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Our detailed travel guides are all the inspiration you need for your next Disney park vacation.
The start of the new year brings new resolutions and fresh opportunities, and taking a trip to Walt Disney World Resort could offer all the thrills and magic for families to enjoy.
Children across the globe dream of a spontaneous trip to Disneyland to see their favorite characters and ride the infamous amusement rides like Space Mountain at Magical Kingdom, the Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror while visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Before embarking on an incredible adventure, you may wonder which Disney park is the biggest, the highest rated, and how many people visit Disney World. You may also be concerned about ticket prices as they reach an all-time high.
In this research, we will explore which Disney Parks are the best, ranking them on several factors such as; traveler reviews, annual visitors, ticket prices, and Google searches. We will also explore which of the USA parks have the longest and shortest rides, as well as the average time spent queueing for rides.
@epcot_center
Epcot, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, part of the Walt Disney World Resort, stole the crown for the best Disney theme park in the world. Epcot scored 7.89 out of 10.
Epcot is famed for its DISNEY ON BROADWAY musicals, colorful cuisine, and its International Festival of the Arts
Epcot has around 7.7 million visitors every year and has been searched over 5.2 million times in the last year. Epcot also scored highly for its number of excellent reviews, with just over 40% of total reviews rating the park five stars.
@themegdalorian
Following closely behind Epcot, is Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Hollywood Studios scored an impressive 7.88 out of 10, securing second place for the best Disney parks in the world.
Hollywood Studios hosts almost 8.6 million thrillseekers every year, and the park scored highly for its number of ‘excellent’ traveler reviews on Tripadvisor. Just under half the total number of reviewers left a five-star rating for the park (42.22%). Hollywood Studios also has affordable ticket prices, with an adult’s 14-day magic ticket costing, on average, just $46.36 per day.
@dave_fij
Magic Kingdom Park is another theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida to score a top spot, with a score of 6.73 out of 10. Home to some of the most iconic Disney rides like Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion, Magic Kingdom is a must-see park.
Magic Kingdom has over 12 million annual visitors, making it the most popular Disney theme park on our list. The park did score slightly lower in terms of excellent reviews than those in the top spot, with just 30.76% of reviews giving the attraction five stars.
@magicwithrachelnicole
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is another park that’s part of the Walt Disney World Resort and takes fourth place with a score of 6.15 out of 10. Animal Kingdom is a firm favorite for animal lovers, with more than 200 animals living at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Animal Kingdom also hosts many fun-filled attractions, including Avatar Flight of Passage, a 3D flying simulator attraction, and the Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain roller coaster.
Animal Kingdom scored highly for its number of annual visitors, with around 7.1 million in 2021. It fell slightly lower than others for its excellent reviews, with 38.68% of reviews rating the park five stars.
@worldofdisneyparks
Tokyo Disneyland, at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, tied in fourth place with Animal Kingdom, with a score of 6.15 out of 10. The 115-acre theme park, in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo, ensures that an international Disney park makes it to the top five parks in the world.
Tokyo Disneyland saw over 2.7 million searches in the last year and has around 6.3 million annual visitors. Tokyo Disneyland is the most visited theme park in Japan and the third-most visited theme park in the world, behind Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park, both in Florida.
Of the 6,935 traveler reviews on Tripadvisor, 40.74% of reviewers rated the park five stars. The park near Tokyo is praised for its extensive open spaces to accommodate large crowds, and for providing classic Disney theme park experiences, compared to its neighboring park, Tokyo DisneySea.
@disneywithgem
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, a water theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, is one of two operating water parks at the resort. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park came in last place for the world’s best Disney parks with a score of 3.27 out of 10.
Of the total 9,148 Tripadvisor reviews, just 36.52% rated the park five stars, which is slightly lower than other parks apart from the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. There was no annual visitor information for Typhoon Lagoon, and the park had a much lower search volume than other parks (193,200 searches in the last year).
@alex_dlp_photos
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park scored 3.27 out of 10, tying in last place with Typhoon Lagoon as the worst Disney parks in the world.
The park, built in 2002, sees 3.5 million visitors every year, and had 207,900 Google searches in the last year. Disneyland Paris tickets are slightly more expensive than Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, with a one-day adult ticket costing around $97.20
@s_dd_19
Disney California Adventure park, a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, came third last for the best Disney parks in the world. California Adventure Park scored 3.66 out of 10.
Out of 15,672 Tripadvisor reviews, just 32.85% rated the California Disney park as excellent. The park in California sees around 8.5 million visitors every year, and had a higher search volume than others in the bottom five (483,400 searches in the last year).
@floridatix
Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, came tied in third to last place with California Adventure for the worst parks, with a score of 3.66 out of 10.
One of two Disney-operated water parks in Florida, Blizzard Beach has popular attractions including Summit Plummet, the third tallest and fastest freefall body water slide in the world. Out of 6,597 Tripadvisor reviews, 39.78% of them rated the park as excellent. The park had just 74,100 Google searches in the last year.
