Rank Florida's theme parks

[UNCgolf]

It's painful for me to rank Epcot as the worst of the Disney parks. Painful. But oh, how she has fallen. Frankly, MK in its current state isn't doing too well with me either.

I realize it's partially tinged by nostalgia, since EPCOT was the pinnacle of theme parks worldwide, but even in its current form I think it's a better park with more to do than Hollywood Studios. I can spend more time at EPCOT than I can at DHS.

 

[Parker in NYC]

I realize it's partially tinged by nostalgia, since EPCOT was the pinnacle of theme parks worldwide, but even in its current form I think it's a better park with more to do than Hollywood Studios. I can spend more time at EPCOT than I can at DHS.

I can't with the construction right now, specifically. But then, I wouldn't be there at this time anyway. Also, a time without Illuminations is a time without happiness.

 

[UNCgolf]

I can't with the construction right now, specifically. But then, I wouldn't be there at this time anyway. Also, a time without Illuminations is a time without happiness.

Yeah, the construction looks awful. When I was last there, they hadn't really started demolishing Communicore etc. yet, although there were still a lot of construction walls. Basically just did Spaceship Earth and then looped around to the Seas and Land. I don't care about Mission: SPACE and Test Track was closed for refurb, so there was no reason to even go to to the other half of Future World. I love wandering around the World Showcase, though.

I did watch Epcot Forever, though, and that was... not good.

 

[Parker in NYC]

Yeah, the construction looks awful. When I was last there, they hadn't really started demolishing Communicore etc. yet, although there were still a lot of construction walls. Basically just did Spaceship Earth and then looped around to the Seas and Land. I don't care about Mission: SPACE and Test Track was closed for refurb, so there was no reason to even go to to the other half of Future World. I love wandering around the World Showcase, though.

I did watch Epcot Forever, though, and that was... not good.

You know what it is? I feel such a heavy sadness there. Have for a long time. I've never given a hoot about Mission: SPACE, couldn't care less about that Space restaurant or the who-knows?-Play pavilion or that subpar Ratatouille attraction (rode in Paris), or the slow murder of Impressions de France. Now, the death of the Morocco pavilion. The continued blight on the Imagination pavilion. Soarin' Around the World which doesn't hold a paper airplane to Soarin' Over California. Loss of the damn fiberoptic sidewalks. Entertainment, bands (even prior to COVID). There is so much to mourn. Spaceship Earth has been spared, but that descent is just insulting. I love the spirit and nostalgia of EPCOT. I miss Maelstrom (and maybe miss the Norway film even more). Old lady yells at cloud, I just can't help it. Oh, and Ellen or not, I miss Universe of Energy. Just miss it.

 

[UNCgolf]

You know what it is? I feel such a heavy sadness there. Have for a long time. I've never given a hoot about Mission: SPACE, couldn't care less about that Space restaurant or the who-knows?-Play pavilion or that subpar Ratatouille attraction (rode in Paris), or the slow murder of Impressions de France. Now, the death of the Morocco pavilion. The continued blight on the Imagination pavilion. Soarin' Around the World which doesn't hold a paper airplane to Soarin' Over California. Loss of the damn fiberoptic sidewalks. Entertainment, bands (even prior to COVID). There is so much to mourn. Spaceship Earth has been spared, but that descent is just insulting. I love the spirit and nostalgia of EPCOT. I miss Maelstrom (and maybe miss the Norway film even more). Old lady yells at cloud, I just can't help it. Oh, and Ellen or not, I miss Universe of Energy. Just miss it.

It's a weird mix for me. Despite it being a skeleton of what it was once (and even that may be generous) there are still areas that give me the same feeling I had when I was there as a kid and it was absolutely wondrous. But then I also get sad that so much of what made it great is now gone.

While I don't think Soarin' is amazing, it may be the only thing that has changed at EPCOT since the early 90s that's actually an improvement. Every other change that comes to mind has made the park worse. Even the stuff they're doing right now is making the park worse with the possible exception of the France addition -- I don't think the Ratatouille ride looks great and I don't really think it belongs there, but having an additional area of France with an attraction and the creperie is not bad.

 

[Parker in NYC]

It's a weird mix for me. Despite it being a skeleton of what it was once (and even that may be generous) there are still areas that give me the same feeling I had when I was there as a kid and it was absolutely wondrous. But then I also get sad that so much of what made it great is now gone.

