solid. Um, I will admit, so I've only been to Epcot twice and that's a part of the problem. Yeah. So the first time that I went, this is how I know it's my least favorite park, like for real, or like my number seven least favorite.
Uh, I technically got engaged in Epcot and well, [00:24:00] technically not, but no Epcot adjacent. And it was still our least favorite park day on that trip. So the reason why, the reason why we, we are big rides people. Um, and I personally feel like until recently the ride lineup at Epcot. Was lacking. That's fair.
That's, that's my personal thing. So, uh, I'll also tell you this, the way we did it was like, we would like go do a ride, go visit world showcase, do a ride. And we were back and forth. And because of that, we didn't really experience anything. Like we really didn't go into any of the world pavilions.
Like the first time I went through the pavilions was actually with you on our trip that we went on. And I know what I'm doing. That's where, that's where, if it wasn't for that trip, Epcot would have been my number eight. I believe it. Legit. Um, so yeah, I feel like going through the World Showcase, like actually getting to eat a lot of the food, drink a lot of the drinks, like it's, that's where it's at, but yeah, the ride lineup was a little, [00:25:00] little lacking for me.
So that's fair. I'll go ahead and give you mine. Uh, probably my least favorite ride. There's so many. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out
Tim: like that. Oh, I just got stabbed in the heart. It's
Ayren: okay. Probably my least favorite ride.
Uh, I'm going to say Grand Fiesta Tour is my least favorite ride. In the really in the yeah,
Tim: that surprised me I thought you were gonna say figment and I was about okay
Ayren: No, you out the only reason why so I'm thinking about this So I almost didn't say Grand Fiesta tour because the pavilions really cool.
Yeah, the Mexico pavilion is dope It's one of the best it is one of the best if not It would okay if they would allow me to bring a margarita on to the ride It wouldn't have been my least favorite, but you can't bring drinks on The reason why I didn't say journey into imagination is because I knew nothing about it and you're like come on Let's go do it and dude.
It was the biggest [00:26:00] acid trip Like the memory of just like what is going on was the redeeming quality for that ride
Tim: That is the most greatest moment I've had at Epcot It was was getting to introduce you and the two other guys we were with bruh To that attraction and to figment for the first time it was the memory
Ayren: was the memory is what redeemed it Whereas grand fiesta tour, I just think it's kind of boring.
And yeah, so Um, and then that shocks me. Yeah, i'm surprised and then my favorite. Oh, i'm just i'm looking over the list of rides I know what your least favorite is going to be when we get there uh, my favorite ride in that park, uh It's gotta be Guardians, Cosmic Rewind, it's, dude, it's so flippin good.
It's ridiculous. So, for a long time, my favorite Disney attraction ever was Space Mountain, and Space Mountain has moved way down the list for me now because I feel like Cosmic Rewind is what Space Mountain should be, or what it would have been had it been created in [00:27:00] 2022 like, like Cosmic Rewind was. So, um, yeah, that's gonna be my number one.
Yeah, I respect it.
Tim: Yep. All right. We're now like your position of of Al Capo.
Ayren: Man, if we had time, maybe one day we'll do like a deep dive on the parks and like you'll actually be able to hear our like full fleshed out opinions, but we're approaching the 30 minute mark here. So we're gonna we're on number six.
So we're gonna keep moving. It's kind of my fault. I talk a lot, but all right. Okay, so Tim, what's your number six? Number
Tim: six this one could kind of flip back and forth between number five. I'm gonna put California adventure. Oh a number six. Okay Um, I enjoyed my time. I liked it Cars land Amazing. Yeah Avengers campus.
I really enjoyed and Pixar Pierce fun in me like same thing with Animal Kingdom I think it could somewhat be a half day potentially, but like I enjoyed my time there, but I think it just needs a little extra, a little extra something. I feel that. Uh, worst attraction there, uh, I didn't [00:28:00] do everything when I went, which I'm a little upset about.
Uh, so I didn't do any, like, the terrible fare.
Ayren: Yeah, I mean, you're not missing anything. Like I said, those are ones that I don't even consider, like. Yeah. They're not Disney tier rides. No. You know, like you expect to find those at a fair or something,
Tim: so. 100%. Yeah. Uh, I'm gonna go, I think it's Luigi's. Okay.
Ayren: I've never done that one.
Tim: Yeah, it's okay. I mean, it's, you're dancing. I think the biggest thing for me is like, it spins a ton. Mm. And I'm like, I'm not the biggest. You out on that? Spinny person in the world. And so it's. It was okay. Does it feel
Ayren: like Porsche, so whenever I see that ride, again I've never been on it, I think of that scene with Daisy in, uh, Runaway Railway, is it, does it feel like that?
Uh,
Tim: kind of, but it's more like unison, so it's like you and then like another car or two that are like. Dancing in a sense. I'll put that in like quotations a little bit, but I [00:29:00] mean, it's it's it's there It's to add to Cars Land. And so yeah, the queue was awesome because you actually got to go into Luigi's shop, which is awesome Yeah, and see all the references but is what it is.
No, I love that. Uh best is easily Radiator Springs racers Oh,
Ayren: how it's yeah, such a great attraction
Tim: it is It's phenomenal. Such a great attraction. As much as I'm excited for Test Track to be World of Motion esque, uh, I would not have been mad if it was Cars themed.
Ayren: Dude, yeah, yeah, it was it's just done so well man like the story the like Relax.
Oh my gosh, the animatronics are unreal. They're so good. Yeah Yeah, the way it goes from like chill to like kind of thrilling in there. Yeah. No, that's really cool Okay, so where am I? I'm at my number six. Yeah, I'm gonna take I feel this is like a fantasy football I'm gonna take this [00:30:00] This is where, this is where animal kingdom is gonna go for me.
