What
would you say is the most overrated ride at Disneyland? That is,
which one has the biggest gap between overall public acclaim and
actual quality, with the quality on the low end of the equation?
I
had to do some hard thinking to come up with my answer, but I think
it's the Mad Tea Party.* It's an iconic ride, but iconic
is not the same as impressive
and if anything, it's a testament to the power of theming. Without
its Wonderland morphsuit, it's just that old carnival standby, the
Tilt-a-Whirl. An adorable paint job and familiar music have kept it
successful for 60 years. Me, I've got better things to do with my
Disneyland day than work a 90-second shift as the Amazing Human
Spirograph.
Now,
how about the most underrated
ride? Which ride in the park is the most unjustly maligned by the
public despite being in every way a classic? This one was a much
clearer choice. The Mark Twain and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride both deserve
longer lines than they get, but they lack the one trait a ride needs
to be truly
unfairly dismissed, and that is visibility.
They aren't underrated
so much as overlooked.
But
there is one ride that has it all—an original concept, innovation,
extraordinary artistic design, accessibility to all ages, an
uplifting presence, and even its own theme song—yet routinely
suffers outright mockery
from the general public, from Disney's competitors, and from actual
Cast Members.**
That ride is the one, the only, “it's a small world.”
But
you already knew that from the post title.
