No two Disney parks are completely alike. Sure, Disneyland Park in California carries much common DNA with Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida, but even these two counterparts are close siblings, not identical twins. Like a family of children from common parents, each US Disney park has developed a unique personality and quirks.
Considering them all, what specifically is the best and worst attribute of each one?
Pinning this down is a bit of a subjective exercise—everyone is going to have different likes and dislikes related to theme parks. One person may appreciate Epcot’s uniquely adult-friendly concept, while others may find the educational elements too abstract for a vacation. One person may love Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge while a purist may prefer attractions and lands based only on Disney’s classic works. The issue becomes particularly tricky when identifying the top frustrations with each park. These can vary widely, and some issues apply too broadly across all Disney parks, such as the pains of ever-increasing prices or issues with new controversial systems like Genie+.
Doing our best to keep these limitations in mind, what might be the most popular answer for the best—and worst—thing about each US Disney park?
1. Disneyland Park (Disneyland Resort, California)
The Best: The attractions
Despite being Disney’s most venerable park, Disneyland continues to hold its own as a favorite among theme park enthusiasts. It’s a classic, but one that has continued to evolve and develop in wonderful ways that continue to maintain mass appeal across all ages.
There is a lot of good to be said about Disneyland Park, but probably the area where they shine the most is in their excellent line-up of attractions.
For one thing, Disneyland is home to a number of exclusive rides you’ll find nowhere else in Disney’s US lineup, including e-tickets like The Indiana Jones Adventure and The Matterhorn Bobsleds. Other noteworthy exclusives include Alice in Wonderland, the only surviving iteration of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Beyond these, the park is also home to a number of familiar favorites you’ll find in Walt Disney World like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain.
Disneyland is also home to several attractions that improve on their Magic Kingdom counterparts in dramatic ways. Many guests agree that Disneyland’s version of Space Mountain edges out Magic Kingdom’s thanks to its two-per-row seating arrangement, faster feel, and the addition of music to amplify the ride experience. Disneyland’s version of It’s a Small World remains a marvel unto itself thanks to its impressive mega-clock exterior. Disneyland’s version of Pirates of the Caribbean also holds some unique charms, particularly thanks to its integration with the Blue Bayou restaurant.
Oh, and let’s not forget Fantasmic—we’ve made no bones previously about why Disneyland’s version remains superior to the version at Disney’s Hollywood Studios across the board.
The Worst: Location, location, location
Really, this applies to Disneyland Resort overall—location remains a major problem for Disneyland Park.
Anaheim was a pretty sleepy area when Disneyland opened in 1955. Disney’s staggering success changed all that, and the city has grown explosively into a sprawling tourist hub dense with hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues. You don’t have to travel far beyond the gates of Disneyland to feel Anaheim’s reach, and the city is unignorably visible from the highest points in the park.
The press of nearby Anaheim has proven an ongoing issue for Disneyland, limiting possibilities for growth in every aspect. Height restrictions mean Disneyland’s signature attractions can only be so tall, unlike their Walt Disney World counterparts. New expansions to the park have repeatedly required repurposing older lands and attraction spaces, resulting in the loss of more than a few beloved areas. The limited space definitely makes the park feel densely packed and crowds can be noticeably difficult to navigate on busy days due to complexities in the park layout dating back to its opening days.
2. Disney California Adventure (Disneyland Resort, California)
The Best: One of Disney’s most impressive rebounds
Disney California Adventure remains one of Disney’s most impressive comeback stories, to the point it transformed one of Disney’s worst parks into a crowd-pleasing favorite.
If you didn’t experience it in its early years, it’s hard to describe just how disappointing Disney California Adventure was when it opened back in 2001. Disney was in the midst of a rough period of belt-tightening and questionable creative decisions (sounds familiar?). Even documentaries like The Imagineering Story acknowledge this was a difficult time for the Imagineering department, and Disney California Adventure was a perfect example of this tension. From end to end, the park felt slapdash, like a caricature of California culture left largely incomplete. To make matters worse, the park was built without a berm to hide its location in the middle of Anaheim, making it feel more like a Disney-themed county fair than an immersive theme park.
Over the course of the 2010s, Disney leadership set to work giving Disney California Adventure some much-needed love. The opening of Cars Land in 2012 was a major turning point as it introduced one of the first truly immersive lands into the park. Quality areas like Grizzly Peak were improved upon but largely kept intact, while the awkward Paradise Pier was re-themed as Pixar Pier with new takes on old rides that worked well for guests.
