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Favorite Asian Park?
- Thread starter Daveeeeed
- Start date
Which park?
brb1006
Well-Known Member
Tokyo DisneyseaWhich park?
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
The Asian parks are an embarrassment of riches, with DisneySea leading the pack by a long shot (and worldwide IMO). TDL, HKDL and SDL are all uniquely fantastic as well.
Damon7777
Well-Known Member
Disney Sea of course......actually my favorite park anywhere, by far.
I would take Disney Sea over all 6 USA parks put together.
It has my favorite 2 rides on Earth and another 2 within the top 8, plus my all time favorite theme park live show. But most of all it has unrivaled details and large architecture. The scope and scale of facades are over the top.
And here is the most underappreciated beauty of Disney Sea: the park changes levels. It's not a flat park like all of the others(Animal Kingdom slightly changes but nothing to wow us). I love the terrain and elevation differences around TDS.
I would take Disney Sea over all 6 USA parks put together.
It has my favorite 2 rides on Earth and another 2 within the top 8, plus my all time favorite theme park live show. But most of all it has unrivaled details and large architecture. The scope and scale of facades are over the top.
And here is the most underappreciated beauty of Disney Sea: the park changes levels. It's not a flat park like all of the others(Animal Kingdom slightly changes but nothing to wow us). I love the terrain and elevation differences around TDS.
Also the kinetic energy. Boats, the steamer line, and the Big City Vehicles in American Waterfront. God that park looks amazing!
Robbiem
Well-Known Member
Another one for disneysea. Other than maybe the original EPCOT it's the only second gate of equal quality to the castle park. It's just such a beautiful park to walk around and soak in the details. I hope that when Hong Kong and shanghai get second gates they are disneysea quality
nerdboyrockstar
Well-Known Member
Curious as to what these are.. Journey To The Center of the Earth is my all-time favorite ride but I don't remember anything else in this park coming close.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Damon7777
Well-Known Member
Yes, Journey to Center is far and away #1 and a distant #2 is Hightower Hotel. I have always found WDW's TOT nothing short of stellar(as well as Anaheim's version). And then in 2008 I was fortunate enough to see Hightower. Its building architecture, queue and different story made what I thought an A level attraction an A++.
Sindbad is underrated--- such a pleasure but for me not in the top 10 in the world......top 20 perhaps and most definitely a top 30.
Sindbad is underrated--- such a pleasure but for me not in the top 10 in the world......top 20 perhaps and most definitely a top 30.
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Damon7777
Well-Known Member
You asked about Disney Sea so here is my take:
1)attention to details throughout the park---- from drinking fountains to costumes to large architectural features to ride vehicles. Everywhere and anything is adorned masterfully and highly meticulously. Unless you have seen first hand I feel there is no way to appreciate---- too many people on boards like this only know USA standards in Disney parks. 2) attraction offerings and menu selection. 3) elevation changes within the park 4) Disney Sea's chosen theme is so much more interesting than "studios", "California" or "animals" ....don't get me wrong I love animals and taxonomy and they definitely interest but I find Disney Sea's main theme of exploration just more interesting and entertaining than all of the others in the Disney lineup.
1)attention to details throughout the park---- from drinking fountains to costumes to large architectural features to ride vehicles. Everywhere and anything is adorned masterfully and highly meticulously. Unless you have seen first hand I feel there is no way to appreciate---- too many people on boards like this only know USA standards in Disney parks. 2) attraction offerings and menu selection. 3) elevation changes within the park 4) Disney Sea's chosen theme is so much more interesting than "studios", "California" or "animals" ....don't get me wrong I love animals and taxonomy and they definitely interest but I find Disney Sea's main theme of exploration just more interesting and entertaining than all of the others in the Disney lineup.
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Edward M
Active Member
If someone has been to Tokyo Disneysea and doesn't think it's the best park in the world, just why? It's just the most impressive establishment I've ever seen. It has my #1 and #2 (Journey and Sinbad repsectively). It also has 2 in my top 10 (Indy and ToT). It's not the rides that even make it though. I would pay park admission just to walk around this place; its atmosphere is unparalleled in scale and detail. I could gush on about Disneysea for hours, but I think it is leagues ahead of any other Disney park.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
Undoubtedly DisneySea is the best theme park on the planet, never mind Asia. It wins at quality.
However I don't think it's as clear cut as it once was: when there was DisneySea and distant memories of Epcot before a steep drop into sub-par parks.