Okay. At number six. , again, I love the park. Never a bad day in animal kingdom. But yeah, I always reach this moment when, like, especially if you rope drop animal kingdom and you can get there pretty early and like hit the stuff. Mm-Hmm. . Um, there comes this moment where you're like,, oh dang, we did everything, like that's it, you know, um, because we are rise people, we like bounce pretty quickly through the rises, so, um, yeah, so, uh, okay, so that's, that's gonna be my number six.
My least favorite attraction in this park,
probably Kali River Rapids. Yeah, I'm going to say Cali River Rapids. I actually, I do, there's not a lot of rides in this park. I like almost all of them. Um, Cali River Rapids though is just, if I'm going to get wet on a water ride, like it's gotta be worth it. And to me it's just not worth it. Like it's fun.
If you go with like a group of friends and you're like, Oh, which one of us is going to get soaked. But like, it's just a. standard run of the mill, kind of off the shelf rapid ride. Uh, I liked the one at [00:31:00] California venture a lot more grizzly river run. Yeah. Um, so yeah, Cali river rapids, good Millie's favorite.
And I am with you as well. I'm going to say, uh, expedition Everest is my favorite. Again, big nod to Flight of Passage. It's super innovative and like nothing you're ever gonna experience anywhere else. But like, dude, Flight of Passage is, uh, the ride is great. Everything leading up to that, like the queue is cool.
Don't get me wrong. But like the pre show, when you like stand in that room and the guy, the like super cringy guy that everybody memes on the Internet, like that's really annoying. Yeah. Yeah. Expedition Everest. Yeah. Start to finish. The moment you get in the queue, the story starts. It's great. Full of thrills.
Great. I love going up the lift hill and seeing, uh, spaceship earth off in the distance. That's like one of my favorite moments. Yeah. Cause you don't like heights, but yeah, that's a, that's a really cool one for me. So yeah, coming in at number six Epcot. All right. Number five, Hollywood studios.
Tim: Oh, okay. I'm putting that there.
Um, my biggest gripe with [00:32:00] this park, other than it feels like the smallest park, um, which fun fact is actually magic kingdom, which makes no sense. Yeah. That's wild. Um, It feels small and then the rides, there's a lot of really good rides at this park. But they all have like extreme weights and so it's
Ayren: like, I feel like it's the busiest part.
Mm-Hmm. . It feels like it is. I'm sure Magic Kingdom is probably busier each day. There's more to do, but it feels like, yeah, but there's more to do.
Tim: Yeah. Yeah. So I think they need to add a little extra something there at some point. Um, I say that I, yes, with a lot of these, but that being said, I enjoy my time.
Like I love Hollywood Studios. I love, that's probably my second favorite park. At walt disney world. Yeah at night. Okay, because i'm a sucker for neon. Oh, yeah. Yeah at night. It's super cool It's fantastic.
Ayren: Is it hollywood boulevard when you're like approaching, uh [00:33:00] tower of terror
Tim: sunset sunset Boulevard is kind
Ayren: of like their main street.
That's right. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's super dope. Yeah, it's awesome
Tim: Uh least favorite attraction there. Um Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy. Oh
Ayren: my gosh, bro Worst ride on Disney property. Not good. Worst ride on Disney property hands down. The animatronic is cool I've never felt more trapped in a room than I did For Lightning McQueen I should call my wife in here and have her to talk about oh my gosh.
Yeah, what a waste
Tim: of space It's just there and it's on top of that. It's like We're not even here to do anything, we're here to just watch you do stuff, and it's just, it's not
Ayren: The entire time you sit in there, you're like, is this it? And the entire time, the ride just looks back at you and is like, yeah.
Not even the ride, the back of Lightning McQueen looks at you and goes, yeah. You got to deal with this for 10 more minutes. Yeah,
Tim: it's not, it's [00:34:00] not good at all. It's actually the worst. Uh, going from worst to best now, uh, is Rise of the Resistance. It's, oh, okay. That's a given. Absolutely. Fantastic. As a Star Wars fan, regardless of how you feel about the sequels, um, even for me, it's like, this is awesome.
Like my childhood dream come true to step into the world of Star Wars and just the. Technical level and just everything they did. It's Practically perfect in every way. Um, but no, it's it's phenomenal. I absolutely love it.
Ayren: I'm struggling Tim Oh, because I'm at that point where with all of these I'm like, I can't say that's number five Like surely that's not the worst one that we have left. I gotta go DCA. It's gotta be California Adventure. Yeah, um, that hurts a lot because I have a lot of really good memories in DCA. [00:35:00] Um, DCA is the most, in my opinion, I feel the most chill park. Not in the sense of like, atmosphere and stuff, but I feel like you can just go to DCA with a group of friends without an agenda and just like Coast, you know, like I feel in my mind.
I feel like it doesn't need a lot of planning Um, i'll agree with that. There's just not as much stuff to do there So you can like take a pretty leisurely pace. I feel like the food's really good. That's true Um, so you can like sit and just people watching that park a lot. So but yeah, i'm gonna have to go DCA, just because the other ones are, this isn't a knock on how bad California Venture is.
It's an exclamation of how good the other parks are, if that makes sense. Like the other ones are just too good to put in the number five spot. So, uh, I have, you've been more recently than me. So like when I went, Avengers Campus didn't even exist yet. Um, so I can't really like speak into much of that or like anything that I remember from that.
My least favorite ride in this park is probably I mean, we said we were going to eliminate, [00:36:00] like, the swings and all that sort of stuff. If you want to put
Tim: those, if
Ayren: you've written it. I'm not. That just feels like a waste of, like, yeah, like, obviously the swings aren't great. Bro, this, I'm looking at the list now.
