14 Disney World Rides That Aren't Actually Worth Waiting In A Long Line For, According To Visitors

Walt Disney World is home to four parks full of attractions of all shapes and sizes, designed to appeal to a wide array of potential visitors and provide a great family-friendly vacation option. Sometimes, however, they do too good of a job of attracting guests, resulting in lines that can make some of the rides feel less than worth it. After all, if you spend an hour — or even longer, on busy days — waiting for a ride, your expectations are naturally going to be much higher than for one you were able to just walk straight on. Whether the attractions themselves are a disappointment or they simply can't live up to the hype, some Disney rides ultimately let guests down.

Thankfully, you can go into your next Disney World trip prepared. There are plenty of tips and tricks for maximizing your experience, from clothes-packing mistakes to avoid and the surprising banned items to leave at home to which attractions to prioritize. We've put together a list of rides that might not be worth the time investment by compiling recommendations from experienced Disney bloggers and cross-referencing wait times to see which just don't have a bang-for-your-buck factor.

You know what's fun? Cruising. Tomorrowland Speedway recreates the experience of the open road, giving pint-sized guests the opportunity to drive their own vehicle well before they've gotten their learner's permit. It was an opening day attraction at Walt Disney World back in 1971, mirroring Autopia, its Disneyland counterpart. But these days, Tomorrowland Speedway can feel a bit dated. Allears.net also points out that its ride queue isn't the best, calling it "hot and boring" and acknowledging its potential to get junior drivers tired and cranky before they've even climbed into their car.

It came in near the bottom of the list on Disney Tourist Blog's ranking of Disney World attractions, and the outlet didn't pull any punches in its summation of the experience, describing it as, "Perfect for those who want to enjoy the stench and cognitive impairment of vehicle exhaust." Despite this, Tomorrowland Speedway somehow remains a very much in-demand Magic Kingdom ride, with an average wait of 24 minutes. Based on these reviews, there are probably better ways to spend your time at Disney.

Peter Pan's Flight is one of Disney's original dark rides: It was there on Disneyland's opening day in 1955, and just two days after Walt Disney World's opening ceremony 16 years later. However, for some reason, it always seems to have a much longer wait time than any of its Fantasyland counterparts. (It has an average queue period of 58 minutes, while Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh clock in at 20 and 30 minutes, respectively.)

Many visitors consider Peter Pan's Flight the superior dark ride, partially because of the way that it allows riders to fly over the London skyline at night, but how much better is it? Is it worth standing in line for twice or three times as long? A lot of Disney bloggers would say no. Although they acknowledge the merits of the attraction, this one turns up on several lists of rides that aren't worth the wait, especially if there's a long line — and Peter Pan's Flight almost always has an extensive queue.

One of the newer rides in Disney's Animal Kingdom (a park that will soon get even more features added), Na'vi River Journey opened in 2017 as part of an "Avatar"-themed area designed to imitate the fictional planet of Pandora. Theme Park Insider claims that this ride is only worth it when the wait time dips below 20 minutes, which is not a super common occurrence, since the average queue time for the attraction is over an hour.

"The ride is way too short," states James at Guide2WDW. "This should be a 10 or 15-minute relaxing journey in a big boat to increase capacity, but it's a 5-minute jaunt that feels like it ends just as it's getting started." He praised the bioluminescent features and state-of-the-art animatronics of the attraction, but couldn't give it a full-throated endorsement because of the long lines and length of the boat ride itself in comparison. It's also worth pointing out that the queue for Na'vi River Journey is primarily outside, which can be brutal when the famed heat and humidity of Florida rear their heads.

Slinky Dog Dash is one of the most popular rides at Disney's otherwise somewhat lackluster Hollywood Studios, as evinced by its lengthy average wait time of 79 minutes — second only to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. And its popularity may be its downfall, because although it's a very fun family roller coaster, visitors might be left feeling that they didn't get as much out of the ride as its considerable lines suggested.

Along Main Street brings up the fact that it doesn't quite pick a lane as a potential reason for disappointment: It's easy to imagine very small children being scared by the ride, while older children might not be impressed. But most of the bloggers kept coming back to the same point, which is the tremendous wait times for Slinky Dog Dash. What makes it even worse is the fact that its entire queue is outside; in the Toy Story part of Hollywood Studios where there's almost no shade, the heat can be unforgiving.

