Year-end Vote: Best New Experience for 2012

By: Andrew Bermudez

     The year is almost over, and with it comes a lot of new experiences. While the rest of the San Diego Vacation will come early December, with Christmas vacation photos coming mid-December, it's time for you to decide for yourself which new experience was the most successful.

     This year (at least in the Southern California area), we had a very strong year for new attractions, which was, of course, topped by the amazing re-imagined Disney California Adventure. Never before has a theme park that fell short on opening day turn around in the subsequent years in such an amazing way. Out of all of this year's new offerings, this was definitely my favorite, including the amazing Radiator Springs Racers attraction.

     But now, I want to hear from you. From now until the end of the year, I want you to vote on your favorite of all of the new attractions. Even if you haven't experienced it all, check out videos, other people's thoughts, photos, and more to help you decide. For the record, I've only included major new additions. Anything that did not have any real impact will not be counted (which would include attractions like the defunct Habit Heroes at Epcot, which closed after two weeks of operation due to "alleged bullying of people with an excessive waistline"). Here is the shortlist of the world's most prominent new attractions:

Daniel and Andrew Bermudez out in front of Radiator Springs Racers, the
main E-Ticket attraction in Cars Land. Photo by the author.

Cars Land (Disney California Adventure): This 12-acre land takes guests into the town of Radiator Springs from Disney/Pixar's Cars. The land features 3 rides: Radiator Springs Racers, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, and Luigi's Flying Tires.

The Carthay Circle Theater after dark. This structure is the new symbol of Disney
California Adventure and features an upscale restaurant inside. Photo by the author.

Buena Vista Street (Disney California Adventure): The park's new entrance land, which hearkens back to the 1920's, when Walt Disney first arrived in California. The land is complete with lively street entertainment, it's own souvenir newspaper, and a recreation of the red car trolley, which guests can ride to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

The explosive facade for the Hollywood version of Transformers: The Ride - 3-D. Photo by the author.

Transformers: The Ride - 3-D (Universal Studios Hollywood): Based on the popular Transformers films, this 4-D motion base dark ride takes you into the heat of battle as you try to escape the city, keeping the all-spark away from the Decepticons.

Riders get to "Ride the Ray, Feel the Rush" aboard Manta,
Sea World San Diego's newest attraction. Photo by the author.

Manta (Sea World San Diego): Not to be mistaken for Sea World Orlando's flying coaster, this ground-hugging launch coaster takes you through a rocky cove as you sweep and soar over the bat ray touch pool, a small tribal village, and more.

Guests can watch feeding and veterinarian demonstrations inside the LAIR. Photo by the author.

The LAIR (Los Angeles Zoo): The LA Zoo's new reptile house features a wide variety of reptiles in swamp and desert environments, as well as outdoor exhibits for false garials, the American alligator, and more. Also features a viewing area into a zookeeper animal care facility.

A cheetah runs at Cheetah Run! Photo courtesy San Diego Speedboats and More.

Cheetah Run (San Diego Zoo Safari Park): A training demonstration featuring a yard where you get to see the cheetah do what it does best: run!

Guests get soaked both above and below on Pirate Reef. Photo courtesy Adventure Daddy Blog.

Pirate Reef (LEGOLAND California): A soaking shoot-the-chutes pirate-themed boat ride where you don't just get soaked, you get drenched! The only attraction in the park that is also accessible from the adjacent LEGOLAND Water Park.

Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom runs up the side the existing
Superman: Escape from Krypton attraction. Photo courtesy Coasters World.

Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom (Six Flags Magic Mountain): At 400 ft., this drop ride based around Superman's arch nemesis is the tallest of its kind in the world.

The Beast's Castle looms over the entrance to the Be Our Guest Restaurant, one of
the new offerings in the New Fantasyland. Photo courtesy Dateline Disney World.

New Fantasyland (Magic Kingdom): While the debut of The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is still two years away, the rest of the new Fantasyland Forest features a lot to offer, including The Little Mermaid ride from Disney California Adventure and the Be Our Guest restaurant.

Digital mountains are one of the many new things aboard Test Track 2.0. Photo courtesy Kevin Yee.

Test Track 2.0 (Epcot): This re-imagining puts a futuristic twist on the popular Test Track attraction with Tron-esque graphics and the ability to design your own car, which is put to the test on the ride.

TurtleTrek (Sea World Orlando): Taking Circle-Vision 360 to the next level, this 3-D show lets you see the ocean through the eyes of a sea turtle and it's journey across the ocean.

Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem (Universal Studios Florida): Based on the 2010 animated film Despicable Me, guests come to Gru's house to be turned into minions aboard this 3-D simulator attraction, and mayhem ensues.

Toy Story Midway Mania! (Tokyo DisneySea): Also found at Disney California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios, this wild attraction shrinks guests down to the size of toys, where they then play several midway games in 4-D, hosted by characters from Disney/Pixar's Toy Story films.

Grizzly Gultch (Hong Kong Disneyland): This Frontierland-esque land takes guests into a ghost town filled with grizzly bears! In the mountains, guests can hop aboard the Grizzly Mountain Railroad and speed along in this wild roller coaster.

Sesame Street Ride (Universal Studios Singapore): Not yet open, but expected to by the end of the year, this dark ride takes you through Sesame Street, where Super Grover and his sidekick Elmo must battle aliens who want to steal all of the city's pasta.

Guests go speeding along in a snowmobile in Polar X-plorer,
the centerpiece of Polar Land. Photo courtesy respective owner.

Polar Land (LEGOLAND Billund): Based on the classic LEGO Arctic sets, this land takes you into the polar climate with three new attractions, including the Polar X-plorer roller coaster. The land also features a penguin exhibit and Polar Flight School.

Young explorers join the Deep Sea Salvage Crew and go searching
for the lost city of Atlantis. Photo courtesy LEGOLAND Windsor.

Atlantis Submarine Voyage (LEGOLAND Windsor): Reminiscent of Disneyland's classic Submarine Voyage, this ride puts the guests in a submarine, where they help the Deep Sea Salvage Crew look for the lost city of Atlantis.

LEGOLAND Malaysia: The only new theme park for this year, this park features many of the staple attractions seen at many of the other LEGOLAND parks, including The Dragon, Lost Kingdom Adventure, and, of course, Miniland.

     So there we have it: some of this year's more prominent attractions (especially for Southern California). Now it's time to vote. You'll find the voting box on the right column of this page.
     Update: The poll is now up, so you can vote! If you have another favorite attraction that opened this year, but is not listed here, let us know in the comments. Also, I added some pictures, since the visual images make this post look more interesting.