Best & Worst Disney Parks in the World
Beyond Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, there are theme parks in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. This list ranks all 12, with pros & cons, rides, shows, parades, fireworks, and more to determine the best & worst Disney parks worldwide.
Each of the Disney resort complexes has a castle park, but not all of these parks are of the same quality, and their second gates (and beyond) are all very different. The list is our attempt at objectivity in ranking the parks, trying to the greatest extent possible to eliminate personal biases and pesky things like nostalgia.
Like the BCS and other power rankings, no one is bound to agree with these, despite them being very scientific and downright infallible. Joking aside, it’s entirely possible that you’ll appreciate various attractions, entertainment, or the themed lands more or less than us, in which case your list would differ. As with anything like this, your mileage may vary.
If you’ve read this list in the past, we should warn you that there are no changes to the rankings themselves as of our latest update in mid-2026. This is despite some major new additions that include a relaunched theme park. Even so, the expansion, added attractions, reimagined rides, extra entertainment, etc. doesn’t reset any rankings.
It’s probable the rankings won’t change at all between now and late 2027 or early 2028. That’s because the last development cycle has ended and the next one is just getting started. Since things necessarily take time to build, that means no major new lands or attractions between now and late 2027 at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, along with most of the international parks.
The next wave of additions will start to come online in 2027 with Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom and Avengers Campus Phase II at Disney California Adventure, but the bulk of the projects will wrap in 2028 through 2030. Between now and then, movement up and down the list will probably be minimal, and more driven by entertainment enhancements and how negatively construction and closures do (or do not) impact the guest experience.
With that out of the way, here are our current Disney Parks Power Rankings for mid-2026…
12. Disney Adventure World
The second gate at Disneyland Paris, formerly known as the Walt Disney Studios Park, has relaunched as Disney Adventure World! With this, the park has nearly doubled in size thanks to Adventure Bay & Way, the family attraction Raiponce Tangled Spin, Regal View Restaurant & Lounge, and the World of Frozen land.
Disney Adventure World’s debut is the culmination of this years-in-the-making transformation and expansion project that began back in 2018. In our new review, we explain why Disney’s worst park is finally worthy of the “Disney” name and legacy. It’s not a perfect park, and the reimagining is far from flawless, but we’re happy to report that Imagineers pulled off the impossible in reinventing the second gate into Disney Adventure World.
Disney Adventure World is a triumph in the most important and foundational sense: making this feel like an actual Disney theme park, not just a bunch of disjointed attractions plopped down on what was basically a glorified parking lot, dotted by soundstage-looking buildings in between. Disney Adventure World has a sense of place and purpose, and themed environments that make you want to linger as opposed to getting in, doing a few rides, and getting out as quickly as possible.
Although the bulk of that transformation is finished, park expansion remains ongoing. Next up is the Wilderness Explorers Sky Swings attraction, inspired by the Pixar film Up, which will open in 2027. Following that is the blockbuster Lion King Pride Lands, which will be the park’s distinct, defining addition (likely to open in 2028).
Disney Adventure World has a promising future, but for now, it’s still last place. The gap has closed, and it’s no longer an international embarrassment for the Walt Disney Company, which alone is a small miracle. Even though the ranking is unchanged, we’d now think of Disney Adventure World as the twelfth-best Disney theme park as opposed to the dead last or worst by a wide margin not-quite-Disney park. And that’s progress!
11. Disney California Adventure
Nearly 15 years since Disney pulled back the curtain on DCA 2.0, the much-maligned second gate at Disneyland Resort continues to improve, albeit minus a cohesive “California” theme. This has been done slowly, with a two steps forward, one step backwards kind of approach.
The most recent addition is Avengers Campus, which includes the previously-reimagined Guardians of the Galaxy – MISSION: Breakout and newcomer Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure. Both are fun additions, as is the land itself, which is full of life thanks to the Marvel characters. There’s also San Fransokyo Square, but that’s really more a fresh coat of paint on the food court rather than anything new.
The good news is that Disney California Adventure has much more on the horizon before 2030. DCA got perhaps the most love during D23, with announcements of Pandora – World of Avatar, multiple new Marvel rides, and a Coco boat ride that sounds fantastic. The bad news is that none of this will open until Christmas 2027 at the absolute earliest, so we’re still a few years away from DCA moving up the list.
10. Animal Kingdom
A strong argument can be made that Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the best theme park in Florida. When you emphasize the theme, we’d rank it #1 of Walt Disney World’s parks. That’s high praise, but sentiment that’s not shared by the general park-going public given that Animal Kingdom’s attendance has dropped dramatically.
Animal Kingdom is the worst performing park at Walt Disney World. It’s the only one not in the top 10 for worldwide theme park attendance. Animal Kingdom ranked #16, with 8.8 million annual visitors. It’s the only Walt Disney World park that didn’t hit the 10 million mark, and it had less than half the annual visitors of Magic Kingdom, the #1 theme park in the world.
