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Top Non-Coaster Rides

Edward M

Strata Poster
I thought there ought to be a topic for the best of the non-coasters out there. Theme parks need much more than coasters for a ride collection, and this is the place to say your favorites. You can say your favorite flat rides, dark rides, Disney rides, Universal rides, or just any rides that aren't coasters. I'm sorry if the format is TOO loose and broad, but I think most people will be fine. Well, post away.

For me, I'm gonna rank them (cause I love ranking), (also I haven't been on much out of the US, so this is US based)

1. Splash Mountain, Disney World
2. Spiderman, IOA
3. Indiana Jones Adventure
4. Radiator Springs Racers
5. Tower of Terror, Disney World
6. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, USH
7. Haunted Mansion, Disney World
8. Pirates, Disneyland
9. Kilimanjaro Safaris
10. Transformers
 
I don't have a specific 'list' of my favorite things like this, but here's some of the things I like off the top of my head:

-Tower of Terror WDW
-Dinosaur! DAK
-HP and the Forbidden Journey IOA
-Dare Devil Dive SFGAm(have only done this one SkyCoaster, but boy did I love it)
-Justice League: BFM SFGAm
-Test Track
-Soarin' Epcot
 
Same as GWAS, I don't have a top ten of other rides. Here are some of my favourites. Probably forgot loads, I should really make a proper list.

Mystic Manor - incredible soundtrack, seemess flow and some ingenious tricks

Hex - more incredible music - the best madhouse by far

Mystery Castle - scares the living crap out of me every time.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Disney Sea - you shoot out if a mother*ing volcano!

Maus au Chocolat - the attention to detail and that chocolate smell ummm

Mystery River rapids at Movie Park Germany - magical Neverending Story theming

Spookslot - just because it's so random

Droomvlucht - it's charming. Just wish I'd ridden it as a kid

Villa Volta - mainly for the music. I could just ride it again and again and fall asleep in it.

Tibidabo's brilliant horror walk through which is the only horror attraction (outside of Lofty's at Dreamland) that had a proper good story. The narration and actors were spot on (just wish it had Liseberg's sets).

Reset - ridiculous levels of homemade theming, although apparently it's been spited recently.

That ludicrous spin and spew in Finland. Don't know the name.

Love the tech in the Spiderman/transformers rides but as I don't give a crap about the stories, they aren't making the list.
 
Yay! Any excuse to put down my fave non coasters.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - IOA - Pretty much my fave dark ride by a mile, everything about this is perfect, wonderful.
Scream - Heide Park - Ridiculously good drop tower, significantly better than Atmosfear at Liseberg, feels like it won't stop.
River Quest - Phantasialand - The most surprising rapids and wettest I've ridden, love this ride.
Bilge Rat Barges - Not quite as good as RQ but the best standard rapids I've been on, so, so wet, and brilliantly themed.
Chiapas - Phantasialand - Incredibly themed, wonderfully entwined, catchy music, airtime on the main drop :)
Valhalla - Blackpool - It's so fab, even though I come off wetter than Darren's mum I always have a massive smile on my face after riding.
Talocan - Phantasialand - My fave flat, so forceful it can be too much for some, I love the relentlessness and of course the fire, water, music, theme, and spectacle.
Hex - Alton - Still the best madhouse I've experienced, a long and interesting story with iconic music.
Bla Taget - Grona Lund - Very good Ghost Train, when the Pepper's effect is working.
Hotel Gasten - Liseberg - My current fave Horror attraction, the only think it needs is a few more scare actors, I assume it would have more in the Halloween season.
Transformers - USO - Slightly better than Spiderman imo, maybe due to nostalgia reasons, or non vom reasons, but I loved it.
Airwolf - Winter Wonderland - Crazy airtime and force from this travelling ride, very surprised, long cycle and great to watch.
Tower of Terror - Disneyland Paris - Of course.
 
That ludicrous spin and spew in Finland. Don't know the name.
Kieppi <3 Totally insane

This isn't going to be ordered. Mostly because I can't remember most of the things I ride, so I've probably missed everything.

