In 2001, when Disney’s California Adventure opened, there was one dark ride in the entire park. And that one dark ride – the infamous Superstar Limo - was universally regarded as one of the worst Disney attractions ever. So when Disney finally decided to give the struggling park a massive overhaul, adding better/more dark rides was high priority. And in some cases, those dark rides would fill spots already occupied by struggling attractions. Golden Dreams – a film shown on an indoor theater starring Whoopi Goldberg about the history of California – was one of these. The film never drew much of an audience, and the show building was completely demolished – except for the rotunda designed after the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. That structure would be spared – and would become the entry point into the all-new building constructed for the new dark ride based on The Little Mermaid. The building itself is designed to look and feel like an early century pier structure – to blend in with the rest of Paradise Pier – and there are nice touches everywhere like seashell designs, and a statue of King Triton shipped over from Disneyland next door. The building is ornate, and beautiful, but it does feel a bit out of place to cram the Little Mermaid into this area of the park, surrounded by classic seaside amusement attractions like rockets, a ferris wheel, and a roller coaster. And the ride itself is basically a “book report” of the movie…and honestly feels a bit rushed toward the end, as if the Imagineers either ran out of funding or estimated the length of the track incorrectly. Regardless, it still has several well-done scenes, though it’s a crime that a ride based on a movie taking place under the sea has absolutely no water features whatsoever. It’s nice overall, but it’s straightforward design and somewhat shoehorned placement means that it’s in second place on our list.

When Magic Kingdom embarked on its multi-year overhaul of Fantasyland, the new area would see the removal of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea submarine attraction, lagoon, and show building. This freed up a massive area that would become home to some truly fantastic attractions, buildings, and theming. Part of that overhaul was the addition of the Little Mermaid dark ride, which here would be built from the ground up. With a blank slate, and the freedom to lean heavily on the placement of the ride in Fantasyland, the Imagineers created a replica of Prince Eric’s castle, nestled among giant boulders and waterfalls, in a tropical oasis style setting. It is a fantastic façade, and the queue that gradually winds around, and ultimately into the show building, is one of the best at Magic Kingdom. Here there are tributes to the old submarine ride if one looks closely within the rock formations (and pays careful attention to the name of this version of the attraction). There is also an interactive game or two with some of Ariel’s undersea friends, particularly a small blue crab. A Scuttle animatronic adds an additional touch to the line as it winds its way deep into the load area. The load area itself has a better backdrop than that found in California, with a beautiful ode to the sea. When it comes to the actual ride, the experience is almost a carbon copy of that found in California – there are very few differences, and they are mostly minor. It’s the same “book-report” format that feels a bit rushed, and should have been something a bit more original than just a retelling of the movie that most have watched repeatedly at home. At the end of the day, the improvements here are almost entirely attributable to the fantastic queue. And while that may seem like a minor factor, Disney’s queues are often considered part of the attraction themselves, and here it works well enough to put Florida’s Little Mermaid Dark Ride at the top of our list, as the best version in the world.