Last week, I started a series ranking the 10 Disney theme parks, that I’ve been to, based on specific reasons. I have my yearly power rankings, where I place them by how much I like the park but wanted to get more specific with this series. We started with theme and will eventually get to food. This post, I will be ranking the Disney theme parks based on ride quality.

To rank these 10 theme parks (we haven’t made it to Hong Kong or Shanghai yet) based solely on ride quality, I’ll have to figure out our terms when it comes to ride quality. For example, should I just take the five or ten best rides at each park and pit them against each other? On the other hand, theme park ride rosters are boosted up by some of the lesser known attractions as most theme parks have at least a couple of E-ticket rides. In other words, shouldn’t quantity could for something if it has at least some quality to it?

After years and years of pondering (okay, more like an hour), I’ve decided to do this on a points system based on both quality and quantity. Why make this subjective ranking extremely complicated? Because this is Wandering in Disney, dang it! I’m going to rank each parks top 3, 6, 10, 15 and 20 rides against each other. Here’s how the scoring will go:

• Whichever park has the best top 3 rides will be awarded 20 points, second place will get 18 points, third place will get 16 points, etc.
• A park’s 4th-6th best rides will then be ranked against each other. The same scoring will take place except first place will only get 10 points, second place 9 points, etc.
• 7th-10th best rides in a park comes next. This scoring system will give 8 points to the top finisher and only the top 8 will receive points.
• 11th-15th will only do the top 5 with the sliding point scale starting at 5.
• 16th-20+ (I’ll include anything after 20 that I think is worth factoring in) in a park will be top 3 with the top finisher receiving 3 points.

This sliding scale is obviously giving a lot of weight to the best rides in the park, which I feel rightly awards quality. There are a few extra points to be earned from quantity but those rides still have to have be worthwhile. To rank all of these, I’ll be using my attraction rankings.

There are a few cases where I’ll be giving the benefit of the doubt to the park. For example, when we were in Disneyland Paris Big Thunder was closed . I assume that I would place that ride in the top 3 of the park, so everything else falls down the list a little bit. A similar thought could be had for Epcot’s new Test Track. I’ve also taken out any of Magic Kingdom’s river attractions, as they close a few days after writing this. I hide my sadness through top ten lists.

Like I said, we’ve got to make this complicated! You know if I’m busting out some math then I’m taking this (way too) seriously. Speaking of the math, the most a park could score on the point scale is 46. The least is 3 points. 46 feels way less likely than 3 but I’m writing this before I do any of the rankings, so we’ll see!

Before we get to it, I’ll mention that I judge rides (or ride quality, if you prefer) based on story, design, upkeep, looks and thrill. Some aspects matter more than others, depending on what type of ride it is. Walkthrough attractions and short films are a part of this list. If you’ve made it through this ridiculous premise and questionable equation I’ve set up then hopefully you know that this is all very subjective. It’s hard to believe that a real life Disney theme park blogger could have biases, but I do.

Let’s get to the list! I’ll rank the parks starting from 10th and show what they scored in each category before adding some commentary on each. Please forgive my short hand as I list the rides.

10. Walt Disney Studios Park – 3 Points

Top 3: (Tower of Terror, Ratatouille, Flight Force) – 10th place = 2 points
4-6: (W.E.B. Adventure, Crush’s Coaster, RC Racer) 10th place = 1 point
7-10: (Cars Quartre Roues Rallye, Parachute Drop, Cars Road Trip, Zigzag Spin) – 0 points
11-15: (Flying Carpets) – 0 points
16-20+: (N/A) – 0 points

The last place finisher comes as no surprise. You could make a case for it finishing a spot or two higher in the top 3 or the 4-6 categories but even then it would still finish in last place. Walt Disney Studios Park might not have the least amount of rides of any park on this list but it does have the worst quality, without the headliners other spots do.