Apocalypse (Drayton Manor) - Worth going to Drayton for alone. Whether standing up with or without a floor, it's such an unusual position for a drop tower that it's great fun
Chiapas (Phantasialand) - It just does everything right. Snappy forwards/backwards transitions, an entire album length soundtrack (which is on Spotify, for the record),
Detonator (Thorpe Park) - I love a good drop tower, and the extra shove on Det catches me out every time
Droomvlucht (Efteling) - To date, the only dark ride to elicit an audible reaction from me, for how gorgeous the planet castles scene was. With Efteling's amazing music score and the wall-to-wall theming in the diaramas, the atmosphere is truly special
Hex (Alton Towers) - If you want to know what a difference a well integrated soundtrack can make to a ride, this is where you go for the proof. At its best, it gives me the spine-tingles
Le Donjon (Nigloland) - The best pure drop tower I've done. It's huge but doesn't feel forceless after halfway
Mission Space (WDW Epcot) - It's a while since I did this, but it's amazing how much a centrifuge adds to a simulator. You can do proper acceleration.
Mystery Castle (Phantasialand) - An indoor drop tower that goes for the "assault to the senses" approach. It's very effective
River Quest (Phantasialand) - I'm honestly not trying to turn this into a list of Phantasialand rides. This pips Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges to my favourite rapids for being completely insane.
Tower of Terror (either Disneyland Paris or WDW Florida, and probably the rest) - Forceful, atmospheric. It's Disney at their best. I love the in-character ride-ops doing that 50s-horror-movie-esque craziness


And a couple of generic models:
S&S Screamin' Swing - Powerful, lots of airtime and forces. Bonus points to Uppswinget (Liseberg) for being over the hillside.
Gerstlauer Sky Fly - I love the way you can vary your ride and I love the insanity when you get the technique right.
 
Tower of Terror @ Hollywood Studios
Test Track @ Epcot
Dinosaur @ Animal Kingdom
Transformers @ USF
HP & The Forbidden Journey @ IOA
Hex @ Alton Towers
Droomvlucht @ Efteling
Mostly Disney and Universal but they really do "other" rides better than most. Also I just generally love drop towers, even the ones where the drop is slightly crap. They give me a sense of fear that most coasters don't anymore so i'll always make the effort to ride one. Detonator and Atmosfear are my faves.
 
Just thought of another one of my absolute favorites- Terror Twister 2 at SFGAm during Fright Fest. They take the Tea Cups, board up all the windows, add lights, sound, fog, strobes, all the fun stuff and run the ride like a rave. It's the best thing there during Fright Fest imo.


There's like 5 or so different cycles, so it's unique each time you do it.
 
Ignoring duplicates:
1. Pirates DLP
2. Tower of Terror DHS
3. Splash Mountain MK
4. Spiderman IOA
5. Jurassic Park IOA
6. Phantom Manor
7. Popeye
8. Kilamanjaro Safari
9. Dinosaur
10. Droomvluct
 
Mine would be in no particular order:

Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey - IOA
Hex - Alton Towers - one of the best things at a UK theme park in my view
Huss Break Dances as a whole - just a fabulous flat ride.
Mondial Top Scans - ones that are run well such as The Beast at Fantasy Island
Hotel Gasten - Liseberg - such a great attraction and worth the extra charge.
The funhouse at Tivoli Gardens in Sweden - brilliant fun :)
Diamond Mine walk through at Europa Park - such a great thing and a must do :)
Derren Brown's Ghost Train - Thorpe Park - probably a curious choice but personally I really like it.
 
A list of non coaster rides, I love, that I can currently think of. I am sure that there are loads of others!
In no particular order:

Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey - IOA/ Universal Japan
Hex - Alton
Splash Mountain - WDW/ Tokyo Disneyland
Tower of Terror - WDW
Mystery Castle - Phantasialand
River Quest - Phantasialand
Popeye's Barges - IOA
Ripsaw Falls - IOA
The Ghost Train - Grona Lund
Spiderman - IOA/ Universal Japan
Det - Thorpe
The Screaming Swing - Liseberg
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin - WDW
Old Test Track - WDW
Malestrom - WDW
Figment - WDW
Dinosaur - WDW
Haunted Mansion - WDW
Indiana Jones - Tokyo Disneysea
Journey to Centre of The Earth - Tokyo Disneysea
 
Just thought of another one of my absolute favorites- Terror Twister 2 at SFGAm during Fright Fest. They take the Tea Cups, board up all the windows, add lights, sound, fog, strobes, all the fun stuff and run the ride like a rave. It's the best thing there during Fright Fest imo.


There's like 5 or so different cycles, so it's unique each time you do it.

ahh - reminds me of the great black revolver at drayton..

http://www.themeparksofengland.com/past/blackrevolver.htm
 
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