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!