Worst Land at WDW?

[Marc Davis Fan]

I’ve never made a poll before, and it feels hokey to do this, but…

I think it would be interesting to see/discuss forum members’ opinions on the weakest current WDW environments.

(I’ve excluded Dinoland—which might have been in the running solely due to Dino-Rama—since it’s on the way out.)

 

[Disneyfanatic30]

Dinoland usa

 

[WorldExplorer]

Screw World Celebration. Literally everything about it is bad.

It's ugly.

It has obnoxious, low quality shows/DJ music, which gives it the distinctive honor of being the only land that actively makes the areas around it worse because they're so darned loud.

CommuniCore Hall, in all its high school cafeteria glory.

The Mickey and friends meet where the queue is outside even though it's still within the building's rectangle footprint and all they had to do was build one more half of a wall (and a small section of half a wall for the entrance) with a couple of doors and it would be enclosed and air conditioned. It's a level of stupid you need to go out of your way to do. Who the hell benefits from that building being designed the way it is?

(Festival Favorites, part of a brand new building, is outside, too. Again, benefiting absolutely no one.)

The name. Making everything match World Showcase is a failure of elementary school English (it is a showcase of the world, not the world of showcases; copying it makes no sense) and "World Celebration" is in the running with "World Discovery" for most vague, useless name they possibly could have come up with.

Even the lights are too darned hard for Disney to manage as they keep breaking.

Then they decided this utterly charmless, aimless, painful (literally, for those standing in the outdoor line) "land" was the perfect place to put a Walt Disney statue to emphasize how proud he would be of them. And slap old Epcot stuff on the walls to remind you what you lost.


Again, screw World Celebration.

 

[vikescaper]

I went with Animation Courtyard. It contains what I consider to be the biggest waste of space in any of the parks in Star Wars Launch Bay and something I have never set foot in, Disney Junior. Add in a shuttered gift shop and the land just doesn’t do anything for me. It will be better once The Little Mermaid reopens.

As for the other lands:

Commissary Lane: I personally don’t consider this a separate land. More of a corridor to get to where I want to go but it does contain Sci-Fi Diner In, one of my favorite restaurants in the park.

Pixar Plaza: a weird space that was created with the construction of Toy Story Land, which made a former guest corridor a dead end. I personally don’t acknowledge that this land exists as I don’t experience the meet and greets that exist here.

Rafiki’s Planet Watch: it’s a nice escape from the rest of the park when one is needed. I’ve been there more in the past few years than I had in the earlier years of the park. It has nice exhibits but probably could use updating.

World Celebration: home to two of the rides in WDW that are in biggest need for refurbs. The gardens are nice but need a fountain. CommuniCore hall has been a letdown but is a nice, cool space for a break. The entrance plaza, Creations and Connections have been nice updates. I still don’t like the hodgepodge nature of the creation of the new neighborhoods in EPCOT.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Dinoland usa

While I agree that it would be in the running (due to Dino-Rama), as mentioned in my original post, I excluded it because it's already "saying good-buy."

 

[Chef Mickey]

Tough choice, they are all terrible.

I'm going to go with most of EPCOT though.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

World celebration isn’t ugly, the entrance is far better than the 99-19 version and the spine is a lot better than the random poles and nets and endless concrete with no seats.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I would vote DLR Tomorrowland or hollywood land over any of these

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It pains me to say…ir future world…whatever those idiots are calling it now

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

World celebration isn’t ugly, the entrance is far better than the 99-19 version and the spine is a lot better than the random poles and nets and endless concrete with no seats. View attachment 834375

Agreed, while World Celebration could (and should) have been far better, it’s certainly an improvement over what was sitting there for more than a decade prior (though that’s a low bar).

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

I would vote DLR Tomorrowland or hollywood land over any of these
View attachment 834376View attachment 834377View attachment 834378View attachment 834379

If the poll were about Disney parks in general (rather than specifically about WDW) I would definitely have included those options, along with areas of WDSP/DAW.

That being said, while I agree about the weakness of Hollywood Land (and Pixar Pier, by the way), I’m not nearly as bothered by DL’s Tomorrowland as most people are. It could and should be much better, but I find it to have mostly nice and cohesive architecture (e.g., structures mirroring each other with their spires pointing to the stars…). I certainly wouldn’t put it at the level of Animation Courtyard, that’s for sure!

