The 10 Best Disneyland Rides You Can’t Miss
Let’s be real—Disneyland has a lot of rides. Some are absolute must-rides that you’d willingly wait an hour for, while others…well, let’s just say you wouldn’t. But if you’re looking for the best of the best, the rides that make your trip worth every penny, then you’re in the right place.
Whether you’re a thrill-seeker, a die-hard Disney fan, or just here for the snacks (respect), this list covers Disneyland’s 10 best rides—plus a few fun facts to impress your group with while waiting in line. Because let’s be honest, you won’t be able to avoid every line.
So, grab your Mickey ears, charge your phone for all those queue pictures you may never look at again, and let’s dive into the best Disneyland rides and attractions you absolutely can’t skip.
1. Space Mountain—The ABSOLUTE Best Disneyland Ride
- 🎢 Ride Type: Dark indoor roller coaster
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 45-60+ min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Thrill-seekers
Why It’s a Must-Ride: Racing through pitch-black darkness at high speeds makes you feel like you’re soaring through space—even though it only reaches 28 mph! This is the best way to start a Disney Day, and my family’s personal favorite!
Best Time to Ride: At rope drop, otherwise you’re pretty much guaranteed to end up waiting a minimum of 45 minutes.
Seasonal Extra: In recent years, during Season of the Force, the ride is revamped with a Star Wars overlay—Hyperspace Mountain. This is a must ride for Star Wars fans!
Fun Fact: Neil Armstrong—the first man on the moon—was the first person to ride Space Mountain before it opened in 1977. That’s right, an actual astronaut gave it a test run.
2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- 🎢 Ride Type: Outdoor roller coaster
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 40-60 min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Families & thrill-seekers
Why It’s a Must-Ride: “The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness” is a fast but smooth roller coaster through an old mining town, complete with exploding dynamite!
Best Time to Ride: In the evening, after dark. This western town lights up beautifully in the evening and somehow makes the ride even more fun. This one is hit and miss for the lowest wait time throughout the day.
Fun Fact: Some of the mine carts and equipment along the ride are real artifacts from the 1800s!
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
- 🎢 Ride Type: Slow boat ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 15-40 min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Everyone
Why It’s a Must-Ride: This iconic boat ride takes you on an adventure through a world of swashbuckling pirates, hidden treasure, and burning villages. It is also a great escape from the heat on a hot Summer day at Disneyland!
Best Time to Ride: This is a great ride to ride during a parade, early in the morning, or anytime you see a 15 minute wait throughout the day. We watch for a low wait time and never wait longer than 15-20 minutes.
Seasonal Extra: Outside of a wreath or two near the entrance at Christmastime, this ride doesn’t get a seasonal overlay.
Fun Fact: Some of the skulls in the ride were originally real human bones! When Pirates opened in 1967, Disney used actual human skulls from medical labs because the fake ones looked too unrealistic. Most have been replaced—except for one real skull still hidden on the headboard in the treasure room!
4. Jungle Cruise
- 🎢 Ride Type: Slow boat ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 30-45 min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Everyone
Why It’s a Must-Ride:The ride itself is fun, but the dad joke-loving skippers steal the show.
Best Time to Ride: The Jungle Cruise is best experienced in the early morning or late evening when wait times are shorter, and the skippers are extra lively. If you ride at night, the jungle takes on a whole new mysterious vibe, making it an even more immersive adventure!
Seasonal Extra: During the 2024 holiday season, festive music was playing in the queue and a dad joke filled 12 Days of Christmas song was sung by a cast member over the intercom. (That right there is enough to add it to our Best Disneyland Rides list!)
Fun Fact: The water isn’t actually dirty—it’s dyed brown to hide the ride’s track and mechanical parts!
5. Rise of the Resistance
- 🎢 Ride Type: Trackless dark ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 90+ min (Virtual queue often required!)
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Star Wars fans
Why It’s a Must-Ride: This ride is so massive and immersive, it’s basically a Star Wars movie you can ride!
Best Time to Ride: The best time to ride Rise of the Resistance is around 9 PM when crowds start to thin out. By this time, many guests have left for fireworks or are heading home, making for a shorter standby wait. Plus, riding at night makes the whole experience feel even more cinematic. This ride routinely closes at 10pm.
Fun Fact: It’s one of the most expensive rides Disney has ever built, costing around $450 million. With full-sized AT-ATs, massive sets, and dozens of animatronics, it’s no wonder this ride is a blockbuster attraction.
6. Haunted Mansion
- 🎢 Ride Type: Silly Dark ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 30-50 min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Everyone
Why It’s a Must-Ride: A perfect mix of spooky and silly, this mansion is filled with 999 happy haunts—but they’re always looking for one more!
