#25DaysofDisney
Day 21 of #25DaysofDisney gives us another ride that has multiple versions out there:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Outside of Paris's, the rides themselves are very similar to one another (DL/MK are mirrored). But which is my favorite?

I've gotta go with the OG Disneyland version, personally.
December 22, 2024 at 7:49 PM
I hope you've all simply had a wonderful Christmastime, but it's Day 25, which means it's now time for me to finally conclude my #25DaysofDisney with my happy place:

The Teacups at Night.

There's just something special about the lanterns & the music & the cool breeze after a long Disneyland day.
December 26, 2024 at 3:27 AM
I'm also going to do #25DaysofDisney, where I highlight 25 different Disney rides and what they mean to me, again in no particular order.

So I lead off with the Astro Orbiter.

31 years ago, I rode the Star Jets (Astro's predecessor at the Magic Kingdom) on my one childhood visit to Disney World.
December 2, 2024 at 4:56 AM
Just a heads-up: today's #25DaysofCoasters & #25DaysofDisney posts have been postponed till tomorrow, due to me not wanting to pull my computer back out to find photos and things and instead choosing to spend my evening curled up with a good book instead.
December 5, 2024 at 12:19 AM
For Day 24 of my #25DaysofDisney, I'm going to feature a ride I don't actually love all that much:

Soarin' Around the World.

The ride itself is decent enough, but I really dislike how big of a time-suck it is to get on, even with a line skip due to the post-merge queue and preshow staging.
December 25, 2024 at 4:00 AM
And in honor of Day 10 of my #25DaysofDisney, I give you a Perfect 10 of a ride:

Space Mountain at Disneyland!

I first rode this at the beginning of my coastering adventures in early 2012, & I was hooked.

It may not be the most thrilling coaster ever, but it's butter smooth and *so* *much* *fun*!
December 11, 2024 at 2:53 AM
On a similar vein, yesterday we talked about Mission Breakout for #25DaysofDisney. But today, for Day 9, let's revisit the original:

Tower of Terror.

In all its flavors.

Which Tower is the best Tower? Well, it depends...
December 10, 2024 at 4:09 AM
For Day 8 of #25DaysofDisney, we celebrate what may very well be my favorite Disney ride:

Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!

As someone who really enjoyed Tower of Terror (but not the GotG movies), I was not at all looking forward to a "cheap reskin", but I was blown away by this ride!
December 9, 2024 at 3:59 AM
For Day 22 of my #25DaysofDisney, I have one of my new favorite Disney coasters:

Hong Kong Disneyland's Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars!

(That's a mouthful and a half!)

This ride is what you'd get if Expedition Everest & Big Thunder Mountain had an illicit love child (see Days 3 & 21).
December 22, 2024 at 9:33 PM
For Day 12 of my #25DaysofDisney, let's talk about Snow White.

I was a pretty big fan of Snow White's Scary Adventures, so I was worried they were going to make a mess of it when they reimagined it into Snow White's Enchanted Wish a few years ago.

But they didn't. It's great!
December 12, 2024 at 9:49 PM
Day 17 of my #25DaysofDisney is Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure!

This is a super fun ride that delivers on so many different things. It's got dark ride elements. It's got thrills. It's got fire & lasers. It's got SO MUCH THEMING throughout.

Every stage of the ride experience just works!
December 19, 2024 at 3:50 AM
Continuing on in Cars Land at DCA, Day 16 of my #25DaysofDisney celebrates Mater's Junkyard Jamboree!

It's for sure not the most thrilling thing in the world, but it's definitely a little silly and fun!

And sometimes a little silly and fun is just what you need when you're visiting a theme park!
December 17, 2024 at 4:00 AM
Day 20 of my #25DaysofDisney is my favorite variation of this classic dark ride:

Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland Paris!

(Incidentally, this is also by far the best ride at the whole resort.)

This version takes the best parts of the others, gets rid of the bad stuff, and plusses it all up.
December 22, 2024 at 4:42 PM
Continuing on with Day 19 of my #25DaysofDisney, we have a classic:

The Haunted Mansion!

