We’re conquering the BEST rides in Disney World for 2025!
It’s a new year, which means it’s time for some 2025 rankings! For this one, we’re counting down the Top 10 BEST Rides at Disney World. Ready to see if one of YOUR favorites (or soon-to-be favorites) made the list? Read ahead!
Disney World has SO MANY RIDES between all four parks — but there are SOME rides that you’ll experience during your next visit that’ll just mean even MORE to you if you experience them in 2025. So we’re going highlight the TOP 10 Disney World rides of the new year — featuring new experiences, fresh additions, and tearful goodbyes.
Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom
BABY ANIMALS!!!!!!!!! Sorry, did you want us to elaborate on that? Alright-y then. Kilimanjaro Safaris — over in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom — is an 18-minute expedition that takes you through the park’s savannas to see a variety of animals up close and personal, including elephants, giraffes, alligators, lions, and MORE.
But the reason we keep jumping back onto this ride over and over again recently is because there’s a HIGH CHANCE we can see BABY ANIMALS out on the savanna!
Like CORRA, for instance! Corra is the youngest elephant out on Kilimanjaro. In fact, she just turned ONE not too long ago and Disney threw her a little PARTY. (Complete with all of Corra’s favorite foods — like sweet potato, bamboo, and peanut butter.) Needless to say, Corra was pretty thrilled by all this. (And why shouldn’t she be? We’re all thrilled for her, too!)
Other young animals you might see are Young LION siblings named Mshango, Zahara, and Neema. Disney hopes that, when these young lions get a little older, they’ll be able to mingle with another pride and help strengthen the future of the lion population. But, for now, they’re just over here spiriting Simba and working on their “ROAR!”
Remember: Kilimanjaro Safaris closes before the rest of the park does (typically around 5PM or earlier). So you’ll wanna check on this ride’s updated times via your My Disney Experience App to make sure you don’t miss it during your next visit!
Star Tours at Hollywood Studios
Lookie HERE! We’re giving Star Tours some extra LOVE and APPRECIATION in 2025! This past April, Star Tours — over in Disney’s Hollywood Studios — received a MAJOR update. Now, you have the potential of encountering characters and lands straight outta three of the most successful Star Wars shows on Disney+ currently: Ashoka, Andor, and The Mandalorian.
When these scenes were initially introduced, Disney “locked” them in place for a couple of months so everyone could experience the same new storylines. However, once June rolled around, Star Tours went back to being a fully randomized experience, with the new Disney+ scenes integrated into the randomization sequences.
SO, the next time you ride Star Tours, if you didn’t get any of these new scenes, simply hop back in line! The good thing about Star Tours is that — normally — it doesn’t rack up a huge wait, so you should get the chance to get on it again if you didn’t get the ride sequence and characters you were hoping for the first time around.
New Lounges
We’re cheating just a smidge here because there are TWO rides that we want to shout out reflecting the two new park lounges THEMED after classic Disney rides coming onto the scene in 2025! First (and probably the one we’re MOST excited for) is the Spaceship Earth lounge coming to EPCOT and slated to open in late Spring 2025.
The space’s sleek look will be inspired by the “stories, shapes, and enduring legacy” of the park’s icon, with lots of decor that draws inspiration from “the ball’s” unique geodesic sphere. The lounge’s purpose is to offer a “zen space” to guests, filled with “rich textures and warm metallic tones” to give the lounge more of a “mysterious and elegant intimacy.” You’ll be able to ride the Spaceship Earth dark ride, go to the Spaceship Earth lounge, ride Spaceship Earth AGAIN (just to make sure you properly thank the Phoenicians), and stay late enough that you can watch Spaceship Earth’s rotating projection shows.
And THEN there’s Magic Kingdom’s Pirates of the Caribbean Tavern — which is slated to open in late 2025. Here, Pirates “of all ages” can gather and swap seafaring stories while Barker Bird (also known as Peg Leg Pete) greets guests who wander in from the Adventureland streets. The Pirates of the Caribbean-themed space will serve a variety of food and beverage options (aaaand, according to Disney, we should also expect some “magical surprises” in store…)
This is gonna be another fun ride-and-lounge combo. You go on the Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride, and then you swing on by the lounge to tell the tavern-folk ALL about it. Once we know more about BOTH of these lounges’ specifics, we’ll make sure to update y’all ASAP, as you’ll likely need to make Advanced Dining Reservations.