The problem for many guests is that Animal Kingdom has a lot of style, but not enough substance. Sure, the park is beautiful and the purest example of unblemished (or close to it) theme at Walt Disney World. Nevertheless, people visit theme parks understandably expecting rides. While we love the idea of Animal Kingdom, we visit it less than any other park at Walt Disney World.
While the zoological exhibits, walk-throughs, and even entertainment are wonderful, Animal Kingdom could use more on the ‘traditional attraction’ end of the spectrum. Expedition Everest was a start and Pandora furthered this, but that’s still only 3 high profile rides since the park opened. Animal Kingdom could still use a family-friendly dark ride (or two…or three).
Tropical Americas will help considerably, with the new Encanto ride plus Indiana Jones Adventure. That’s a good start, but just that: a start. The reality is that Animal Kingdom is the park at Walt Disney World the furthest removed from its last big additions, and it’s been overdue for more new rides for the last several years. It’s slow descent down these rankings reflects that.
In the meantime, Dinoland is completely closed and DINOSAUR is extinct, reducing the park’s already low ride count between now and late 2027. The only “offset” to that for 2026 are the additions of Bluey’s Wild World and Zootopia: Better Zoogether, which are fun for young families but no one else. That drops DAK behind EPCOT for now, but that’ll almost certainly change again when Tropical Americas and more debuts next year.
9. Shanghai Disneyland
Shanghai Disneyland was the most complete opening day theme park to debut in the 2000s, a crown it still holds after the opening of Epic Universe in Orlando. Don’t let its ranking here fool you, as Shanghai Disneyland has only gotten better in the years since, adding lands based on both Toy Story and Zootopia.
Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2026, Shanghai Disneyland remains a polarizing park. Some fans have proclaimed that Shanghai Disneyland is superior to all other castle parks with its innovative and modern attractions. Conversely, critics have derided it as franchise-driven, tacky and disjointed. We disagree with both polarized stances, finding Shanghai Disneyland to be surprisingly ‘complete’ for a park that’s still new. It’s still pretty far behind the decades-established castle parks, though.
Among its “home runs” are Treasure Cove (especially its revolutionary Pirates of the Caribbean – Battle for the Sunken Treasure attraction), Camp Discovery, Tron Lightcycle Power Run, and Peter Pan’s Flight. We also give it points for Enchanted Storybook Castle, which is more impressive in person than its divisive design looks in concept art and photos. Zootopia Land looks like it’s also a home run.
8. EPCOT
The EPCOT overhaul is finally finished, I guess. The construction walls are down, and World Celebration and CommuniCore Hall have opened. Underwhelming as both might be–lateral moves at the absolute best after ~5 years of construction–they are better than walls and a dirt pit.
Fortunately, there have been several worthwhile substantive additions. World Showcase is largely looking good, and the debut of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure helped that area become more well-rounded. In the former Future World, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind moved the needle significantly, and is one of the best rides at Walt Disney World. Moana’s Journey of Water also helped round out the lineup, and Test Track 3.0 helped breathe new life into that thrill ride. Soarin’ Across America is the latest incremental improvement, but not enough to move EPCOT up.
Unfortunately, several substantive additions and upgrades are still needed in the Future World pavilions. Play Pavilion has been abandoned, Spaceship Earth’s overdue reimagining was shelved, and a much-needed redo of Journey into Imagination has been rumored for the last decade. EPCOT really needs actual improvements at the front of the park. Its overhaul should not be over.
On the plus side, World Showcase is still gorgeous and offers some of Disney’s best ambiance, anywhere. Spaceship Earth remains an awe-inspiring icon and pretty good attraction. Some Future World pavilions remain solid. It’s just unfortunate that half of the “overhaul” didn’t end up materializing or changing much.
7. Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Disney Hollywood Studios has seen its stock soar in the last few years, going from #11 on this list to #7. This as a result of the reimagined Fantasmic (which is underappreciated among fans), Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and more. The most important addition remains Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its mega E-Ticket Rise of the Resistance, which lives up to every bit of the hype and is tied for the #1 attraction at Walt Disney World.
However, as a whole DHS is easily Walt Disney World’s most frustrating park. The top-heavy lineup coupled with a surplus of shows makes crowds and wait times unbearable at times. This park could really use another dark ride or two, or even a couple of flat rides to round out the ride roster. There really aren’t many family-friendly rides, just shows.
Last year was an up and down one for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with the Villains Unfairly Ever After and Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure stage shows opening. Both are good additions. Shortly after those debuted, Muppets Courtyard and MuppetVision 3D closed to commence construction on Monstropolis, which should be a blockbuster addition in 2028.
Summer 2026 has been unequivocally positive. The new Mandalorian mission on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run improves the gameplay and passive ride experience. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets is a crowd-pleaser with its fun music and humor. The reimagined Walt Disney Studios Lot turned a blighted area with ‘dead mall’ vibes into one of the most inviting spaces in the park. All of this is more than any other park at Walt Disney World got in 2026, but DHS still falls just short of surpassing HKDL for #6.
6. Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland catapulted up this list following its huge expansion consisting of Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch, and Mystic Point. That expansion included Mystic Manor and Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, which are two of the top 15 attractions in the world.
Not much changed for another 5 years, but Hong Kong Disneyland now emerges from another mostly-finished expansion cycle. The two new Marvel rides have also proven to be a pleasant surprise, even if the E-Ticket is still years away. The new Arendelle: the World of Frozen land is now open, and far exceeds expectations. Don’t take it for granted as simply a clone of the EPCOT attraction plus a kiddie coaster.
The castle has also grown in size and scale, which was a controversial change but one that clearly establishes Hong Kong Disneyland as a park with its own identity, and not just a lesser-Disneyland clone. Smaller, less splashy additions have been made over the last few years, to the point that Hong Kong Disneyland now punches above its weight and is a worthy castle park. Hong Kong Disneyland’s 20th Anniversary Celebration elevates it even further through Summer 2026.
Do not sleep on Hong Kong Disneyland if you visit Asia. It’s a pleasant surprise and one of our favorite places to spend time, even if its ride roster or themed design still puts it–on paper, at least–a rung below the “big” castle parks. You won’t regret visiting, and HKDL might just steal your heart, like it did ours.
5. Magic Kingdom
Again, nostalgia comes into play. My opinion of Magic Kingdom will most likely always be colored by memories of my youth–this remains my “home” castle park. Sitting here evaluating the park online, I can look at it with a critical eye, but in person all of that melts away as I feel like a kid again when walking down Main Street.
It’s been an up and down few years for Magic Kingdom. Happily Ever After returned and TRON Lightcycle Run is an excellent addition. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure also opened, and Disney Starlight Night Parade debuted. All positive additions, although the latter two are a bit more mixed.
The new additions for 2026 are a recharged Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and retracked Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. While both are upgrades, the bigger story here is that, for the first time in a few years, none of Magic Kingdom’s headliner attractions are closed for lengthy refurbishments or reimaginings.
With the more robust ride roster of any park, and a healthy mix of modern and classic attractions, it should be easy to see why Magic Kingdom ranks #5 on this list and is the most-attended theme park in the world. If anything, it underperforms the other castle parks of its era, but that could change by the 2030s.
In the meantime, Magic Kingdom faces growing pains to accomplish its expansion. Walt Disney World is building two all-new Cars attractions in a reimagined area of Frontierland and Villains Land expansion at Magic Kingdom, essentially between and behind Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion and replacing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.
Those are likely pluses from a ride roster perspective in the long-term once they debut between 2028 and 2030. The problem is the next few years, in the lead-up to those lands opening. The result of this isn’t just the loss of scenic beauty and kinetics–it’s replacing that charming area of the park with a sea of construction walls. On top of that, New Fantasyland is not-so-new, Tomorrowland is ironically the most dated and tired land, and several attractions are long overdue for updates.
With all of that said, Magic Kingdom has a certain beauty, grandiosity, and sentimentality. This sense of escape and suspension of disbelief makes it really appealing. Still, as the crown jewel park at Disney’s largest and most popular resort complex in the world, Magic Kingdom deserves better. Plan your visit with our comprehensive Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide.
4. Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris has admirably used the momentum of its fantastic 30th Anniversary into success thanks to drones and seasonal entertainment. The park has perfected drone shows over the castle, Sleeping Beauty Castle is looking splendid, and Disneyland Paris has brought back fan-favorite entertainment.
Even before this, Disneyland Paris was getting back on track with major refurbishments to key attractions. This has included extensive reimaginings of Pirates of the Caribbean and Phantom Manor, the latter of which is France’s unique take on Haunted Mansion. Disneyland Paris still has room for improvement (much of it on the operational front), but Disneyland Paris looks better than we’ve ever seen it.
This is coupled with the always-exceptional design work at Disneyland Paris make it one of the top parks in the world. This is particularly true for those who favor parks as themed spaces, rather than collections of attractions. On the ride front, Disneyland Paris is still a step or two (or 3-4) behind the other castle parks, but it compensates for this with so many amazing spaces and intricate details. Oh, and it has the best Disney castle in the world. It can be a frustrating place to visit, but also incredibly enchanting. Plan your visit with our comprehensive Disneyland Paris Vacation Planning Guide.
3. Disneyland
Disneyland takes the #3 slot, and comes within striking distance of #2 thanks to the successful 70th Anniversary Celebration, which brought with it the return of Paint the Night Parade and Wondrous Journeys Fireworks, plus the debut of Walt Disney – A Magical Life.
Unfortunately, that winds down in August 2026, leaving us to wonder what’s next for Disneyland, as nothing has been announced for 2027 and beyond. Disneyland could definitely use some near-term help to reinvigorate the park, perhaps with some ‘singles & doubles’ style projects similar to those that debuted at Walt Disney World in Summer 2026.
The last big permanent addition was Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Before that, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its flagship attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Disneyland doesn’t score quite as many points here as perhaps it should, as the new Star Wars Land feels isolated and removed for the rest of the park–like a park within the park–rather than a coherent space that congeals with the greater whole.
