Animal Kingdom Orlando Florida
The brightest days of my youth were the days spent in Orlando, Florida on the semi-regular vacations my family used to take to the theme parks which I refer to collectively – and erroneously – as “Disney World” (Disney’s Magic Kingdom | Disney’s Epcot | Disney’s MGM Studios [now Disney's Hollywood Studios] | Universal Studios). We never visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom or any of the water parks which had lesser appeal.
Most of our family trips were during the days we had off for Mardi Gras celebrations. We’d drive the nine-and-a-half hours to Orlando from Southeastern Louisiana to take advantage of the relatively small, off-season and mid-week theme park crowds. I was fourteen (with the emotional maturity of a twelve year-old) when we took our last vacation in early 2000, and although it’s been ten years, I still remember my favorite rides and the excitement I felt when engulfed in the enchantment and wonder of a truly magical experience.
And now for the twelve year-old in all of us, here’s 12 of the best attractions from the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, and Universal Studios at the turn of the century, and what’s become of them since.
Top 12 Orlando Theme Park Rides of the 90s
Pirates of the Caribbean (Magic Kingdom) – One of the Magic Kingdom’s longest running and most popular attractions, this dark riverboat ride takes guests past pirate ships at war and through the channels of a Caribbean island under siege. As inspiration for the wildly successful Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, the ride has undergone a round of revisions incorporating Jack Sparrow and other iconic film characters into the attraction as well as taming the more controversial thematic suggestions of pillage and rape.
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studios) – Inspired by the Twilight Zone TV series, the attraction takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel where guests are invited to take a ride to the fifth dimension on the out-of-service elevator to discover what happened to a group of elevator riders who mysteriously disappeared in 1939 when the hotel was struck by lightening.  The rides ends in a series of terrifying plummets through an elevator shaft. A 1997 Disney channel film starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst is based on the ride.
The Haunted Mansion (Magic Kingdom) – The Haunted Mansion was one of the original attractions when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. In this dark ride, guests are taken through a ghostly mansion, past zombies trying to escape their coffins, wayward haunts causing mischief, and apparitions of spirits feasting and dancing in a ballroom. After the release of The Haunted Mansion movie in 2003, the projected face and voice of the original Madame Leota in the seance scene was replaced by actress Jennifer Tilly who played the medium in the film.
Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom) – This log flume ride is based on the Disney film Song of the South and features animatronic vignettes of several popular scenes from the 1946 film. The adventurous Br’er Rabbit must outwit Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox who are continously trying to capture and cook the wascally wabbit. The ride ends in an exciting 50′ drop down into a watery briar patch where riders are sure to be splashed.
Jaws (Universal Studios) – Based on the 1975 blockbuster of the same name, the attraction has guests boarding Captain Jake’s Amity Boat Tours for a leisurely cruise of the locales where the great white shark struck decades before. Unexpectedly, the tour boat is attacked by a great white shark which the panic skipper must fight off with a grenade launcher in a fiery pyrotechnic display before steering safely back to port.
Kongfrontation (Universal Studios) – As one of Universal Studio’s original attractions, Kongfrontation took guests on an open-air aerial tram ride over the streets of New York City (not, by the way, how the subway actually works). The tram comes under attack by the enormous Kong who is wreaking havoc on the loose in Manhattan. At the end of the ride, the tram makes it safely back to the station but Kong is never recaptured or killed. Kongfrontation was tragically closed in 2002 and has been replaced by Revenge of the Mummy.
T-2 3D: Battle Across Time (Universal Studios) – Long before the crappy 3rd and 4th installments in the Terminator film franchise there was T-2 in 3D. In this 3D show guests are shown a Cyberdyne promotional video and invited to a demonstration of Cyberdyne’s newest technology, the T-70 Terminators. The demonstration is interrupted by Sarah and John Connor (a mix of live actors and video footage of Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong) who have broken into Cyberdyne to warn the audience of Skynet and the coming apocalypse.
Back to the Future: The Ride (Universal Studios) – In this simulator ride, “volunteers” are invited by Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) to test his latest invention, the eight passenger DeLorean time machine. Of course it wouldn’t be Back to the Future without 1955’s Biff Tannen traveling in time to steal the original time machine. Doc Brown pleads with the volunteers to use the new DeLorean to chase Biff through time to save the original time machine… and the future! The ride closed in 2007 and was replaced by The Simpsons Ride.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Magic Kingdom) – This dark ride based on Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad takes guests on a wild motorcar adventure through the English countryside and other Wind in the Willows locales. The intense, fast-moving ride ends badly when Mr. Toad’s motorcar ends up on train tracks in the path of a locomotive which sends the car and all of its passengers to a simulated Hell for all of Mr. Toad’s mischievous deeds. The ride was replaced in 1998 by the cute but significantly less thrilling Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom) – Long before Hollywood Studio’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Island of Adventure’s Dueling Dragons, there was Space Mountain. Space Mountain was my first roller coaster experience and I learned the hard way that wearing glasses while on a coaster going 30mph is not an awesome idea. The coaster simulates a flight through deep space with stars, asteroids, and planets hovering in near darkness. The ride was closed for renovation in 1999 and then again in 2009 but is now fully operational.
E.T. Adventure (Universal Studios) -Friendly alien E.T.’s home planet is dying and guests are sent on a mission to bring E.T. home via – what else? – flying bikes! Most memorable is the animatronic E.T. thanking the guests at the end of the ride for their successful rescue mission. Park attendants program everyone’s name into a computer at the beginning of the ride, and it’s always a hoot hearing E.T. mispronounce the more unusual given names.
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! (Epcot) – Inspired by the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, this 3D mini-sequel features Wayne Szalinski accepting the Imagination Institute’s award for Inventor of the Year. While demonstrating his shrinking machine, the machine goes out of control and Szalinski accidentally shrinks us, the audience.  Hilarity ensues as the miniaturized audience is picked up, sneezed on by a dog, and nearly eaten by a python.
Tags: Best Theme Park Rides, Disney's Epcot, Disney's Magic Kingdom, Disney's MGM Studios, Inner Child, Orlando, Top Ten List, Universal Studios Florida
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