May The Best Park Win

[eagle4life69]

Scoring the Round


The final bell has rung and all the parks are locked in a virtual tie. There is no single one that blows the others away. Each park has individual elements going for it, and working against it. Any of these destinations is worthy of being called one of the best in the world and they each offer a unique twist on a shared theme. But as in a title fight there can be only one winner and today, despite being nearly 50 years old, Disneyland in California comes away the winner, the other three parks are tied just one sole point behind the ultimate champ.

Disneyland...........................32 points
Magic Kingdom.....................31 points
Tokyo Disneyland.................31 points
Disneyland Paris...................31 points

It is worth repeating that this margin is so close that it is a near tie. However Disneyland offers the best combination of strong, varied and numerous attractions, history and charm, pretty atmosphere and varied dining opportunities.


Disneyland finally won because it has the benefit of real history. Fans of the parks can sense Walt's personal touches and the way it fits so much into such a limited space creates a charm that the larger and better designed parks cannot match. However for many first time visitors Disneyland feels small and cramped and the history is lost on them. Through the surveys we took it became clear that fans of the parks preferred Disneyland while average visitors leaned towards the other parks.


The bell has rung on round one and a winner has been titled... but the fight is not over. Waiting in the wings are six other parks, all ready and willing to take the title form Disneyland. Next time we will pit all of the non Magic Kingdom style parks against one another in a vicious bout which will leave only one park standing.

Which park will take on Disneyland in the final battle to claim the ultimate title of Worlds Greatest Disney Theme Park?

Round 2 will be here soon

[subsonic]

And look how close our own poll was

[eagle4life69]

Tell me about it. I lve to see resaults like that.

[rdeacon]

True, Disneyland is smack dab in the middle of a town. It's not Disney's fault. Unless you want to blame Walt for not buying more land in the area. It's because Disneyland become so popular that the city and companies started building around Disneyland.

So, yes, there is a McDonald's about a 10 minute walk from the gate of Disneyland. Disneyland isn't emmersed like the MK at WDW. I remember when I last went to WDW it felt so strange to ride the train at MK and not have this huge wall on the left side of the train. There's greenery that goes as far as the eye can see. So strange. I miss it.

From my understanding there was no town before Disneyland was built... and I don't think Disney had the option to buy more land. Disney wasn't not very profitable before Disneyland. He was mortaged up to the hilt when he built it. Disneyland's success let to WDW. To compare WDW and Disneyland based on space is not fair.

Rich

ps i voted for Magic Kingdom... i've only been there, so its a biased vote

[subsonic]

Sorry if it didn't come across that way. I know Disneyland was in a bunch of farm land. And Walt didn't think it was going to get so popular. By the time he had the money to expand it was too late because other companies started buying property around it.

[kronk's angel]

I remember once hearing one of the 8(?) animators say eh still loved Disneyland the best since it was so complete and balanced.

Now that Tomorrowland is all screwed up, I'd say Magic Kingdom.

But all in all, I gotta say, Epcot rocks. It's just so cool, like something-you-must-see-before-you-die cool.

I have some serious theories about the parks and why they work but I really wish they'd built Westcot instead of CA. Saw the plans once in a display at South Coast Plaza. Still hoping for America park too.

[eagle4life69]

Okay Round 2

[G2-4T]

So are you going to start up a poll to see how we rate them too? Tough choices in that batch it looks like...

[rcpratt3]

I vote for MK, maybe because it is the only one I have been to before.

[borjoyzee]

Disneyland, without Disneyland, then there would not be any other parks from Disney.

[js3901]

Disneyland, without Disneyland, then there would not be any other parks from Disney.

I don't believe that the Disneyland in CA is the only reason we have more Disney parks around the world. The Florida Project (aka - WDW) was built to help reduce crowds a bit at DLR. Also, it was a chance for Walt to build his true dream (a place of magic with no boundries or limits). And, I believe that Walt would've built WDW without DLR being built first.

[borjoyzee]

There was a reason why WDW wasn't built first. I need to find that information and when I find that I will post it here.

I remember there was a reason why.

[kgmadorin]

There was a reason why WDW wasn't built first. I need to find that information and when I find that I will post it here.

I remember there was a reason why.

The reason was because Walt Disney didn't even consider building a park on the east coast until 1959. However, long before construction on Disneyland began in 1954, Walt had desired to build an amusement park in southern California. The idea really synthesized in 1948, when Walt was travelling back to CA from the Chicago Railroad Fair with Ward Kimball. That's when he first spoke of building a "Mickey Mouse Park" next to the Disney Studios in Burbank. The Disneyland project (announced publicly in 1952) grew out of that idea. In July of 1953, Walt Disney commissioned the Stanford Research Institute to advise on the best location for such a park, and that is how Anaheim came to be the home of the Happiest Place on Earth.

The "Flordia Project" was conceived as both a way to improve on the shortcomings experienced with the growth of Disneyland, and to realize Walt's dream of a utopian city. It was not designed to reduce the crowds at Disneyland, but rather to tap the population east of the Mississippi River that wasn't travelling all the way to California.

The argument that Walt Disney World wouldn't exist without Disneyland is moot, because one of the parks HAD to come first. Either Disneyland would have been first, and thus be the world's first Theme Park, and thus be an experiment to learn from, or Walt Disney World would have been first and Disneyland would have been an attempt to correct mistakes made the first time around. Either way, the real discussion as far as this forum is concerned is which is better (it seems that because of the poll numbers, we have to dismiss the non-US parks): The original creation, the one that Walt was able to build and expand while he was living? Or the successor, the park that Walt designed to be "Disneyland perfected," but was only built after his passing? The debate will continue for years to come...

As far as my vote, it goes to Disneyland. Though almost all of the time I have spent in Disney theme parks has been at WDW, I think there's something extra magical about the park that Walt shaped and molded personally. For its first decade, Disneyland evolved around Walt Disney's own dreams and ideas. You can feel his inspiration all around you in that park, and that sets it apart from the Magic Kingdom. If for no other reason, Walt's ghost tips the scales toward California for me.

[borjoyzee]

Thank you for finding the reason, I new it.