This, this one's got some bangers. Yeah, I mean,
Tim: he got Mission Breakout, Incredicoaster.
Ayren: Really good rides in this park. If I had to pick one that I would say was my least favorite, um, I don't know, I've never done the Pal A Round, so I can't really say that. If I have to go just off of rides that I've been on, and even this, like, I love this ride, but Little Mermaid, probably my least favorite there.
I love Little Mermaid. I like that ride a lot.
Tim: I think it's better in Magic Kingdom than it is there.
Ayren: I don't know if I agree with that. I like both of them. I mean, they're pretty much carbon copies of each other. My, yeah, it's just like, like, Little Mermaid actually is on my, like, must hit list, whether I'm in Animal Kingdom or in Magic Kingdom or DCA, uh, but it's probably my least favorite that's on the list.
[00:37:00] If I had to give my actual favorite, uh, this is tough. I'm tied between, dude, I don't think this should have been my number five.
Can we get weird? Can I change my number five? I mean, I'm looking at the list of attractions. There's literally none that I don't like. Can I change my number five and ruin your day, Tim?
Tim: If you say
Ayren: my number five might be magic kingdom.
Tim: All right. Okay. I felt
Ayren: okay. Okay. Nope. I gotta be honest with you. I didn't say magic kingdom because I could feel your judgment, but looking at magic kingdom compared to DCA, No, there are so many Rods in Magic Kingdom.
I could skip and not miss, like, be sad about it. DCA, if I miss any of these, I'm gonna be upset. Like I said, Little Mermaid was my least favorite. If I miss it, I'm gonna be upset. Magic Kingdom, there's so [00:38:00] many attractions that I never need to do again in my life. Now what's tough is, is like, the park is dope.
Like, it is nostalgia central. But like, I don't know, I don't know if we count like, we're talking attractions overall, right? So not just rides. So like, if I never did it, I'm fine. Swiss family tree house. Never did it. I'm fine. I've never been on jungle cruise if I never hit it. I'm fine. Like I'm chill. I can feel the like blood boiling right now.
This is people are not going to listen to this podcast because of my takes on all these rides. My least favorite. Let's go ahead and get it out of the way. Let's get it out of the way. The people mover is the. Dumbest attraction I've ever been on. This is gonna get us canceled. Ooh. We're never gonna get sponsored.
Disney's never gonna us out for anything. A people mover is, it's literally called the People Mover. That's a car, that's a large van. That's anything that's an escalator is a people mover. Get this junk out of here. It's worst [00:39:00] takeover time. This is the part that we should have recorded for social media and just post it and be like, expect more of this on the pod.
Um.
Tim: Worst take of
Ayren: all time dude people mover is when people try to get me on it. I get so angry I'm, like it's just such a waste of time if I have to wait more than 10 minutes to get on it, too No, I wish I could throw you off. I'm sorry. I'm getting it. I'm getting oh my gosh. Okay. Anyway, sorry Well, yeah, I'm getting angry.
This is the proper placement. This is where this should have been Okay, so people moving my least favorite my favorite attraction in Magic Kingdom. It's probably .
I'm gonna say Space Mountain. It gets the It gets the nostalgia bit for me Space Mountain is the first what I would consider to be adult roller coaster that I went on I had always done like kiddie coasters and stuff before I know Space Mountain is like a family coaster but it was the first one that's like big, you know, that I've ever done.
So, um, yeah, don't hear me say that I hate magic kingdom. That's not true. [00:40:00] I can go in magic kingdom kind of similar to like what I'll say about DCA. I can go in magic kingdom and hang out all day and have a great time, but I don't have to do all the rides. Like if certain rides just get a really long wake time, I'm like, I'm out.
I have no like Peter Pan's flight, love Peter Pan's flight. I will almost pass it up every time because it's always an hour plus wait. And I'm just like, it's just not worth it to me. So
Tim: yeah. Okay
Ayren: Sorry, are you good Tim? No. You still want to do this? Okay. All right Magic Kingdom. You're out of there. Sorry.
Tim: . Uh number four moving in I'm gonna put Islands of Adventure here. Oh Okay, um and it's probably because I've not done everything. Okay there that it is at number four. Gotcha And also I love these other three parks.
Yeah, I feel
Ayren: um It would be you wouldn't be the magic if if a universal park made your to the top of your list Yeah, even broken to the top three. So I feel very true[00:41:00]
Tim: Yeah for sure but uh worst attraction there. It's it's it's it's Kong Okay, it's it's it's just
Ayren: that's a valiant. I can respect that the animatronic at the end is it makes the ride if you weren't for That there would be a white.
Tim: Yeah, um and the theming of it is really dope
Ayren: That queue is, for such a dark queue, it's surprising how good it is.
Tim: But, golly, it's, it's just another big screen attraction. It's nothing, it's nothing special. That's real, I feel that. Um, best rides Hagrid's. Without a doubt. So good. Without a doubt.
And granted, this is because I've not done Velocicoaster. If you're wondering why I was unsure about you know, inversions at the time. I will rectify this wrong. I promise.
Ayren: One of the things I'm really excited [00:42:00] to do on this podcast is to get your takes. Once you like there's so many rides you haven't done true like you you bro You have grown so much like I was with you the first time you went on Tower of Terror That was just such a proud moment for me Yeah, no as it should be so I'm really excited to document through the podcast you Experiencing a lot of these rides for the very first time.
Yeah
Tim: But Hagrid's was again same thing with like the mummy and a few others spectacular theming Spectacular theming and just the ride itself was just incredible. The seats were fantastic. The thrills, the unexpected moments, which I'm not going to say because I don't want to spoil it
Ayren: for a few people. I feel like the people who are listening to this podcast are like fans, but also I get it.
