What do you consider the best and worst expansion/new land added to WDW in the 2010's?

tanc

tanc

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
For me, the best would be the Fantasyland expansion personally. It gave it a much needed uplift, the only thing I wish was Rapunzel's tower being an attraction and Beast's Castle was an attraction. Other than that, I love the little mermaid ride theme and the Gaston's Tavern. Nothing beats a cinnamon roll from there.

The worst to me is probably Toy Story Land. I wish it had better attractions, one being a clone and obviously using Toy Story Mania as a flagship. Slinky was hell to deal with before some sort of air cooling was added and I even wonder if that would help. I also just am not that impressed with the land itself, looks strange to me, like just so out of place.

GE and Pandora are kinda weird, I am not a huge fan of either series and just don't know what to think about them. I've only seen them a few times and they're alright to me but I can't give a definitive opinion. Really just haven't been able to spend a ton of time at those locations.
 
Ansem

Ansem

Member
Love Pandora, and tbh I never cared about Avatar before I went (I still don't really, but the experience is completely different), which I think comes more from the complexity of the land and Flight of Passage than anything else: it's really beautiful and a structural marvel between floating rocks and the waterfall illusions, and even the food is good— I could easily waste half a day there, which, ok yeah part of that would be standing in line, but still. Good stuff, lol. Haven't been to Galaxy's Edge yet because I went right before it opened and then covid hit, but I'm looking forward to my fall trip to see how much I like it or don't.

Agreeing on Toy Story, I wish it was a little more....something. I love the idea behind it, and Slinky's is fun, but the plants don't really make you feel like you're in a backyard or someplace more immersive, which is totally okay, I just (obviously) enjoy the idea of being surrounded by that sense of not-exactly-a-theme-park/reasonable suspension of disbelief vibe. Still neat, though.

(Fantasyland is great; I want 10000% more of it)
 
IanDLBZF

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Best - Tied Between Pandora and Galaxy’s Edge. Everything is so surreal on Pandora, and Galaxy’s edge has the best experience in Walt Disney World.
Worst - toy story land, what else do you think?
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Not hard here…

Best is pandora

Worst is the farce awakens/solo land. (Not from a technical standpoint…just how awful management is/was at understanding that IP)

I love carsland…but I still feel like they needed to add something else in the years since.

That goes for near all “minilands”…like that should be phase 1…or it starts to rot
 
SaucyBoy

SaucyBoy

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Pandora, hands down! I still find myself in awe every time I walk into the land, all these years later. And of course, FoP is one of my favorite rides ever. Worst, without a doubt, is Toy Story Land. It's cute but the lack of shade and seating really ruins it for me. You can tell the people who designed it spent little (if any) time in Florida.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Best... SWL. I wasnt impressed by what I was seeing as it was being built and was doubtful it would impress me but once I was able to walk through and see how wonderfully themed it was I was blown away. The minute details and how it makes you feel like you are in the land is impressive. I wish it had more connection to the earlier series and characters though.
Worst... TSL. It needed a bigger area for what they wanted to accomplish. Too small and too bland for a take off of a major series of films with that fan popularity. Slinky was a great addition but that needed to be backed up by much more.
 
Smiley/OCD

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
For me, hands down Pandora…totally immersive (can’t wait to experience it at night)…SWGE is also very immersive if you’re into SW (which I’m not, but I’m giving credit where it’s due)…worst is Toy Story land…just looks like it was plopped down on the land kinda like Dino land in AK (didn’t you learn your lesson with no shade there)? It really needs another ride or 2 even if they’re not E tickets to finish it off. Alien SS really just reminds me of a carnival ride (again, didn’t you learn from Dino land)?

Hopefully we will finally get out to DLR to see Cars Land next year.
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh said:
Worst is the farce awakens/solo land. (Not from a technical standpoint…just how awful management is/was at understanding that IP)
Click to expand...
I'll agree with that. The land looks fantastic. But when all is said and done, it was not the land I would have hoped a star wars land would be. It's a land that is missing so much of what so many people want to see.

I'd say Pandora was their best effort. But even that is hindered by 1 great ride then 1 completely underwhelming ride. Unfortunately all the new lands are lacking.
 
bhg469

bhg469

Well-Known Member
Africa saw a small upgrade during that time too which i think should be in the running but I agree with mostly everyone. Pandora was fantastic and has little to no downside. I am being extremely picky when I say the only thing I don't like about pandora are the little spitting shellfish. My only complaint being that everything in the area looks extremely real and they are the only objects that look fake.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
jpinkc said:
Pandora is the best, SWGE is a huge disappointment, when compared to other places (cough Hogsmead, cough Diagon Alley). It just feels way to crammed together and very little atmosphere to it. They really dont get Star Wars.
Click to expand...
I think wdi did the best they could…but were given an impossible/obtuse list of limitations based on what people who knew nothing about Star Wars believed would make the most money.

The legend is the same thing happened with the movies
 
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Nottamus

Nottamus

Well-Known Member
Pandora- best at night
Galaxy’s edge - again, nights best
Africa area by Dawa bar is a great hang out spot for us

Toy story land, which we like (at night ) is a people bottleneck during the day. Crowded to the point we can’t relax.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
The best is...

Then there's Cars Land and Pandora. They get the feel right, especially Cars Land, but each only has one ride worth doing. GE has depth but nothing feels like you're walking around someplace from Star Wars. Rise is great but SR is a big swing-and-a-miss unless they get their heads out of their nether regions and update the single, and dumb, mission with multiple missions that are drawn from something other than 'Solo'. And, as pointed out, it was built with the goal of "What will make the most money?", which is why there are so many merch and food/bev stands. Accountaneering at its best/worst. Fantasyland expansion was half-hearted and hamstrung by "the creative" Bob Iger. TSL is just ... ugh. Value engineering to the hilt.

(If you missed it - None of the expansions qualify as "the best". It's like asking - Which pile of 💩 is the best one? The correct answer is - None of them)
 

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