Does Disneyland Have More Rides Than Walt Disney World?
This article was updated 12/25/19: Thanks to a Redditor, we fixed a couple mistakes and checked our list against Parkeology’s list. We also updated the attraction counts in the second paragraph.
When people debate which of the U.S. Disney Parks is better, it often comes up that Disneyland has more rides. We decided to dig into this fact to see if it's true.
Walt Disney World Resort is 25,000 acres, and Disneyland Resort is 500 acres. As of December 2019, Walt Disney World's official site lists 174 attractions and Disneyland Resort's website lists 93 attractions. While the official lists of attractions aren’t perfect (e.g., Stitch’s Great Escape! is still listed at Magic Kingdom), there's no question that there's significantly more to see at Walt Disney World.
How could Disneyland Resort have more rides?
Well, it comes down to what you consider to be a "ride." For our purposes, let's call a "ride" an attraction that has a ride vehicle that either follows a defined path, has restraints (e.g., seat belt), or both. We’ll also say that the rides must be in a theme park, so we’re going to exclude shopping districts (i.e., Disney Springs and Downtown Disney) and water parks.
Walt Disney World Resort
We counted 50 rides total in four theme parks.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Avatar Flight of Passage
DINOSAUR
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Na'vi River Journey
Primeval Whirl (seasonal)
TriceraTop Spin
Wildlife Express Train (seasonal)
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Alien Swirling Saucers
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Slinky Dog Dash
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Toy Story Mania!
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Opening soon: Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (3/4/20)
Epcot
Frozen Ever After
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
Journey Into Imagination With Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: SPACE
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Soarin' Around the World
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
Opening soon: Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (summer 2020)
Magic Kingdom Park
Astro Orbiter
The Barnstormer
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
"it's a small world"
Jungle Cruise
Liberty Square Riverboat
Mad Tea Party
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Main Street Vehicles
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Peter Pan's Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Tomorrowland Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
Tom Sawyer Island (rafts)
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
Walt Disney World Railroad
Note: We are not counting Carousel of Progress as a ride.
Disneyland Resort
We counted 53 rides total at the two theme parks.
Disney California Adventure
Golden Zephyr
Goofy's Sky School
Grizzly River Run
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
Incredicoaster
Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind
Jessie's Critter Carousel
Jumpin' Jellyfish
The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure
Luigi’s Rollickin' Roadsters
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Pixar Pal-A-Round
Radiator Springs Racers
Red Car Trolley
Silly Symphony Swings
Soarin' Around The World
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Disneyland
Alice in Wonderland
Astro Orbiter
Autopia
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
Disneyland Monorail
Disneyland Railroad
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Gadget's Go Coaster
Haunted Mansion
Indiana Jones Adventure
"it's a small world"
Jungle Cruise
King Arthur Carrousel
Mad Tea Party
Main Street Vehicles
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mark Twain Riverboat
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight
Pinocchio's Daring Journey
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island (log raft)
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Sailing Ship Columbia
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Opening soon: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1/17/20)
Winner: Disneyland
It was close, but Disneyland is our winner for the most rides.
Walt Disney World Resort: 50 rides
Disneyland Resort: 53 rides
We can enjoy both resorts
It’s important to note that while we may have our favorite resort, we can love both of them for what they are. But, we can still have fun debating which is better!
