Outside of Walt Disney World in Florida and the original Disneyland Resort in California, Disney currently hosts parks in Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai. I thought it would be fun to rank the different Disney parks, especially as many readers have not visited the parks outside of the United States.
Stella and I currently have not been to the two resorts in China (Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland). As such, I will not include those in the rankings. Once we visit, we will update the list.
I decided to create this list based on our experiences and the state of the parks at the current moment. Every park is undergoing some level of refurbishment and improvement, with a slate of new attractions and experiences to open over the next couple of years. We can speculate all we want on their final outcome, but I don’t believe it’s fair to base this list on assumptions.
So, without further ado, here is the definitive list, from the Globetrotting Disney Blog, of our rankings, from worst to best, of ten of the Disney parks around the world!
10) Disney's Hollywood Studios
Conceived during the Michael Eisner era, Hollywood Studios ranks at the bottom of the list for a number of reasons. For one, it’s lost its core theme concept. Developed as a representation of the movies, the park was built with the Great Movie Ride as its central attraction. With the removal of the Great Movie Ride and much of its “Hollywood” themed attractions, the park is currently in an identity crisis.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, although a noticeable improvement in terms of attractions, doesn’t fully fit with the Hollywood theme. Nor does Toy Story Land. I do feel the additions are positives, however they pull away from the Hollywood theme and movie making. No more can we see classic movies of Hollywood’s golden age, a working studio or stunt shows.
In addition to the loss of theming, the park lacks a solid lineup of attractions and shows. The opening of Galaxy’s Edge and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Runway did help improve the lineup, but only so much. These additions only added three attractions to the already small park.
With the current attractions, the park can be completed around lunchtime. Although Galaxy’s Edge is a great improvement, I can visit the same attractions at Disneyland. Outside Galaxy’s Edge, Hollywood Studios is left with the Tower of Terror, Rock N Rollercoaster and Slinky Dog Dash as its top attractions. More time, attractions and a central theme are needed to improve this park. If I had to pass on any park in Florida, it would be this one.
9) Walt Disney Studios Park
The second park at the Disney Paris Resort, Walt Disney Studios Park was another Hollywood themed park built during the Michael Eisner era. Like Hollywood Studios (they are “sister” parks), the park is supposed to transport guests into the movies.
Like Hollywood Studios, the park is moving away from its Hollywood theming. Recently, the park closed the last of its Hollywood theme attractions. Like Hollywood Studios, the park permanently closed its Tram Tour. The park also closed its Armageddon special effects attraction and its Rock N Rollercoaster.
In place of the Hollywood attractions, Walt Disney Studios Park will add expansions based on Frozen, Marvel and Star Wars. Today, only the Tower of Terror attraction references back to the old theme of the park. Like Hollywood Studios (and California Adventure), the park is slowly becoming based on franchises with no central theme.
But unlike Hollywood Studios, it does retain some great exclusives. Ratatouille the Adventure is an amazing trackless 4D dark ride, shrinking the guests to the size of a rat as they try to survive a Parisian kitchen. Plus, it has an excellent themed restaurant, Bistrot Chez Remy.
It also includes Crush’s Coaster. Crush is an outstanding and surprising fun dark ride/spinner roller coaster taking guests on a journey based on Finding Nemo. The first half of the attraction is like a traditional dark ride before transitioning to a roller coaster traveling on the East Australian Current.
Outside Ratatouille and Crush, the park is low on attractions, especially with the closure of the Hollywood attractions. But Ratatouille and Crush are outstanding attractions. They rank as some of my favorite attractions in the world.
As a result, I rank Walt Disney Studios Park just ahead of Hollywood Studios. Since Galaxy’s Edge can also be found in California, Hollywood Studios lacks a game changing attraction or land. Slinky Dog Dash is nowhere as fun as Crush’s Coaster. Although Walt Disney Studios Park is usually rated as the worst Disney park, its two Pixar themed attractions save it and help it beat Hollywood Studios.
8) EPCOT
I feel like EPCOT’s low ranking on my list will cause some negative comments. But at this time, its not a great park. Think about it. In future world, you have Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space and Soarin as the top attractions. World Showcase only has one notable attraction, Frozen Ever After.
