Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
Nastaglia I feel is somewhat overrated. My first pick is Islands cause they have some the best rides in all of central Florida. They also have the best coaster in Central Florida with Velicoaster
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Rank the Disney/Universal Orlando parks
- Thread starter DisneyAndUniversalFan
- Start date
MickeyMouse10
Well-Known Member
Maybe for some attractions like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", but most of the time it's pretty valid. There's been way too many great attractions that have been demoed. Epcot would be a far superior park if they kept the original "Journey into Imagination", "Horizons" and "World of Motion".
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I agree, as it all depends on so many subjective factors.
My family has way more fun at Universal than at WDW these days -- mainly due to the smaller footprints of the parks making them easier to tour and to access in minutes from any onsite hotel, the higher quality and thrill level of the new attractions (if you compare what's new at each -- innovative coasters like Hagrid's and Velocicoaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure, and ho-hum dark ride copies MMRR and Ratatouille at WDW -- the difference is almost laughable), and the ability to breeze through the lines and enjoy unlimited express pass simply by booking a premier hotel room (for no more money than a Disney deluxe would cost and in many cases far less, and no need to purchase add-on crap like Genie+ and ILL, or to have your nose in your phone at any point).
That being said, I still rate Magic Kingdom as the "best park" overall, based on a lot of intangibles like nostalgia, vibe, a pleasing layout and thoughtful design second to none, and the sheer variety and quality of attractions. If theming and immersion become the primary factor, then Animal Kingdom also shoots toward the top of the list, as well.
Hollywood Studios and Epcot (at its present-and-for-the-last-few-years-state, with half of the erstwhile Future World overtaken by an ugly and unnecessarily-prolonged construction zone) easily occupy the bottom of the list, with each offering a small number of attractions that is completely disproportionate to their huge and inconvenient footprints, and increasingly schizophrenic theming and park identity. I'd put Universal Studios Florida alongside them, as it suffers from over-reliance on screens and redundant ride systems (e.g., Fast&Furious is an inferior copy of Kong, and Transformers and Spider Man are each basically the same ride with different video footage), and some discordant theming issues, although at least it offers a more walkable footprint, and is part of a property that offers more touring advantages and amenities for onsite guests, overall, than WDW does.
I would definitely agree that Universal has more of a thrill/party park feel to it as opposed to Disney's family park feel, IMO . I remember the Hulk coaster just being freakin' awesome. The Hogwarts ride (not sure the name) blew me away. I'd like to go back again and experience the newer stuff since I was last there. I just usually end up riding that stuff by myself.
Out of me, my son and wife, I am really the only coaster person. They enjoy the dark, omni mover, type rides more. Agree MK is best right now, for the reasons you stated. As I have gotten older, Epcot is moving up on the list as I enjoy walking through World Showcase, taking in the cultures, the different food and drinks. Hopefully Future World will work itself out. I am looking forward to the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.
I think this is widely known lol
BubbaisSleep
Well-Known Member
IOA, Epcot, AK, DHS, USF, MK.
Maybe it’s because I fly in from the west coast & Disneyland is my favorite park, but I just don’t really care to spend much time in MK which I consider one of the weaker castle parks. Love getting my Peoplemover rides in though. AK will be my favorite Disney park eventually once they add a few more rides, as it’s such a gorgeous park. IOA is a fun & well-rounded park, my family & I love our visits there.
Maybe it’s because I fly in from the west coast & Disneyland is my favorite park, but I just don’t really care to spend much time in MK which I consider one of the weaker castle parks. Love getting my Peoplemover rides in though. AK will be my favorite Disney park eventually once they add a few more rides, as it’s such a gorgeous park. IOA is a fun & well-rounded park, my family & I love our visits there.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
Absolutely.
People grade Magic Kingdom in particular on a curve, based primarily on nostalgia rather than the merits of how the park actually operates today.
It will never matter to those people that pretty much every other central Florida park, Disney or not, is considerably more pleasant to experience right now, or that arguably every other castle park is better maintained, better operated, and more functional for what most visitors actually want to do than Magic Kingdom.
The other Central FL parks aren't Disney and therefore can't possibly be as good. The other Disney parks are too far away and won't give them "the feels" (even though they've never been to any of the others, they just know that's how it will be). Put those two together and sure enough, Magic Kingdom simply MUST be the best.
Walt Disney1955
Well-Known Member
This may not be popular, but I loved the Twister ride.