Frozen Ever After is one of the newest additions to EPCOT. both its novelty and the popularity of its IP have resulted in some truly spectacular lines — it's normally just over an hour, although it can reach dizzying heights on busy days. But is it actually a great attraction, or are its lengthy waits more of a reflection on the limited number of rides available at EPCOT? Wandering In Disney claims the latter. "I enjoy Frozen as much as the next guy, but this attraction has too many faults to be worth the hour wait it often has," it says.

In addition to the lines, Guide2WDW also notes the tendency for the faces of the characters to malfunction on a regular basis, disappointing riders and potentially terrifying the youngest Disney guests. He and Robert Niles at Theme Park Insider both point out the fact that this is one attraction with a vastly superior version at a different Disney park — so if you happen to be in the neighborhood of Hong Kong Disneyland, it's a must-ride.

Put this one in the same category as Slinky Dog Dash. It's an immensely popular beginner rollercoaster, and to its credit, it's a very fun ride, but those lines can be killer. Out of all the attractions in Magic Kingdom, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has the longest average wait, coming in at a nigh unbearable 78 minutes. Although it's widely considered one of the best attractions at Disney World, some Disney bloggers think it's just not worth how long it takes to actually get on the ride.

This is one of the few options that isn't covered by Disney's Multi Pass, so guests have to shell out more money if they want a reprieve from queuing. It's not a very long ride (only around three minutes), and some Disney enthusiasts found themselves scratching their heads at the attraction's attempt to blend a rollercoaster with the traditional dark rides that populate much of Fantasyland. For a similar experience with a much shorter line, Theme Park Insider suggests taking a trip on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad instead.

Considering how popular "Aladdin" has been over the years, it has a surprisingly small footprint at the Disney parks. The one key exception? Magic Carpets of Aladdin. This ride was plopped down right in the middle of Adventureland, and it follows the Dumbo aerial spinner model featuring individual vehicles rotating in a circle around a fixed point. Only instead of flying elephants, you're riding magic carpets. And that's kind of it. Many Disney bloggers see it as a letdown, with Mouse Hacking, AllEars.net, and Disney Tourist Blog all including it in their bottom 10 rides across all four parks in Walt Disney World.

"An Aladdin Magic Carpet ride shouldn't be this lame," says Guide2WDW bluntly. "The whole thing feels like a spit in the face from one of those camels standing outside the attraction." You might think that a ride with such a reputation might at least have short lines. And while they are on the smaller side by Disney standards, you can still expect to wait around 20 minutes or so for this one.

Out of all the rides at Walt Disney World, Mission: Space is probably the one that most people would cite as going way too hard in terms of the likelihood that passengers will end up losing their lunch. Motion sickness "seems to be a pretty widespread issue on this very intense attraction," says Guide2WDW, while Frank Olito for Business Insider concurred, writing, "The Orange Mission is the toughest ride to sit through at Disney ... I tried the ride once and am still scarred from the experience."

One of the problems with Mission: Space is that it doesn't seem to have a middle ground: The milder green mission is quite sedate, while the orange mission utilizes levels of g-force that wouldn't be out of place at a NASA space camp. "It's an interactive thrill ride, but that oversells it. The story itself isn't compelling and interactivity is phoned in," says Disney Tourist Blog. Why wait over 20 minutes in line just to feel nauseous or bored?

When in doubt, Disney has a tendency to double down on the ride structure of one of its most iconic attractions: The Mad Tea Party, or the spinning cups, as some guests refer to them. It has copied and pasted the fundamentals of this ride all over ots parks, and Alien Swirling Saucers is basically the "Toy Story" version.

Mouse Hacking is no fan of the swirling saucers, reserving special ire for its line. "The queue to Alien Swirling Saucers is one of the worst things Disney has ever built," they wrote. "It's filled with peeling stickers and plastic buttons that do nothing. Honestly the entire attraction feels like a giant plastic piece of junk." While Guide2WDW appreciates the ride a bit more, they balk at the often-long wait times — Alien Swirling Saucers averages around 30 minutes, a pretty hefty chunk of time for an attraction that lasts less than 90 seconds.

Kali River Rapids is a classic water attraction where you ride down a simulated series of rapids in a circular raft. It's the theme park version of playing the lottery — some people will get just a splash of water here or there, while others will end up fully drenched, and the weather alone determines which is the desired outcome. But unlike many attractions unique to Disney, Kali River Rapids is the sort of ride that exists at every major theme park across the U.S., and they're all pretty much the same.