With the arrival of Avengers Campus in 2021 (as a replacement for A Bug’s Land), Disney California Adventure has really developed an appeal and charm of its own. Disney has found creative ways to honor the California theming while incorporating fresh ideas, appealing attractions, and exclusive draws you won’t find at any other Disney park.
The Worst: Some of the patchwork theming still remains
As mentioned, probably the worst issue with Disney California Adventure is its location in the midst of Anaheim, especially since much of the park isn’t shielded by a berm like Disneyland. However, if we were to pick a secondary problem, it would be the lingering residue of the park’s early failures with theming.
Disney California Adventure has suffered from some problems similar to Disney’s Hollywood Studios—the original concept for the park ultimately failed, and Disney has had to make major course corrections over the years to compensate for this. We’ll chat about how this has affected Disney’s Hollywood Studios shortly, but in the case of Disney California Adventure, some issues linger of inconsistent theming with an overly broad brush.
Some of this has to do with the ongoing space restrictions in Disneyland Resort, but Disney California Adventure has become something of a catch-all for any IP that Disney can loosely tie to a California theme—even some where that connection is a bit of a reach like Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, or the entire Pixar film collection. Cars Land is probably the one that makes the most sense since Radiator Springs feels like Death Valley.
Elements of the original California-centric theme still remain throughout the park that work well, such as the charming Grizzly Peak area as well as the park’s commendable track record in the area of California-appropriate dining. Despite this, there’s no question the original vision for the park has started to fray at the edges, and this can make it feel a bit more Hodge-Podge of popular IP’s than a cohesive park at times.
So how does Walt Disney World measure up?…
3. Magic Kingdom (Walt Disney World, Florida)
The Best: Bigger can mean better
Walt Disney may have only agreed to build Magic Kingdom as necessary fuel for his true passion project, E.P.C.O.T., but that didn’t mean he intended for the Magic Kingdom to be a mere clone of Disneyland. Though Walt didn’t live to see the opening of Walt Disney World, a number of significant improvements were incorporated into the design for Magic Kingdom, such as the inclusion of the utilidor system to allow cast members to travel through the park without breaking theming or immersion.
Most notably, the location for Walt Disney World provided a significant advantage over Disneyland—Disney could go bigger on major attractions and with the park overall, both in terms of flexible height restrictions and in allocating overall space.
Once you’ve experienced Magic Kingdom, it’s hard not to feel like many of Disneyland’s major landmarks feel tiny in comparison. Sleeping Beauty Castle feels a bit like a dollhouse compared to the towering spires of Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle. Both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain have a bit more space at Walt Disney World, allowing for both more ride elements, like the way Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain has five drops instead of three.
The most significant example of “bigger is better” at Walt Disney World is found in New Fantasyland. In 2012, Disney completed a substantial overhaul of Fantasyland that transformed it from a dated children’s fair to one of the most gorgeous and immersive areas in Walt Disney World, a celebration of Disney classics from Snow White to Tangled and beyond. Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland is positively massive, seamlessly allowing guests to drift between iconic worlds in a way that baffles the senses. The area dedicated to Beauty and the Beast is one of the most impressive additions, adding The Beast’s castle as a secondary major landmark for the park, and even familiar classics like Dumbo were improved with upgraded queue areas and a much-needed roof to block the scorching Florida heat.
Whereas it was once easy to write off Fantasyland as easily skippable for families without young children, the area is now an essential stop for guests of all ages visiting Magic Kingdom. In this example among others, Magic Kingdom proves bigger really can mean better.
The Worst: Crowds and The Transportation and Ticket Center
This is probably the most common general complaint about Disney parks overall, but it seems like the issue is particularly pronounced at the Magic Kingdom—crowds can be a real pain in the neck at this park and finding a day without them is becoming increasingly challenging.
Magic Kingdom remains Walt Disney World’s most popular park, and the intense crowds it draws make their presence known in a number of uncomfortable ways. For one thing, the park is extremely attraction-heavy compared to its counterparts in the rest of Walt Disney World, which can result in both long lines and feeling like a trip through the park involves a non-stop cycle of fighting your way through a sea of bodies, strollers, and scooters. Standby lines in Magic Kingdom have gotten particularly bad since the arrival of Genie+. During peak times, Disney has been known to allocate as much as 90% of ride capacity to Genie+ and Lightning Lane users, which can badly throw off standby wait times. Crowd congestion can also be a major issue in the park.
…and then there’s the Transportation and Ticket Center.