Yeah. If you haven't experienced it yet. If you've not experienced
Tim: it, you have to. It's so great going in blind. It is extremely fast. [00:43:00] But it is, it is awesome. It is an extremely well done coaster. It might be, right now, my favorite coaster in, like, ever. It's between that or a Cosmic Rewind, which we'll get into later.
It's, it's phenomenal.
Ayren: Nah, that's really cool. That's really cool. Nah, that's great. I can respect that. Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and put DCA right here. Uh, I already talked about it. I said my least favorite. It's probably gonna be Little Mermaid. My favorite would probably be, um, Man, like I said, this park's got so many bangers, dude.
Facts. My favorite, I'm probably, this might be a shock to you. I think I'm going to go mission breakout. Oh, I respect it. Mission breakout is really, really good. I've only done it once. I was terrified as all get out to get on it. There's a great story about it, which I'm sure you'll hear at some point. Um, But dude, yeah, I, I love Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout.
I think with both of these attractions, this one and the one in Epcot, like, the soundtrack, [00:44:00] obviously, the characters, obviously, the ride system in both is just incredible. Um, I think there's got enough to set it apart from Tower of Terror that like, I will, I've, When I lived in California, I talked to a lot of people who were mad that Tower of Terror was gone, but then when they went on Mission Breakout, they're like, no, this is fine.
Like it's different enough of a ride that it still stays true to the original, but like, it feels like a new experience, arguably a better experience. You can argue until the cows come home on that. I think it's better. I do too. Um, I feel like, okay, so I never went on Tower of Terror in Hollywood. I feel like.
Or in California, rather, I feel like if both of them still existed, I would just compare them to the two, but because it's mission breakout, I feel like it's unique enough that it feels like two different attractions. Like if you've been on tower of terror, you have not been on mission breakout and vice versa.
Yeah. Um, it's not just a reskin.
Tim: Holy system. Yes. Ridiculous. Yeah. Great story. [00:45:00] It's awesome. I love that one too,
Ayren: so. Yeah, and Credit Coaster would get the 1A here. Like, it's also dope. That one is a fun one. It's also really cool, so.
Tim: It's not super chaotic, but it's a
Ayren: blast. Yeah. But yeah, that's my number five.
I respect it. Is that five or four? That's four. That was four. Okay, cool We're doing a little bit better than that. Uh,
Tim: yeah number number three here. Uh, this is where i'm putting magic kingdom
Ayren: Wow, okay
Tim: Uh, this is the most nostalgic park for me
Ayren: That's wild to me.
Yeah,
Tim: we'll get into reasons why.
Ayren: I think I've seen you cry in Magic Kingdom.
Tim: I'm pretty sure, maybe. Potentially, if you've watched me watch Happily Ever After, then Probably. Maybe. Uh, cause that is the greatest fireworks show of all time. Uh, thank God it's back. But, that being said, uh, I love Magic Kingdom.
If they
Ayren: didn't have Happily Ever After, Magic Kingdom would have been my 8.
Tim: That is incorrect. You're just saying that to try to gaslight me here. I am. [00:46:00] Um, worst attraction at Magic Kingdom, I gotta go Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Okay. To be honest. Okay. I like it. But like
Ayren: it's it is it's a clone in the same park too, which is yeah,
Tim: but as a fan of aladdin The movie it needs more love.
Uh, it just doesn't One of the move it to ebcot
Ayren: move it to morocco One of the other things we talked about doing on the pod was to like dream About like attractions that we think would be awesome that don't actually exist yet The fact that there's not an aladdin dark ride blows my mind
Tim: Give me an Aladdin coaster.
Okay. Give me a dark ride coaster. Okay. From the scene in the Cave of Wonders when they're trying to escape. I'm down. Give me that. As a coaster. I'm
Ayren: down. And I will be happy. It would make a good, I mean, it gets weird when you start cloning ride systems, right? But like, a flight of passage sort of, something would be cool.
I see a coaster. Coaster would be dope. Yeah, I just think a dark ride would be, [00:47:00] would be sick.
Tim: Facts. It needs more love. That's one of my favorite animated movies of all time, so that's probably
Ayren: why I'm a I might watch A Light in the Night. It's such a good movie. It's so
Tim: good. Thanks, Robin Williams. Uh, best.
I'm gonna go. I might surprise you with this one. Okay, I'm gonna go haunted mansion
Ayren: I don't think that's a surprise. I think you're literally wearing a Haunted Mansion shirt.
Tim: That's true. I am. But like,
Ayren: Where does pirates rank?
Is pirates like your two? Or is it further down the list? 1A,
Tim: I think.
Ayren: And then
Tim: people movers too. Oh my gosh. I quit. You made me quit first, so we're in the same boat now. Uh, but I love, like, having seen both now, I enjoy both for what they are. I think the one in, uh, Liberty Square is a little more creepy.
Okay. In my opinion, I think it fits more of the sort of haunted house aesthetic. Yeah.
Ayren: I, so I actually, well. Okay, I'll go ahead and give you my, my [00:48:00] number three, um, because it kind of ties in with that, but my number three is going to be Disneyland. Whoa.
Um, I love the park. Don't get me wrong. I 100 percent love the park. You're gonna learn about me when you when we talk about our top two But what I was gonna say was I actually like the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland a little bit more. I'm from New Orleans. That's probably a reason why like I totally get that and it was my first experience So I don't know if this is the case I would love to hear from like people who are watching this and even from you like I Think you get a soft spot for whichever one you experience first so because the first one that I went on was The one in Disneyland, that's why that's my favorite.