However, this separation has one tremendous upside, and that’s the preservation of the charm and intimacy of Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom. The ‘traditional’ side of the park still oozes whimsy, beauty, and warm. Moreover, Disneyland has some of the best themed spaces in the world, with the Rivers of America, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, Adventureland, and Main Street all being incredibly inviting.
Equally as important, it has an incredible slate of attractions, ranging from intimate Fantasyland dark rides like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland to blockbuster E-Tickets like Indiana Jones Adventure and Hyperspace Mountain. Disneyland is incredibly attraction-dense, with great versions of the classics, plus a solid slate of entertainment. Plan your visit with our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide.
2. Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland’s $750 million expansion breathed new life into Fantasyland, Toontown, and Tomorrowland. Those additions transformed a lot of dead space into engaging themed areas, which has been a big initiative for Tokyo Disneyland.
Entertainment is (still!) slowly returning, venues are reopening, and cuts are being restored. It’s to the point where, outside of scaled-back seasonal events, Tokyo Disneyland feels pretty close to what it was like in 2019. More recently, the park debuted the new “Reach for the Stars” nighttime spectacular, which is fine. It’s also brought back the Country Bears seasonal shows and other celebrations, which is a much bigger deal. It could still use a couple more stage shows and more on the seasonal front.
Tokyo Disneyland’s attraction roster still offers the greatest hits of the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, with the best version of numerous iconic Disney rides. In addition to a formidable lineup of classics, Tokyo Disneyland also has multiple headliners of its own in Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek, and Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast.
It no longer feels like a ‘clone park’ as so many of its existing lands have been overhauled, and that’ll be even more true in a couple years when the all-new Space Mountain and revamped Tomorrowland debuts. For now, that part of the park is a mess of construction walls–not to the point to hurt its ranking, but enough to comment on.
However, it’s not the ride roster that puts Tokyo Disneyland near the top. The entertainment is amazing, with a regular lineup of solid seasonal offerings, plus the Harmony in Color daytime parade and Dreamlights, Disney’s best night parade. Beyond that, Tokyo Disneyland’s maintenance, attention to detail, show quality, dining, and Cast Members are all unsurpassed. Plan your visit with our comprehensive Tokyo Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide.
1. Tokyo DisneySea
Even after the debut of Fantasy Springs, there is somehow still legitimate debate about whether Tokyo DisneySea is deserving of the top spot. The good news is that our scathing post explaining Why Disney’s #1 Park is Getting 1-Star Reviews is no longer completely valid. The bad news is that too much of that still remains accurate.
For one thing, wait times at Tokyo DisneySea remain ridiculous for ~200 days of the year. It’s no longer as absurd as it was when Fantasy Springs was using a de facto virtual queue, but it’s still pretty far off from 2019. There are 8 attractions that average wait times of 100 minutes or more. Five of those have averages above 2 hours. These are averages–peak waits of 240 minutes for multiple headliners is not uncommon!
For another, a lot of other entertainment is still missing. We wouldn’t go as far as to say Tokyo DisneySea feels like a shadow of its former self, but it has been noticeably downgraded outside of Fantasy Springs. This is a big part of why wait times are longer–because so many things that previously absorbed crowds are (still!) missing.
As compared to what it once was in 2019 or earlier, Tokyo DisneySea has lost its luster. However, it was the best Disney theme park by a wide margin before, and retains that status, albeit with a much narrower lead over its next door neighbor or even Disneyland in California. The fact of the matter is that, even acknowledging its issues, if we could only visit or recommend one theme park in the world, Tokyo DisneySea would still be it.
I have already dedicated an entire article to the Top 10 Reasons Tokyo DisneySea is Disney’s Best Park, so I’ll just defer to that for what else makes this park so unbelievably special. Tokyo DisneySea is still Disney’s best theme park in the world, even the current version of the park. That’s the bottom line, and why it’d be disingenuous to let one of the Disneylands sneak into the top spot over it just because I’m frustrated by the park’s operations and absurdly long lines (even by Japan standards).
As for Fantasy Springs, its attractions are popular for good reason. This over $2 billion addition consisting of Peter Pan, Frozen, and Tangled areas is the biggest budget expansion of any existing Disney theme park ever and absolutely lives up to the hype. There’s a reason why Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey makes Sarah & Tom’s List of the Top 15 Disney Attractions in the World, and Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure almost does!
Hope you enjoyed this new edition of the Disney Parks Power Rankings. Keep in mind that this list is all in good fun. Like sports fans, most Disney fans have strong allegiances towards their home park and take offense when they feel it’s slighted.
Remember that this is one random dude’s opinion on the internet. At the end of the day, it doesn’t impact your enjoyment of your “favorite” park if I rank it at number 8, nor does my opinion matter (at all) in the grand scheme of things.
Need Disney trip planning tips and comprehensive advice? Make sure to read Disney Parks Vacation Planning Guides, where you can find comprehensive guides to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond! For Disney updates, discount information, free downloads of our eBooks and wallpapers, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!
