manmythlegend
Well-Known Member
That's crazy man, lol
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Rank the Disney parks you have attended from best to "least"
- Thread starter Walt Disney1955
- Start date
That's crazy man, lol
PostScott
Well-Known Member
how so?
Bodyfather
Well-Known Member
1. Epcot
2. Magic Kingdom
3. Animal Kingdom
4. Hollywood Studios(though not visited since 2017 so might now be higher)
5. Disneyland Paris
6. Disney Studios Paris(awful)
2. Magic Kingdom
3. Animal Kingdom
4. Hollywood Studios(though not visited since 2017 so might now be higher)
5. Disneyland Paris
6. Disney Studios Paris(awful)
HongKongFooy
Well-Known Member
I'm trying to understand how DL and Magic Kingdom are polar opposites on your list. While, to me at least, DL is far superior of the two, as in 4 notches above, nevertheless they do have quite a bit of overlap.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
1. EPCOT (past and present)
2. Magic Kingdom
3. Disneyland (CA)
4. Animal Kingdom
5. Hollywood Studios/MGM
6. Disney California Adventure
2. Magic Kingdom
3. Disneyland (CA)
4. Animal Kingdom
5. Hollywood Studios/MGM
6. Disney California Adventure
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
They do have a lot of overlap, but it's the execution that's the difference. I think if you compare potential vs. actual experience, MK has the biggest gap of any of the parks.
I don't see anything wrong with his list, other than potentially putting DHS as # 2 (but then, I haven't been since 2017 and that park has changed dramatically since).
PostScott
Well-Known Member
I might be biased here but I feel like Magic Kingdom tries so much to be Disneyland but doesn't reach it. I've been going to Disneyland all my life and love going. I also love WDW and enjoy the uniqueness of all the parks there. However, Walt build Magic Kingdom in mind to be similar to Disneyland. It tries to have the same identity as Disneyland. I would put it much higher on my list if it didn't try to copy it. Now I enjoy the park and love the splash mountain/BTM there, but it doesn't beat the other three WDW parks for me.
Haha yeah, Hollywood studios isn't a great park but I just love the e-tickets there and some of the shows. I see it as having some of the best WDW rides like TOT, ROTR, RNR, and slinky, MFSR, and star tours are also pretty good additions.
Disneysea05
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Walt died before in-depth planning for Magic Kingdom began, even Cinderella Castle wasn’t conceptualized until after he died. I have always wondered if the second magic kingdom would have had fewer duplicated attractions from the original had Walt lived to personally supervise its design.
adimond
Active Member
One factor that would affect my rankings by alleviating the half-day park issue: Animal Kingdom and (especially) Studios badly need more/better restaurants [this is all assuming that restaurants...or for that matter theme parks...still exist in our post-2020 Mad Max h-e-double-hockey-sticks-scape]. Even MK could use another one or two.
I always find myself wanting to leave whatever other park I'm in by late afternoon, because the options for eating and drinking are so much better at Epcot. (Cutting against that is the loss of Illuminations, which to me is increasingly looking like a tragic move.)
I always find myself wanting to leave whatever other park I'm in by late afternoon, because the options for eating and drinking are so much better at Epcot. (Cutting against that is the loss of Illuminations, which to me is increasingly looking like a tragic move.)
PostScott
Well-Known Member
Sorry, yeah I got my info wrong there. I believe they made it so much like DL because since Walt died they weren't sure what to do on the creative side, and they quickly made it to be like Disneyland.
manmythlegend
Well-Known Member
Can you explain why DL Paris is above DL? I'm so confused by that.
manmythlegend
Well-Known Member
I just can't see how MK is the worst of the U.S. parks. There is just so much to do there, the layout makes sense, good cheap food options, it's a pretty park. I don't get it.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
I could see liking DLP more than DL if you're a fan of themed design. It's easily the best designed castle park and the most beautiful.
It's the most frustrating park to experience and the most difficult park to get everything done that you want to do. By that metric, I completely understand ranking it rock bottom.
Also, where are these good cheap food options? I've never found them.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I don’t think MK deserves the bad vibes some are giving it.
1. Yes, it’s pretty much a copy of Disneyland. And an inferior one at that. But so what? Nothing wrong with having a clone out East for people who may never get the chance to see the original Disneyland, for whatever reason. Seems like an odd complaint to me...