The Transportation and Ticket Center often feels like the most unmagical place at the Most Magical Place on Earth. It’s the home to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, monorail and ferry transfer stations, as well as the primary hub where non-Disney busses and rideshare services drop off patrons. While this marvel of transportation planning is to be commended, the TTC suffers from one major flaw: it’s located well over a mile and a half away from the actual park.
While you could theoretically walk from the TTC to Magic Kingdom via a meandering path through the Polynesian and Grand Floridian resorts, for most guests, a stop at the TTC is going to mean joining crowds to wait for either a monorail or ferry to take you to the actual park. It’s a bottleneck that has thrown off more than one Disney day with lengthy delays, and it definitely adds in a layer of inconvenience to visiting Magic Kingdom if you aren’t traveling to the park by Disney bus (the only mode of transportation that can drop you off at the park gates).
4. Epcot (Walt Disney World, Florida)
The Best: The food!
There is a lot to love about Walt Disney World’s most enigmatic park, from its balanced attraction line-up (including heavy hitters like Test Track, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, and Frozen Ever After) to its gorgeous gardens.
However, these areas pale next to the fact Epcot has the best food line-up in Walt Disney World.
Food is part of the magic at Epcot, and there is seriously something for everyone. Even the pickiest eaters have no need to settle for corn dogs and chicken tenders thanks to crowd-pleasers like Regal Eagle Smokehouse, Sunshine Seasons, and Tutto Italia. The selection of cuisine across the park is phenomenal, particularly in the World Showcase pavilions. You could easily plan to visit Epcot every day of your vacation and try something different and delightful every day, from Mediterranean delights at Spice Road Table, to sumptuous pub fare at the Rose and Crown, to a German feast to bring a tear to your Oma’s eye at The Biergarten Restaurant.
Epcot’s restaurant lineup is already excellent, but Disney has leveled things up over the past decade by making Epcot’s seasonal festivals available nearly year-round. At just about any given time, you can take a culinary adventure touring Epcot’s festival booths trying delicious small plates that vary from festival to festival, and some of the offerings are incredible. More than once, we’ve put together impressive meals from nothing but festival sampler plates, which can make for a very fun way to tour the park.
The Worst: Drinkers who forget it’s a family park
Epcot’s eclectic culinary scene does come with one caveat—the park’s expansive selection of alcohol sometimes draws a rowdier crowd than might be ideal in a theme park.
I want to clarify that I’m not picking on everyone who imbibes in alcohol at Epcot—sampling drinks from around the world is something Disney makes available, and plenty of guests who do so know their limits and remain respectful of others. However, Epcot does have a way of drawing large parties who treat the park like their own personal pub crawl, something you tend to see more of later in the evenings and on weekends.
There’s no question that some Epcot visitors—particularly some larger groups visiting for the specific purpose of drinking around the world—seem to forget Epcot is ultimately a family park. As the day goes on, it can become harder not to run into crews of marathon drinkers whose tongues and manners are loosed beyond what is appropriate with small children around. Navigating around these groups can sometimes be frustrating. Cast members do cut disruptive guests off, but the threshold is often high enough that a few bad actors slip through the cracks. It’s rarely enough of an issue to prove a deal-breaker in the park, but it can lead to some less-than-comfortable encounters for families.
And now, last but not least, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios…
5. Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Walt Disney World, Florida)
The Best: The animals and immersive lands
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a ridiculously beautiful park. In many ways, it has stood the test of times as the company’s most impressive achievements in theme park design, and both the animals and the park’s immersive lands play a major role.
The animals and the care they receive remain a highlight of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are many world class zoos across the US that still feel like exactly that—zoos. You won’t find a parade of cage bars dressed up with pretty foliage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Imagineers and the park’s team of animal and plant scientists did an incredible job recreating environments familiar to the animals with impressive dedication to detail. You never know what to expect from trip to trip because the animals are given the space and care needed to thrive.
Ultra-immersive lands play a major role in the park’s captivating beauty. Africa really does capture the charm of actual areas of equatorial Africa—like most Disney lands, a somewhat idealized version, but an authentic feeling one thanks to specific details such as the tangled wires dangling from some of the power poles and the use of materials popular in Africa like cob and sheet metal. My heart leaps with affection every time I visit the Asia section as we worked with refugees from Bhutan and Nepal, and the fictional Anandapur captures much of the charm of Himalayan cultures. On the fantasy side, the World of Pandora remains one of Disney’s most gorgeous lands to date, particularly when it comes aglow at night.