World Showcase is huge for its pavilions. But after visiting them once, they’ve lost their magic. Stella and I have also been to most of the countries portrayed, taking away even more magic. Add in way overpriced drinks and Americanized food, its hard to justify visiting.
As for attractions, EPCOT is painfully short on rides. Like Hollywood Studios, EPCOT is a half day park. I struggle to select Fast Passes for EPCOT. Test Track is an easy pick for the top Fast Pass, but the second-tier attractions really don’t need Fast Passes. Soarin can be considered the only other E-Ticket attraction,
However, like every park, EPCOT is undergoing expansion. Additions include a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster and the excellent Ratatouille attraction from Paris. With major improvements to Future World and a new space themed restaurant, the new additions will help justify the cost to EPCOT. Until then, I rather spend my time elsewhere.
7) Disney California Adventure
What a history for this park. I remember this park back in 2004 when it was a mess. Another park built under the management of CEO Michael Eisner, the park cost a total of $600 million to complete in 2001. For comparison, Shanghai Disneyland total bill was $5.5 billion in 2016.
Themed to bring California to the Disneyland Resort, the goal was to keep guests on property so they wouldn’t travel to the rest of the state. Why travel elsewhere when all of California was in one theme park?
Park executives also designed the park to be more adult oriented. The park hosted more restaurants and merchandise shops than attractions. On opening day, the park included only three E-Ticket attractions and the cartoony-est theme park ever created by Disney. Superstar Limo anyone?
The park was so bad and a financial disaster new Disney CEO Bob Iger pumped over $2 billion dollars to save the park. He even rededicated the park in 2012.
Today, the park ranks as one of Disney’s better theme parks. The rededication was a success and led to the removal of most of the cartoony California puns. The addition of Cars Land and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! were much needed improvements.
Top it off with the best theme park food and drinks at the Disneyland Resort, California Adventure is a destination in itself. California Adventure is now our go to park during our visits food, drinks and exciting attractions. It is also a great park for photos. When Avengers Campus opens in 2020, the park will be well on its way to greatness.
The biggest negative is theme. Although the cartoony California theme was terrible, the whole park followed it and everything tied together. Today, the park is becoming like Hollywood Studios, a park full of franchises. It does lead to better attractions, but the core theming is lost. Hopefully Disney can bring a conclusive theme to this park one day. Also a name change. It is no longer about California (which is a good thing).
6) Tokyo Disneyland
The Tokyo Disney Resort is the best Disney resort in the world. Between its two theme park, hotels, food and customer service, no resort comes close in overall quality. Owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under license from the Walt Disney Company, the resort is the perfect theme park destination.
But looked at separately, Tokyo Disneyland is good, not great. The park is like a bizarro Disneyland. The best of Magic Kingdom and California’s Disneyland were blended into one park. Most of the iconic Disney attractions are clones of their counterparts in the United States.
Because the attractions do not have their own identity, it takes away from the magic of the park. It also makes the park a little boring. Don’t get me wrong, it is an excellent park. The rides are maintained prefectly with the best Disney castmembers in the world. But the attractions just don’t stand out.
Now, the park does host two Tokyo exclusives. Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek! and Pooh’s Hunny Hunt are some of the best attractions ever created. You can only find them in Tokyo and they add a ton of value to the park. With the Beauty and Beast billion dollar expansion opening in 2020, Tokyo Disneyland is easily creating its own idenity.
With excellent food, merchandise and castmembers, the park is a powerhouse. I do wish the attractions were different but it’s a small complaint. The Oriental Land Company took the best of the US parks to create its park. It works but works too well. Thankfully, they are creating exclusives to push Tokyo Disneyland towards the top.
5) Disneyland Paris
Whereas Tokyo Disneyland reused the best Disney attractions, Paris turned their take on each classic attraction into the best. Ever wanted to ride a runaway mine train on Tom Sayers Island? Check. Want to go upside down on Space Mountain? Check. How about exploring a pirate ship and island? Check.
Of the classic Disney attractions from Pirates of the Caribbean to Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland Paris does it the best. As the first international castle park constructed under Disney ownership, the park is beautiful.
Imagineers learned from their mistakes at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom to truely create a perfect and complete park. Top it off with the best Disney castle and Disneyland Paris truely captures the magic of Disney.