Your Thoughts
How would you rank the Disney Parks you’ve visited? It doesn’t matter how many parks you’ve been to, I’m still interested in knowing! Do you think I misranked any parks, or made any poor choices? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
1. Disneyland Anaheim
2. EPCOT
3. Disney Seas
4. California Adventure
5. Hollywood Studios Orlando
6. Disney World
7. Disneyland Paris
8. Disney Studios Paris.
9. Animal Kingdom
Other parks have not in there yet.
Tom, will you ever do top 10 Disney Hotels around the world?
One of the things I really wish Magic Kingdom had is a magic shop. I miss the old one that was on Main Street years ago. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.
Having been to many of the parks in the last year or two now, I generally agree with these rankings. DisneySea is unrivaled.
Shanghai Disneyland is very different, and is carried by TRON and Pirates (which I think are some of the best rides in the world). But it doesn’t have much else to put it above the other castle parks.
HK Disneyland is still lacking in proper e-ticket attractions. Grizzly and Mystic Manor are great, but I think other parks have better e-tickets.
Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are similar in that they have a small lineup of attractions, but have some of the best rides in the world. FoP, Safari, Everest for AK and RotR, Mickey, ToT for HS. AK has great theming and atmosphere, but HS has more entertainment. Sometimes I’d prefer these two parks over the castle parks just because they’re more different and have great rides. The castle parks are also generally the same everywhere in the world (so I’ve been to them and the rides many times). Of course, the castle parks are still the classic Disney experience.
Forgot to mention Epcot is also probably the most unique park. Mainly if you love World Showcase. So where it ranks will depend on that. I think once Remy and Guardians of the Galaxy opens, it’ll be a great park attraction wise as well.
On my last WDW visit (2018) I was stunned to find myself walking around AK at night and thinking “is this now the best park here?” Definitely not something I expected to ever feel, but there it was. It really has become a great place to hang out, very immersive, and it has a solid slate of E-Tickets. I know a lot has changed since 2018, but what was once the least of the WDW parks has vaulted to the top for me, at least for the time being.
“ Even as I now live within driving distance of Disneyland, Magic Kingdom remains my “home” castle park.”
Did you have enough of the nasty Florida heat and move back to SoCal?!
Ha, I wish! Just missed that line when updating the post.
I really, really don’t care for Animal Kingdom. Pandora did nothing for me as I’ve never seen the movie and FoP made me sick so I was not a fan at all. I go for the safari and Everest and….. that’s it. It never won me over so I have no real nostalgia for it. It will always rank last for me. Even with Epcot the mess that it currently is, it still ranks ahead of AK in my book.
I have been to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris and enjoyed both. Had plans to do DL and DCA this summer but COVID killed those plans.
Tom, I have a challenging question for you! More of a thought experiment. Let’s say you just inherited a million dollars and are willing to use a part of it on two Disney vacations of 10 nights each. How would you design such sprees? I assume one would be Tokyo and the other WDW. I’m not saying I have inherited a million but if I had (and was willing to spend $50,000 for two adults as a benchmark), where (assuming a split stay) would you stay? Where and how might you dine? I suppose you could also do the ride planning. This could be a service for the suddenly wealthy but you can’t eat Victoria & Alberts 5 nights in a row. You can curate this right down to the Typhoon Lagoon then return to room choreography. Include side activities you pay extra for such as the Wild Africa Trek and other behind the scenes. This assumes a ‘normal’ park which is anything but immanent so this removes you from the charge of catering to the wealthy in case any trolls come bittering for you. Maybe you can pose this for your readers as some sort of extra credit homework assignment for the Remote Bricker School of Disney,..
I sort of did that with this post: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/lottery-winners-disney-world-vacation/
If we personally were going to do two incredibly lavish trips–and couldn’t take family members–we’d take both of them to Japan. If family members were invited (who realistically wouldn’t be willing to travel to Japan), we’d do one to each coast.
Well I’ll be! You did do it and you did it really well! How did I miss it?
After last weeks trip, I would put EPCOT in a distance last place. Construction!!!! down attractions, the VERY POOR Food & Wine. MK was great. 5 major rides in less then 2 hours.
Next trip HS & MK
Placing DHS over AK has me conflicted. SWGE is exceptional and the Old Hollywood front half of the park is wonderful. It also has two of the best attractions anywhere in the word (arguably 2 of the top 3 at WDW). But outside those two areas, there’s no flow. It’s sort of a thematic hodgepodge with a frustrating layout. What it gets right it gets REALLY right, but it so often is less than the sum of its parts (and some of its parts aren’t that great, to put it lightly). AK, as you pointed out, is lacking traditional rides, but is a far better, more cohesive example of themed design.
I’ve only done the US parks….but by default shouldn’t Disneyland and Disney California Adventure be last by the sole fact that they’re not open? We have no concept what’s going to up and running and how they are handing the “new normal.”
This is the parks BEFORE they were closed but in my book, California adventure should NOT be 11, cars land is fun, and don’t forget the longest Disney coaster.
I love all the parks and have visited them all numerous times, as well as stayed at all the “deluxe” resorts worldwide. I think this sort of list is less important than ranking by overall Resort locations, but definitely fun. Excuse my poor grammar, I don’t put in effort…but still my list is infallible. This is mostly a list of notable pros and cons for me. Just kinda throwing my thought stream out. (Obviously once upcoming lands debut, some positions might switch…but not 1).