Soarin’ Around the World at EPCOT
Gone are the days of the Eiffel Tower looking all cattywampus… EPCOT’S Soarin’ Around the World is now SHARPER and BETTER than ever before! If you’ve ridden Soarin’ any time in the past few years (and did not sit in the middle row), you likely noticed that in the Paris scene, the Eiffel Tower curved HEAVILY to the side, looking more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
However, back in November, one of our DFB reporters went on the ride and was seated in Section C, Row 1, furthest to the side, and yet The Eiffel Tower no longer looked all bendy like a rubber ruler!
But WAIT. There’s MORE. The final Soarin scene has ALSO been updated to show EPCOT in its current, transformed state! Even without these updates, we still would’ve recommended Soarin’ (because we just really like this ride… ESPECIALLY its soundtrack). However, if you’re traveling with someone who has a fear of heights, keep in mind that — although this is a screen-based attraction to SIMULATE the feeling of flying — you’re still gonna be lifted pretty high in the air. BUT you’ll be perfectly safe up there with just light — VERY light — movements and no sudden thrills.
Rides Testing New Single Rider Lines
Once again, we’re gonna cheat by adding TWO rides into ONE point again. Recently, Disney’s been testing out some new SINGLE rider lines to give us ANOTHER free option for POTENTIALLY cutting down on our ride wait times. So far, we’ve seen single rider lines-in-testing over at Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios AND Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in EPCOT.
Now, because these single rider lines are still in the experimentation stages, they’re not GUARANTEED to be open while you’re visiting. BUT it’s always worth double checking on anyway — because if the single rider line IS open, you could very well cut down on some of the LONGEST ride lines across BOTH parks. The main downside? Single rider lines will break up your party — so it’s not a GREAT strategy if you’ve got younger riders with you, OR if you were just really wanting to experience this E-ticket attraction alongside your favorite people instead of with a vehicle full of strangers.
To be fair, single rider isn’t a new concept to the Disney scene, by any means. You can commonly find single rider lines over at attractions like Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom, Rock n Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios, and Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run in Hollywood Studios, as well. BUT, just recently, Smugglers Run started experimenting with a new-to-Disney World queue concept: The Double Rider Queue.
This works exactly how you think it’d work. Instead of POTENTIALLY bypassing over a bulk of the queue all by your lonesome, you’ll get to partner up with a buddy and become a party of two that STILL gets to use the single rider line option. IF you wanna try the double rider line on for size, ask the cast member at the front of the attraction FIRST to make sure this is still a viable option during your trip. If it is, go ahead and jump into the single rider line with your ride buddy in tow!
TRON: Lightcycle/Run
We’d consider TRON: Lightcycle/Run over at Magic Kingdom to be a combo between Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT and Rock n Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios. It’s smooth, it’s thrilling, it’s got a high-speed launch (but NO upside down loopty loops or INTENSE drops). It’s just a GOOD time all around. Is it short? Sure. But is it still thrilling? You BETCHA. (Especially if you’re able to ride it at NIGHT when the grid lights up.)
When TRON first opened back in 2023, it opened with a virtual queue system (which means you had to save your spot in line via the My Disney Experience App and you can’t enter a traditional physical queue for it). BUT back in early September 2024, TRON officially switched over from having a virtual queue to a standby one — so you no longer have to worry about jumping on the My Disney Experience app to save your spot in line at either 7 AM or 1 PM!
ALSO — keep in mind that TRON is the ONLY ride in Disney World that requires you to put bags and purses in a complimentary locker BEFORE you ride. You can unlock any locker with the touch of your MagicBand or ticket (but if you’re relying on Magic Mobile tickets via your phone, a cast member can hook you up with a temporary locker card that you’ll return after your ride). There is a small compartment on the ride vehicle that can store items like phones, glasses, and wallets — but anything larger than that will have to get cozy in the lockers!
