Why California is the TRUE Theme Park Capital of the World.

[Darkbeer1]

Piece of advice...Thread lightly Darkbeer. I was recently BLASTED with school yard bully taunts for having the nerve to say the Hogwarts Castle in USH is the better castle. Our esteemed TP2000 is constantly being attacked for saying SWL at DL Resort will be a slightly better experience. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Let's see, I started on BBS systems almost 40 years ago, wrote for multiple websites including Jim Hill Media, MousePlanet and MiceAge. I have a very think skin, and try to keep the discussion on the matter, not on the poster.

By the way, thank you for your post.

 

[cheezbat]

Ok ok...so California has more theme parks than Florida, BUT Florida isn't known as the theme park capital of the world...ORLANDO is. A CITY with more theme parks than any other.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Within the city limits of Orlando, there are only TWO (USF and IOA),

Anaheim has 2 (DLR and DCA), so is Anaheim the Theme Park Capital?

 

[DisneyInsider101]

What is the point of this thread even? Just to cause drama with Florida or other states with theme parks?

 

[Darkbeer1]

This was posted in the Disneyland Resort (California) section, and was to discuss how rich our state's history is, and the amazing amount and variety of Theme and Amusement Parks our great state is.

We are also the home of the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, Valencia, or to be more precise, the community of Valencia, located in the city of Santa Clarita.

This was not about other states or cities, just the fact that California is truly the Theme Park Capital, for MANY reasons.

Last I checked, these are discussion boards, and I thought it was worthy of discussion.

 

[dweezil78]

Yup, I came to this conclusion last year. California takes the crown as the theme park capital of the world. There are several reasons for this. In Florida/Orlando, even though there are 9 major theme/amusement parks, they are owned by only 4 chains. Disney/Universal/Seaworld/Legoland. Disney is the granddaddy of them all.

The market dominance of these chains do not allow for smaller & charming amusement/theme parks to exist. Fun Spot is pretty much all that is left. They have essentially monopolized the industry in Florida & have gobbled up all their competition.

It's all pretty sad. There has been some really cool theme parks in Florida that have gone out of business due to Disney crushing them. Six Gun Territory, Boardwalk & Baseball, Jungleland Zoo, etc. Check out this cool article by WDW Info entitled, "The Struggle to Survive in Orlando Under Disney's & Universal's Shadow."

http://www.wdwinfo.com/history/the-...n-orlando-under-disney-and-universals-shadow/

This is not true in California. Disney does not have the market dominance in CA that it does in FL. In addition to Disney/Universal/Seaworld/Legoland, there is also Cedar Fair (Knott's/Great America) & Six Flags (Magic Mountain/Discovery Kingdom), along with a bunch of other amusement parks that are independently owned.

What this means is that not only is there more QUANTITY of parks, but VARIETY that meets different entertainment NEEDS. Another advantage of the CA parks is AFFORDABILITY. Speaking as a parent, I don't always want to drop $100 per ticket to go to Disney, but may want to go to somewhere like Pacific Park, an amusement park on the pier that is free and only charges for the rides I want to get on.

Add to this list the better WEATHER, SCENERY & HISTORY, it's very clear as to where the theme park capital is located. Also, the way the theme parks in Florida are going, they are all becoming the "Magic Kingdom." Just look at Epcot & DHS.

Piece of advice...Thread lightly Darkbeer. I was recently BLASTED with school yard bully taunts for having the nerve to say the Hogwarts Castle in USH is the better castle. Our esteemed TP2000 is constantly being attacked for saying SWL at DL Resort will be a slightly better experience. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Oh jeeze... I would hope no one's going to resort to name calling over this. I've got no skin in this game. I live in California and spend all my time on the Disneyland forum. I hear you on the points you're making. But I also think it's unfair to discount the 4 Disney parks (and 2 great water parks) simply because they are all from one company. While, sure, there's an argument that the types of attractions are becoming more MK'ish across all 4 parks -- each of those 4 parks has a wildly different identity and feel to it. There is nothing else like Epcot in California nor do we have anything that comes close to what you can find at DAK. There's also way more when it comes to accompanying themed hotels/resorts for these parks that add to the reason why people go to Florida specifically for theme parks.