But, the park does have its problems. Money has been a problem since it opened in 1993. The lack of money has led to maintenance issues and far fewer attractions in comparison to Magic Kingdom or the original Disneyland. The park may have the best attraction versions, but it lacks an exclusive to really put it over the edge.
The park’s dining scene makes no sense and most restaurants are closed. Outside crepes, they isn’t a snacking culture and food is expensive. I wish the food scene was more developed although the park has come a long way since 1993.
Disneyland Paris is beautiful. To the best Main Street, USA to the best castle, the park seems magic. It includes the best Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. But its light on attractions and needs an exclusive it can call its own. Disneyland Paris is a strong park, but not as strong as the others on our list.
4) Disneyland
I can speak all day about Walt’s original park. I’ve spent years wondering its pathways and exploring its hidden secrets. This park truly is one of a kind and a major childhood memory for millions. It helped create the Disney park empire and some of the greatest theme park attractions in the world.
Disneyland is a great park. However, it is not perfect and much can be improved. After visiting the newer castle parks, the first thing that comes to mind is its age. Built in 1955, Disneyland is over 60 years old. It was built for 1955, not 2020. The park is small and crowded. The infrastructure looks old and outdated. Attractions are thrown in every available space, damaging the park’s ability to breathe.
Now, I don’t know how Imagineering would be able to fix these issues without leveling the place. The park tries its best to hide its problems. Disneyland includes great versions of the Disney classics and the recent addition of Galaxy’s Edge is a major improvement.
Although I was skeptical of how Star Wars would fit inside Walt’s original “Magic Kingdom”, Disney did a fantastic job of designing Galaxy’s Edge to feel like a “park within a park”. The new land does not take away from Disneyland’s magic and instead improves the park’s impressive attraction lineup.
One could easily spend all day at the original Disneyland and still have experiences to savor the next day. It’s a timeless place and I wish I could have been there in the early days as Walt himself roamed the park.
As much as I love Disneyland Paris, its beauty cannot beat the original Disneyland. The California park still holds it own in terms of entertainment, attractions and experiences. The sheer amount of history flooding its streets is amazing. It is the only park Walt Disney ever set foot in and his legacy is everywhere.
The park includes its own share of exclusives, like the Matterhorn and the Sailing Ship Columbia. Today we gravitate more towards the technical marvel that is Galaxy’s Edge but the older attractions are still timeless. I only wish I could go back in time and visit in 1955. Do you think Doc Brown invented the Delorean yet?
3) Magic Kingdom
As great as Disneyland is to visit, Magic Kingdom is a better experience. The most visited theme park in the world, Magic Kingdom is the best castle park in the Disney empire. Built a long the same lines of Disneyland, magic Kingdom improved on the Disneyland model to create a fantastic park.
First, the castle. Cinderella Castle is a major reason I rank Magic Kingdom above Disneyland. Sleeping Beauty has history, but Cinderella Castle has grandeur. And the castle reflects the best of Magic Kingdom.
The park has space in contrast to Disneyland. Magic Kingdom can put on a magnificent firework show with its massive castle and central hub. Disneyland can only dream of presenting a similar experience.
Magic Kingdom includes superior versions of Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain. The park also hosts old Disneyland attractions no longer found anywhere else in the world. The PeopleMover is a classic and still operates at Magic Kingdom. Plus, Walt Disney’s favorite attraction, The Carousel of Progress can be found playing shows daily in Tomorrowland.
Magic Kingdom also benefits from its partcipation in Fast Pass+, adding ease to selecting Fast Passes. Although Disneyland improved its system with Max Pass, Magic Kingdom is still a better experience with the ability to select Fast Passes before I arrive at the park. Magic Kingdom hosts excellent dining, entertainment and two seasonal parties a year. And the sheer amount of PhotoPass photographers is awesome. Especially the magic shots.
2) Disney's Animal Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is a great park, but the best Disney park in the United States is Animal Kingdom. Often overlooked, Animal Kingdom has improved substaintionally since its opening in 1998. Once a half day park, Animal Kingdom is a full experience with tons of attractions and entertainment.