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opened on June 28th, 2024 — making it the NEWEST ride in all of Disney World (… for NOW.) So if you didn’t get a chance to check it out in 2024, that means 2025 is your time to join in on all the Mardi Gras fun! But what can you expect to find on this new Princess and the Frog-themed log flume?
Just to catch you up to speed, it seems that all of Princess Tiana’s culinary dreams have come true (and we are SO PROUD OF HER FOR THAT). Tiana is EXTREMELY grateful to her New Orleans community for helping make her restaurant a roaring success, so — just to give her people a big ol’ “THANK YOU,” — she’s planning a MASSIVE Mardi Gras party with lots of yummy foods, dancing, music. Wait. Hold up. Where’s the MUSIC??! Uh oh — looks like Tiana and her alligator pal, Louis, are gonna have to gather up a band to pull this whole shindig off.
Throughout the ride, you’ll encounter IMPRESSIVE animatronics featuring new and classic Princess and the Frog characters alike — including the magical Mama Odie, who’ll shrink you down to track down fireflies. This section of the story gets a little hazy, but — hey — it’s colorful and fun!
Currently, you WILL need a virtual queue to experience this ride, BUT considering the fact Disneyland’s version of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure no longer uses a virtual queue system, Magic Kingdom’s might very well ditch theirs as well sometime this year. We’ll keep you updated just as soon as we learn the truth, one way or another.
Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom
LAST CALL FOR DINOSAUR! LAST CALL TO GO GET THAT DINO! DINOSAUR is a thrilling adventure where you’re sent into the prehistoric era via Time Rover to track down an Iguanodon for Dr. Seeker for reasons unbeknownst to us, but…. we guess we’re blindly gonna trust that Seeker knows what he’s doing here.
This isn’t a roller coaster, per se, but it’s also not your average slow-going dark ride. Instead, you’ll be jostled around the track, thanks to quick turns, bumps in the road, and… oh, y’know, casually dodging a meteor or two. No biggie.
This has been a popular ride over in Animal Kingdom for MANY years now, but it seems that its reign of Carnotaurus terror is about to end. Currently, Animal Kingdom is starting to transition over from DinoLand, U.S.A. and into Pueblo Esperanza — which will be the park’s big Tropical Americas-themed area slated to officially open by 2027.
And that means we’ve already had to say goodbye to some long-standing DinoLand locations like TriceraTop Spin, Chester and Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures, and Fossil Fun Games. The good news about DinoLand for 2025, however, is that the Dinosaur attraction itself will remain open for the rest of the year. So there’s a GOOD CHANCE you’ll still be able to experience this one for ONE FINAL RIDE THROUGH before it takes its final journey back in time.
BUT after 2025, Dinosaur will be heading to that big meteor crater in the sky to make way for a brand new Indiana Jones dark ride.
Test Track at EPCOT
Okay, everyone — start your ENGINES! It’s been a while since we’ve been able to hop onto Test Track over at EPCOT, since it’s been closed for some MAJOR renovations ever since June 17th, 2024. However, in summer of 2025, we’ll FINALLY be able to hop back on and listen to that engine PURR.
Walt Disney Imagineering is collaborating with Chevrolet to update this ride and make its NEW focus all about the past, present, and future of transportation. Disney confirmed that the queue will feature six distinct exhibits, and within each exhibit, you’ll learn about different vehicles as well as the people behind the creation of said vehicles. But within the ride itself, Imagineers are currently busy adding new show scenes that will showcase technological advances that illustrate “how our lifestyles and relationships to mobility connect everyone.”
When Test Track does reopen, just make sure you’re all squared away on how Disney’s virtual queue system works. If history repeats itself, Disney’s been using virtual queues for all their brand new attractions ever since Rise of the Resistance opened in Hollywood Studios back in 2019 to help them with crowd control. Then again, you might also just be able to purchase Lightning Lanes for this ride, too. Before Test Track closed, you could snag Lightning Lanes for it via the regular Multi Pass purchase.
