The Walt Disney World Mountain Challenge

Greetings Explorers! Today we’re setting off a journey that will test the limits of your physical and psychological mettle. It will require fortitude, daring, and a possibly a bag to get sick in (because things can get a little bumpy). You may be asking yourself, “Self, am I up to this? Have I trained properly? Do I even have the right gear?” I certainly hope so, because once you begin, there’s no turning back. Oh, and if any of you folks are wearin’ hats or glasses, best remove ’em…because today we are heading out to conquer the Walt Disney World Mountain Challenge.

The goal of the challenge is to ride every mountain ride in Walt Disney World in a single day. It will require a park hopper pass. If you don’t have park hopper, it will require admission to two parks: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.

Let’s begin:

Space Mountain
Location: Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom
Details: Space Mountain opened on January 15, 1975. It’s a steel track coaster and maxes out at a speed of 28 miles per hour. It will also subject you to a g-force of 3.7. If you’re travelling with younglings, be aware that there’s a height restriction on the attraction. You must be at least 44 inches tall to ride. Unlike some of the other mountains you’ll encounter, this one has more in common with the “wild-mouser” style coaster. The thrills are built on sharp turns and some small, sudden drops (the biggest is 35 feet). If you’d like to experience the ride for a fraction of a second longer, make sure you choose the Alpha track and not Omega. Alpha is 10 feet longer.

Splash Mountain
Location: Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom
Details: Splash Mountain opened on October 1, 1992, three years after the attraction’s opening at Disneyland. It’s a log flume style ride, which means that, when you aren’t plummeting down one of the ride’s three drops (and a few small dips), you’ll move at a pretty leisurely pace. The entire experience lasts eleven minutes and forty five seconds. Once you get moving, you’ll hit a top speed of 40 miles per hour. The biggest drop on the attraction is 50 feet and you’re going to get wet. Luckily, you’ll be given a little bag to store your things in before setting out. There’s a height restriction of 40 inches to ride. While the thrills are what most come for, the Audio Animatronics are a delight. You’ll get to watch the misadventures of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox from Disney’s Song of the South.

Big Thunder Mountain
Location: Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom
Details: Opened on November 15, 1980, this is the self-proclaimed “wildest ride in the wilderness.” Like Splash Mountain, riders must be at least 40 inches to board the trains of Big Thunder Mountain. The coaster tops out at a speed of 36 miles per hour. The biggest drop is 39 feet, but you’ll also get plenty of twisting, turning action as you race past bats, geysers, and even T-Rex bones. As a curious side note, if you’ve got kidney stones this might be just be the cure to your ailment. In 2016, Marc A. Mitchell D.O. and David D. Wartinger D.O., published an article titled, “Validation of a Functional Pyelocalyceal Renal Model for the Evaluation of Renal Calculi Passage While Riding a Roller Coaster.” The paper found that, in 70% of cases tested, patients with kidney stones passed the stone after riding Big Thunder Mountain.

Expedition Everest
Location: Asia – Animal Kingdom
Details: Expedition Everest was reported to cost a whopping $100 million dollars to create, making it the most expensive roller coaster in the world (almost double the cost of the next most expensive coaster). The coaster takes you on a whirlwind tour of the Forbidden Mountain topping out at 50 miles per hour. It also has an 80 feet drop and you’ll experience some of the coaster backward. The g-force on the coaster is 3.0, and you’ve got to be at least 44 inches to ride. The showstopper is the yeti. When Expedition Everest debuted, it was the largest and most complex Audio Animatronic ever created by Disney. It stands 25 feet tall and is controlled by 19 actuators.

Congratulations explorer! If you’ve made it this far, you’ve successfully conquered all of Walt Disney World’s mountains. Stand tall and proud, and feel free to treat yourself to a dole whip float.