TOC3 Round 1: JP River Adventure vs. Pirates of the Caribbean vs. E.T. Adventure

[Chris]

The opening match-up of the red bracket features Jurassic Park River Adventure vs. Pirates of the Caribbean vs. E.T. Adventure.

Remember to vote for your *favorite* attraction of the three, and in the case of cloned rides, simply pick your personal favorite to represent them all!



*This poll closed on Thursday, July 8, 2010.




To assist you in selecting the attraction that most appeals to you, please view the following POV videos found on YouTube:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi6WZTK1nRk[/video]
Jurassic Park River Adventure

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCnJ2BrbYIE[/video]
Pirates of the Caribbean

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpnn-U9Ja_o[/video]
E.T. Adventure

[Rudkin]

Now this was a really tough call for me. I really love both POTC and JP. POTC wins.

It's a classic dark ride that calls deep into my Disney Nerd soul. It's always entertaining!

[Chris]

Now this was a really tough call for me. I really love both POTC and JP. POTC wins.

It's a classic dark ride that calls deep into my Disney Nerd soul. It's always entertaining!

Even the worst version of Pirates of the Caribbean is unquestionabley one of the greatest dark rides ever built. It was an easy choice for me. I gotta say, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion should go head to head in the final ride. They are probably the two definitive examples of what a dark ride should be - but honestly as much as I respect and appreciate what they've done for the industry, I'd still have to go with Indiana Jones Adventure or Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

[Tomas]

Hmmm I feel weird voting for JP River Adventure, buy is just the ride I enjoy the most. ET is a nice attraction, a clasis, but outdated of course. And Pirates, I don't really know why, but I just don't care if I ride it or not when I go to the MK. It is greatly themed and makes a nice ride, BUT River Adventure has nice theming too.

[ThemeParkSuperhero]

I am lilteezy someone hacked my old account so i cant post anything or email anyone.but i voted jurrasic park and im glad to be back

[Figment1986]

I have to say ET pulls a string on me, while I love Pirates (having been on DLs and WDWs) and Jurassic park (been on both USFs and USHs) ET just feels like a winner to me... must be the fake names I use., and it's the underdog.

[Ben]

I absolutely have to vote for Pirates (WDW version is the only one I have been on). Pirates is how I like my dark rides, a complete immersion into a story and a different world. From the moment you enter the queue you are in the world of the pirates and its a phenomenal experience.

What I enjoy most about the ride is its slow pace that allows you to look all around you to soak in every little detail of the pirate invasion.

[Chris]

I'm glad to see the love for E.T. Adventure - even though it's not getting the votes. It's a great attraction that has a certain charm that most Universal rides lack.

I've always personally thought that Jurassic Park River Adventure is "just ok." It could be so much better done, and it DEFINITELY could be so much better maintained. If I were to pick, I'd have to go with the Universal Studios Hollywood version of the ride; gotta love the T-Rex head busting through pipes and classic JP tour jeep falling off the cliff. (For what it's worth, USJ and IOA are basically the same ride as eachother, but mirror-imaged).

As for Pirates - I agree with what Ben said. While it's not personally my favorite dark ride at all, there's no denying that it set the standards VERY early on and held them for decades. It's extremely immersive and intricately detailed. It's an easy pick for me on my favorite of that ride, though the result may surprise you: Disneyland Paris. The level of Detail is so much higher there, and though the ride is completely out of order (starts with the jail scene and first drop is from there, with a second drop at the end of the ride into the cave scene which is the end), it actually works BETTER that way. I know; It's hard to visualize because the jail scene just IS the ending - but once you ride it, it makes total sense. From there I'd pick of course the Disneyland Originial which still has an unquestionable amount of charm to it, then Tokyo Disneyland's (which is litereally a middle ground between DL and WDW) and then lastly for sure, Magic Kingdom's. Even last, it's one of those things - it's like a Cirque du Soleil show - even the worst one is still better than every other show in the world - it's just no up to the internally set high standards of the brand.

[Rinith]

Wow, this really is a tough one. My initial reaction was Pirates, no doubt in my mind. After watching the videos however I think I'm gonna go with the underdog here and vote for ET (partly because I know Pirates is just going to win anyways).

I go with ET because it actually has an incredible amount of charm to it (especially considering it's a Universal attraction) and it reminds me a lot of the classic Fantasyland rides (especially Peter Pan, for obvious reasons).

Jurassic Park has the potential to be an impressive attraction, but for whatever reason it's never really sucked me in as much as it should (probably because it isn't maintained very well).

Pirates is amazing and would be getting my vote if I wasn't sure it was going to win already. However ever since Johnny Depp and friends have invaded the attraction I've liked it less and less. It just doesn't have that same original magic anymore, but it's still one heck of a ride.

[Canobie Coaster]

I've got to go with Jurassic Park Adventure. When I rode it two summers ago, I was really impressed with the attraction. I just felt really immersed during the jungle segment in the beginning and all of the dinosaur animatronics seemed to be working. Additionally, that drop is simply one of the best drops I have EVER experienced. I got a little bit of airtime and completely lost my stomach.

Pirates comes in second for me, as I really like the atmosphere of the attraction, but it personally can't beat the thrills of Jurassic Park. It still is one of my favorite attractions at Disney though.

Then, while ET is definitely a fun attraction, it is not a major reason for me to visit a park. While I do like it, I could probably skip it in a visit to Universal without being overly upset. I can't say that about the other two.