And so then when I see the one in Disney world, like, even though I know the history and stuff like that, I'm like, this feels like a rip off, you know what I mean? And that's like, that's not the case, but yeah,
Tim: Still love the fact that they incorporated both mansions in the recent movie. Yeah, yeah.
I love that.
Ayren: Um, okay, so, uh, so my actual, like my [00:49:00] least favorite and my favorite, I, this has to get put in somewhere and this is the only place where I can put it, so here we go. Uh, it's a small world. I hate small world so much. And because if, because Disneyland doesn't have a people mover, small world is going to be my least favorite ride.
Wait till they bring it back. Uh, so here's, here's a part of my reasoning. It kind of ties in with. My favorite, and this is really going to catch you off guard. Oh boy. I know it's really going to get my favorite ride in Disneyland is Alice in Wonderland.
Tim: I respect that.
Ayren: I love that attraction so much. Okay.
So here's the reason why I hate. Uh, small world so much. First of all, I think it's just, I think it's boring. Song gets stuck in your head. What can I say? That hasn't been said already. Shout out Sherman brothers. But when I took my wife, my now wife, at the time we were just dating, we went to Disneyland. We had, we had done both parks.
We did [00:50:00] Disneyland. We did DCA. We go into the park. Or we, we, so we, we start in Disneyland, hit everything for the majority of the park. We go over to DCA. Then we go back to Disneyland and we're like, Crap. Park's about to close soon. We can only pick one more ride. Do you want to do small world or do you want to do Alice in Wonderland?
And so we all agreed, like we were there with some friends. We're like small worlds, like quintessential Disney. Like you can't go to Disney and not do small world. Like I will try to get out of writing small world whenever I can. If I go with someone who's never been to Disney before, we have to ride it.
Like, that's just. You got out
Tim: of it last time, but we'll move past that. But
Ayren: everyone I think had done it already. I don't think there was anybody on the trip who hadn't done it. SO we decided to do small world And I just remember thinking like this is the worst day the worst way to end your day Like your first time ever at Disney.
It's it and I just remember how good Alice in Wonderland was So who knows maybe Alice isn't even as good as I remember it But I remember it being better than small world. And so, [00:51:00] but, but no, seriously, like even thinking about Alice, like I'm not the biggest dark ride fan. I do appreciate a good dark ride.
Um, Alice is probably my favorite dark ride that Disney has. Um, I respect that. It's up there for sure. It's a fun one. Um, it's just a lot of fun. It's another really weird one. That one like, goes outside for a little bit. You got like the two floors, the whole thing. So, um, yeah. Alice in Wonderland, I'm gonna say that that's my favorite ride in uh, in Disneyland.
Alright, we're down to the last two. Number
Tim: two, gotta give it to you. So, hold on, so,
Ayren: do you want to reveal your number two or do you want to reveal your number one? Let's do your number two. Let's do two. Yeah, and then we'll, that makes
Tim: sense. Yeah, yeah. Number two, I gotta go experimental prototype community of tomorrow.
Let me explain why I love Epcot. Of course. Um. One, this is also a park that I've spent a ton of time in, um, and so the older I've gotten, the more I've appreciated it.
Ayren: Because you can drink now. [00:52:00] Partially.
Tim: Partially, yes, uh, but partially because of, I think, the history of it. Um, i'm a sucker for disney history and this is like loaded with it.
But man, I just I love the atmosphere I love the fact that you can go and experience, you know different Small little tastes of different cultures, um, through the World Showcase and try different food, and also it has the festivals. Festival of the Arts, Flower and Garden, Food and Wine Festival, greatest of them all.
Candlelight Processional,
Ayren: Mad Slept On, but the Candlelight Processional is dope too. I'm really excited
Tim: to see it. Yeah, it's really cool. Uh, when I, when I go to Epcot, I, I, like, I have to do a day at Epcot. It's
Ayren: required. I remember that was like a thing for you. When we went to Orlando, we went to Orlando for a conference.
Um, and so we just try to like squeeze in park trips whenever we could. Yeah. And you were like hardcore, like if I don't go to Epcot, this [00:53:00] trip to Orlando is a failure. Yeah. Like why do we even come here in the first
Tim: place? Exactly. Um, but I, I love the park. And also I think it's just because like I'm a sucker for dark rides.
So that's my thing. I love them. I love the idea of them. I think it's super cool. Are there a lot of dark rides? There's a lot of dark rides.
Ayren: I guess so.
Tim: Yeah. Um But yeah, no, it's it's dope. It's a favorite. It's
Ayren: a favorite. What's your opinion on ratatouille? I liked it Okay, I like ratatouille a lot. Yeah, I feel like people gave it a hard time, but i'm a big fan they
Tim: gave it a hard time because of like It opened along with the 50th and the 50th was kind of like underwhelming Um, and so that's kind of why.
Guilty by association. Guilty by association. Yeah, this is not that good. But no, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Granted, Ratatouille is a phenomenal movie, so there's that. It is.
Ayren: It is. No, that's cool, man.
Tim: Worst ride, I gotta go Mission Space here. I
Ayren: knew it.
Tim: This is the only ride that's made me sick.
Ayren: Dude, I've never felt so bad in my life.
Then when I was like, Tim, get on mission space. It won't be that bad. And you walked [00:54:00] off and I was like, crap, what did I do?
Tim: It wasn't your fault at all. I, it was one I had to knock out at some point and I'm proud of you for doing it. I'm glad I did it. I still will probably never go on it again, uh, bring back horizons, but.
But, uh, it just, it was, I mean, it was neat. It just, that's the first time I've gotten sick. I think part of it was maybe I hadn't drank enough water or eaten or whatever, but it just, it, that's the
Ayren: only ride. I think there are people driving around in their cars listening to this right now, like, pointing at their radio because they're like, yes, I agree.
