Kali River Rapids is an unguided trip in a circular rubber raft down an artificial river; each raft has a topmounted platform that seats 12 people. The raft essentially floats free in the current and is washed downstream through rapids and waves. Because the “river” is fairly wide, with various currents, eddies, and obstacles, each trip is different and exciting.

What distinguishes Kali River Rapids from other theme park raft rides is Disney’s trademark attention to visual detail. Whereas some raft rides are just an unadorned plunge down a concrete ditch, Kali River Rapids flows through a dense rainforest and past waterfalls, temple ruins, and bamboo thickets, emerging into a cleared area where greedy loggers have ravaged the forest, and finally drifting back under the tropical canopy as the river cycles back to Anandapur. Along the way, your raft runs a gauntlet of raging cataracts, logjams, and other dangers.

The queuing area, which winds through an ancient Southeast Asian temple, is one of the most striking and visually interesting settings of any Disney attraction; the sights on the raft trip itself are also first-class.

That said, Kali River Rapids is marginal in two important respects: First, you get only about 3½ minutes on the water, and second . . . well, it’s a weenie ride. Sure, you get wet, but the drops and rapids aren’t all that exciting, as this Kansas family points out:

It was boiling hot, so we were happy about the prospect of being drenched. At the end, we all looked at each other and said, “Is that IT?” We couldn’t believe we’d stood in line, sweating half to death, for 75 minutes just for that.