YMMV / E.T. Adventure

• Angst? What Angst?: All of the Green Planet's denizens seem to immediately drop the trauma of seeing their planet almost about to die, throwing a very happy celebration right after E.T. heals the planet.
• Awesome Music: "Botanicus' Theme", which John Williams returned to compose, and until Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge was the only time he had composed music for a theme park attraction.
• Creepy Cute: E.T.'s friends, though some might just find them to be plain creepy.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: E.T.'s mentor, Botanicus, is by far the most loved-character in the attraction, due to the mysterious presence he gives off doubled with the big role he plays in things. It also helps that he originated in the spin-off novel, E.T. and the Book of the Green Planet.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The ride was far more popular in Universal Studios Japan than it was with its U.S. counterparts. The reason it closed in Japan was due to lack of space for a new ride, rather than it being unpopular. After they closed the ride, they set up a temporary exhibit nearby in order to pay tribute.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The unusual smell of the attraction's queue line (a custom ScentAir creation) has become a popular source of jokes and mass appreciation on theme park forums. Going by the translated comments on this video, it seems the ride's fans in Japan also loved the queue line's scent, with fandom candle companies often trying to recreate it.
  • Likewise, E.T.'s friends have also become the constant butt of many jokes due to how creepy they look.
• Narm:
  • The whole idea behind the "Interplanetary Passports".
  • The unusually loud BOOM! sound that occurs when the bicycles "hit" the top of a police car.
  • E.T. saying the riders' names at the end. The way he says the names can come off as very unnatural and rather-robotic sounding.
  • For some, the entire ride itself, as numerous aspects of it haven't aged well and at times rank a little high on the cheese-scale.
• Older Than They Think:
  • This ride is not the first appearance of Botanicus or the Green Planet, as both have previously been featured in several E.T. spin-off books in the '80s.
  • The artwork you see on the main page was initially not meant for the ride. It had been painted by the famous movie poster artist Drew Struzan to promote a children's charity. Universal loved the painting so much that they went on to exclusively use it for marketing the attraction. Steven Spielberg also immensely loved the artwork, calling it "the Quintessential E.T."
• One-Scene Wonder: Out of all of E.T.'s friends, Orbidon (a mushroom-like alien that sings) appears to be the most popular with fans simply due to the sheer randomness of the character. His mushroom-ish appearance also lends itself well to a lot of "shrooms" jokes.
• Opinion Myopia: Despite being a heavily-beloved ride by fans, it does not seem to be very popular with the average guests, as it receives the lowest wait times out of any ride in the park. However, this can be attributed to the fact that the ride is located in a very secluded corner of the park, not making it very noticeable. Additionally, the attraction does actually receive positive guest ratings on surveys.
• Popularity Polynomial: The ride was a near-ghost town by the time it closed at Universal Studios Hollywood, but has since become one of the most-missed aspects of the park among fans and guests alike.
• Quirky Work: Here you have an extremely colorful world that immediately breaks out into celebrating when it gets saved, and its denizens range from baby-faced half-trees to flower look-alikes to mushroom look-alikes. That sing.
• The Scrappy: Some aren't fond of Steven Spielberg in the pre-show, finding his acting to be pretty bad and cheesy; as well as wishing that the ride would explain the story in a more natural way.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The ride's closure in Hollywood is one, as it had managed to gain a cult following.
  • Spielberg agreed, as it's rumored he was so furious at Universal's decision to close the ride there that he threatened to never work with them ever again if they close the Florida version.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The animatronic policeman, big time. If you thought Disney's animatronics were creepy, then you'll definitely be unsettled by the extremely stilted movements and lack of detail the animatronics have.

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