The Incredicoaster review

The Incredicoaster review
Incredicoaster” by Patrick Pelletier licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Of the adult-oriented Disney California Adventure rides, the Incredicoaster is one of the most popular ones in the park.

While it incorporates a kid-friendly film series, it highlights the best of roller coasters in Disneyland. 

Ride Overview

Join the wacky family of superheroes, along with a few friends, on a high-speed adventure! For full Disneyland Resort specs, check out their online description.

Who Can Ride?

The Incredicoaster is designed to be fun for the whole family. However, there is a height requirement due to the high-speed nature of the coaster as well as the single big loop. Due to the need for a harness as a safety device, riders need to be at least 48 inches tall (that’s 4 feet).

Since there is a restriction on height, this ride is recommended for older kids, teens and adults. Of note, younger kids (who happen to be tall) may ride. If they are under 7, though, they must be accompanied by a person who is 14 years old or older.

Another restriction is for people with physical disabilities, both permanent and short-term.

Guests who use a wheelchair will be required to transfer from the device into the ride. In other words, this attraction cannot accommodate hosting a wheelchair or other mechanism for transportation in the cars. For more information on navigating Disneyland as a Guest with a disability, visit their website.

Service animals are also unable to go on the ride. There are places where service animals can be held temporarily or for a full day within the resort and within the attraction queues. For details, visit the Disneyland website on service animal policies.

Another critical group of people who should not ride, or at least be highly considerate of their choice, are those with injuries. Particularly for those with injuries related to the neck, head and back, the Incredicoaster should be avoided due to jerks and jolts along the way that could agitate those issues.

Lastly, expecting mothers are advised against riding this roller coaster (or any other in the park, for that matter). Any questions pertaining to your physical ability to enjoy this experience should be discussed with a physician.

Who Should Ride?

Although there are lots of physical limitations with the Incredicoaster, there are also lots of reasons you should want to ride it!

If you love roller coasters, this will truly be one of the best experiences in DLR. It’s fast. It’s fun. And it’s got the only loop for a Disneyland attraction! What more could you ask for at a kid’s amusement park?

If you love DCA, this is one of the biggest highlights. Aside from the Guardians ride, this is the premier thrill ride at the moment. It harnesses the past and mixes it with the present transformation in its revitalization of California Screamin’ to be a Pixar-themed attraction. Even if you miss the classics of Paradise Pier (keep reading for more on this), it will bring back good memories of one of the original rides in the park.

If you love the Incredibles, this is the only ride that will let you live one of their stories! Join the whole family for a fun, silly trip filled with superpowers and cookies. Become a part of the journey. Be a roller coaster superhero.

What to Expect on the Ride

  • Spoiler Alert for this attraction!

The Incredicoaster really vamps up the expectations for what you used to get as a roller coaster at DLR. Not only is it fast, it jolts you out of the starting gates for an incredible rush! Plus, there’s one giant loop that makes you feel like you’ve defied gravity.

Incredicoaster Facts

  • Steel roller coaster
  • Six cars per train with two people per car (24 riders total per train)
  • Over-the-shoulder safety harness
  • One single loop about half-way through ride
  • Contains several tunnels for inclines and declines

Incredicoaster Stats

  • Achieves maximum height of 122 feet
  • Largest drop is 108 feet
  • Total length of track is 6.072 feet
  • Achieves top-speed of 55 miles per hour; accelerates top speed in four seconds 
  • Total duration of ride is about 2.5 minutes

Incredicoaster in Competition

  • Eight longest coaster in the world at 1 ⅛ miles long
  • Third longest coaster in California
  • Longest looping roller coaster in the world

Incredicoaster Plot

Join the Incredibles, a family of unique superheroes, and their friends, particularly superhero costume designer Edna Mode, in opening their grand roller coaster to the public! The coaster honors the incredible work the family (and all superheroes) are now welcome to do in a world that once again welcomes their kind.

As you embark, wave goodbye to Edna…and Jack-Jack?! The baby Incredible is on the loose again! With his new and ever-changing powers, he makes this thrill-ride that much more interesting as his parents and siblings try to catch him safely.

Dash will kick off the trip accelerating your train cars to top-speed. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see anything but spurts of water in his wake — that kid is fast! Once you’re on the move, you’ll launch up and down hills chasing Jack-Jack, even looping around on yourself to see if you can spot him!

In each tunnel, Jack-Jack seems to transform. Be careful not to get burned (hopefully, Violet’s force field holds!) or covered in baby goo. Even Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible have to use the best parenting tactics of enticing their baby boy to come back. Cookie num num, anyone?

In the end, you’ll have seen a lot. But, you’ll be most thrilled to see this big baby back with Auntie Edna. Now, will you be able to remember everything? Only Rick Dicker and the National Supers Agency will know… Don’t forget to smile!

For full details from Disneyland, click here.