9. California Adventure – 12 Points

Top 3: (RSR, Incredicoaster, Guardians) = 8th place = 6 points
4-6: (Grizzly, Soarin, Midway Mania) 7th place = 4 points
7-10: (Animation Academy, Redwood Creek, WEB, Mater’s) 7th place = 2 points
11-15: (Sky School, Philharmagic, Pal-A-Round, Trolley, Zephyr) – 0 points
16-20+: (Swings, Turtle Talk, Monsters, Inc., Luigi’s, Little Mermaid, Critter Carousel, Emotional Whirlwind, Jumpin’ Jellyfish – 23 total) – 0 points

California Adventure finishing near the bottom of the list was the most surprising to me. I’ve never been wowed by the attraction roster but I thought the quality and quantity was decent. Then I started measuring the attractions against all of the other parks and it’s fairly disappointing. Radiator Springs Racers can only take you so far!

8. Animal Kingdom – 14 Points

Top 3 (Safaris, Flight of Passage, Everest) 5th place = 12 points
4-6 (Maharajah, Dinosaur, Gorilla Falls) 9th place = 2 points
7-10 (Na’vi River, Kali River Rapids, Boneyard) – 0 points
11-15 (N/A) – 0 points
16-20+ (N/A) – 0 points

Animal Kingdom is a clear case of good quality beating out quantity. There’s only 9 attractions, soon to be 8 and then 7 with the closing of The Boneyard and Dinosaur. But the top 3 are incredible rides, measuring up against any park’s top 3. I also contemplated ranking 4-6 and 7-10 a little higher than what they ended up as, but that’s more due to personal preference. Not everyone likes the walkthrough attractions as much as I do.

7. Epcot – 15 Points

Top 3 (Cosmic Rewind, Impressions de France, Test Track) 7th place = 8 points
4-6 (Soarin, Spaceship Earth, Journey of Water) 8th place = 3 points
7-10 (Living with the Land, American Adventure, Remy’s, Frozen) 5th place = 4 points
11-15 (Gran Fiesta, Reflections of China, Mission: Space, Canada, Awesome Planet) – 0 points
16-20+ (Turtle Talk, Figment, The Seas, Pixar Short Films, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along) – 0 points

Epcot’s top 3 is clearly carried by Cosmic Rewind. I happen to adore Impressions de France but I think most people would move it out of the top 3. The 7-10 spot is particularly strong here compared to the other categories and could have ranked even higher than it did. Epcot seems to need another no-doubt headliner along with one other mid-tier attraction to really make a move in these rankings.

6. Magic Kingdom – 17 Points

Top 3 (Mansion, BTMR, Jungle Cruise) 9th place = 4 points
4-6 (Peter Pan, Tron, Space) 5th place = 5 points
7-10 (Pirates, PeopleMover, Mine Train, Small World) – 4th place = 5 points
11-15 (Country Bears, Tiana’s, Railroad, Tiki Room, Carousel of Progress) 4th place = 2 points
16-20+ (Philharmagic, Laugh Floor, Swiss Family Tree House, Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, Buzz, Teacups, Hall of Presidents, Little Mermaid, Barnstormer, Pooh, etc. – 30 total) 3rd place = 1 point

The lowest ranked castle park on this list is really hurt by a lack of standouts. Magic Kingdom’s depth is really good and maybe deserves more credit than the half-baked equation I made up gives it. But nearly every other park has a better top 3 (or top 6) than Magic Kingdom. As much as I don’t want to admit it, that might be a reason for the coming expansions.

5. Hollywood Studios – 19 Points

Top 3 (Rise, Tower of Terror, Runaway Railway) 4th place = 14 points
4-6 (Smugglers, Rock ‘n’ Roller, Slinky) 6th place = 4 points
7-10 (Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, Walt Disney Presents, Vacation Fun) – 8th place = 1 point
11-15 (Alien Swirling) – 0 points
16-20+ (N/A) – 0 points

Hollywood Studios has two of the best rides in the whole world and that’s enough to get it halfway up this list. Rise of the Resistance and Tower of Terror would have finished first or second if the list only ranked the top 2 attractions. After those, the quality drops off some but there’s not really a bad ride here. There’s just too few of them.

