The Alphas

Image: DisneyIn the end, the decision about which Disney park is the best one to visit comes down to the old East Coast/West Coast feud. It’s Anaheim vs. Orlando in a battle of superiority. It’s classic Disney vs. new and improved Disney, too, although the “new” one has a 50th anniversary coming up soon. To me, the reality is that every person should visit ALL of these parks at some point in their lives. I certainly have, and I will be in all six of them over the next few months.

Magic Kingdom

Image: DisneyOkay, this is the park I am NOT picking. I say this in spite of the fact that it’s the theme park that I’ve visited the most in my life. On days when I Park Hop, it doesn’t matter which gate we visit first. We always end up at Magic Kingdom afterward.

This place is home to roughly 50 rides, a number that’s constantly in flux since Disney frequently adds new attractions. And the rides that they host are of impeccable quality. Space Mountain was born here, and other classics like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and Jungle Cruise all have their longest and best versions at Magic Kingdom. When you visit this park, you can easily spend 12 hours here, never repeating anything that you’ve done previously.

Magic Kingdom is a 10 out of 10 under any reasonable scoring system. The problem is that Disney has multiple parks that qualify as perfect. In choosing between them, I had to think about a first-time guest wandering around the park. They’d find the spacious nature of Magic Kingdom problematic over the course of a full day, lamenting their sore feet. Also, the circular nature of the hub-and-spokes designs is potentially frustrating due to the fact that some lands don’t meet. You must go back near/through the castle’s courtyard to reach them. The scale of Magic Kingdom works against it in this way, at least compared to the winner.

Disneyland

Image: DisneyYes, if you could only visit one American Disney park, the choice is clear, at least to me. You should visit the original, the place where Walt Disney walked through a forest of orange groves and thought, “I could build a family-friendly themed amusement park here.”

When you’re at the Happiest Place on Earth, you’re walking in the footsteps of Uncle Walt. You’re experiencing the park as he intended. Sure, many of the attractions have changed, but the underlying principle has stood the test of time. At Disneyland, you’ll find a series of themed lands, each of which immerse you into a small universe, one where you believe everything that you see. You’ll believe that the fables and myths are true in one place, just as you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped into the future at another.

Best of all, the modern negative of Disneyland is a hidden strength. The small size of the park allows for easy navigation. You won’t feel exhausted as you traverse the various lands. You’ll luxuriate in the full Disney theme park experience without pressuring yourself to do too much. And you’ll get to ride many of the finest attractions that Imagineers have ever built, some of which originated on the desk of Walt Disney. How could you possibly do better than that?