Photo Op Finish

One of the biggest perks to taking this crazy thrill ride is the photo finish. As you’re looping around to the end and back into station, you’ll notice a big flash. That’s the camera! 

When you hit the little hills overlooking Pixar Pier, you’re headed back to station. The camera is just before the end, so start smiling (or doing silly faces) at the end of the little hills as you go into the crank spiral.

Photos are available for viewing next to Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums. That, of course, is worth mentioning as you will be enticed immediately by the smell of delicious, deep-dish, single-serve chocolate chip cookies. Yet another giant perk of the Incredicoaster update.

Wait Times and FASTPASS Recommendations

Like California Screamin’, the Incredicoaster has ebbs and flows for wait times. Early in the morning is typically fairly low traffic as people often start their day later or even run to grab FASTPASS options for other attractions. If you make this your first ride right at park open, you’re likely to have a short wait.

However, as the day goes on, this ride tends to get packed. 

Single Rider Option

Single Rider lines are designed for people travelling to the parks alone or for those who are the only ones in their parties who want to catch a ride. This option typically bypasses the regular line, allowing them to have a shorter wait. However, because Single Riders are used to fill holes in the cars (in other words, a party of three gets split into two and one, so there’s a seat next to the one), there is not a guarantee that they will have priority boarding. 

FASTPASS Option

FASTPASS allows you to take a different queue to pass most of the stand-by route. At the Incredicoaster, the distribution booths are to the left of the regular entrance. 

Opting into this will allow you to have a set return time that is basically a guaranteed spot in line. While the wait time for this attraction will be reduced, it does limit the number of other attractions for which you can pick up a FASTPASS. So, choose your passes wisely!

You can also purchase MaxPass to acquire unique access to “order” FASTPASS on the Disneyland app. This will certainly speed up your entire visit.

Perks of Waiting in Line

Everything Disney does is magical. The Imagineers and Cast Members go through pain-staking tasks to ensure everything in the parks is infused with Disney magic. This includes the queues.

Details about the Incredibles line the walls within the queue for the Incredicoaster. Read specs on Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Frozone, Dash, Violet, Jack-Jack and even Edna. Read clips from the “original” superhero shows and news articles. Watch and listen to the story of how the Incredicoaster came to be. Ultimately, be surrounded by the world of this superhero family. Become a part of their world.

Although the wait can be tedious, there is plenty of shade and even a water fountain. The rails are not made to be sat on, but no one said leaning is against the rules! Plus, the fast nature of the attraction allows the ride to move relatively quickly. Sometimes the wait time is more of an expectation than a reality.

Other Notes on Time

Because the Incredicoaster is on Pixar Pier, it is behind (and somewhat part of) the World of Color nighttime spectacular. As such, it does close down early. This closure is usually half an hour or so before the first show. 

Four-Star Attraction

In my opinion, the Incredicoaster gets four out of five stars. It is certainly one of the best roller coasters at Disneyland. As much as I like the way they renovated the DCA classic, I can’t stand that they renovated it in the first place. Nonetheless, I feel there must be an appreciation for incorporating a theme park ride into a movie series. Plus, it’s a roller coaster, so it’s a major attraction for thrill seekers like myself!

Storyline is Good

The storyline of the ride is good, but it requires a fairly strong understanding of the Incredibles movies. Sure, you can enjoy it simply because you’re going super fast on a fun roller coaster with a loop in it. But to understand the humor of the whole journey following Jack-Jack around and around in every tunnel requires knowledge of the plot.

Although the features in the queue fill in immediate gaps, the characters’ personalities are not showcased in the snippets. Watching the films really helps inform facial expressions, catchphrases and attitudes expressed on your journey. As such, it’s not a ride you can just get on and expect to step into the full Incredibles universe like you can on other story-based rides in DLR.

Conclusion

Point blank, I miss Paradise Pier. I miss the large piece of that era that was California Screamin’. While having a dedicated area to Pixar is probably every kid’s dream come true (including mine from the bygone era of the Disney-Pixar Renaissance), transforming a true California staple into a story-themed ride just doesn’t cut it for traditionalists.

Considering Screamin’ was made to replicate the roller coasters of state piers past and present (shout-out to Santa Monica Pier), it breaks my heart just a bit to know that this one was taken down just like so many others! Only this time, it is still standing but with little to no homage paid to the original intent of the ride and DCA. Instead, they repurposed an awesome, traditional (though unique to Disneyland) attraction just to fit it into the grandeur of their storylines. 

Frankly, it is obvious for anyone who has been on Screamin’ and then Incredicoaster that they literally added the superhero family and plot elements to the old ride. Sure, there is a spruced-up paint job, but it’s not like major elements of the ride were changed. The tunnels are the same. The take-off is the same (water spouts included). The differences are in the music and who’s talking to you throughout the journey.

Oh, and who stops using the voice of Neil Patrick Harris?! That was my favorite part of California Screamin’…

Nonetheless, you’ll definitely want to wait for it! 3…2..1. GO!

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