Like, I don't think that catches anybody by surprise. No. Um, I feel like when we went on it, it was definitely worse than I remembered. As far as like the feeling and stuff like why it's a cool experience But like why put yourself through that if you don't really have to you know, so I kind of feel that um Yeah, no, that's real the
Tim: wrong worst answer here would be uh living with the land by the way
Ayren: No, I actually respect living with the land it It was something I never did for the longest time [00:55:00] because I felt like it's like when you learn as the podcast goes on And people learn more about me on paper.
I should hate living with the land, but I actually really enjoyed it
Tim: No, I, I thoroughly enjoy it and I hope to do the behind the scenes tour. I don't know if you've heard of it. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's dope. Yeah. Anyways, best ride. Same with you. Cosmic Rewind. It's goaded. By far. It's so good. Um,
Ayren: it's, it's fantastic.
Let's make some people mad, Tim. Go for it. I want to know if you agree with this or not. Okay.
Oh boy. I'm scared to say it. Here we go. Because Cosmic Rewind exists, I think they could get rid of Space Mountain.
Tim: See, I don't know about
Ayren: that, though. What gets weird is because of like potential, right? Like if Space Mountain wasn't there, what could be in its place? But like Space Mountain is so iconic, even the like building structure, all that sort of stuff. It just, it, it's, it's the center of Tomorrowland. So
Tim: what would be in its place already [00:56:00] exists at Magic Kingdom.
That's what they did with Shanghai. Yo, yeah, Shanghai doesn't have a Space Mountain. Yeah, so that already negates that. Yeah, I could see why but Space Mountain is a Quintessential
Ayren: I feel like Space Mountain or Cosmic Rewind is just a better Space Mountain. Oh, I agree So why do you need Space Mountain, but I get it too like it's both I, I agree.
I agree. I do think you need both. I'll give you that. Because
Tim: who else is going to say in a high pitched mickey voice space mountain? Um, you need to have that. I feel you. So, but yeah. All right, everyone's good.
Ayren: Are you good? Is that okay for yours? Oh, yeah I'm chillin at number two. All right, sweet. My number two is gonna be Hollywood Studios.
I Absolutely love this park so much That same trip that we went on where it was like we only have time to go to one Like my one was Hollywood Studios. It was an insanely busy day. Probably the busiest I've ever seen that park still had a great [00:57:00] time. Like, dude, I love that park so much. Um, I love the rides.
I love the feel of it. I'm Toy Story is my favorite Disney movie of all time. So, uh, Yeah, it's awesome. It's Toy Story Land has a very special place in my heart Even though it's I'll admit not the greatest land But like I can just go there and just have the biggest smile on my face. Like I love it so much So with that I will say my least favorite ride I would say Racing Academy, but I'm not going to do that because you already said Racing Academy.
So if you want to doggone
Tim: it too, that's totally. No,
Ayren: I'm here to make people mad, bro. Let's let's eliminate Racing Academy and I'll probably. Oh, I got two. Ooh, I got two that I would say are my least favorite. I'll share both. Either Smuggler's Run or Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. Ooh, those would be the two that I would say are my least favorite.
Mickey and Minnie's every time I ride it. I ride it really wanting to like it, and I just struggle for a couple of [00:58:00] reasons. I don't think it's a bad ride. I think for kids who are growing up right now, it's going to be quintessential Disney. I love the fact that Mickey has his own ride in the park. I think it's great.
I'm upset for a couple of reasons. One, I never rode Great Movie Ride. And it's the one ride that like, if I could bring it back from the dead and experience it, that would be it. So that's a part of it. I'll give you that. Two, not a fan of this animation style. Me neither. So that loses points for me as well.
Um, it doesn't feel, if you're going to give Mickey an attraction, use classic Mickey, that's just my personal take. Um, and yeah, I mean, it's cute. It's bright, it's vibrant. It feels like I'm getting beat up the entire time. Not like the ride system, but it's like so much sensory overload that like, I kind of feel a little overwhelmed when I'm in it.
So. Yeah, and then Smuggler's Run, I just feel is overrated, personally. I think it's, I appreciate, I appreciate what they tried to do with it. Um, I just think it falls a little short, especially like, if you're not a pilot, Riot's kind of whack. [00:59:00] No, that's opinion, so. Yeah, if you're not the pilot. Yeah. Uh, but we can agree.
Lightning McQueen's is by far the biggest waste of space on Disney property. That's, that's. It's, I have no idea how that made it so far through production and like actually, like they spent money on it. That's the part that blows my mind. My favorite ride in the park probably be, this is another one where I have two.
I'm going to say my definitive one is going to be Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I'm gonna give that the hardcore one. My like, 1A would be, um, Rock and Roller Coaster. I like it. I like it. Yeah, I love both of those rides so much. I am like, more of the thrill seeker, um, and so those are, those are great.
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror I have a lot of great memories on, um, so that's one. Rock and Roller Coaster is one that, um, is just, I think it's, in my opinion it's the most thrilling ride that Disney has, um. So I'm a big fan of
Tim: that. .
Ayren: All right. Number one, you only got [01:00:00] one left.
Tim: Yeah, it's the original. It's Disneyland. Yeah, I had granted. I spent two days at Disneyland. Did you cry at Disneyland?
Ayren: Um, so many of so much of this podcast is gonna be me like you mentioning Disney stuff and I'm like, did you cry?
Tim: I don't think I did but I definitely felt very sweet.
Mm hmm being there. Yeah Again, Disney history if I had any sort of semi tender moment It would probably be going to the fire station and seeing the land Mm hmm Um, would probably be it, but man, I had a blast. Best of man. It was so much fun. And there's so much to do in such a kind of small space. Yeah.