The park hosts the best Disney roller coaster, Expedition Everest. It’s even better at night. Animal Kingdom includes a 20+ minute safari expedition, rapids and a chance to travel back to the time of the dinosaurs.
In 2017, Pandora: The World of Avatar opened, adding an absolute amazing addition to the park. Guests can enter a faithful recreation of the moon Pandora, create a Na’vi avatar and fly a banshee. Avatar; Flight of Passage is the best attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort. Three years after opening, the attraction still tops three hour wait times.
The park hosts excellent shows based on The Lion King and Finding Nemo. The food choices are excellent from Flame Tree BBQ to Nomads Lounge. Fancy an expensive dinner? Visit Tiffins for an excellent meal.
Lastly, theme. Animal Kingdom still includes a theme. Whereas Hollywood Studios and California Adventure have lost their theme, Animal Kingdom thrives with its theming. The power of nature and the need to protect are evident all over the park. Disney is in the theme park business. Animal Kingdom is a true theme park. It’s is one of a kind and a park Disney will never create anywhere else.
1) Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea is a masterpiece. The moment you walk under a hotel located in the park and gaze at a massive volcano overlooking a Mediterranean Harbor, you know you are in for something special. Themed to the spirit of maritime travel and the endless sense of adventure, the park is the best of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Animal Kingdom is the best themed park in the United States, but Tokyo DisneySea is the best themed park in the world. Nowhere did Imagineering miss a detail or take a shortcut. Every square inch of the park fits with its established theme and tells its own story. For centuries, voyages on the high seas consumed the human spirit with the ever possibility of new adventures or new ways of life.
From the humble beginnings of an European Mediterranean Harbor, you leave the Old World behind to enter new lands. Echoing famous European explorers of the past, you can travel (by boat) to East Coast America, the Arabian Coast or the Lost River Delta. The park hosts a Mysterious Island, filled with mystery I can only imagine sailors felt in days past when discovering a new island.
It’s amazing how prefect the theming fits together. With the top notch theming, the parks presents a stacked lineup of high quality attractions that fit within their port of call. And, most of these attractions are only found at Tokyo DisneySea.
The park has the best snack lineup of any Disney park. From thousands of flavors of different popcorns to creamy chicken curry buns themed to cute characters, everything tastes and looks amazing. No chicken nuggets or fries at DisneySea. Better yet, the food is cheap. If only the US parks would adapt this model.
If it all possible, all Disney fans must make a pilgrimage to Tokyo DisneySea at least once in their lifetime. One day, we will reenter its gates, pass under the Hotel MiraCosta and bask in the power and glory of Mt. Vesuvius. Or maybe we will take a boat and enter the dense and dangerous Lost River Delta. Either way, by land or by sea, I am in for an adventure. An adventure that never stops. This is the pinnacle of Disney Imagineering and boy does it impress.
Conclusion
Disney has built a solid lineup of world class theme parks. From its humble origins with the opening of Disneyland in 1955 to the behementh that is the $5.5 billion Shanghai Disneyland, Disney owns the theme park market. Only Universal is close due to its outstanding Harry Potter themed lands. No other theme park company is any direct threat to the Disney parks.
Although not every Disney park is prefect, they include great attractions and entertainment. The original Disneyland set the stage and became the example of a successful theme park. In 2001, theme park excellence was taken further with the opening of Tokyo DisneySea. If there was ever a prefect theme park, it can be found in Japan.
No matter your preference, you will find something you love with each Disney park. The best part of Disney parks around the world is the need to travel to see and visit these special parks. When Walt Disney built Disneyland in 1955, he created a park capturing America’s sense of adventure.
Adventureland, Frontierland and Tomorrowland are all lands building on America’s need to explore. This legacy carried Disney to build parks all over the world. And this legacy continues. It continues with Disney and continues with ourselves. Go out and explore. Just give me a call when you do.
Thoughts?
Thank you for reading! We hope this guide will help with your future vacation plans. For more information, be sure to read our post, Analysis – Tokyo DisneySea – Disney’s Finest Theme Park HERE and our theme park itineraries, like our Magic Kingdom One-Day Itinerary HERE!
Have you visited every Disney theme park? Which one was your favorite? Which one needs improvement? Let us know in the comments below!