#1. The original – Everything has more meaning here, the other castle parks are literally imitations. Walt cut a house in half for the front of Plaza inn. New Orleans Square (Walt’s only added & favorite land, is enough reason) with Cafe Orleans (still uses its historic 1st ever commercialized espresso machine), beignets, best Pirates, all the street music, etc. Best food in general of all parks. Original club 33 and gallery area. Best cast members in U.S. Best special events (24hrs etc). Best original fantasyland lineup (Alice, Mr Toad). Toon town (runaway railway soon). Great space Mt. Indy. OG tiki room (first animatronics). Historic original small world with best facade as well as rest of 64 Worlds fair attractions like Lincoln, primeval world (best railroad). Best Monorail. Matterhorn. Better Galaxys edge. I could go on and on. The attention to detail and thought that went in = a quality only matched in Tokyo. The ride lineup, after theming is indisputably most important. Both are top notch. With morning magic hrs I can easily ride Big Thunder, Indy, Pirates, Mansion, Splash Mt before the park even opens due to its small size. Transportation is easy in general. The copious foliage/gardens and added unnecessary sites like the fossilized tree add to the beauty and overall completeness/perfectness.
2. Tokyo Disneyland – We will have to see when Fantasy Springs comes whether that changes things…but Beauty and the beast area looks excellent. Tony Solaroni! Monsters ride. Poohs honey hunt. Critter country. Original Country Bears. Pinocchio. Best version of a lot of rides. Plus they do holiday overlays like disneyland. Good mix of MK size and castle with some of the better rides and aspects of Land. Not really missing much from a castle park, unlike all of the other international castle parks with relatively weak lineups that are missing key rides. Best cast. Great snacks. Best Parades. I wish it still had Cinderella castle mystery and skyway. World Bazaar is cool. Club 33. Amazing attention to detail here is noticeable. Disneyland hotel is top notch and reminiscent of a better GF. No good nighttime spectacular because of location.
3. DisneySea – I want to like this one the most, but as of right now its attraction lineup won’t allow it. Shows in Tokyo are hit or miss, as is the non snack food. A lot of Tokyos “cloned” rides do have a much better queue like Soarin. Journey to center of Earth, Sinbad, and 20k leagues are all top notch…but after that… Raging Spirits is bad, ToT is cool but not as good as OG, Stormrider was better, so was sinbads 7 voyages (RIP).
Obviously the theming overall is definitely best there is. The integration and execution of Miracosta is also fantastic but imo not too different to the Californian in function. I also love the merch and cute snacks here. Mt Prometheus is a cool icon. Once again by far the best and nicest staff.
4. Disneyland Paris – I like the uniqueness they were going for. Definitely best castle with dragon. Best Space Mt (mission 2). Best Big Thunder. My favorite HM (Phantom Manor). Unique Pirates ride and area. I like the Disneyland Hotel here as well (kinda reminds me tokyos). Very cool Frontierland with fort and storyline integration, Discoveryland/steampunk awesomeness, unique Adventureland. Good fireworks show. Great for exploring. They should’ve went through with the Matterhorn. Overall lacking in attractions, but good theming.
5. MK – Not much to be said here. I love it, but Tokyo is somewhat similar and better. Also the lineup is not quite as good as the top 2. At least Tokyo attempted some sort of knock off New Orleans Square. Still has the peoplemover and historic CoP. Worse Pirates. Worse Buzz Lightyear (among others). For me the roller coaster clones from Shanghai add little. Lost Mr Toads and Snow white which is unforgivable lol. Maintenance at disneyworld in general is atrocious. Food in general is pretty bad, but snack options solid. great castle with restaurant inside. Larger size definitely can help crowds.
Best fireworks show out there…but you can’t see it for free like at Land. Still though, cant really go wrong here.
6. CA Adv – Very slept on. The lineup is solid nowadays. The entrance with Carthey circle and Theatre/restaurant is awesome. Together with hollywood land reminds me of a better HS. Grizzley Peak into Condor flats area always been my favorite. Grand Californian might as well be in the park with that side entrance, and it perfectly extends the theme. I can take that entrance do Grizzley River run (my fav ride there) twice, go back to my room to change then be back in the park before opening. To me the best hotel in U.S because of all this, has piano etc ambiance of GF, vibe of wilderness/AK lodge. Proximity to the fantastic downtown disney is awesome. The original and superior soarin can sometimes be found here. I always liked the boardwalk/summer vacation vibes but I understand why some may not. CA Screamin is a worldclass hybrid Launch coaster, and the longest looped coaster in the world. Mickeys fun wheel is the most thrilling Disney attraction worldwide. The swings are fun and better than traditional kiddie spinners. Pacific Warf theming is great. Cars land is great. Gaurdians of the galaxy is unique and great. Marvel land will probably be solid…although I miss Bugs land (better predecessor to Toy Story land in theme). Very special park that many write off for its now very few faults and proximity to the best park…which is also a plus. Park hopping is actually worth it always and beyond easy. 1901. World of color is solid. HS and Future World have lost their themes much more. Also they have festivals now and the halloween celebration.
