Disney's Animal Kingdom vs. Disney California Adventure

Disney's Animal Kingdom or Disney California Adventure?

  • Disney's Animal Kingdom

    Votes: 81 85.3%
  • Disney California Adventure

    Votes: 14 14.7%

  • Total voters
    95

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Which park do you feel is better, DAK or DCA?

DAK headlining attractions include Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Flight of Passage, Festival of the Lion King, and the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

DCA headlining attractions include Radiator Springs Racers, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, the Incredicoaster, and Grizzly River Run.

All of the attractions mentioned (and actually all of the attractions at DAK) are unique to their respective parks.

Which do you feel is the best 'new' American park?
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Animal Kingdom: Much better and more immersive theming overall due to not being as cheaply put together. Also, as much as I really love Radiator Springs Racers, I still slightly prefer Expedition Everest, Flight of Passage, and probably even Dinosaur.

Oh yeah I mean Cars Land is great but DAK has 3 lands (Africa, Asia, Pandora) that are at least equal to it. And Radiator Springs Racers is great but DAK has at least 3 that are on par with it (I don't mention Dinosaur, even though it's seriously underrated and a very good ride).

Technically there are more rides at DCA, though.
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I enjoy DCA but I find that when I’m at DLR the only reason I’m there is for Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom. As such, I spend 95%~ there and I’m in DCA for RSR only. DAK is a near perfect park. I love DAK.

It really is nearly perfect. What do you (or someone else) think could nudge it up just a tad?
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Not really two parks I ever would have thought about comparing, but I guess Animal Kingdom.
If DisneySea was AK’s opponent here, there would be A LOT more competition.

Ya know I wouldn't compare the two either. They're honestly opposites in my opinion and as we can see through the poll I just don't know if fans would consider them the same level of quality. But it came up in a DCA thread and some people there really thought the two equal and ya know to each their own.

As for DisneySea, well from my understanding it is the Disney park that typically rivals DAK in quality/immersion but seeing as I've never been I wouldn't try to compare them. But have no doubt that people who've never even been on that continent would vote for it lol.
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Upgrading Dinorama in a thematically appropriate way. Also an e ticket dark ride wouldn’t hurt. Those are the parks two big holes.

Personally, I would do exactly this:

Demo the entire are except for the boneyarf and the Dinosaur ride itself (demo the forest surrounding Dinosaur). Take that idea of the dig and retheme the area to the Badlands. Think BTMR or RSR red rock out west. Theme it all to a major paleontological dig. Replace Dinorama with another time travel ride that's dark ride E taking you on a dino safari (instead of the Excavator).

Two birds with one stone.

Personally I'd like a flume in Africa but that's just me.
 

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
DCA's biggest problem is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. The funny thing is so many people here complain about IPs in WDW but the worst offense is the entirety of Pixar Pier, Radiator Springs and soon to be Marvel land. This was a park that was to be "California" but that are just dumping in IPs and turning it into Hollywood Studios. This is the one park that should have kept Soarin over California. I love DCA but about the only thing that makes it California is its address. AK is the most incredible US Disney park, every area being perfectly themed.
 

DisneyAndUniversalFan

Well-Known Member
I love these kind of polls! Do more of these park vs park and ride vs ride polls, I think they're so fun! As for this poll, right now in their current states currently it's definitely Animal Kingdom. It's theming is top notch and is more immersive and cohesive through each land (except dinoland haha!!) While I think DCA has more rides both maybe quality and definitely quantity, I think it's top 3 rides are all pretty strong. Flight of Passage and Radiator Springs Racers are definitely the best respective rides of each park, both incredible and impressive, with the two second best rides that are big thrills, Everest and Guardians. You should do polls on these rides going against each other!
 

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Tough choice, I thought it would be a little closer. It was a coin flip for me so I picked the one that I figured probably has less votes, but I didn't expect them to have THAT fewer of votes. Despite all of the jokes in the early years about California Adventure (I can think of at least two of them on The Simpsons alone) I loved the place when we went in 2012. I thought that after Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Epcot that it was the 4th best American Disney park. Granted, Animal Kingdom is beautiful too, such a lovely park. When we first went in 2009 I couldn't believe how great it was.
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DCA's biggest problem is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. The funny thing is so many people here complain about IPs in WDW but the worst offense is the entirety of Pixar Pier, Radiator Springs and soon to be Marvel land. This was a park that was to be "California" but that are just dumping in IPs and turning it into Hollywood Studios. This is the one park that should have kept Soarin over California. I love DCA but about the only thing that makes it California is its address. AK is the most incredible US Disney park, every area being perfectly themed.

I'd agree. It's so sad because it had a very unique theme, a theme I do not particularly prefer but it at least had direct, now it's going to just be another hodgepodge of random IP, another DHS. It's unfortunate. But DAK is such a great park and apparently DCA just doesn't come out on top.
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I love these kind of polls! Do more of these park vs park and ride vs ride polls, I think they're so fun! As for this poll, right now in their current states currently it's definitely Animal Kingdom. It's theming is top notch and is more immersive and cohesive through each land (except dinoland haha!!) While I think DCA has more rides both maybe quality and definitely quantity, I think it's top 3 rides are all pretty strong. Flight of Passage and Radiator Springs Racers are definitely the best respective rides of each park, both incredible and impressive, with the two second best rides that are big thrills, Everest and Guardians. You should do polls on these rides going against each other!

lol yeah that's a good idea. I would nake a poll fighting particular rides.
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
I enjoy DCA quite a bit, but DAK is a better overall park.

Theming: DAK themeing > DCA
River ride: DCA Grizzly River Run > DAK Kali River Rapids
Simulator: DAK FOP > DCA Soarin
Coaster: DAK Everest > DCA Incredicoaster
Spinner: DCA Mater > DAK Triceratops Spin
Unique headliner: DAK Kilimanjaro Safaris > DCA RSR
"Thill" rides: GOTG > Primeval Whirl/DINOSAUR
Dark rides: Mermaid/Monsters > Nav'i
Other rides: DCA has a wider variety of rides
Other attractions: Animals at DAK > all the other stuff at DCA
Best Animatroincs: DCA (RSR) > DAK (Nav'i, RIP Yeti 😥)
Food & Drink: DAK > DCA
Daytime shows: DAK > DCA
Nighttime shows: DCA World of Color > DAK Rivers of Light
 
Last edited:

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I enjoy DCA quite a bit, but DAK is a better overall park.

Theming: DAK themeing > DCA
River ride: DCA Grizzly River Run > DAK Kali River Rapids
Simulator: DAK FOP > DCA Soarin
Coaster: DAK Everest > DCA Incredicoaster
Spinner: DCA Mater > DAK Triceratops Spin
Unique headliner: DAK Kilimanjaro Safaris > DCA RSR
Other rides: I don't really feel like the other rides have a direct comparison at the other park, but DCA has a wider variety of rides.
Other attractions: Animals at DAK > all the other stuff at DCA
Best Animatroinx: DCA (RSR) > DAK (Nav'i, RIP Yeti 😥)
Food & Drink: DAK > DCA
Daytime shows: DAK > DCA
Nighttime shows: DCA World of Color > DAK Rivers of Light

Why do you feel DCA has a wider variety of rides? I think both pretty much run the gambit aside from a couple ride types. DCA has more rides but I wouldn't say more diverse.
 

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