PeopleMover
Listen. LISTEN. You GOTTA hear us out with this one. PeopleMover isn’t the most EXCITING Magic Kingdom ride out there, especially when you consider it’s in the same land as coasters like TRON and Space Mountain. But we LOVE PEOPLEMOVER, Y’ALL. We love it with EVERY fiber of our being. It’s just a nice, easy-going, train ride above Tomorrowland that you rarely EVER have to wait in a long line for.
Not saying you NEVER have to wait a long time for it, but, on average, it can easily be a 5-10 minute wait, tops. Once you’re on the ride, you can kick up your feet and rest a bit while going in and out of tunnels that take you on a relaxing little tour above and through various Tomorrowland attractions.
PeopleMover has been a part of Magic Kingdom since 1975, but if we learned ANYTHING in 2024, it’s that NOTHING is safe from being reimagined in Disney World. Absolutely NOTHING. So we suggest you Ride this ride. Enjoy it. Post about HOW much you enjoy it. Show Disney that THIS ride doesn’t deserve the same treatment that it received over in Disneyland back in the day.
Now, don’t take this the wrong way. PeopleMover’s not going ANYWHERE at the moment (Thank GOODNESS), but… we wanna make this a TOP ride at Disney World for 2025 just to KEEP it that way.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
We can’t wrap up this list JUST yet. It wouldn’t FEEL right without highlighting a few HONORABLE MENTIONS.
Water Rides
All through 2025, you’re gonna be able to visit one of the Disney water parks without having to worry about paying $74 per person to experience them. Anyone staying at ANY of the Disney-owned hotels (including DVC properties) will receive FREE tickets to the water parks for everyone on the hotel reservation. You know what that means?? LOTS OF WATER RIDES!!!
Just keep in mind that there are some restrictions to this new benefit:
- First of all, you’ll be able to use this perk at EITHER Blizzard Beach OR Typhoon Lagoon — but not both because both water parks never really stay open at the same time anymore. So one will open, and the other will shut down for “routine maintenance.”
- Secondly, tickets are pursuant to “availability” – so if the water park is closed for cold or bad weather, there’s no rain check here. You just won’t be able to go.
- And third, you can only use your free water park privilege on your hotel check-in day. Granted, you don’t have to check into your hotel just yet in order to use that water park perk — so you could technically hop on over to the water park just as soon as you cross into the Disney bubble. But if you need to drop off your luggage before you start enjoying all that free water park goodness, you can still swing by your hotel first thing in the morning even BEFORE your room is ready for ya and ask bell services to hold onto your stuff.
MuppetVision 3D
While not a ride, you still need to prioritize Muppet*Vision 3D, which is closing for good on June 7th to make way for a new Monsters, Inc. Land.
But here’s the GOOD news — the Muppets aren’t getting completely kicked out of Hollywood Studios! (WHEW!) Instead, they’ll be REVAMPING the current Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster ride now that Aerosmith’s contract is up with Disney.
The Muppets will be teaming up with some of “music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival” and bringing us a reimagined ride with “laughter, screams and new tunes… for fans to enjoy throughout the adventure.”
Flight of Passage
There’s nothing really NEW about Flight of Passage, and it’s DEFINITELY not on the brink of getting kicked out of the park since it’s literally the most popular ride in Animal Kingdom right now. However, it simply deserves a shoutout!
Flight of Passage is a 4D attraction that puts you on the back of your very own banshee so you can fly through the vibrant world of Pandora. FULL WARNING: The wait times for this ride can be brutal, even at the start of the day — but since there aren’t very many rides in Animal Kingdom to begin with, you should be able to get on this one okay without having to sacrifice another attraction to make it happen. OR you can always purchase a Lightning Lane Single Pass (which costs an a la carte price per ride, per person) if you’d rather skip over the main queue entirely.
Whether you’ve been to Disney World before OR you’re planning on going for the first time SOON, what would YOU consider to be your TOP RIDE picks for each park? Let us know in the comments, and DON’T FORGET to follow us right here at DFB for all the latest Disney World tips, tricks, reviews, updates, and more!
Uh, Disney, Where Did the Astro Orbiter Go?
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