While I don't think Soarin' is amazing, it may be the only thing that has changed at EPCOT since the early 90s that's actually an improvement. Every other change that comes to mind has made the park worse. Even the stuff they're doing right now is making the park worse with the possible exception of the France addition -- I don't think the Ratatouille ride looks great and I don't really think it belongs there, but having an additional area of France with an attraction and the creperie is not bad.

Oh, agreed. As to Soarin', I hope I didn't imply that I consider it one of the greats but in the grand scheme of things, the strongest addition. Of course, even then, they had to ruin it by replacing the original film with that cold Skewed Eiffel Tower Bonanza, featuring more views of CGI than of... the world..

 

[HongKongFooy]

Taking the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley is incredibly well done. The fact that you exit into "London" and not into Diagon Alley (which is completely hidden from sight) and then have to duck down an alleyway to find it is absolutely perfect. We actually had to ask a cast member where it was because it was so well hidden, and that's exactly how it should be.

Somebody has to say it:
Diagon is the best executed land certainly in the USA and perhaps the world.......detail after detail perfectly done.

Also, I prefer the London to Hog route because the London station is far better than the Hogmeade one...... London's queue is mighty fine and worthy of my time to wait 25 or more minutes.

And as you say exiting into London(as opposed to dropping us off inside Diagon) is the proper way to do business.



((On a side note as far as being able to service 10's of thousands during a full day Diagon's "hidden" entry is masterfully executed......... amazing considering all things but, BUT did you really have ask to find it. WOW. Again, Universal creative did an A+ job with illusion, angles and trickery to hide it, the best one can possibly expect, but did our party just get a bit lucky going right to it on our first attempt.))

 

[UNCgolf]

Somebody has to say it:
Diagon is the best executed land certainly in the USA and perhaps the world.......detail after detail perfectly done.

Also, I prefer the London to Hog route because the London station is far better than the Hogmeade one...... London's queue is mighty fine and worthy of my time to wait 25 or more minutes.

And as you say exiting into London(as opposed to dropping us off inside Diagon) is the proper way to do business.



((On a side note as far as being able to service 10's of thousands during a full day Diagon's "hidden" entry is masterfully executed......... amazing considering all things but, BUT did you really have ask to find it. WOW. Again, Universal creative did an A+ job with illusion, angles and trickery to hide it, the best one can possibly expect, but did our party just get a bit lucky going right to it on our first attempt.))

We really did have to ask, which was surprising because I can usually find anything quickly with a map. I'm sure it's not actually hard to find and we just got turned around somehow, but it actually added to the experience.

I also agree that London to Hogsmeade is better because of the station. I think the actual Hogwarts Express itself is underwhelming, but that's mitigated by the fact it actually functions as transportation between the two parks instead of simply being a ride.

 

[UNCgolf]

Oh, agreed. As to Soarin', I hope I didn't imply that I consider it one of the greats but in the grand scheme of things, the strongest addition. Of course, even then, they had to ruin it by replacing the original film with that cold Skewed Eiffel Tower Bonanza, featuring more views of CGI than of... the world..

The CGI in Soarin' is painfully bad; it actually takes you out of the attraction.

Which is going to eventually be a problem with all screen based rides that rely on any computer imagery. As the technology improves, the older CGI will begin to look outdated, and it's pretty expensive (and not that easy) to update. They basically have to start over from scratch.

 

[adimond]

1. EPCOT: 'til death do us part! even now, my perfect day is gawking at the geosphere as I eat and drink around WS

2. Magic Kingdom: the ride repertoire and sentimental attachment of half a century outweigh its hectic discontents

3. Animal Kingdom: #1 or 2 if I could be objective...the most thoughtfully presented and cared-for park in Florida

4. Hollywood Studios: fine ambiance in spots, but a muddle; *still* needs a few more attractions and better dining

5. Islands of Adventure: mixed feelings...was in my top 3 circa Y2K, but as I age, I dig g-forces and water rides less

6. Universal Studios: great rides in a barely themed setting (other than Potter which of course is brilliantly done)

7. Busch Gardens Tampa: nothing against it, fun place, just not really comparable to Disney or Universal

8. Sea World: questionable future...always felt like a beached whale myself, getting sunburned sitting in bleachers

Never been to Legoland. Is it worthwhile for adults?

 

[Getachew]

Interesting that even with the new additions, DHS still seems to be the lowest ranked FL Disney park, at least here.

 

[UNCgolf]

Interesting that even with the new additions, DHS still seems to be the lowest ranked FL Disney park, at least here.

It's because they weren't really additions. They were replacements, and weren't always an improvement over what they replaced.

