Ranking the "Castle" Parks

[wdwgreek]

I always hear people going back and forth about which Castle/ Magic Kingdom Style park is the best. I wonder what is the metric that we go by to even rank this? Is it by number of attractions, scale, size, or a mix. Really want to hear people's lists and their reasoning. I have only been to Disneyland Paris once and WDW more times then I can count, but I haven't been to any of the others. Look forward to you lists and reasoning.

 

[Schneewittchen]

I've only been to Disneyland in Anaheim and MK at WDW. Keep it quantitative - look at number of attractions, number of restaurants, daily capacity, ticket price, number of shows, number of entertainment experiences, avg restaurant ratings, park acreage.

Check this out: http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20140401/17257/numbers-comparison-disneys-theme-parks A little dated, but gives a good picture.

 

[TiggerDad]

I always hear people going back and forth about which Castle/ Magic Kingdom Style park is the best. I wonder what is the metric that we go by to even rank this? Is it by number of attractions, scale, size, or a mix. Really want to hear people's lists and their reasoning. I have only been to Disneyland Paris once and WDW more times then I can count, but I haven't been to any of the others. Look forward to you lists and reasoning.

What's "best" is different for different people. We go to WDW most often because it is easiest to get to from where we live. But I "prefer" other parks at different times, and feel that variety enhances the experience. Paris is an amazing experience to see the traditional Disney experience translated into a foreign language and foreign culture, but the weather there can be dicey much of the year. I'm sure the parks in Asia would also be amazing from a cultural perspective, but I have not seen those first hand. I prefer the original in California, in part because it's the first one I ever went to, but also because the logistics are so much more manageable, with the parks across the street from each other, and lots of hotels within walking distance. The density of rides is so much greater that you can experience more in the same amount of time. But for us, it requires a cross-country flight to get there, so much less convenient.

 

[AndyS2992]

Best to worst in my opinion:
1. Disneyland (the original, small but packs everything in well which is something I like, has great exclusives like the Matterhorn, park always has a happy atmosphere)
2. Magic Kingdom (Bigger but not necessarily better version of the above, I love MK, but it's stagnating and needs major investment)
3. Disneyland Paris (beautiful park, by far has the best Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, but the years of neglect, no new attractions and misbehaving locals and miserable CMs bring it down)
4. Hong Kong Disneyland (lacking several classics that make the 'Disney' experience but otherwise now a good park)
5. Tokyo Disneyland (very dated, odd layout, lots of open empty concrete space, ugly, really don't care for this one)
6. Shanghai Disneyland (lacks everything I expect from a castle park, not always a bad thing but I have no interest in visiting)

 

[RMichael21]

I've been to three, (DLP, DLR and WDW). So these are mine:

1. Disneyland
2. WDW
3. Disneyland Paris

When it comes to the actual castles:

1. Disneyland Paris
2. Disneyland
3. WDW

The only reason why I rank DL above WDW for the castles is the history of it.

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

I've been lucky enough to visit all of them with the exception of Shanghai.
My ranking would be this:
1. Disneyland Paris - by far the most amazing castle park. This one is truly a work of art.
2. Disneyland CA - Great intimacy, huge attraction count and history that beats out (almost) all the other parks. Just imagining Walt walking those streets had me excited and emotional throughout my whole stay.
3. Tokyo Disneyland - Design and layout is flawed (a horrid hub and covered MSUSA are true WTFs) but the attractions are top notch.
4. Magic Kingdom - The mirror park to Tokyo - better design and flow, but horribly outdated.
5. Hong Kong Disneyland - Mind you I was there before all the big investments, but even with those added the park is kind of a mess with so many mini-lands and lack of direction.