Florida may not have Six Flags or Cedar Point, but they do have a pretty killer park from Busch. There's also nothing quite like Sea World's Discovery Cove here. Florida may have slightly less variety in theme park companies, but it's unfair to say they don't offer unparalleled variety in theme parks.

You're going to get pretty similar results between both states when you start to look at the everything else. Florida's got Lion Country Safari, Holy Land Experience, Fun Spot America, Silver Springs and so on and so on. There's a lot of quirky varied stuff tucked up and down that doesn't get a lot of recognition because of how massive the big ones are.

Beyond all this though, going back to my earlier point, people buy plane tickets to Florida to see theme parks....

 

[PiratesMansion]

Beyond the size and the global recognition of the attractions there, Florida's theme parks are centralized and driven primarily by tourism. The parks there, at least conceptually, all build on their Californian counterparts. California's parks have the enormous local population that allows parks to thrive and to diversify the market, but there's just not the same tourism market for the parks there is in Florida. If there was, it wouldn't be so easy to combine the different parks together on one ticket (CityPass, Go Card, etc). The parks in California also, as a rule, lack the "blessing of size" that is readily available in Florida. Certainly bigger doesn't mean better, but the possibilities and potential are greater in Florida.

Florida has the global recognition and reputation as the theme park capital of the world, and California just doesn't.

 

[smile]

I was recently BLASTED with school yard bully taunts for having the nerve to say the Hogwarts Castle in USH is the better castle. Our esteemed TP2000 is constantly being attacked for saying SWL at DL Resort will be a slightly better experience. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Let's see, I started on BBS systems almost 40 years ago, wrote for multiple websites including Jim Hill Media, MousePlanet and MiceAge. I have a very think skin, and try to keep the discussion on the matter, not on the poster.

what's school yard is the 'my X is bigger/better than your X' comparisons - that's, like, definition of school yard...
completely subjective, no logical conclusion than argument or agreement.

often, a constant desire to prove superiority demonstrates inferiority - the best don't need to constantly tell everyone they're better, they just are...
not only that, but it shows a need to pit things against each other and create confrontation where none exists - do we not have enough of that mentality in this world?

pardon my soapbox, please carry on as you will.

 

[Phroobar]

Obviously Atari is better than Intellivision. Atari has Space Invaders, Pacman and other arcade games. All Intellivision has is some crappy sports games.

Oh wait... what? Theme park capital?

 

[smile]

Obviously Atari is better than Intellivision. Atari has Space Invaders, Pacman and other arcade games. All Intellivision has is some crappy sports games.

as long as my dad can beat up yours (or was it the other way round?), does it even matter?

play both, make up your own mind.... visit both, make up your own mind............. then come back and rail against the inferior one, as if that would change a mind or overrule a personal opinion/experience

 

[s8film40]

If you have to bring weather, history and local non theme park attractions into the mix to make this argument you already failed. I would definitely feel comfortable calling CA the birth place of the theme park simply because of Disneyland. Although Cypress Gardens was an attraction long before Knott's Berry Farm. Disneyland is far superior to WDW, but that's pretty much all CA has over FL. As a local Central FL resident I have easy access (all within an hour drive) to 4 Disney parks, 2 (soon to be 3) Universal parks, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Legoland and the KSC visitor complex. That's 10 parks, not counting the 4 water parks, various smaller attractions like Gatorland, 2 Funspots, and the vast array of I-Drive offerings. So yeah CA pales in comparison to FL even with a superior Disney park.

 

[Phroobar]

Personally I believe California's attractions are more sophisticated over the red neck gator petting zoos of Florida. California has world class museums, performing arts venues, wineries, restaurants, zoos, beaches, ski resorts, amazing national forests and mixes of culture. It's also a bigger state so more to see. No were else can you be skiing in the morning and laying on the beach in the afternoon.

California theme parks include
Disneyland
Disney California Adventure
Knotts Berry Farm
Universal Studios Hollywood
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Sea World
Legoland California
Adventure City
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
California's Great America
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Belmont Park
Pacific Park
Gilroy Gardens
Balboa Fun Zone
Sonoma Train Town
Children's Fairyland
Castle Park
Skypark at Santa's Village

For a place that has the amazing Pacific ocean, California has a lot of waterparks.
Knott's Soak City
Raging Waters
Water World
Dry Town
Bomerang Bay
Wet 'n Wild
Hurricane Harbor
Aquaventure
Great Wolf Lodge

Don't get me started on the amazing zoos like the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos. DAK wishes it was half as good as those.