I actually think Disneyland is my favourite park and has/is made big strides in the 2015-2019 period.
Shanghai Disneyland is quite impressive, has the newness going for it, but can be a tad unwieldy/unpolished.
That said, I'm weirdly partial to Hong Kong Disneyland. On paper it's by no means the best at most things. Again it has really come a long way and has a plan in place to go a long way. It's probably my favourite Asian park. It doesn't have to make sense, but since the OP asked for which I think is my favourite and not which I think is the most high quality.
Disney Sea I've put in a naughty corner as I've been impatiently waiting for them to continue to demonstrate what made that park so great in the first place. Toy Story and Soaring is more about treading water than furthering the goalpost. Those are the pinnacle additions to that park over a decade period... that's some WDW level molasses speed.
Clearly a lot of what dictates a favourite for me is a park that steadily invests.
However I don't think it's as clear cut as it once was: when there was DisneySea and distant memories of Epcot before a steep drop into sub-par parks.
I actually think Disneyland is my favourite park and has/is made big strides in the 2015-2019 period.
Shanghai Disneyland is quite impressive, has the newness going for it, but can be a tad unwieldy/unpolished.
That said, I'm weirdly partial to Hong Kong Disneyland. On paper it's by no means the best at most things. Again it has really come a long way and has a plan in place to go a long way. It's probably my favourite Asian park. It doesn't have to make sense, but since the OP asked for which I think is my favourite and not which I think is the most high quality.
Disney Sea I've put in a naughty corner as I've been impatiently waiting for them to continue to demonstrate what made that park so great in the first place. Toy Story and Soaring is more about treading water than furthering the goalpost. Those are the pinnacle additions to that park over a decade period... that's some WDW level molasses speed.
Clearly a lot of what dictates a favourite for me is a park that steadily invests.
I really like your thoughts here. It's quite frankly obvious that Disney SEA has the highest level of immersion in the world, so that's why I thought it would be interesting what are people's favorite park specifically.
What made you like Hong Kong Disneyland so much? Low queue times? quaintness?
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
It's a gorgeous and yet simple resort. Elegantly laid out, easily the best landscape of any Dis resort. Lush, secluded, both mountains and ocean, simple and effective mass transit to get in and out. So much describes the arrival experience. No grid-locked highway, no rotting Downtown Disney with machine guns and security gates. No industrial reclaimed warehouses. SDL and WDW provide ok arrivals.
I think quaint is a great descriptor. Albeit I've never been to Disney Sea when it has actually been busy yet. No frills, really no FP. It feels less like a mass tourist destination.
Again it helps that you could visit semi-annually and get a new E-ticket or at least a strong new attraction every time. On again off-again Mystic Manor is my favourite attraction as well.
Had this park actually been done right from the start in Eisner's era, I think this conversation would be a lot different.
Damon7777
Well-Known Member
Yes, Hong Kong DL has a unique charm--- I love this park!. And agreed its menu(attractions offered) appears lackluster against a few other Disney parks but for me it has it where it counts most: atmosphere/grounds/intangibles
Brick pavers on Main Street(as opposed to the ubiquitous asphalt) , breathtaking backdrop with those mountains, plants/foliage/trees, room to appreciate without being avalanched with crowds, its special train service to the property(for me just a far more pleasant experience than taking the Marne La Vallee Paris.....Tokyo's is fine but not as special as HK )
Brick pavers on Main Street(as opposed to the ubiquitous asphalt) , breathtaking backdrop with those mountains, plants/foliage/trees, room to appreciate without being avalanched with crowds, its special train service to the property(for me just a far more pleasant experience than taking the Marne La Vallee Paris.....Tokyo's is fine but not as special as HK )
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Pangoo
Member
For me, Disney Sea is not only my favorite park in Asia, but my absolute favorite theme Park in the world (I have been to every park except SH and Paris) My mom is from Japan and my grandparents were in Tokyo, so back in the winter of 2001 shortly after it first opened, I got to visit it and it was incredible and packed. I do remember the crowds not being as bad as TDL maybe 2 years later. I make it a point to visit TDR everytime I go back to Japan since its such a unique experience. Flash forward to now, we took a family trip to WDW back in June, and my wife complains that we shouldn't have made our first Disney parks experience together in Japan, since WDW just doesn't have that attention to detail. The service and experience are still top notch, but the small things you see in Japan are not there.