Which WDW theme park is your favourite?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Even though Disneyland in California was the one that started it all, Walt Disney World in Florida is arguably the flagship Disney resort. It has 4 theme parks, each one offering something different. But I'd be intrigued to know; how would you rank Walt Disney World's theme parks? I had the pleasure of visiting all 4 of them in April 2019, and here's my personal ranking:

1. Animal Kingdom - Animal Kingdom is just stunning! The landscaping is beautiful, they have a reasonable selection of rides, and it's just a great day out! Pandora in particular is an absolutely breathtaking area (even if I feel its landmark attraction is somewhat overrated)!
2. Epcot - This park was a major surprise of WDW for me! My expectations were quite low, but I ended up really falling in love with Epcot! Even though it's not quite as ride-filled as some of Disney's other theme parks and Future World is a touch dated, I just found it such a pleasant environment to be in! World Showcase is stunning, the park is beautifully presented, and all in all, I just found Epcot to be such an unexpectedly lovely park with a very nice atmosphere! Test Track also turned out to be one of my favourite WDW attractions!
3. Magic Kingdom - Now we come onto the flagship park; the one that started it all in Florida. Magic Kingdom's theming and presentation is lovely, and I feel that it has a very nice atmosphere and a more abundant selection of rides than other Disney theme parks! However, I controversially didn't find that any particular element of it really stood out to me; it's a lovely, lovely park and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but I felt that the park lacked a genuine standout attraction compared to WDW's other parks, if you get what I mean. The rides here are fun, though, and Space Mountain was surprisingly thrilling in particular!
4. Hollywood Studios - I'm not sure if I'm entirely able to make a fair ranking of this park, as I must admit that it was half building site when I went, but I don't think there's quite enough to do at Hollywood Studios for it to place as highly as some of the others in Florida for me. I also felt that the theming and presentation at Hollywood Studios, while still nice, was the weakest out of the 4 WDW theme parks. On the flip side, the park does have my two favourite WDW attractions in Rock'n'Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror, and Slinky Dog Dash and Star Tours are also fun attractions worth riding. And with the up and coming developments, I'd imagine I'll enjoy it much more when I next visit!

Bear in mind that I thoroughly enjoyed all 4 of these parks, but I would controversially place both Universal Orlando parks higher than any of these. But what are your thoughts?

 

[Niles]

Nice topic idea, i was lucky and got to go here quite a few times when i was younger so i have not been since 2010 so my list is from that time. Hopefully will go again but in a few years when more is complete.

Epcot: Hard to put into words why this is my favourite Disney park, i have had my best Disney experiences here. Travelling round world showcase is a day in itself for me and future world has a great collection of attractions. However the changes to this parks future interest me and i will next go when there finished.

Magic Kingdom: Amazingly detailed park with so much to offer, it's got the classics and some fantastic modern attractions. All i ever wanted in this park was a big coaster and its coming, The new fantasy land expansion also looks well done.

Animal Kingdom: I love Africa and Asia in this park but i never liked the Dino land area, the avatar land does look very good as well.

Hollywood Studios: Great park with some amazing attractions but it was the one i least wanted to go to, the new lands coming will be a great addition for this park.

Water park wise i prefer Blizzard to Typhoon.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Epcot: Gah I love this park. On paper it should not be that good; two completely different 'areas', no major coasters, and a lot of old, outdated stuff. But it just has this charm to it that can't be beaten. Love it!

Animal Kingdom: Stunning theming, great landscaping, some of the best theme park food I've ever had, and a very strong lineup of E-Ticket attractions. Pandora alone is one of the most breathtaking areas I've been to. The only gripe I have is that the park is just a little too big in terms of walking around. Other than that, A+ park.

Magic Kingdom: Very well done park, but it's not quite my forte. Space Mountain, Pirates, and Big Thunder are all phenomenal, and some of the other attractions are just as great. It's a bit too crowded at times, which kinda takes the magic away from everything. Still a great park, though!

Hollywood Studios: A ****hole. Terrible layout, literally 6 rides, and will be opening one of the hottest areas soon, which will just make it even more crowded than it needs to be. Blegh.

It's been a long while since I've been to the water parks, but I think I remember enjoying the stuff at Blizzard Beach more than Typhoon Lagoon. Either way, not a water park guy.

Disney Springs is beautiful, though. Love it to bits, especially with all the new buildings and infrastructure.

 

[CanobieFan]

Before living in Orlando, I'd say Magic Kingdom... But I kinda, really dislike the place now (wish Thunder Mountian and TTA were elsewhere). Its just such a hassle to get to the park. The whole Boat or Monorail thing is an annoyance when I just wanna get into the park. I guess it never bugged me before it was a local park since I was just happy to be at Disney and such but now if I just wanna pop in for a quick ride or meal... there's nothing fast about getting into Magic Kingdom.

Studios is a dump. If they could just move Tower elsewhere and maybe Midway Mania... I'd not feel the need to go back. Even before it became a construction nightmare I wasn't a fan and it was my least favorite Disney park (well, until I visited Walt Disney Studios Park)

Epcot and Animal Kingdom are my favorite and I guess I'd put them in a tie. Like Epcot for walking around and for food / hanging out with friends... Test Track and Soarin' are fun.. And I love me some Zoo / Animals... so Animal Kingdom has that... and Everest is pretty alright and so is Flight of Passage.

 

[Edward M]

1. Animal Kingdom- conceptually, I think this park is the most coherent. The recent addition of Pandora has given it enough rides to feel like a proper “full-day” park (could still use one more E-Ticket though). Often I rate Disney parks by how much I enjoy exploring them, which puts this high on my list.

2. Magic Kingdom- the closest thing I’ve had to a “home park.” My family visited the park very often and really loved it. It’s always just a bit too crowded for anyone’s liking these days, but it’s still a beautiful park with a fantastic lineup. Personally, especially as compared to CA’s Disneyland, I think the park really needs some TLC.

3. Epcot- kinda sad to see Epcot this low since it’s a great place to be, but it’s currently in an identity crisis. It’s riding on a kitsch 80s charm that’s undeniable, but it looks quite dated by now. The ride collection is, in my opinion, the weakest of all the WDW parks, especially once Galaxy’s Edge opens.

4. Hollywood Studios- Same reasons it’s on the bottom of most of these lists. Small, crowded, and lacking in rides and atmosphere. With Galaxy’s Edge opening, it’ll be borderline unvisitable for a few years.

 

[tomahawk]

Animal Kingdom is amazing. As the biggest **** talker of Pandora, I ate a big ass crow sandwich when I went and saw it in person.

Epcot is quite a lot of fun.

Magic Kingdom is Dante's 6th level of Hell with strollers

Hollywood Studios can die.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk