Disney World was such a magical and memorable part of my childhood, and this past Christmas, I had the pleasure of returning for another trip. I was absolutely shocked at how many fantastic rides they had added within the few years since my last visit! If you have the chance, you must check out these new rides in Orlando!
I’m going to start with the ride that was by far my favorite: Avatar Flight of Passage. It was so spectacular, I kid you not, it left me in tears. This ride opened in 2017, along with all of Pandora in Animal Kingdom. Pandora (a recreation of the setting of the Avatar movies) is actually the biggest addition Animal Kingdom has ever had — and it is very impressive and immersive, to say the least. On the ride, you ride a banshee, which is a dragon-like creature from the Avatar movies. The seats are in rows and are comparable to that of a motorcycle, but with your chest pushed against an additional pad, and another pad securing your back just before the ride begins. Once you and the small group you boarded with are secure, the row of seats is lifted into the air, and closer to a screen, like the ride Soarin’. Then the 3D experience begins. It is extremely immersive due to small touches like wind, mist as you soar near oceans, and the seats moving to replicate the breathing of the creature you are flying on. While I felt literally reborn after this ride, my family members with motion sickness and vision problems did not find it as enjoyable, so keep this in mind if you have any of these problems!
Another fantastic ride, this one added to Hollywood Studios, is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Admittedly, I don’t know much about Star Wars movies. However, this ride was so immersive and so different from any other ride at Disney World that you don’t need to know anything about Star Wars to appreciate it. Plus, this is an 18-minute ride, which in itself is impressive. It opened in late 2019, and is still a one-of-a-kind experience four years later. This ride has multiple parts; guests are recruited into the Resistance and begin in a simulated flight into space. After an emergency landing, the spacecraft is evacuated and are filed into a new aircraft, where you enter a large room filled with menacing stormtroopers — everyone is now held captive. After a few stops in a walking tour through the enemy aircraft, the guests are loaded into escape pods, where the trackless ride experience begins. If you haven’t been on a trackless ride, it is essentially made up of carts that drive around seemingly aimlessly across the ground that (obviously) has no tracks. It’s pretty mind-blowing. The escape pods zoom around the aircraft, not without being chased and attacked of course. Needless to say, it is not so much a ride, but more an experience.
I had a lot of anticipation for the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride as well because I love Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Let me just say that it did not disappoint. In this ride located in Epcot, you are recruited by the Guardians themselves to save Earth from the villainous celestial being, Eson. The ride is a fully indoor, high-speed roller coaster, similar to space mountain. The carts rotate 360 degrees, and the track itself includes plenty of twists and turns, making for a very exciting and chaotic ride through space (take caution if you get motion sick!). It is also the first ever reverse-launch roller coaster in Disney World (reverse-launch means exactly what you think it means…). It was a very lighthearted experience, and I personally was fangirling over the fact that the characters from the movies played such a large part in the ride. It is a short ride, but very thrilling!
There is something at Disney World for everyone; it has so much variety when it comes to rides and experiences. The park is ever-changing, and its newest additions proved that Disney continues to be at the top of the amusement park food chain.
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