 

[Disstevefan1]

Worst land: Cars land! Too soon?

 

[Centauri Space Station]

If the poll were about Disney parks in general (rather than specifically about WDW) I would definitely have included those options, along with areas of WDSP/DAW.

That being said, while I agree about the weakness of Hollywood Land (and Pixar Pier, by the way), I’m not nearly as bothered by DL’s Tomorrowland as most people are. It could and should be much better, but I find it to have mostly nice and cohesive architecture (e.g., structures mirroring each other with their spires pointing to the stars…). I certainly wouldn’t put it at the level of Animation Courtyard, that’s for sure!

Well TL does have some things worth doing but you can’t deny TL has many former attractions abandoned in plain sight or just lackluster replacements. Speaking of which, their Launch Bay is just as pathetic as ours is.

 

[SageOfTime]

Does Storybook Circus count, or is that just considered a section of Fantasyland? Either way, I think that's my vote. Dreadful. Animation Courtyard as a close second, and Rafiki's Planet Watch taking third.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Does Storybook Circus count, or is that just considered a section of Fantasyland? Either way, I think that's my vote. Dreadful. Animation Courtyard as a close second, and Rafiki's Planet Watch taking third.

I excluded it because I was considering it part of Fantasyland.

 

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

I would vote DLR Tomorrowland or hollywood land over any of these
View attachment 834376View attachment 834377View attachment 834378View attachment 834379

Thankfully HL is on its way out with the backlot rumored for Avatar. The stretch with the abandoned Hyperion and Animation building+Disney Junior can become Avenges Campus expansion.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Thankfully HL is on its way out with the backlot rumored for Avatar. The stretch with the abandoned Hyperion and Animation building+Disney Junior can become Avenges Campus expansion.

Yay, more crappy IP.

 

[Fox&Hound]

Maybe a hot take but I voted “other” with the thought that WDW’s Tomorrowland is in sad shape. Yes, not worse than Animation Courtyard, but still bad. Stitch sits empty, People Mover needs love, Buzz needs to be torn out and replaced, and aesthetically it is a concrete jungle filled with stroller parking that lacks all appeal, except for at night, where the neon adds a uniform appearance and gives it some life.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I think one of the worst was Streets of NY. It was empty space everyone had to walk through with no attractions, just fake sets.

Galaxy's Edge is one of the worst, IMO, because of what it should have been. And because what we have is nothing like what was advertised.

Much of HS feels like a bit of a miss, but I actually like the Commissary itself. The area around there though could use some love.

 

[Turtlekrawl]

Screw World Celebration. Literally everything about it is bad.

It's ugly.

It has obnoxious, low quality shows/DJ music, which gives it the distinctive honor of being the only land that actively makes the areas around it worse because they're so darned loud.

CommuniCore Hall, in all its high school cafeteria glory.

The Mickey and friends meet where the queue is outside even though it's still within the building's rectangle footprint and all they had to do was build one more half of a wall (and a small section of half a wall for the entrance) with a couple of doors and it would be enclosed and air conditioned. It's a level of stupid you need to go out of your way to do. Who the hell benefits from that building being designed the way it is?

(Festival Favorites, part of a brand new building, is outside, too. Again, benefiting absolutely no one.)

The name. Making everything match World Showcase is a failure of elementary school English (it is a showcase of the world, not the world of showcases; copying it makes no sense) and "World Celebration" is in the running with "World Discovery" for most vague, useless name they possibly could have come up with.

Even the lights are too darned hard for Disney to manage as they keep breaking.

Then they decided this utterly charmless, aimless, painful (literally, for those standing in the outdoor line) "land" was the perfect place to put a Walt Disney statue to empashsize how proud he would be of them. And slap old Epcot stuff on the walls to remind you what you lost.


Again, screw World Celebration.

Well said.
Animation courtyard was my initial pick, as it is useless in its current state. But you convinced me otherwise. Good overview of all of the problems and missed opportunities of this redo. Uninspired, broken, and plain. The worst offender of all is the generic dance parties. The sound reverberates throughout much of the park and yes, makes those areas worse.

I miss the fountain of nations