It's incredible, but no, I absolutely love Disneyland. . Least favorite ride, and I might get some flack for this because this is kind of a classic. I gotta go Autopia.
Ayren: NOpe, it was almost mine.
The only reason why it wasn't my least favorite is because I've never ridden it. Because [01:01:00] it looks like a waste of
Tim: time. Uh, a lot of respect to Bob Gurr. He's an absolute legend. Uh, still kicking it at upwards of 90 years old somehow. Um, may he live forever. But, that being said, they are So old. They're so outdated.
My car, like, stalled halfway through riding it. And I'm like, this is officially my least favorite attraction now. And there was like three or four that stalled while I was in line. Yeah. Getting ready to go on to the attraction. It was not. That's brutal. It was not. It was not good. Yeah. Um, at all. It was not.
No. No. And your favorite? Oh, this, this one I gotta go with two. Let's end on a good note. Two for here. Uh, so one I'm gonna put Pirates of the Caribbean. Alright. So that was. Oh my gosh, yes. That was my favorite at Magic [01:02:00] Kingdom. Then I wrote this one. I'm still mad that that was not the last attraction I did because it closed.
Yeah. Early. Um, because technical difficulties. But, that being said. It was phenomenal. Oh my gosh, so much better Granted the key wasn't as good as the one in orlando But, oh my goodness, it's longer, it's better, it's two more drops, and it's just
Ayren: My favorite part of that ride, I love the ride overall, I do agree that it's better than the one at Disney World.
My favorite part of that ride is when you first go in, you can see the Blue Lagoon Restaurant, and, uh, the little, like, guy playing the banjo. Out on the, on his porch. I just think that's like the coolest. Yeah, I got to eat there. That might have been my favorite I mean my first Disneyland
Tim: attraction. That was my first Disneyland.
Ayren: It might have been my first. I can't remember but yeah
Tim: Yeah, and then if I had to get a give a [01:03:00] 1a I'm gonna go Indiana Jones Okay, Temple of Forbidden Eye. Nice. That blew my
Ayren: mind. Dude, it's so good. So good. The boulder scene is
Tim: great. Just everything about it Sorry dinosaur. I love you. But this one is just it's so much better so much better.
Yeah But yeah, that's that would be my my one two punch there I remember
Ayren: the first time I rode that ride and being like how is this like in a show building? Mm hmm, cuz it's so immersive, you know that honestly, I mean I said Alice man, but that could easily be my favorite Yeah, Alice is my favorite because of just I love that.
It's like unique and stuff, you know But yeah, that one definitely could have been my favorite. No, it's it's and here we go to round it off My number one park of all the ones listed here islands of adventure not allowed, dude Oh my gosh Okay. So let me let me preface [01:04:00] with this first time. We went to Universal my wife and I we go and Our first day was in Universal Florida and before that we had really only done Disney stuff Like I said, I went to Universal as a kid The park is not the same.
Like there, I think Men in Black is the only Men in Black and E. T. are the only opening day attractions that they still have. I don't even know if it's opening day, but like they were the only ones that existed when I went opening day. That's right. So we go to Universal Orlando. We see all these screens.
We go back to our Airbnb and we're like, that was kind of disappointing, like compared to all the Disney stuff we had done or whatever. So we were like, there was a small part of us that we were like, OK, we need to set low expectations for Islands of Adventure tomorrow so that. We like, don't expect it to blow our minds.
Holy crap, dude. I love Islands of Adventure so much. It is. And this is gonna sound maybe a little bit weird. Part of why I love it is because it reminds me of a Disney park. The [01:05:00] theming in each of the individual lands is so good that I'm like, I didn't know anyone other than Disney put this much attention to detail into things.
And so that was the part that really surprised me about it. , I, there's no, like, You can stand in any one of the islands in the park and look out into the, I forgot what it's called, but the like body of water that's in the middle, , and the view is unreal, , like that panoramic view where you can see Hulk, you can see Velocicoaster, you can see, that's another, you talk about bangers in a park, dude, there's some, if you go left, you can hit the Hulk, you can hit Spider Man, You can hit, we're not going to talk about King Kong.
Cause you already said you don't like that one, but the animatronics dope, you can go to Jurassic park, the water ride, which I'll admit is like. I actually, I enjoy it more than I thought I would at night. It's phenomenal. You hit VelociCoaster, then you go hit Hagrid's, like it's just one after the other, it's just so freaking [01:06:00] good.
One of my biggest, uh, like sore spots is that I didn't get to experience, um. The lost continent in its heyday, like when it had dueling dragons and all that other sort of stuff, I wish I would have been able to experience that, which I didn't know until fairly recently, like that was probably the closest we would have ever gotten to the animal kingdom, like mystical land that was supposed to exist like the beastly kingdom.
Yeah, I didn't realize there were a ton of imagineers that worked on that. So like it, it, it, yeah, anyway, it dude, I love this park so much. Like I, I could. Record enough for another podcast right now about how much I love Islands of Adventure. Um, my least favorite ride is, I'm not going to include Suisland, like I get it, it's family rides.
It's supposed to be there. Um, totally understand that. It's okay, they suck anyway. If anybody has a kid that I can borrow so that I can ride Pteranodon Flyers, that'd be awesome. Um. [01:07:00] I'm sorry. I'm just looking at the list here. I'm not going to include Flight of the Hippogriff. That's also like a kid's ride.
I'm not going to include Stormforce. I'll go, I'll go Skull Island. Yeah. Reign of Kong. Probably my least favorite. Um, it's one that again, if it's not a walk on, I'm not going to do it. Yeah. I'll wait 10 minutes tops. Uh, my favorite ride in the park. I'm going to go Velocicoaster. You should. Um, 100%. I'm going to go Velocicoaster.