7. Animal Kingdom – Theming is great…but people dont realize its pretty easy for them to theme it like this in FL lol. Pandora and flight of passage are huge reasons because otherwise the park is lacking. Cool for the animals trails, safari ride is awesome. Good tour here. Expedition Everest potentially my fav coaster. Dinosaur is worse than previous countdown to extinction as well as way worse than indy. Good food. Dino land is disgusting. Beastly Kingdom should have happened over Pandora…the dragons are even in the iconography and basically the dedication too. There are a lot pf examples of things that should’ve happened in Disney park history though.
8. Hong Kong – Charming little park, I actually liked the small castle. Adding its a small world helped a bit, but very low on attractions. Mystic point and the grizzley peak/everest/BigThunder hybrid are both top tier. Good shows. Mini GF hotel is cool. Location is possibly the best, definitely best scenery. They originally meant to have 2 parks and it shows. I think new lands coming will help. Nonetheless the magic is definitely here. Perfect 1 day castle park.
9. Epcot – Future world is a shell. Very sad about the loss of so many great attractions. Guardians wont help enough. Weakest lineup. World showcase is iconic though. It is the reason its this high. Great food options and theming. Festivals. RIP Maelstrom (& horizons ofc), disney killin me with the IP and screen based BS. Grand fiesta tour better not be next lol. Also figment ride was unnecessarily soiled and the future nighttime show questionable. Some solid shows. I like the country representative cast, but they should’ve kept adding country pavilions. Anyway…
10. HS – This park is also a shell of its former self..although it was always low on rides. It is no longer about the celebration history and making of film…I guess its about the capitalization of film IP lmao. Should be renamed IP land. The Great Movie ride is a tragedy. The original tram tour was great too, especially when the studio was used to animate classics. Was way better as MgM with the ninja turtles lol. Theming is easy but pretty solid. Now there is a reason to go with Galaxys edge (over rated and under delivered) and the abysmal copy paste toy story land. Walt is prob turning in his grave for that elegant bit of theming. Slinky is a fun off the shelf purchase though. The Queue theming in tory story mania at disneySea is better than this whole land. Take away the new IP lands and you have ToT (a gem) and aerosmith which hopefully survives. Good shows like festival of lion, indy stunt show etc still.
11. Walt Disney Studios – Now has a unique version of ToT which is cool. Nemo ride unique and somewhat different for what it is. Not that it is amazing. New aerosmith theme coming could be cool. Definitely some straight up garbage in this park, but once they add the new lands it actually might hop Hollywood studios no lie. Needs more dark rides. Overall theming needs a big boost too.
12. Shanghai – This is not a Disney Park. Walt would not recognize it as such. You can say all you want about the history not mattering, but a disney park should be made in his example, close to how he would do it. Otherwise why is the company called what it is. Completely missing the extreme attention to detail and thought put into things the way it should. Feels like a knock off to me. Almost the reverse of disney magic. Hotel felt the same. Mickey Ave is short and the worst entrance run, the castle imo is ugly and the restaurant inside tacky. Everything is too big, there is definitely such a thing. Tomorrowland feels like a mall during the day and I think I prefer space Mt to Tron. Also the pollution aka constant visible smoke is disgusting, along with the fact its a communist run park haha. Again, Walt would definitely be chill with that. Anyway, regardless of that the park offers little unique. The challenge trails are cool, Pirates is good but way over rated and way worse than the original imo. Worse pirate area than Paris with its skull rock. Tron and 7 dwarfs no longer a reason to go. Their rapids ride is worse than Grizzly. They do have the best peter pan though. Hopefully zootopia land is very good, could make it jump up in rank for me.
I hope I don’t come off too negative because I’d still rather go to any Disney park than to Universal haha.
Don’t agree with everything but appreciate your specificity and clear conviction in your rankings. Love to hear others’ takes, especially when they’re expressed with depth!
I’ve only gone to the parks in Orlando and California numerous times…too many to count. Disneyland is at the bottom. The restaurants are terrible, parks are crowded and workers are rude. I’ve gone all year round having come from Sacramento and find it true no matter when you go. We don’t drink so Epcot is near the bottom as we enjoy the rides more than anything. Top two parks are magic kingdom and animal kingdom.
Although I agree with most of the things you write, my ranking looks considerably different. I was especially surprised by the lower rankings of Disney California Adventure and Hong Kong Disneyland, two of my favourite Disney parks out there. California Adventure has a certain summer/vacation feeling which cannot compared with any other theme park on Earth and Hong Kong Disneyland is awesome because it’s so cute and tiny. And well… they have Mystic Manor, right? I guess my ranking looks like this:
1. Tokyo DisneySea
2. Disneyland
3. Disney California Adventure
4. Hong Kong Disneyland
5. Tokyo Disneyland
6. Shanghai Disneyland
7. Magic Kingdom
8. Epcot
9. Disneyland Paris
10. Disney’s Animal Kingdom
11. Disney’s Hollywood Studios
12. Walt Disney Studios Park
I’ve only done Florida so far. For me it’s MK for number of classic attractions and old school Disney magic (albeit too crowded nowadays). Second is AK. It is so perfect in design and theme. It is great for slowing down and taking in the wonder however it still could use 2 or 3 major additional attractions. The safari is so awesome and immersive and Everest is incredible in so many ways. Third is HWS for fun rides. Last is Epcot for feeling like it’s dying right now.