 

[Hattieboxghost110]

often, a constant desire to prove superiority demonstrates inferiority

DarkBeer, this is what I tried to warn you about. I bet you're surprised to find out that you have an inferiority complex.

 

[Hattieboxghost110]

what's school yard is the 'my X is bigger/better than your X' comparisons - that's, like, definition of school yard...
completely subjective, no logical conclusion than argument or agreement.

I'll just leave this here.

my.... castlllee ...... got sooooo much more soot... than ur stoopid castleZ

and ur star warz stffu sux 2 - myn is soooo bettr cuz it gotz railroadz n tressilz n toi stry lanz n muppetZ ridez n phat birmz

lulz ur skinnnee birmzzzz

 

[smile]

DarkBeer, this is what I tried to warn you about. I bet you're surprised to find out that you have an inferiority complex.

now, now -
i specifically used the word 'often' and spoke generally.

your warning needed context

I'll just leave this here.

a tad harsh, granted - apologies if you were offended...
doesn't change the impetus, however.

 

[Phroobar]

Ok ok...so California has more theme parks than Florida, BUT Florida isn't known as the theme park capital of the world...ORLANDO is. A CITY with more theme parks than any other.

...and very little else. It's like Las Vegas. If you don't gamble there isn't much else to do.

 

[Hattieboxghost110]

a tad harsh, granted - apologies if you were offended...
doesn't change the impetus, however.

Apology accepted.

Here is a legit question, though. Why do you get annoyed when someone shares a preference for CA theme parks, but not the other way around.

For example,

So yeah CA pales in comparison to FL even with a superior Disney park.

I would say the majority of posters on this website prefer the Florida theme parks, including WDW. Personally, I don't see a problem with that. Thing is though, I never see you complain about that. Why is it okay for other posters to have a preference one way, but not us?

My unanswered point still stands.

Or maybe comparing theme parks on a theme park-centric website composed of theme park enthusiasts is a completely rational thing to do.

 

[smile]

Apology accepted.

Here is a legit question, though. Why do you get annoyed when someone shares a preference for CA theme parks, but not the other way around.

For example,

I would say the majority of posters on this website prefer the Florida theme parks, including WDW. Personally, I don't see a problem with that. Thing is though, I never see you complain about that. Why is it okay for other posters to have a preference one way, but not us?

thank you -
yes, that appears to be a valid point, but it is not the case.

i honestly really appreciated your post detailing the differences of the castles, but was turned when the angle was used in such a way -
acknowledged your initial response, tipped my cap, and let it be - thought we were past... therefore, the warning warranted response.

My unanswered point still stands.

i'll again concede that if there's anywhere to have such a discussion, it is here...
but, coming from a place of 'versus' is questionable rationale to begin with, as there is no definitive answer, only opinions, and i feel the content is done a disservice being 'lowered' in such a fashion, especially regarding comparisons so subjective - basically, if the discussion were to continue, that perspective should be somewhere ... of course, if you feel the need, by all means continue along and enjoy, as others share your opinion; i've no further intentions to interject.

 

[s8film40]

I would say the majority of posters on this website prefer the Florida theme parks, including WDW. Personally, I don't see a problem with that. Thing is though, I never see you complain about that. Why is it okay for other posters to have a preference one way, but not us?

My unanswered point still stands.

I personally prefer Disneyland to WDW. The truth is this is a very dynamic comparison. If your favorite park is Disneyland and you don't care for the stuff in FL then you may be happy rightfully so with the theme park options in CA more so than FL. The point is if you look at the options available in the Central FL area it is far greater than what you have equally available in CA. So if your talking about where the theme park capital of the world is, it's undoubtably Central FL. It's the number one business for the area employs hundreds of thousands of people and fills hundreds of thousands of hotel rooms. This isn't a competition of what park is better, but a reality that Central FL is built around theme parks and has far more options to offer than any other area.

 

[No Name]

You can write a whole book if you'd like but for the average person I've found it comes down to three simple things.
Orlando was founded by theme parks.
WDW is the largest theme park resort.
Cinderella Castle is taller.

these are discussion boards

Which is why I wish people would reply.