I think you have to stick to what got you there. E.T., Jaws, King Kong, etc. This was the core of the park early on. Back to the Future as well, which was a better ride than the Simpsons. I don't know why, but it seems like they decided to make Islands of Adventure the park with the best experience and rides. How often does the sequel surpass the original? Here it does. Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando are pretty much the same more or less as far as experience. It is Islands of Adventure that puts the Orlando Universal the better resort.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
It's the biggest problem with Universal Studios. There are more attractions now than there were 25 years ago, but the attractions that existed 25 years ago were much better than the vast majority of what they've built since.
Diagon Alley is a masterpiece as an overall area, but the Jaws attraction was phenomenal and much better than Gringotts. There's no comparison between Disaster and Fast & Furious. Revenge of the Mummy is a great ride, but Kongfrontation was vastly superior to the Kong ride they eventually built at IOA. And Twister, while maybe the weakest of those attractions, was far better than Race Through New York. Simpsons is also just a lesser version of BttF.
Oh me too. We got to go on it during testing phase on our honeymoon
MickeyMouse10
Well-Known Member
I agree, there is much more variety at IOA.
IOA has a lot of things that USF just doesn't have. It's got new coasters (Hagrid, Velocicoaster), water rides (Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park) and even family rides (Seuss Landing). Plus as a whole the park is themed way better than Uni. It doesn't have any dead spots (Fear Factor, Kidzone) the way Studios does. Even Lost Continent is at least beautiful to look at.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Even though I am not a coaster fanatic, I still think that Uni is well worth a two day visit. Three if you are into water parks. It is creative and in a lot of ways more impressive show and technology wise than Disney. I almost always planned on visiting both every trip after Uni was opened. I never stop being impressed with Poseidon's Fury and make it a point to never miss it.
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WishIWasRetired
Active Member
I agree those original rides were much better than what replaced them. After not going for a long time, I went in January and the sheer amount of screen rides was such a disappointment and if you have any type of motion sickness you are going to be sorry. I don't even suffer from motion sickness but after a few rides I found it just not that enjoyable, the Simpsons is probably the worst out of all of them.
Walt Disney1955
Well-Known Member
Here is the funny thing, a few years back a family member of mine went to Orlando for the first time. He went to Universal. I asked him which park he liked better IOA or Universal. He actually paused for a moment and said he liked both pretty much the same. I was stunned because to me that is almost like saying you take DHS over the Magic Kingdom. So this was about 3-4 years ago.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
During my visit last October, IOA felt pretty complete. I do think they could more non-thrill ride things to do, but since I like thrill rides quite a lot, I'm quite happy with what they have. Velocicoaster and Hagrid's are solid coasters that have really helped the park IMO.
USF by contrast felt like it needed a fairly comprehensive refresh. I can think of quite a lot of things there that I don't care for-Rockit, Fallon, F&TF, Simpsons is fine but isn't iconic in the way BTTF was, Kid Zone is a relic, and so on. Men in Black and Diagon Alley are great and Mummy is fun, but nothing else felt particularly revelatory to me or even like I felt it needed to stay. Hopefully after Epic Universe they're able to go in and do some work on the place.
USF by contrast felt like it needed a fairly comprehensive refresh. I can think of quite a lot of things there that I don't care for-Rockit, Fallon, F&TF, Simpsons is fine but isn't iconic in the way BTTF was, Kid Zone is a relic, and so on. Men in Black and Diagon Alley are great and Mummy is fun, but nothing else felt particularly revelatory to me or even like I felt it needed to stay. Hopefully after Epic Universe they're able to go in and do some work on the place.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Same. I think for me both IoA and Volcano Bay are bigger draws at Universal Orlando.
Mummy and ET are the only rides I really love at the park. Others I'll do if there's a short wait, but their not a priority for me. I would spend more time if Jaws, Earthquake and BTTF were still there.
MickeyMouse10
Well-Known Member
Yep, I get what you're saying, people are different. There's some people that find Epcot boring.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I said something similar in another thread (or maybe it was earlier in this one). I think Universal Studios is like their version of EPCOT. Not that it ever came close to reaching the highs of EPCOT, but it's a park that was significantly better 25 years ago. Almost all of the original attractions were better than what exists now. Diagon Alley is an exception since it is phenomenal -- although Jaws as an attraction was superior to Gringotts -- and Revenge of the Mummy is a good ride. Even there, though, Kongfrontation was better than IoA's new Kong ride.