@miss_s.tarai
Shanghai Disneyland Park, located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong, Shanghai, China, came in fifth place for the worst Disney parks in the world, with a score of 4.43 out of 10.
The park, part of the Shanghai Disney Resort, sees 5.5 million visitors every year, and 56.62% of reviews rated it excellent. However, the park in Shanghai had slightly more expensive ticket prices than others, with an adult one-day ticket setting you back $80.94. The park has been praised for being slightly different to other Disney parks, for molding its own Chinese version of Disney.
@makoochan12
Tokyo DisneySea, part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, came in joint fifth place with Shanghai Disneyland Park, for the worst Disney parks in the world with a score of 4.43 out of 10.
Tokyo DisneySea has a total of 5.8 million annual visitors, and of the 3,864 Tripadvisor reviews, just 39.53% of reviews rated the park five stars. Tokyo DisneySea also has a slightly more expensive ticket price compared to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, with an adult 1-day weekend ticket costing $64.55.
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We will now look at average queue times at four Walt Disney Resort theme parks in Florida to see which parks had the longest times to wait for rides.
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Disney’s Hollywood Studios had the longest waiting times, with an average of 1 hour and 7 minutes queueing for your favorite rides. Magic Kingdom had the lowest average wait time at around 41 minutes of queueing.
We also explored the Disney Parks with the most annual visitors as of 2021 for all parks that had the data available.
@epcot_center
Magic Kingdom had by far the highest number of annual visitors at almost 12.7 million every year. Each day, the Magic Kingdom sees roughly 57,000 visitors, according to the Themed Entertainment Association. There are times of day when Magic Kingdom is more crowded, usually during special events or on weekends, when locals tend to flood the park.
@themegdalorian
Hollywood Studios had the second highest number of annual visitors out of all 14 Disney parks at almost 8.6 million. Hollywood Studios is busiest on Fridays and Sundays, when Disney holds their extra magic hours. Weekend footfall in general has been up since the opening of Star Wars.
@s_dd_19
Disney California Adventure Park, located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, had the third highest annual visitors at 8.5 million. California Adventure does not have as many rides as Walt Disney World Resort parks, so popular rides tend to have longer waiting times, resulting in large queues. Local California residents have a huge influence on how crowded it can get, with California Adventure being busiest at weekends.
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We analyzed the three Disney parks with ride data lengths available to find the parks that would allow you to enjoy a longer time at Disney.
@dave_fij
Magic Kingdom Park, at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, had the longest overall ride time for visitors, with a total time for all rides at 3 hours, 51 minutes, and 38 seconds. Magic Kingdom Park is the most popular park in Walt Disney World, but it is actually the smallest of the four in Florida, at just over 100 acres. However, it has plenty of rides and will take you longer than a full day to explore, with events and tours, as well as firework displays.
@epcot_center
Epcot park, part of Walt Disney World Resort, had the second highest overall ride time, with a total of all rides at 3 hours, 6 minutes, and 15 seconds. In addition to the rides at Epcot, there are a host of events and tours to enjoy, as well as character experiences and dining options.
@epcot_center
Disney’s Hollywood Studios had the third highest overall ride time, at a total of 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 42 seconds. Spanning 135 acres in size, Hollywood Studios has a theme of show business, drawing inspiration from 1930s and 1940s Hollywood. Of course, there is plenty more to do after spending your day on the rides, including its musical theater shows and firework displays.
The USA Disney parks were collected from Destinations on the Walt Disney World website. The international parks were collected from Wikipedia.
Ticket Prices
The ticket prices for Walt Disney World Resort covered seven of the resorts in Florida, these were retrieved from the Walt Disney World website . The set price on the Disney World resort was listed as a 14-day ticket, so this price was divided by 14 to get a one-day ticket price. This data is accurate as of 10/01/22. The rest of the park ticket prices were found on their individual websites for a one-day adult ticket.
Tripadvisor Reviews
Tripadvisor reviews were found through each theme park’s page on Tripadvisor. This data is accurate as of 11/01/22.
Annual Visitors
The number of annual visitors for each park in 2021 was found on Statista.
Google Searches
Each theme park was analyzed on its international Google search volume between January 2022 and December 2022. This data is accurate as of 11/01/22.
The USA Disney Parks with the Longest Ride Lengths
Three Disney parks were analyzed on their ride lengths, from Disney World Ride Lengths on Dis 25’s website. Each ride’s length for every theme park was added up to find the total length of time spent on all the rides. This data is accurate as of 05/11/22.
The USA Disney Parks with the Longest Queue Times
Using Disney Magic Kingdom live wait times on the QueueTimes’ website, we were able to gather live queue times for four of the Disney parks at Walt Disney World. After gathering all the queue times for each ride at each park, we were able to get an average wait time for each theme park. This data is based on live queue wait times so it can change day by day. This data is accurate as of 05/11/22.
Brought to you by
Our detailed travel guides are all the inspiration you need for your next Disney park vacation.