Has Your Favorite WDW Park Changed?

[Raineman]

I was 16 the first time I visited WDW, and, although I liked MK, at the time I thought it was more for kids than older people. As I was a geeky/techy type as a teenager, Epcot was my favorite park, followed closely by DHS, as I was into movies as well. Now, 26 years later, MK is my favorite park, most likely due to the flood of nostalgia I get when I am there and the feeling of being a kid again. DAK is my second favorite-such great theming and detail-followed by Epcot and DHS. Has your favorite park(s) changed over the years, and why?

 

[TXDisney]

My favorite park is Epcot. Like most kids Epcot was my least favorite park growing up. I think Epcot is a park that gets better the older you get. So it's not a park that's changed that much it's just a park that I've loved more and more as I've gotten older and older.

 

[marni1971]

EPCOT Center was my favourite park as a teen and 20 something.

Now it's a shadow of its former self. And seems to get worse.

 

[danyoung56]

I didn't get to the MK till 1979, so it was my favorite park till E.P.C.O.T. came online (I was there the first week it opened!). The other two parks were fun to see, but nothing has ever taken the place of Epcot for me. I agree with Marni that it's gone downhill quite a bit over the years, but it's still my favorite.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I like Magic Kingdom. I feel like it's pretty much stayed the same. I do like the new Fantasyland.

 

[Heffalump333]

EPCOT needs some help.

 

[Glasgow]

EPCOT for me as well. It was completely unique and the music .. the music. I even remember getting a little box of lemonheads in the gift shop under SSE that I still think about to this day It's a sad image of its former self though. Old, unloved and somewhat dilapidated attractions. No new attractions for 10-15 years other than one ride and a couple of lackluster makeovers. One completely shuttered attraction which has been left as a conference space. It is so embarrassing. Add to that the completely conniving money grab festivals (which, to be fair, are entertaining and well received) and you've now got a broken park. The lack of reinvestment and development is shocking (if you're a cynic and realist, it's completely believable, sadly). I hope it gets its share of the funds soon before they add a mcdonalds and starbucks to the World Showcase.

 

[Clamman73]

Thirty years ago EPCOT was my favorite and I'm still sticking to it even though it's just not what it used to be in the way it appealed to me back then..you know the whole Future World situation...gonna hang in there and see what these pavilion changes hold for the future. Granted it's not returning to exactly what it was then, but I'm keeping the faith.
DAK is knocking on the door though...

 

[The Empress Lilly]

My three fav parks are MK, EPCOT and DHS. Have they changed? Well...

EPCOT was ran over by a truck, a giant 18 wheeler Eisnermobile, 1994-2004, and left at the roadside.
DHS is now in its second transformation. The verdict is a bit out. I do expect TSL to be WDW's worst area behind Dinorama and Dumboland. SWL might be terrific. I'm not sure the park as a whole will be the best DHS yet.
The MK long felt impervious to its changes. But the permanent onslaught and tonal changes have now caught up with it. I was heartbroken last time I set foot in it. A miserable, industrial tourism, plastic, crass shadow of its former self.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Favorite has always been and has stayed MK. Theres so much there that entertains and offers pleasure that I cant see any other of the parks ever taking it over as #1 for me. Theres such a variety of shops and places to dine, the unique lands, each offering a favorite something to thrill, the top quality entertainment and just the fact that it screams Disney to me more than any other place.

 

[nickys]

I first went in 1992, a year after DH were married and in our "bc" years (before children). Although I still remember the feeling standing at the top of Main Street looking at the castle, MGM studios was my favourite park.

I loved the old backlot tour, with the facades of so many TV shows, the ageing props and and seeing how the special effects worked I loved the Indy stunt show, still do (and joke about how well Indy has aged -lol), SOA, the Animation Studios and One Man's Dream. I have pictures of me in front of the buildings in SOA and "racing down the hill of SF". All that "this is how films were made".
When we first came with the kids they were really excited about it too, even tho they were used to cgi and so-on. And I was really please that LMA had come, which we'd seen in Paris.

Last visit was 2012, when most of it was still there, just the extended backlot tour gone. DH, Myself and DS16 were all in the water effects part of the show (on different days). This Christmas I'm going to be sooooo sad that all that part of DHS is gone, other than Indy. Even OMD is cut short I believe ....

I know change happens and I know I'll love Star Wars Land and Toy Story when we come back next in a few years. But I still feel like they've dismissed all the original features as irrelevant, when actually plenty of people are interested. To me, that's what made DHS different, not just another theme park, however well Disney does it. I will still enjoy it but not nearly so much, especially since there won't be much else. Nothing new yet from 4 years ago (I'm not counting Frozen), which isn't going to help either!

