What do you think was the best year to be in Disney World?

[Zak and Wheezie]

I'm actually gonna say 1997 as my pick. I'd say 1997 was a really good year to be in Disney World. Original Journey Into Imagination was still open, as was Horizons, the Skyway, it was pre-EPCOT wand (it was cool for the first few years but by the mid-2000s, it needed to go), along with some great new additions from 1991-1996 like Ellen's Energy Adventure (which I find far superior to the 1982 ride) and the 1994 Spaceship Earth, Muppet Vision 3D, among others. Thrill rides aren't my thing, so i'm not too bummed by Test Track or Rock N' Roller Coaster not being open yet in '97.

For individual time periods, late 1996-mid 1998 was a great period to go to EPCOT in particular in.

 

[Zak and Wheezie]

1998 would've been a good pick if JII hadn't closed in October. My late mother (who was 13 when the original ride debuted) always would tell me just how wonderful it really was. I wish I was born about 20 years beforehand could've experienced it myself.

At least I got to experience The Great Movie Ride before it closed (my third favorite defunct attraction at Disney) - many times I had seen it without the unnecessary narration - which RUINED the ride for me.

I have a crazy nutty conspiracy theory that they deliberately added pointless narration to sabotage the ridership to justify getting rid of it.

I love the excitement of 1999-2000 EPCOT, but again, I can't say 1998+ EPCOT will ever be on the level of the golden run of 1982-1997.

Another big blow was refurbishing the 1994 SSE in 2007 (many would say it needed to go, but I still wish it lasted just into the 2010s so I could've remembered it; along with the 1983-1998 JII it's one of the only two rides I would ride if I had a time machine and could only pick two)

IMO the best year of each park:

Magic Kingdom: 2003

EPCOT: 1997

Hollywood Studios: 2009

Animal Kingdom: 2019, maybe? Not sure, haven't been to AK since 2018.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

1999

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

When you could afford it.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

Peak WDW Resort was August 1994 - right after Tower of Terror opened, but before they shut down 20k Leagues a couple months later.

 

[John park hopper]

1996

 

[Baloo124]

1991 during the 20th anniversary celebration. Probably my favorite trip to this day.

 

[marni1971]

1990.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

1970.
The crowds were at an all time low.

 

[adimond]

I'd say 90s. Although I'm sure some OGs still have major 70s Florida nostalgia, it would be difficult to make a case for pre-1982, or even pre-1990, since the resort was still growing with practically no subtractions. Once EPCOT Center's open, you may as well wait to let Horizons, Morocco, Living Seas, Norway, and Studios open. There was a period from the late 80s into the mid-90s when valuable new additions were opening and very few major classics had been done away with.

Selective timeline with a focus on the 90s:
1971 - Magic Kingdom opens
1973 - Pirates opens
1975 - Space Mountain and People Mover open
1980 - Big Thunder opens; Mickey Mouse Revue closes
1982 - EPCOT Center opens
1983 - Horizons opens; Swan Boats closes
1984 - Morocco opens
1986 - The Living Seas and Captain EO open; Magic Journeys closes but soon reopens in MK
1988 - Norway opens
1989 - MGM Studios, Wonders of Life, Typhoon Lagoon, Pleasure Island open
1992 - Splash Mountain opens
1993 - Mission to Mars closes
1994 - 20,000 Leagues, Captain EO, Magic Journeys, and Davy Crockett Canoes close; Tower of Terror, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Timekeeper open; Kitchen Kabaret becomes Food Rocks; Snow White is made un-scary
1995 - Alien Encounter and Blizzard Beach open; Symbiosis becomes Circle of Life
1996 - World of Motion closes; Universe of Energy gets Ellenized
January 1998 - Dreamflight/Take Flight closes
April 1998 - Animal Kingdom opens; Tiki Room gets Gottfriedized; Main Street Cinema turns into retail
September 1998 - Mr Toad's Wild Ride and SuperStar Television close
October 1998 - Imagination goes under the knife; Fantasmic opens
December 1998 - Test Track opens
January 1999 - Horizons closes
February 1999 - wand added to Spaceship Earth
April 1999 - Sounds Dangerous opens
July 1999 - Rock 'n' Roller Coaster opens; paper Fastpasses are introduced
October 1999 - Tapestry of Nations, Millennium Village, and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth open
November 1999 - Skyway closes
2001 - post-9/11 slump, decade of relative stasis (for better or worse) after Eisner 90s spree; River County closes
2003 - Alien Encounter closes; Mission Space opens
2004 - Food Rocks closes; Stitch's Great Escape opens; animated films cease being made at Studios
2005 - Soarin' opens
2006 - Everest opens
2007 - Cranium closes; touchscreens added to SE, Nemo to Seas, Caballeros to Mexico; Timekeeper becomes MILF
2012 - New Fantasyland opens
2014 - Maelstrom closes; paper Fastpasses are replaced by Fastpass+
2016 - Frozen Ever After opens
2017 - Pandora opens; Great Movie Ride closes
2019 - Galaxy's Edge opens; Reflections of Earth closes
2020 - Runaway Railway opens; all of human civilization closes
2021 - Ratatouille opens; masks still required as of May when I went
2022 - Cosmic Rewind opens
2023 - Splash Mountain closes; Tron opens
2024 - Tiana's Bayou Adventure opens

You can make a strong case for early 90s (before any of the CelebritySnarkCOT changes), but you trade off Tower of Terror or even Splash if you go back too far. 1993 would be a very good answer. On the other hand I'm also fond of some of the Y2K-era stuff like RoE and RnRC. But on balance, I'd say summer 1998: basically sacrificing World of Motion/Test Track and a few smaller EPCOT losses in order to gain Animal Kingdom, but threading the needle before most of the truly disastrous changes hit.