While Disney’s Animal Kingdom may not hold Magic Kingdom’s broad popularity, it definitely beats out Disney’s other US parks for beauty, unity of theming, and celebrating the vibrancy of nature.
The Worst: Limited attractions (and DinoLand U.S.A.)
It remains one of the saddest points against Disney’s Animal Kingdom that for most guests, it remains a half-day park. It’s such a commonly-assumed issue, many Walt Disney World visitors opt to skip the park entirely, which is a shame. Despite commendable additions like The World of Pandora that temporarily boosted its popularity, in the current season it can feel like there just isn’t enough to do in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to fill a full day.
Part of this issue stems from the fact the park was originally designed to close in the evenings—it didn’t need to be a full day park, necessarily. The addition of the World of Pandora fixed things for a time, but as attendance leveled out, crowds no longer had to account for massive waits for Avatar Flight of Passage. While it is possible to spend an entire day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, casual guests with a traditional attraction focus tend to not take as long to linger in soaking areas like the park’s walking paths or Pandora at night (if they visit them at all).
In short, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is likely due another expansion or some new attractions in the next decade. The top area for potential redevelopment remains DinoLand U.S.A., the park’s weakest land thematically. Despite being home to an excellent attraction (Dinosaur), the land just doesn’t hold up compared to the rest of the park, and it continues to feel like an ill-conceived attempt to compete with Universal’s Jurassic Park franchise. The closure of the Primeval Whirl coaster has only fueled rumors that the land is likely to be rethemed after one major Disney IP or another (Zootopia? Indiana Jones?).
6. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Walt Disney World, Florida)
The Best: Home to some of Walt Disney World’s best attractions
Similar to Disney California Adventure, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is in the midst of an impressive comeback story—what once was written off as a languishing half-day park has become Walt Disney World’s premiere destination for amazing attractions.
If you love rides, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is an essential stop for visiting Walt Disney World. The park has expanded its lineup to appeal across all ages, but it remains a particular favorite of teens and young adults thanks to its excellent thrill rides. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance currently stands as king of the pack, continuing to reign as Disney’s most popular ride to date. Other favorites include Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, Star Tours, The Hollywood Tower of Terror, and Rock n’ Roller Coaster. The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular rounds off the thrill line-up in the entertainment category.
Beyond thrills, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has evolved to include a good selection of family-friendly attractions including Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, and Muppet*Vision 3D. Even apart from its two flagship attractions, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has also added much to the park as the land itself is something of an attraction meant to be freely explored (something made easier with use of the Star Wars Datapad game).
Overall, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has developed back into a proper full-day experience thanks to investment put into its lands and attractions.
The Worst: The food and lack of clear direction
I will put an asterisk before this one: the food in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is improving, particularly thanks to fresh additions like Docking Bay 7 and Ronto Roasters in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. However, compared to Disney’s other three parks, its food lineup leaves a bit to be desired in terms of creativity.
It’s not that the food in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is outright bad, per se—it’s just that so much of it feels the same. The vast majority is made up of Disney’s safest dining options: familiar Americana staples like burgers, sandwiches, elevated diner fare, pizza, a New York Italian restaurant, and a decent steakhouse for good measure. While there are good individual options to enjoy throughout the park, if you’re looking for something a little more adventurous like you might find at Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, or even Magic Kingdom (which at least has Jungle Navigation Co. Skipper Canteen), you’re going to be limited to a trip to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
The food situation in Disney’s Hollywood Studios has its roots in an overall dilemma throughout the park—the slow death of its identity as a studio park. There’s little question that at its opening, Disney-MGM Studios was heavily influence by a desire among Disney management to compete with Universal Studios Orlando. Disney made a commendable effort to make the studio concept work, but they ultimately failed. By Bob Iger’s tenure as CEO, the park had devolved into a hodge-podge collection of attractions that could loosely be tied to a Hollywood theme.
While Disney’s Hollywood Studios has experienced a much-needed revitalization over the past few years with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land, the park has failed to pull off the trick managed by Disney California Adventure. It is slowly becoming a sort of catch-all for random Disney IP’s, and the future vision for the park remains unclear. Disney seems to be keenly aware of this as they’ve surveyed guests before regarding potential name changes to do away with the studio theme for good.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios has definitely become a worthwhile destination, but the issue of confused vision continues to remain a point that negatively affects the park overall. Only time will tell if Disney chooses to address the problem with finesse or if it will simply become a dumping ground for Disney’s most marketable IP’s.
What do you think is the best and worst thing about each US Disney park? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook! Thanks for reading!
