Great question! Here’s my (over) analysis.
First is the battle of “big attractions” for each side. The right/west has the best of WS (excluding the American Adventure, which neither side gets to claim) with the French movie (maybe it’s my favorite because you can sit?), but the left/east side has two rides plus two films (including the short Norway one). The east side wins fairly easily in this department.
Next up, live entertainment.
The acrobats that are featured at China are easily my favorite in WS. It seems, though, that the right side has more options making this area a push.
Shopping.
Shopping?! I’m a man. Moving on.
Food.
Now we’re talking! If you aren’t experiencing the food in WS, you’re not experiencing the WS! Before they raised the prices and made it a character meal, I always thought the restaurant at Norway provided the best bang for your buck. I haven’t been since the change. The upside is it sounds like it is one of the best character meals in the World. Norway also has our favorite cheap sweets, their schoolbread (sp) and sweet pretzel. However, the west has several great eats. France is fantastic, Morocco roccs, and some of the best counter service is on the west side. The right takes the cake here.
So let’s see the scorecard. The left wins in attractions, the right wins with food, and live entertainment splits. The tie breaker goes to misc. things like minor exhibits, interest in the countries, visual appeal, and the cast members from the countries. This is even more of a personal choice than the others; I’m going with the right, making it the better side.
(If the left added an African territory and its ride, which I guess was under serious consideration before the Animal Kingdom was a go, the east would very likely have been the winner.)