4. Disneyland Paris – 20 Points

Top 3 (Big Thunder, Phantom Manor, Pirates) 6th place = 10 points
4-6 (Hyperspace Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains) 4th place = 6 points
7-10 (Small World, Buzz, Le Pays des Contes de Fées, Les Voyages de Pinocchio) 6th place = 3 points
11-15 (Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, La Tanière du Dragon, La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Dumbo) – 5th place = 1 point
16-20+ (Railroad, Casey Jr., Autopia, Tea Cups, Nautilus, La Cabane de Robinson, Orbitron, Carrousel) – 0 points

Ranking the Disneyland Paris categories gave me the most pause in this exercise. Part of that is because I haven’t gone on Big Thunder Mountain there yet but I think I’d love it. The top 3 category could have fallen anywhere from 2nd to 6th. Even with it ending up on the low side, a higher finish wouldn’t have made up enough ground to make the top 3. Disneyland Paris has some really high highs but I don’t think it has the attraction depth other castle parks have.

3. Tokyo Disneyland – 37 Points

Top 3 (Pooh, Beauty and the Beast, Splash) 2nd place = 18 points
4-6 (Pirates, Jungle Cruise, BTMR) 3rd place = 8 points
7-10 (Mansion, Monsters Inc., Country Bears, Small World) 2nd place = 7 points
11-15 (Peter Pan, Roger Rabbit, Mark Twain, Railroad, Star Tours) 2nd place = 4 points
16-20+ (Baymax, Tiki Room, Pinocchio, Treehouse, Canoes, PhilharMagic, Snow White, Castle, Teacups, Dumbo, Carousel, Toontown attractions – 31 total) 0 points

The top three parks are all in close competition! They also happen to be my favorite three parks in the world. Tokyo Disneyland has two of the greatest trackless dark rides ever created in Pooh’s Hunny Hunt and Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. Adding to the high ranking is the park’s exceptional upkeep of classic Disney rides. The top 15 here measures up against any park.

2. Tokyo DisneySea – 39 Points

Top 3 (Frozen Journey, Sinbad, Journey to the Center of the Earth) 3rd place = 16 points
4-6 (Never Land Adventure, Tower of Terror, Indy) 1st place = 10 points
7-10 (Fortress Explorations, Gondolas, Soaring, 20,000 Leagues) 1st place = 8 points
11-15 (Electric Railway, Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival, Toy Story Mania, Aquatopia, SeaRider) 3rd place = 3 points
16-20+ (Steamer Line, Busy Buggies, Magic Lamp Theater, Raging Spirits, Caravan Carousel, Mermaid Lagoon attractions, Flying Carpets, Turtle Talk – 27 total) 2nd place = 2 points

Narrowly beating out the neighboring Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea really benefits from the opening of Fantasy Springs. The park was always amazing, and probably more cohesive, before the expansion. But now it has a ride roster that measures up against any in the world. Every category is strong and unique, something we don’t often see from relatively new theme parks.

1. Disneyland – 43 Points

Top 3 (Pirates, Rise, Big Thunder) 1st place = 20 points
4-6 (Mansion, Space, Indy) 2nd place = 9 points
7-10 (Matterhorn, Toad, Peter Pan, Small World) 3rd place = 6 points
11-15 (Jungle Cruise, TBA, Railroad, Runaway Railway, Alice) 1st place = 5 points
16-20+ (Riverboats, Roger Rabbit, Smugglers Run, Star Tours, Tiki Room, Lincoln, Buzz, Snow White, Storybook Land, Pooh, Pinocchio, Canoes, Monorail, Astro Orbiter, Teacups, Submarines, Castle Walkthrough, Casey Jr., Carousel, Dumbo, you get the point – 37 total) – 1st place = 3 points

I didn’t know if the sheer quantity of attractions Disneyland has would carry over to the quality rankings. It does! When you have 37 rides, the top 20 or 25 of them will likely be pretty darn good. Pirates, Rise and Big Thunder is a ridiculous top 3 – classic, modern and full of lore. Everything after that is what really sets Disneyland apart though. There’s just not a bad ride until you get well into the 30’s on the list. Most of these parks don’t have 30 attractions to begin with. It’s pretty astonishing how great the rides are in Disneyland.

What are your favorite Disney Parks from an attraction quality perspective? Let us know, along with any questions you have, in the comments below! Planning a Disney trip? Check out our Travel Guides to help get you there! Here’s a link to discount tickets at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney please subscribe to the blog via email or WordPress and like our social media pages. You can find all of those things on the right side of this page. Thank you very much for reading, we appreciate it!