Now, which version of the Haunted Mansion is the best? Which is my favorite? Which is the most memorable? And does Phantom Manor count as one?

Well, I'm thinking you're going to have to read on to find out!!
December 20, 2024 at 3:56 AM
Day 15 of my #25DaysofDisney brings us another of my favorite rides, though this time we're back in the States.

It's DCA's masterpiece, Radiator Springs Racers!

My first visit to DLR was in early 2012, so Cars Land was still under construction. I didn't get to ride it till I returned in late 2015.
December 16, 2024 at 3:07 AM
For Day 18 of #25DaysofDisney, I have TRONLightcycle Power Run at Shanghai Disneyland.

I joked when TRON was announced for Magic Kingdom (especially once it was obvious it was going to get a VQ) that I'd end up flying to China to do the original before MK's bc it'd be easier to get on...and I did!
December 20, 2024 at 3:23 AM
Day 7 of #25DaysofDisney takes us back. Back to juuuuuust before the world ended:

March 6, 2020.

When I went down to Disney World for the opening weekend of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.

"Nothing can stop us noooooooowwww...." except the coronavirus, apparently...
December 8, 2024 at 5:08 AM
Day 11 of #25DaysofDisney is one of my favorite classic dark rides:

Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland

I love that this does a good job of hitting the main story highlights, mixing classic dark ride stuff with tasteful projections, and offering a fairly long & varied ride experience.
December 12, 2024 at 9:33 PM
Day 23 of #25DaysofDisney highlights my other favorite attraction from Hong Kong Disneyland:

Mystic Manor

This is such an adorable & entertaining trackless dark ride, and it's so much better than some of the stuff we've gotten of late stateside.

THIS is what a trackless dark ride should be & do!
December 23, 2024 at 9:21 PM
Continuing my #25DaysofDisney w/ yet another dark ride, Day 13 brings us The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure (Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid for those of you who prefer the vastly inferior WDW parks).

It's a pretty solid 'book report' ride that retells the original story.
December 15, 2024 at 4:36 AM
From one challenge-concluding ride to another, Day 5 of #25DaysofDisney celebrates Disneyland's Casey Jr. Circus Train.

On Saturday May 25, 2019, I completed the 1st-ever #oxygenfree Parkeology run at the Disneyland Resort.

On Sunday May 26, 2019, I went back & did it again, finishing on Casey Jr.
December 6, 2024 at 3:12 AM
For Day 14 of my #25DaysofDisney, I pivot to a more modern Disney dark ride. An incredible marvel of Imagineering through and through. This is easily one of the best dark rides Disney has *ever* made, hands-down, no question.

It's Tokyo Disneyland's Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast!
December 15, 2024 at 5:47 PM
Today's entry for #25DaysofDisney is Rise of the Resistance.

This ride is really quite the spectacle, with its queue, 3 preshows, an epic reveal entering the Star Destroyer, and jaw-dropping on-ride set-pieces and animatronics (when they work).

I rode DHS's opening weekend in my quest for #WDW50.
December 2, 2024 at 9:24 PM
If, for some reason, you hadn't noticed before now, all this month I've been posting both #25DaysofCoasters and #25DaysofDisney, where I chronicled 25 different coasters/Disney rides that are special to me in some way and discussed my thoughts/memories/stories about them.

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If you're instead looking for my #25DaysofCoasters thread, you can check that out here. Otherwise, keep scrolling for the #25DaysofDisney!

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Figured it might make life easier to organize all of my #25DaysofCoasters posts into a single consolidated thread for easier reference.
December 26, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Day 3 of #25DaysofDisney gives us Expedition Everest.

I first rode this on my Senior Trip in Feb of 2006.

Unbeknownst to any of our group, the ride wasn't actually open yet. We just stumbled across it towards the end of our day. And there were CM's beckoning us to come ride.

So ride we did!
December 3, 2024 at 8:10 PM