It's a very close Velocicoaster Hulk. I don't know any part that has a better three headed monster than those three, dude.
Tim: I will 100 percent
Ayren: agree with that. They are so good. And then like, you can throw Forbidden Journey in there as well. Forbidden Journey is is really cool. I think they took what Disney did with Flight of Passage and made it unique and made it their own.
Um, so I think that's really, I actually don't, I don't remember which one came out first. Forbidden Journey did first. Forbidden Journey came out first. So then flip that. I think Disney did a good job with that. But,[01:08:00] Yeah, man, I just think there's so many like unique rides and like Hagrid's, a unique coaster, um, VelociCoaster, a unique coaster with their double launch and that top hat and the Mosasaurus roll, um, Hulk, the unique launch to start off with, like, there's so many things in that park that you can't experience on other rides, uh, Spider Man, Such a good ride.
The best screen based ride. This is the way that all of them should be. And even then, I wouldn't even call it, it's not even, it doesn't heavily rely on screens. It uses real practical effects and all that sort of stuff. So, um, but yeah. Food's great in this park. Theming is great in this park.
Yeah. I'm just kind of fangirling right now, but yeah, islands of adventure by far, not just like, we're not covering parks outside of Disney and universal on this podcast. At least we don't plan to, but like out of all of the parks I've been to islands of adventure is probably my favorite. Hands down. I respect it.
Okay. I'll also add this. We got to say one more thing to make [01:09:00] people mad before we sign off. Islands is the park that started ruining Disney for me. It's not that I don't appreciate Disney.
It's the part where I had to remember, like, Disney's different. Their goal is not the same goal as Islands of Adventure. Like, Islands is tailored for an older audience, I feel. It's more of the thrilling attractions and stuff like that. But when I went to Islands of Adventure, Islands is the reason why Magic Kingdom is so low on my list.
Because they're two different experiences, and if I had to pick between one of those two types, I'm going with the Adventure. So, with all that being said, that's the reason why I'm the Adventure. Why you're the Magic, right? You, you have the, uh You know, well, you went Disneyland instead of Disney World, but, or Magic Kingdom, but still like that's, uh, hopefully if you're listening to this, that kind of gives you some insight into where we sit, where we stand on these, um, where we sit and stand, you know, both of them are important,
Tim: especially when it comes to waiting in
Ayren: line for, Oh my gosh.
Yeah. So, [01:10:00] um, dude, no, yeah, that's, uh, that's it. That's okay. Let's let's, I, I'm interested to talk about this. We can cut this if we don't want to keep it, but of all of my takes, Which made you the most upset.
Tim: It's 100 percent the people mover. Is that a question? Come on, man. Yeah, that's true.
Ayren: You should have known that.
I guess I could see that coming. Yeah. Well, there we go. There is episode one. I guess we close it out with that. Is there anything else you wanted to add? I don't think so. What are you most excited about for just launching this thing?
Tim: I talk way too much stuff. Way too much about this stuff already, so an excuse to talk even more about it is totally fine with me. There you go. No, I'm excited just to see, you know, where this goes and, you know, continue to learn more about both sides because both are dope.
Regardless of how we feel, right? About this ranking, sure, they're mixed and whatever. I thoroughly enjoy both. Yeah, I agree about the future of both Resorts and both parks and [01:11:00] well actually all the parks both companies
Ayren: Yeah, i'm gonna say the same thing man. Like as much as You know, I've heard a lot of Disney podcast.
I've heard a few Universal podcasts there's obviously not as I feel like as big of a an outpouring but Like nobody talks about Universal adults. It's just not a thing, right? But not yet, but I do think that there is such a beauty in both. I think they both add a value I think they both offer different things which is like something I think everyone needs to recognize is like They're both out to be the best theme park in Orlando, right?
But that's about where the similarities end. I feel like they take different approaches to it and they definitely like, I mean, they a hundred percent steal strategies from one another. That's just the business side of it, right? Universal would be dumb to not try to rip off stuff that Disney's done.
Anybody in the theme park game would be dumb to not try to replicate what Disney's done. Um, but I do think there's enough that sets them apart where they do have slightly different audiences, but there is a lot of really cool overlap as well. So, yep. Yeah. [01:12:00] Anyway, we are really excited to dive into this.
We're going to get into more things, but if you want to stay connected with us, go ahead and follow us on Instagram. You can find us at a magic meets adventure. We're going to post some stuff on there, some supplemental content. So. Yeah, there'll be some stuff that kind of let you know when new episodes are out and content like that, but there'll also just be random things.
So maybe we have something we want to talk about that's not long enough for a podcast, but it's just a random funny story that we can throw up there. Um, other ways that you can stay connected with us. Who knows? Maybe we'll reach a Point where it's like, Hey, one of us is going to be in the parks. Like we'd love to meet up with you.
Stuff like that, you know? So, uh, go ahead and follow us on magic meets adventure. We also love for you to send us some feedback. What are the things you like? You want to think you don't like, what are some things that you would like to see on the podcast? Conversation topics. What are things that you think will drive a bigger wedge between me and Tim?
We're always down for those conversations. That feels like a lot of fun. That's true. We're here to start some fights. It's going to be, it's going to be fun. You can't put a universal guy and a Disney guy in the. So, [01:13:00] um, but I think it's all going to be fun, constructive, and, uh, yeah, it should be a good time.
So, uh, thank you so much for joining us. My name is Aaron. I bring the adventure. I'm Tim and I bring the magic. And this has been magic meets adventure. We will see you next time.