 

[ajkraz]

My opinion has changed so much over the years, when I was younger, I loved MGM Studios, I was just a fan of everything at the park, it had Star Tours (I was and still am a massive star wars fan) which was my favorite ride for most of my childhood. It also had The Great Movie Ride which I also still love to this day and I thought it was so cool to go through all the movies and actually see them in 4D. They also had Rockin Roller coaster (I loved and still love Aerosmith) and Tower of Terror which are 2 of my top 4 favorite rides at WDW. And of course, they had Muppet Vision 3D which is my favorite show and I would much rather watch than Fantasmic. As I got older though, my opinion started to sway towards Magic Kingdom as I thought it was more thrilling and offered better attractions, restaurants, shows and a better atmosphere (I was also salty that they changed the name). But since I was maybe 12, I have become a lot less of a picky eater and love Epcot nowadays as my favorite. It's got thrilling rides like Test Track and Mission:Space (RIP Horizons), it's got relaxing rides like Soarin and Finding Nemo and it's got classics like Spaceship Earth and Journey into Imagination (RIP Dreamfinder). Not to mention, the best firework show on the planet and the food capital of the universe. Seriously, the food at every country (especially USA, Italy, China, UK and Mexico) is TREMENDOUS and I could probably spend a year at Epcot and never get bored of it, honestly just a tremendous job that Walt Disney World has done with it.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I do love the unique lands in Magic Kingdom. I love the various shops in the land and feeling like a little kid again in Fantasyland.

 

[ShoalFox]

In the 13 or so years since Epcot became my favorite park (I was 5 years old at the time), the only thing it has done is regress in both quality and quantity.

Let's count since 2003: Finding Nemo was shoehorned into The Living Seas, Wonders of Life became seasonal and then closed permanently with no true replacement, Innoventions has been allowed to rot to nothingness, SSE got an update in 2008 that dumbed it down extremely, Universe of Energy lost its sponsor in '04 and has been so neglected since 2009 such that the show barely operates properly, my former favorite ride Test Track was "modernized" into a barely themed rave, Imagination lost its sponsor and has been floundering, El Rio del Tiempo became The Three Caballeros, Maelstrom was forced to close to feed into Frozenmania...

Am I missing anything?

 

[wendysue]

We sooooo miss DHS (MGM)! Will never be the same again, no matter what they do to it. Our last visit was in April, and I have booked a couple of trips since then, but have canceled them, as the value at WDW just isn't there for us any longer. Am glad for all the trips we had, though.

 

[BigRedDad]

It is all based on perspective. I grew up going there when is was MK and River Country only. I was born in 70. It was all about the "magic" until I was about 10/11. At that point, we were allowed to go off on our own as kids. We went as a big group. We knew the park front and back by then. We knew we had to be back at Fort Wilderness by 6PM for dinner. As the 80s came in, it was just a place to run to ride the roller coasters and a few other rides. Went a time or 2 in my 20s. Then when I turned 30, started going back and seeing it for what it is. It is a completely different experience and age/maturity/desires change.

 

[Saxtongoof]

EPCOT is our favorite park. Saying that, we think that it needs a upgrade. The last three years we have gone for Xmas, food and wine and flower festivals. We will be going again Dec 4 thru the 10th. We love Xmas at Epcot, the wine and food festival is just crammed to much with booth in the World Showcase. They needed to place the booth for countries that don't have showcases more toward and around future world area like the use to do with the flower festival. The flower festival don't need all the food booths. They need to go back to what the first three were like. All about flowers and gardening.

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

The first time I was in EPCOT ('84) I was hooked. Now not so much. I miss the communicore days it just seemed to be more to experience. I miss Horizons and the World of Motion.

The MK has mostly the same feel to me. I do think the Fantasyland expansion was over hyped and a let down for me. There is a lot of visitors willing to wait hours to get their photo with a princess. I for one don't get it. I'll be on SM thank you.

HS in it's current state would be hard to make my favorite. Take its current state and add the original back stage tour ('89 ver.) it would be my favorite park. I'am looking forward to the expansions currently underway.

AK honestly I've been inside the park maybe 6 times since it opened. I refuse to go back until the Yetti is fixed (just kidding) There nothing there that interests me.

 

[WEDwaydatamover]

I started visiting the Magic Kingdom in 1976 or 1977 as a toddler. I became fairly obsessed with WDW and Magic Kingdom was my favorite park well into my 20s. The Magic Kingdom began to change for the worse around 1994 and then I rediscovered EPCOT Center which I had always loved.

Epcot then became my favorite Park for the next decade or so. Even tho the Epcot was no EPCOT Center it still had one foot in each version. Now it's just depressing. I don't know what it is or what its becoming. I think beers around the world are all it really has on its side for many, including myself.

I never really cared for Animal Kingdom tho its a beautiful Park. I never connected with it.

I never really liked the Studios much either. With some exceptions. I love the Prime Time and the Sci Fi restaurants. TOT and RnR are great of course. I miss One man's dream. That's about it. It's a 4 hour park for me.

So to answer the question Magic Kingdom at its high-water mark. Pre-Paul Pressler/ second decade of Eisner.

I don't have a current favorite Park on this coast any longer.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The MK long felt impervious to its changes. But the permanent onslaught and tonal changes have now caught up with it. I was heartbroken last time I set foot in it. A miserable, industrial tourism, plastic, crass shadow of its former self.

At this point the only reason to go is to see what's left of WED's original brilliant work. The unique design of Tom Sawyer's Island, the Jungle Cruise temple, Haunted Mansion's music room, 4 animatronic stage shows (the most of any MK), the upper level of Columbia Harbour House, PotC's dungeon queue, Small World's white and blue finale etc.

The only question for me is whether or not it's worth the cost and hassle to see it. I think for party nights it still is*, but on regular days? Not so sure.

*you can see the normal state of the park between 4:00pm and 7:00pm