Best Time to Ride: The best time to ride is later in the evening after the fireworks. The wait time is typically drastically reduced, and the late hour ads to the spooky nature of the ride.
Seasonal Extra: Each holiday season, Haunted Mansion gets a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, featuring Jack Skellington and a real gingerbread house in the ballroom.
Fun Fact: There’s a pet cemetery outside the Haunted Mansion! If you look to the left of the queue near the exit, you’ll find a small graveyard with humorous tombstones dedicated to dearly departed pets—including a snake named “Big Jake” and a skunk named “Lilac.”
7. Indiana Jones Adventure
- 🎢 Ride Type: Motion simulator/dark ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 60+ min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Thrill-seekers
Why It’s a Must-Ride: This ride feels like stepping into an actual Indiana Jones movie—complete with booby traps, a rolling boulder, and a very angry Temple God.
Best Time to Ride: The best time to ride Indiana Jones Adventure is early in the morning (at rope drop) or late at night (after 9 PM). The standby line tends to be longest in the afternoon.
Fun Fact: The ride’s queue is one of the most detailed at Disneyland. If you touch the bamboo pole in the spike room, it activates a booby trap sound effect, and the ceiling looks like it’s about to collapse!
8. Matterhorn Bobsleds
- 🎢 Ride Type: Outdoor roller coaster
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 45-70 min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Thrill-seekers
Why It’s a Must-Ride: This was Disneyland’s first-ever roller coaster, and it’s still one of the best! Keep in mind it is not a smooth ride, so you may get a bit of whiplash!
Best Time to Ride: Later in the evening or first thing in the morning. Don’t settle for the midday rush with horrible lines.
Fun Fact: There’s a hidden basketball court inside the Matterhorn! Originally, it was built for cast members to play in during breaks.
*For those with back issues, this is absolutely not one of the best Disneyland rides, just trust me on this one.
9. Peter Pan’s Flight
- 🎢 Ride Type: Slow dark ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 30-45+ min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Families
Why It’s a Must-Ride: Flying over London and Neverland in a pirate ship? Pure Disney magic.This is one of the original rides, so the nostalgia factor is 10/10. need I say more?
Best Time to Ride: Late in the evening after 10 pm, at rope drop and throughout the day there will always be a 30 minute wait minimum.
Fun Fact: Tinker Bell wasn’t originally in the ride when it opened in 1955! She was added later because guests felt something was missing.
10. “it’s a small world”(Squeaking in the last spot on our Best Disneyland Rides List)
- 🎢 Ride Type: Slow boat ride
- ⏳ Average Wait Time: 10-30 min
- 👨👩👧👦 Best for: Families
Why It’s a Must-Ride: Love it or hate it, this ride is pure nostalgia, with hundreds of singing dolls from around the world.
Best Time to Ride: The best time to ride “it’s a small world” is early in the morning or during parades. During the holiday season, when the ride gets its festive overlay, evenings are a great time to enjoy the dazzling light display on the façade.
Seasonal Extra: Every Christmas, the ride gets a festive makeover with thousands of lights, decorations, and a new holiday soundtrack!
Fun Fact: When “it’s a small world” debuted at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, it was sponsored by Pepsi and created as a fundraiser for UNICEF. After the fair, Walt Disney had the entire ride disassembled, shipped to Disneyland, and rebuilt, where it opened in 1966. Some of the original dolls and set pieces from the World’s Fair version are still part of the attraction today!
The Best Disneyland Rides You Actually Need to Prioritize—Agreed?
So there you have it—The Best Disneyland rides, ranked and ready for your must-do list. Whether you’re dodging ghosts in the Haunted Mansion, braving the darkness of Space Mountain, or questioning your life choices as it’s a small world loops for the fifth time, these attractions are what make Disneyland, well… Disneyland.
Now, am I saying you must ride all of these? Absolutely not. But if you skip Pirates of the Caribbean, we might need to have a serious talk. Pick your favorites, plan your strategy, and remember:
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Use it wisely.
- Some lines are actually worth the wait. (Looking at you, Rise of the Resistance.)
- It’s okay to ride Big Thunder Mountain five times in a row. No judgment.
- If you don’t eat a fistful of churros at some point, did you even go to Disneyland?
Best Disneyland Rides—Just One Piece of the Magic
At the end of the day, Disneyland is all about the magic—and the magic happens when you ride what makes you happy. So whether you’re all about high-speed thrills, classic dark rides, or just here for the Jungle Cruise dad jokes, make the most of it.
Now tell me—what’s the best Disneyland ride? Are you Team Thrill Ride or Team Nostalgic Classic?
📌 Related Article: Is a Disneyland Park Hopper Ticket Worth It? Pros & Cons