Random fun facts from some of our favorite rides

by Laura Lee

Walt Disney was not only a dreamer but a creator who found a way to make magic in almost everything he did….including the attractions inside his theme parks. Disney Theme Parks are known for going above and beyond to make an experience feel as real as possible. Read on for some fun facts about cool things on some of the most popular rides at the Walt Disney World.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror is a thrilling drop scare kind of attraction that plummets you 13 stories inside a creepy abandoned hotel. Roaming through dark, enclosed spaces and dropping 130 feet can be pretty terrifying and from outside you can hear the screams of terror. But did you know that those screams are actually pre-recorded? Let’s just call it the magic of atmosphere sounds. As if falling faster than the speed of gravity wasn’t terrifying enough.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind inside Epcot is the only Marvel ride at Walt Disney World. At 60 miles per hour it is one of the biggest indoor roller coasters in the country. To put it into perspective, you can fit 4 Spaceship Earth’s inside!

One of the best coasters for kids is Slinky Dog Dash inside Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Riders only have to be 38″ tall and no upside down tracks can be found here. A ride on Slinky Dog, which simulates a trip through Andy’s backyard, is only 10 miles faster per hour than Space Mountain (but no free falls). It’s also the only Walt Disney World rollercoaster with two launches at the beginning of the ride and then halfway through.

The 7 Dwarfs Mine Train is one of the most popular roller coasters inside the Magic Kingdom (with one of the longest waits). Reason for its popularity? Besides the adorable dwarfs is the mine train itself On this coaster they sway side to side so you do in fact feel like you are barreling down into a mine on an uncontrollable vehicle.

There’s so much about the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attraction that is pretty awesome. At 18 minutes long, it’s the longest ride on Disney property and one of the most technologically advanced. One of our favorite things is what greets you at the beginning of the ride; a row of storm troopers in the Destroyer Hangar. At first look, it might look like there are dozens of them, since they are all standing side by side. But in reality it’s only 50 total.

When Space Mountain opened inside Tomorrowland in 1975, it was the first wooden, indoor roller coaster and the first coaster to be controlled by a computer. Space Mountain is still a fan favorite inside Tomorrowland. An indoor coaster that is completely dark adds to the thrill. The sharp turns and sudden, small sudden drops are completely unexpected. There are also fans placed at certain points to make it feel like you are going faster than you actually are. While the top speed here is only 28 miles per hour, it somehow feels faster when you can’t see what’s coming next.

The Tomorrowland Speedway, one of the original rides at the Magic Kingdom, was created to feel like you were in the middle of the Indy 500. But the actual speed of the cars on the track go a whopping 7 mpg max…so no worries about reckless driving. Originally called the Grand Prix Raceway when it opened back in 1971, there are 146 cars on the track which is actually only 4/10ths of a miles. It’s been refurbished and made both larger and smaller in the past 50 years but it’s still a bumper car favorite.

Inside Avatar’s Flight of Passage you’ll find one of the most unique and elaborate queues. Wandering through the Pandora includes beautiful flowers, vegetation and even a waterfall. The jungle like atmosphere and the cool lab inside the Pandora Conservation Initiative are all created to get your mind off the long lines. That’s because imagineers built the queue with a possible 6 hour wait in mind. But it’s all worth it when you get hop on your banshee and travel seven miles inside the Valley of Mo’ara alongside hundreds of fellow Pandorans.

When it was built, Expedition Everest inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom was one of the most expensive roller coasters ever built. Disney Imagineers made “Forbidden Mountain” the tallest attraction in all of Walt Disney World (almost 200 feet!) and one of the most expensive at cool $100 million. It’s also the first Disney roller coaster to go both forwards and backwards making it one of the most heart pounding coasters as well.