2. It still has PeopleMover, CBJ, COP, Astro Orbiter in its right place. Longer and (arguably) better versions of Splash, HM, and Jungle Cruise. Better queues for most rides. Let’s not forget that MK has to share rides with three other parks while DL only shares with one other park.
3. While these parks don’t exist in a vacuum, I primarily rank solely on theming/immersion and attraction quality. I get the WDW parks are much harder to experience due to the crowds, FastPass+, capacity issues, etc... but I just dont think “how easy it is to experience” should be considered when ranking theme parks. Again, DCA is easier to experience than DAK, but that doesn’t make it a better theme park.
I think Disneyland has a certain charm to it that MK can’t match, and it’s a better park for sure. I just don’t think the difference is that profound.
1. Yes, it’s pretty much a copy of Disneyland. And an inferior one at that. But so what? Nothing wrong with having a clone out East for people who may never get the chance to see the original Disneyland, for whatever reason. Seems like an odd complaint to me...
2. It still has PeopleMover, CBJ, COP, Astro Orbiter in its right place. Longer and (arguably) better versions of Splash, HM, and Jungle Cruise. Better queues for most rides. Let’s not forget that MK has to share rides with three other parks while DL only shares with one other park.
3. While these parks don’t exist in a vacuum, I primarily rank solely on theming/immersion and attraction quality. I get the WDW parks are much harder to experience due to the crowds, FastPass+, capacity issues, etc... but I just dont think “how easy it is to experience” should be considered when ranking theme parks. Again, DCA is easier to experience than DAK, but that doesn’t make it a better theme park.
I think Disneyland has a certain charm to it that MK can’t match, and it’s a better park for sure. I just don’t think the difference is that profound.
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bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Columbia Harbour House? And no Disney food is what I would call “cheap”, but CHH is a good value I think.
Also, is Disneyland Paris’ food as bad as they say?
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
I'm not a seafood fan, so I haven't ventured over there. Although I'm sure they have some kind of token non-seafood entree.
Yes it is. Worst food in the world, easily, and the most frustrating to experience to the quantity of closed restaurants or restaurants that close early for arbitrary reasons. That said, the main park has some of the best restaurants in the world for theming (Walt's especially is fabulous). But yeah, a lot of people will stick to McDonald's, Five Guys, and Earl of Sandwich in Disney Village and given the quality of most of the food in park, I can't blame them.
DisneyAndUniversalFan
Well-Known Member
I remember talking with you about this on the Magic Kingdom vs. Disneyland poll, I think MK is a good park, but Disneyland still remains FAR superior, as most people on here seem to agree with.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
1. That's not my main beef with it, honestly. Tokyo Disneyland, for example, is even less original and more derivative than MK if we're being technical, with the opening day architecture and design obviously inferior, yet I'd even rather be there than MK.
2. I'll grant you the now-MK exclusives. Trouble is, Tokyo has better versions of the three other rides you just named. I'd rather have a better ride than a better queue, which is generally the case with DL (and MK needs those themed queues more than any other park to distract you from how long it's taking you to actually get on those rides). I'll grant you that MK has from day 1 had to share resources, but all of WDW's parks are underbuilt for the crowds they serve, and I'm absolutely going to ream them for that, because they chose to invent FP+ to try and hide the lack of ride capacity, instead of taking the money they have to do something about it.
3. Again, on paper, I agree with you. But when the WDW parks are deliberately operated to prioritize cost savings and so you have attractions, food venues, etc. intentionally being operated below their full capacity or shuttered, that changes the equation. The other parks are operated properly or are closer to it than the FL parks.
On paper, the differences don't seem profound, but they become profound experiencing them in person.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Yep, it is better. I think most would agree, though not all.
I just think it’s odd when someone says Disneyland is #1 and MK is #10 or something. The disparity isn’t that huge. That leads me to assume people are considering things like wait times and convenience. Yes, that does affect the experience of the theme park but not the quality of the theme park itself. So I pretty much just consider theming, immersion, and attractions when I rank them.
Don’t get me wrong - I prefer DL and would spend a day there over any other park. I just gotta stand up for MK, because I think it’s kind of a punching bag... which is a shame, because it is a well-themed park that was really great once upon a time. But poor decisions by Disney have really made it a logistical nightmare. That reflects more on the Disney company than the quality of the park itself. It has great potential... sigh.