Ooh I must disagree with some of these!! Of the parks I have visited:
8. Disney Hollywood Studios
7. Shanghai Disney
6. Magic Kingdom
5. Disneyland Paris
4. Epcot
3. Walt Disney Studios Park
2. Hong Kong Disneyland
1. Animal Kingdom
I haven’t been to Disney’s Hollywood Studios since the opening of Toy Story and Star Wars lands, I am sure it’s place will change after my trip there in April! Shanghai Disney was great, mainly because of Tron and Pirates, but the park seemed too spread out and it’s generally quite smoggy (Disney looks so different without blue skies!). The Paris parks rank highly for me largely due to nostalgia, being from the UK these are the parks I visited growing up with my family. Also- Crush’s coaster is one of my fave rides, and Paris’ versions of Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller coaster are genuinely more thrilling than their counterparts in the US (RIP Paris R&RC ). Visited Hong Kong Disney in September and it was MAGICAL- even without a castle. Cast members were amongst the best I’ve encountered, and because of the current political climate we had the entire place to ourselves. We did every ride 5 times with no wait. LOVED the grizzly gulch ride, I had never heard of it, SO GOOD!!! Mystic Manor was also a strong 10/10. And Animal Kingdom has my current top spot because I love to travel to Africa and Asia, and the theming is so reminiscent to that. Also, FOP is my favourite Disney ride ever ever ever.
Having visited all 12 parks over the past 3 years, I like to look at the trajectory of each park as a major factor for my own personal rankings.
DCA is the one and only Disney park that seems to be actively headed in the wrong direction. After the decent revamp back in 2012, it has taken several steps backward by nature of its overlays and resulting mismatched theming. Yes, Marvel Land is coming, and I’m sure in itself will be a great land, but again it doesn’t help the disjointed feel of the overall park. Rather, I think it only adds to the problem. I no longer understand what the overall theme of DCA is supposed to be. And I’m not sure Disney does either.
I found Shangai Disneyland, whilst quite impressive in some ways, to be utterly devoid of any charm and magic. It’s like it has all the right ingredients but somebody messed up the recipe. It will continue to do well by virtue of the sheer number of people in Shanghai and the lack of competition. By contrast Hong Kong Disneyland is the most charming of the 10 parks I’ve been to, even though it is so small and doesn’t have that many attractions. However it seems like they “try harder” and the upcoming additions will be great.
I’m looking forward to crossing off Disneyland and DCA in the next couple of months!
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but I don’t totally agree, either.
I agree to the extent that too much of Shanghai Disneyland strives for ‘epic’ scale and scope, which is great where it works…but that needs to be offset by more charm. I think that’s largely what the local audience wants, though. Mainland China seems to prefer bigger, flashier, louder, etc.
I’d also agree that HKDL has a ton of charm. I hope that remains even after the new bigger castle is finished. (I suspect it will, but part of me is worried.)
I am.currently travelling to every Disney park worldwide and i disagree totally. I base my best on disney magic and how each park makes me feel.
Paris is the worst. There are very little happy staff or people that come.to the park. I would never waste time or money to visit Paris parks again. They do not do anything that helps tourists.
And although I love the rides and look of disneysea again the fastpass and lottery system are not tourist friendly plus the language barrier is tough.
Compare this to next door tokyo disneyland and I would rank that as my 2nd best park. Its not awlays about the look or attractions. I believe it is the disney magic that ultimately comes from cast members that truly makes a disney park special!
Btw im currently about to fly to Shanghai and hong Kong, last 2 in my 12 Disney parks in 25 days trip.
These are good points. Also, obviously the ranking of these parks is very subjective–I just visited Animal Kingdom for the first time, and it has won me over despite not even riding Everest, and not having every type of ride buildable. It was a breath of fresh air, and brought me back to when these parks were enjoyable places to ramble. I think the pressure for every park to be perfect is one thing that messes up the continuity of the original design. And, what any particular park provides for a guest is largely associated with age. The Bone Yard provided the best hour of entertainment to our toddler than any other attraction at any park. In three years, this won’t be the case so much.
Disney Paris is a gorgeous park. I think its castle is by far the most beautiful. But I absolutely agree with you on your other point. Terrible service, grumpy cast, people smoking in lines. And their shopping district is pitiful. But this is what we experienced in the rest of Paris so goes with the territory I guess
Thanks for the list! I’d just read TripAdvisor’s list of top 25 theme (they say amusement) parks in the world and US, and was marvelling that Epcot didn’t make either list, nor was Tokyo DisneySea on the world list. I put much more faith in your list.