Disney Tourist Blog says of Kali River Rapids, "There isn't enough substance to the scenes and it's weak by raft ride standards," and that guests are primarily interested in it as an opportunity to cool off in the beating Florida sun, which can make the wait times balloon. Wandering in Disney has a solution, though: "My advice is to buy a $4.00 bottle of water and dump that on yourself instead. You save a ton of time and get the same payoff!"

Figment, a purple dragon whose boundless creativity has a tendency to get him into trouble, is a beloved (to some, at least) mascot of EPCOT. His ride, on the other hand, hasn't quite won over the masses. Journey Into Imagination with Figment is possibly one of the park's most divisive attractions. Mouse Hacking calls it a "jumbled mess," while Business Insider says it "leaves a lot to be desired." Disney Tourist Blog sums the ride up best, writing, "Showcasing the power of imagination ... with the least imaginative and [most] obnoxious attraction possible."

Others have a soft spot in their heart for Figment, bemoaning the current state of the ride — Carlye Wisel wrote on Yahoo Money, "The Epcot linchpin has been so plagued with changes throughout its various iterations that it remains today a simple shell of its cherished Figment-filled past." Maybe one day this sadly dated ride will get a refurb that allows Figment to shine in all his chaotic glory, but until then, Journey Into Imagination may not merit queing for over 10 minutes.

Astro Orbiter is yet another aerial spinner ride at Walt Disney World. It's designed to fit the futuristic theming of Tomorrowland, and that retro styling plus the great views of the park are its main selling points. Still, aside from these qualities, it's hard not to see it as little more than a ripoff of a more iconic ride. "If you took Dumbo The Flying Elephant and replaced all that classic fairytale whimsy with, well, height, you'd have this not-worth-the-wait Tomorrowland attraction," wrote Carlye Wisel for Yahoo Money.

It also loses points for its less-than-inspiring ride queue, which is, as Disney Food Blog describes it, like standing in line for an elevator. "And not the fun Tower of Terror kind of elevator, but the standard kind of elevator you'll find in any ol' parking structure. Not even a cool Tomorrowlandy elevator — LAME!" It seems like the general consensus is that Astro Orbiter might be worth the wait at sunset, when you'll at least be rewarded with a magnificent view of the park and the fireworks show, but most of the time you can safely give it a miss.

An aquarium-based ride featuring many of the undersea characters of "Finding Nemo," The Seas with Nemo and Friends brings aquatic life to Disney guests. Although there are screens on the ride for the "Finding Nemo" bits, there are also real fish swimming around, blending the cartoon with reality. According to AllEars.net, kids love it, but the appeal of the attraction has to be tempered with the length of its line. "If there's less than 10 minutes for a wait, it may be worth it. Maybe 20 minutes if you have a desperate need for A/C. Or if you can get a late lightning lane. Other than that, it is super meh," one of its readers wrote.

One complaint about the ride is how the "Finding Nemo" characters are integrated — The Seas with Nemo and Friends is a re-theme of The Living Seas, and large segments of the attraction reflect its origins. TheTravel bemoans this imagineering letdown, stating, "If they had just made more of an effort to incorporate Nemo and his friends, this attraction could've been worth a look!"

Prince Charming Regal Carrousel is exactly what it says on the tin: A carousel. A pretty carousel, sure, but the same sort of ride you could see at any park across the country. No one's denying its charms (and the fact that it was originally built in 1917 before being transported to Disney World adds to its fairy tale atmosphere), but the argument made by many Disney bloggers is that visitors should prioritize the rides that are unique to the parks — after all, how often are you in Magic Kingdom?

"Every time I walk past it and see people waiting to get on, I wonder why they felt the need to ride a Carrousel when they can do so at a local fair back home," explains Frank Olito for Business Insider. The one thing Prince Charming Regal Carrousel has in its favor is that its lines rarely get too long — its average wait time is only around 10 minutes.

To put together this list of attractions, we pulled from several different Disney blogger articles and YouTube videos that either explicitly discussed which rides aren't worth the wait or simply ranked the rides from worst to best. We tracked how frequently each ride's name was mentioned in these articles to create some sort of consensus. For articles that included full rankings, we noted the rides that were listed in the bottom 10. Attractions with an average wait time of under 10 minutes were eliminated, with the logic that pretty much any Disney ride is going to be worth a five-minute queue. We also excluded shows and static attractions, as they often don't have a traditional line structure.