California Adventure vs Hollywood Studios

[DisneyAndUniversalFan]

or

 

[DavidDL]

Going with my gut; Hollywood Studios. It's a mess in some areas, sure. But it still has Muppet*Vision 3D, Tower of Terror and it has Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. -and as a fan of Galaxy's Edge, it honestly feels more at home in a park with this sort of theme. I'm also a sucker for the silly Sci-Fi Dine in.

All DCA really has left for me is the Grizzly Peak, Pacific Wharf and Paradise Park dining area. Granted, I love those areas and they were enough to make me actually stop to think about the decision for a moment.

 

[TP2000]

Hollywood Studios has so much potential. But it's rather sad in its current state. Star Wars Land and Tower of Terror are it's big things, then a few lesser D Tickets, and... one B Ticket? Plus shows mostly left over from the Late Clinton Era? It's Fantasmic has been a joke for decades.

DCA started out cheap and ugly, but it's impressive what two decades and about 3 Billion dollars can do.

DCA = 19 Rides, 5 Theater Shows, 1 Night Spectacular
5 E Tickets (Soarin', Grizzly, Incredicoaster, Racers, Guardians), 4 D Tickets (Mania, Mermaid, Spiderman, Sky School), 10 C and B Tickets (Trolley, Zephyr, Jellyfish, Swings, Whirlwind, Wheel, Carousel, Mater's, Luigi's, Monsters Inc.)

DHS = 9 Rides, 6 Theater Shows, 1 Night Spectacular, Fireworks
6 E Tickets (Tower, RnRC, Railway, Star Tours, Falcon, Rise Before Dawn), 2 D Tickets (Mania, Slinky), 1 C Ticket (Saucers)

 

[Professortango1]

DCA a few years ago would have taken it without question. But with Pixar Pier, Mission BO, and Avengers Campus...the park is really a bust. The potential is gone. DHS has Galaxy's Edge, a better queue and loading area for Midway Mania, and TOT. Plus, we'd all rather watch discount Fantasmic than WOC.

 

[cheezbat]

Still gotta give the edge to DCA. Mermaid, Mission Breakout, Soarin’ Carsland, Grizzly River Run, California Screamin’…World of Color…

DHS has Tower, Runaway Railway, RNRC, and Galaxy’s Edge…but the park is so disjointed and has too many dead ends and old shows. Still needs a good 5-6 more rides to put it up there to match DCA for me.

 

[TP2000]

Still gotta give the edge to DCA. Mermaid, Mission Breakout, Soarin’ Carsland, Grizzly River Run, California Screamin’…World of Color…

DHS has Tower, Runaway Railway, RNRC, and Galaxy’s Edge…but the park is so disjointed and has too many dead ends and old shows. Still needs a good 5-6 more rides to put it up there to match DCA for me.

What's unusual is that DHS is over 10 years older than DCA, but has only half the rides. And the DHS experience has traditionally been based around shows, but the shows they have are painfully 1990's.

Even their more modern shows are... weak. (Trying to be polite.)

A 32 year old theme park that has... nine rides. Nine. 9. IX.

 

[TomboyJanet]

DCA was really going somewhere for a moment then they blew it with Pixar Pier. I'm sorry but what do any of those movies have to do with a pier anyway? It's just a cheesy excuse. It's an odd theme but they shoulda stuck with the California theme. Another thing that bugs me is the Mission Breakout. It's an eyesore to be honest. It used to have a nice cohesion with a red car that takes you to an old hollywood hotel creating this very realistic and living breathing old retro Hollywood atmosphere but then they glued a bunch of popsicle sticks to it and rethemed it to GOTG. It's a good ride don't get me wrong, but It destroys the whole flow of the park

MG....Hollywood studios, while losing it's sense of humor and charm, does have some highly themed rides. I always say I'm sore over losing the Great Movie Ride but It still has some of the old flavor and they did well with Galaxy's Edge. Muppetvision, Tower, and RNRC still hold up the old feel for me enough to get that cozy feeling.

 

[Too Many Hats]

I miss Disney-MGM Studios. I think the remnants of the “Hollywood That Never Was — And Always Will Be” vibe give DHS the edge over DCA.

DCA just has no overall thematic cohesion. And there’s no berm blocking the outside world. These two factors alone make it the worst US park, IMO.

 

[TomboyJanet]

I miss Disney-MGM Studios. I think the remnants of the “Hollywood That Never Was — And Always Will Be” vibe give DHS the edge over DCA.

DCA just has no overall thematic cohesion. And there’s no berm blocking the outside world. These two factors alone make it the worst US park, IMO.

I agree on both counts. I'm glad we at least still have Hollywood and Sunset Blvd atmospheres unlike DCA's .....ummm mishmash of Monsters inc and......random assorted stuff...

 

[TP2000]

And there’s no berm blocking the outside world.

That part bugged me 20 years ago, when you could see the Hilton from Wine Country Trattoria.

But Cars Land and a few other big additions fixed it. Except for a few brief seconds on Goofy's Sky School, and the view from the Fun Wheel (which is honestly the point of the Fun Wheel), you really can't see out of DCA since 2012.

For a full decade while Walt was live, he had a ride called the Skyway that purposely showed you the HVAC ducts on top of Fantasyland and the employee parking behind Frontierland and the motels on Harbor and the Santa Ana Freeway backing up at rush hour.

There is, of course, the ridiculously dumb Paradise Pier Hotel. But again, in Walt's day, you had the Howard Johnson's looming above Tomorrowland. The park survived.

It's just a thing that Disneyland deals with. It's also something Tokyo Disneyland deals with in spots.

 

[DLR92]

Both are plagued with lack of good creative decisions. Disney Hollywood Studios could have more potential with more well thought out expansions. But I am so annoyed how a large park with 100+ acres could only support little amount of attractions.

DCA plagued with lack of concrete ideas for lands proposed with a layout that doesn’t offer efficiency of land use. It has more attractions than DHS. But I thought the recent additions and changes done with DCA is a lack luster.