Posted by
Mike and Chris Pettey
on August 20, 2024
Category:
Disney vs. Disney
Tags:
Disney California Adventure
Disney vs. Disney
Hollywood Studios
Shanghai Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland
Disney “Whip Rides” are Zamperla Demolition Derby attractions where custom vehicles move in a figure 8 pattern around several rotating turntables, with guest seats located in a trailing vehicle that freely “whips” around the turns. The attractions are found in four of the six Disney Resorts across the globe. We’ve ridden every Disney whip ride in person.
Major Similarities and Differences
You can watch fantastic videos of all of these rides online, so we won’t spend time re-hashing the details of each experience. Instead, we will just point out the major similarities and differences we feel are worth calling out:
- Each location has a different name and theme:
- California: Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree (Cars)
- Florida: Alien Swirling Saucers (Toy Story)
- Tokyo: The Happy Ride with Baymax (Big Hero 6)
- Shanghai: Woody’s Roundup (Toy Story)
- The attractions are located in different lands:
- California: Cars Land
- Florida: Toy Story Land
- Tokyo: Tomorrowland
- Shanghai: Toy Story Land
- At specific times of year, the California attraction receives seasonal overlays:
- Halloween: Mater’s Graveyard Jambooree
- Holidays: Mater’s Jingle Jamboree
The Rankings (From Least Favorite to Favorite)
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The Florida version of the attraction is located inside of this park’s wonderful Toy Story Land –
the best version of that land in the world. And while it contains the fantastic Slinky Dog Dash, and a solid version of Toy Story Mania, the land’s whip ride is the weakest offering of the bunch. Alien Swirling Saucers is housed under a massive roof structure, providing much needed shade and shelter from the Florida weather. Unfortunately, underneath that covering is the blandest version of the pack. Guests board spaceship-themed vehicles which are all identical, with only slight variations to the alien characters themselves that “pull” the guests. The soundtrack is a generic sci-fi themed beat, with only scattered narrative from the aliens themselves. Still, being at the Florida resort, the ride pulls in the largest crowds of any of its counterparts, where wait times can easily hit the 60 minute mark. But at the end of the day, there’s just not much here. It’s ultimately a mediocre letdown if you’ve experienced any of the others, and we personally wouldn’t wait more than 15 minutes for Alien Swirling Saucers, the least inspiring Disney whip ride in the world, and worst on our list.
Within Cars Land at Disney California Adventure park in California sits Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, one of three heavily themed attractions from the Cars franchise. In this version of the ride, guests are pulled by the cow-themed tractors from the film franchise. And all during the ride, Mater serenades us with hilarious pun-filled dialogue and song. Its far more entertaining than it has any right to be, with just the quantity of Mater that provides fun without overkill. This version of the ride also benefits from the California weather and thus, no overhead covering, which makes for a wonderful outdoor experience. The surrounding area is perfectly themed as well. On top of all of this, the ride receives two seasonal overlays – once during Disney’s Halloweentime, when it becomes Mater’s Graveyard Jambooree, and again for The Holidays at Disneyland, when it is known as Mater’s Jingle Jamboree. Both are decorated to the appropriate season, and Mater’s songs and narrative are unique as well. Overall, it’s a ride with just the right amount of Mater to keep you smiling, and as a result this version spins and sings its way into our number three spot on the list.
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In Toy Story Land at Shanghai Disneyland sits the most charming and adorable version of the pack, Woody’s Roundup. And it’s hard to articulate just how cute this version of the ride really is. The ride is uncovered, but surrounded by themed buildings from the fictional series-with-a-series, “Woody’s Roundup”, from the Toy Story films. Guests sit within coaches being pulled by a variety of cartoon horses - all unique, and seeming to be friends and relatives of Bullseye, each with different expressions, colors, and personalities. The music is absolutely a hit, with tunes from the show being sung in Mandarin. It all adds up to something both magical and completely on point, and feels almost like what should have been done in Florida and California from the beginning. There’s not much here to improve on as far as the ride is concerned, and that’s why Woody’s Roundup sits comfortably in second place on our list.
Copyright Wikipedia. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright Wikipedia. All Rights Reserved.
On the surface, The Happy Ride with Baymax may appear to be nothing special. Despite the fact that this is the only Big Hero 6 themed ride in the world, it’s admittedly not much to look at, with Baymax characters pulling spaceship themed vehicles around the typical configuration, all under a covered roof. Where this one really sets itself apart is when the music kicks in, and the experience begins. And what an experience it is. The Tokyo cast members quickly educate you on why the word “happy” is in the title of this ride. Every single ride cycle, they will clap, wave, and even dance from their stationed locations around the attraction, and the result is simply infectious. At first a bit perplexing, when riders quickly realize just how sincere this enthusiasm and interaction is, it’s almost impossible not to get completely sucked into the joy. It all adds up to provide a great experience that is far more than the sum of its parts. We dare you to step off this ride without a giant grin on your face – and that’s due in major part to the unbelievable staff at Tokyo Disneyland. It’s what makes The Happy Ride with Baymax the absolute best Disney whip ride in the world.
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Written by
Mike and Chris Pettey
Do you love Disney Parks rankings? Check out our full library of
"Disney Vs. Disney" blog posts where we rank and review literally dozens of similar rides, parks, lands and attractions from the six Disney Parks resorts around the world. From the
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six Main Streets, to the
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YOUR THOUGHTS?
Agree or disagree with our rankings? Have you experienced any of these attractions – either in person, or virtually via the internet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
3 Comments
Yay!! A new entry! 🙂
It’s fascinating how different these all are from each other. Usually, despite some variations, one version of the ride is easily recognizable from one park to the next. In this case, I wonder how many guests don’t even realize that they’ve experienced the same ride with different overlays. They sound like a lot of fun, though! Hope I get to see these in person some day!
Thanks for the latest post. These are always such a fun read!
Thanks for the comment Tom! Glad you enjoyed this latest post. This is definitely one where there is a huge range in variety between the different attractions vs. just a different ‘theme’ overlaying the vehicles.
Stay tuned…we hope to have more posts soon!
Awesome! Looking forward to them. 🙂