I never do a full day WITHOUT doing a Welcome Show/Rope Drop, so I know them all very well!
Here are my favorite Welcome Shows, in order of preference: (interestingly, they are in the same order of my fave WDW parks)
1) Magic Kingdom - As others have said, this one is Magical and iconic. I love how the Main Street citizens transition to a Fantasy theme, as a medley of "Casey Junior"/"Zip A Dee Doo Dah" plays as the WDW Railroad steam train arrives, with characters on board! Then after some cute and iconic Mickey quotes ("Aw gee", "That's swell!"), Mickey and the gang countdown backwards from 10, and the park officially opens with a bang!
2) Animal Kingdom - "The Adventure Begins" is a fun Welcome Show with the characters that used to take place in front of the Tree Of Life, but seems to have been permanently moved to the Oasis just past the turnstiles. Either way, it's a cute, fun, and charming way to start the day. I love Pluto's enthusiasm, expressed with his cute barking, which always cracks me up!
3) Epcot - Just as Epcot runs neck and neck with AK for my second fave park, the Welcome Show here finishes closely behind AK. This features the Fab 5 characters, but they don't have any diologue. However, what I LOVE about this opening show at Epcot (just in front of the fountain) is that if you get there early enough to get a good spot by the rope, you are rewarded with the characters coming over for handshakes and hugs! Interestingly, the soaring instrumental that plays as the rope drops is musical score from the recent live-action film version of Peter Pan - which was distributed by Universal!
4) Disney's Hollywood Studios - This is the only welcome show to not feature any of the "furry" characters, so it has the least appeal to me. It focuses instead on a director setting up a "scene" of the park opening. Personally, I'm not into the whole "celebrity" and "showbiz" aesthetic, so I don't get all that into this show. I do enjoy riding the Coaster over and over again right after rope drop, however, especially now that Toy Story has taken many of the "early birds" in that direction, instead.
Favorite Rope Drop Destinations:
MK - All of Fantasyland, then Toontown; OR multiple laps on Space Mountain, then Tomorrowland; OR multiple laps on BTMRR, then Splash Mountain, CBJ, the rest of Frontierland, then Adventureland.
AK - Usually Everest (multiples) or Safari; sometimes It's Tough To Be A Bug. I ALWAYS backtrack to the Oasis later in the day to give those critters the attention they deserve, however!
Epcot - Figment or The Seas, getting a kick out of the fact that I am seemingly the only person starting in Future World West NOT starting my day at Soarin'! ( I am always able to get a FP for it later)
Studios - Rock and Roller Coaster (multiples); sometimes Great Movie Ride or Star Tours, such as if Coaster is being rehabbed. Star Tours (version 1) got a lot of starts towards the end of it's life, and on Star Wars weekends.