I'd go so far as to say none of them were actually improvements over what was there originally when factoring in the overall theme of the park, but a lot of that was already closed so it's not a one to one comparison. But Toy Story Land is widely considered a disappointment at best and an outright failure at worst (I think it's a failure) and MMRR is at best a push with GMR (I think it's a fine attraction but not as good/impressive as GMR). Galaxy's Edge also fell flat for a lot of people outside of Rise of the Resistance, which many guests are never able to ride anyways.

 

[Parker in NYC]

Galaxy's Edge also fell flat for a lot of people outside of Rise of the Resistance, which many guests are never able to ride anyways.

Shhhhh, posters here have been hanged here for speaking such truth!

 

[Trackmaster]

It's because they weren't really additions. They were replacements, and weren't always an improvement over what they replaced.

I'd go so far as to say none of them were actually improvements over what was there originally when factoring in the overall theme of the park, but a lot of that was already closed so it's not a one to one comparison. But Toy Story Land is widely considered a disappointment at best and an outright failure at worst (I think it's a failure) and MMRR is at best a push with GMR (I think it's a fine attraction but not as good/impressive as GMR). Galaxy's Edge also fell flat for a lot of people outside of Rise of the Resistance, which many guests are never able to ride anyways.

Yeah, I think that by axing the GMR and the backlot tour they kind of lost their identity. MK is the castle homage to the founder park, Epcot is the adult park (was supposed to be smart/cultured person park... but its losing that identity too, that's a whole other issue I have), and DAK is obviously the animal park. DHS was supposed to be about movie production and an homage to the business in general, which kind of makes sense since arguably Disney and Universal were kind of borne out of and influenced from backlot tours. Obviously the movie studio thing failed early on, but they still should have kept the tour as a theme park ride... the same way you're not actually in Africa, but they still allow you to get in vehicles go on a simulated tour through a wild life preserve in DAK. They could have kept the trams and just updated the tour every year. Similarly, I think that the GMR was something that they could have kept and just updated the movies periodically.

In a sense I guess I don't blame them. I could see the GMR while being popular as being expensive to keep up with the IPs for, and took a lot of staffing. Similarly I could see the studio tour is getting weird without a studio... and the fact that USF doesn't even have one anymore. Its hard to believe that they want a couple of years in between GE and Mickey and Minnie without the tour or GMR. That park was really starving for rides, and it was still very crowded and popular. Disney is just crack for a lot of people.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Interesting how in two active polls on this sub-forum, MK is both the winner of "best Florida theme park" and the one that attracts the worst type of guests.

To me, you can't have both. A theme park does not exist in a vacuum where there are no other people in it. If those crowds make it difficult or less enjoyable to do things, than the whole experience of being there is dragged down.

MK has the best collection of attractions, but it's not the always the most pleasant place to be, especially when crowds are at their peak.

 

[Trackmaster]

Interesting how in two active polls on this sub-forum, MK is both the winner of "best Florida theme park" and the one that attracts the worst type of guests.

To me, you can't have both. A theme park does not exist in a vacuum where there are no other people in it. If those crowds make it difficult or less enjoyable to do things, than the whole experience of being there is dragged down.

MK has the best collection of attractions, but it's not the always the most pleasant place to be, especially when crowds are at their peak.

That's actually a funny thought. You basically pay money to go to a park to gawk at the high caliber guests and see the beautiful ones. You would never have your day ruined by sub-par quality guests that don't live up to high standards.

 

[NelleBelle]

Taking the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley is incredibly well done. The fact that you exit into "London" and not into Diagon Alley (which is completely hidden from sight) and then have to duck down an alleyway to find it is absolutely perfect. We actually had to ask a cast member where it was because it was so well hidden, and that's exactly how it should be.

We too had trouble finding the entrance to Diagon Alley when went the first time! We didn’t have to ask aTM but we certainly wa seres around looking g at our map for a good while and then started watching people before we figured it out!Really clever but we certainly felt like morons!

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

We too had trouble finding the entrance to Diagon Alley when went the first time! We didn’t have to ask aTM but we certainly wa seres around looking g at our map for a good while and then started watching people before we figured it out!Really clever but we certainly felt like morons!

And exactly where is the entrance?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Busch Gardens is probably the best overall park for groups / families with lots of interests and age groups. The other parks lean pretty heavy to one specific demographic.

 

[ppete1975]

Where is Weeki Wachee? Your list is flawed

Im actually shocked lego hasnt gotten at least a vote honestly.