Think of it: if you're there that year you could go to Magic Kingdom and do Splash Mountain, Mr. Toad, Alien Encounter, and the Skyway(!)...then parkhop to EPCOT and do Horizons, real Figment, Cranium Command, and Maelstrom...go to Studios for Tower of Terror and Great Movie Ride...or to Animal Kingdom for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Countdown to Extinction...plus 3 water parks to choose from.

 

[JIMINYCR]

1995. Our first trip to WDW happened. Affordable for us to make it work. Manageable crowd levels with no excessive waits in lines. Food was top notch. Great attractions to ride. The only down side was that at that time not all Disney buses were equipped with w/c access so we had some waits to get the properly fitted buses to where we wanted to go.

 

[Zak and Wheezie]

I'd say 90s. Although I'm sure some OGs still have major 70s Florida nostalgia, it would be difficult to make a case for pre-1982, or even pre-1990, since the resort was still growing with practically no subtractions. Once EPCOT Center's open, you may as well wait to let Horizons, Morocco, Living Seas, Norway, and Studios open. There was a period from the late 80s into the mid-90s when valuable new additions were opening and very few major classics had been done away with.

Selective timeline with a focus on the 90s:
1971 - Magic Kingdom opens
1973 - Pirates opens
1975 - Space Mountain and People Mover open
1980 - Big Thunder opens; Mickey Mouse Revue closes
1982 - EPCOT Center opens
1983 - Horizons opens; Swan Boats closes
1984 - Morocco opens
1986 - The Living Seas and Captain EO open; Magic Journeys closes but soon reopens in MK
1988 - Norway opens
1989 - MGM Studios, Wonders of Life, Typhoon Lagoon, Pleasure Island open
1992 - Splash Mountain opens
1993 - Mission to Mars closes
1994 - 20,000 Leagues, Captain EO, Magic Journeys, and Davy Crockett Canoes close; Tower of Terror, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Timekeeper open; Kitchen Kabaret becomes Food Rocks; Snow White is made un-scary
1995 - Alien Encounter and Blizzard Beach open; Symbiosis becomes Circle of Life
1996 - World of Motion closes; Universe of Energy gets Ellenized
January 1998 - Dreamflight/Take Flight closes
April 1998 - Animal Kingdom opens; Tiki Room gets Gottfriedized; Main Street Cinema turns into retail
September 1998 - Mr Toad's Wild Ride and SuperStar Television close
October 1998 - Imagination goes under the knife; Fantasmic opens
December 1998 - Test Track opens
January 1999 - Horizons closes
February 1999 - wand added to Spaceship Earth
April 1999 - Sounds Dangerous opens
July 1999 - Rock 'n' Roller Coaster opens
October 1999 - Tapestry of Nations, Millennium Village, and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth open
November 1999 - Skyway closes
November 2001 - River Country closes
2006 - Everest opens
2007 - Cranium Command closes; Nemo in Seas and Caballeros in Mexico; Timekeeper becomes MILF
2012 - New Fantasyland opens
2014 - Maelstrom closes
2017 - Pandora opens; Great Movie Ride closes
2019 - Galaxy's Edge opens; Reflections of Earth closes
2022 - Cosmic Rewind opens

You can make a strong case for early 90s (before any of the CelebritySnarkCOT changes), but you trade off Tower of Terror or even Splash if you go back too far. 1993 would be a very good answer. On the other hand I'm also fond of some of the Y2K-era stuff like RoE and RNRC. But on balance, I'd say summer 1998: basically sacrificing World of Motion/Test Track and a few smaller EPCOT losses in order to gain Animal Kingdom, but threading the needle before most of the truly disastrous changes hit.

Think of it: if you're there that year you could go to Magic Kingdom and do Splash Mountain, Mr. Toad, Alien Encounter, and the Skyway(!)...then parkhop to EPCOT and do Horizons, real Figment, Cranium Command, and Maelstrom...go to Studios for Tower of Terror and Great Movie Ride...or to Animal Kingdom for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Countdown to Extinction...plus 3 water parks to choose from.

Summer '98 is probably the best objectively. That was the end of EPCOT's golden age IMO.

 

[hopemax]

Before September 1995 (my first trip). I would have really liked to have seen Kitchen Kabaret, heard Walter Cronkite on Spaceship Earth, have a Character meal at the Empress Lily.

We did, in the nick of time, get to experience World of Motion, original Figment and pre-Ellen Universe of Energy.

 

[NelsonRD]

1986

 

[Mike S]

The answer is and always will be the same for everyone:

“When I was a kid.”

And it will eternally be true.