Rank the 7 Disney/Universal Orlando parks

[ThemeParkHistorian]

Animal Kingdom:

Epic Universe:

EPCOT:

Hollywood Studios:

Islands of Adventure:

Magic Kingdom:

Universal Studios Florida:

Rank the 7 Disney and Universal parks in Orlando from best to worst. Based on rides, theming, dining, ambiance and how much fun they are overall and have the most re-rideable rides, best views, coolest lands, and best vibes. Give an explaiation for each park and why they rank in their placements.

 

[Burniel]

Haven't experienced Epic Universe but been fortunate enough to do the others a couple of times so I'll have a go.

1. Islands of Adventure
My favourite park I've been to so far, on this list or otherwise. Somehow, despite having some of the best parts going, IoA is so much more than the sum of its parts; walking from area to area it's just so easy to get lost in the magic and the layout around the lagoon is just chef's kiss. On a warm evening, even just walking to the exit has such a good vibe. And that's all without even mentioning it's got the best coaster - arguably the best 2 or 3 coasters - of the six parks (as I experienced them).

2. Animal Kingdom
Exceptionally immersive park, insane entry price to ride quantity ratio, but ride quality is absolutely ridiculous. I'm ignoring the existence of Dinoland USA because ever since they took out the spinners there's not been any reason to go into the really bad bit and it's on the way out anyway.

3. Magic Kingdom (Last visited before Tron)
Hard one to place because I think a good day at MK can be really special, but that's hard to achieve if you don't have a degree in WDW. Rides are typically either genuinely good or classics worth appreciating for their influence - often both. The general theming and staff friendliness is hard to fault. But my god there are so many people...

4. EPCOT (Last visited before Guardians)
Really neat, even if it's "not what Walt envisioned" it's still a cool concept for a park. I just found it lacking that one great ride to take it from "oh we're doing Epcot today, that'll be nice" to a genuinely exciting destination. I suspect Guardians has filled that gap and if I were to visit nowadays at the right time I could see this having the potential to overtake MK.

5. Universal Studios Florida
It feels like this park has been borderline neglected over the past decade where IoA has been uplifted. Yes it's an aesthetically nice park on the water and I'd still rather be here than most other places on Earth, but average ride quality - despite being dragged up by Mummy, Potter, and we-have-spiderman-at-home - is really not what you expect from Universal. Many are (again, only by the very high standards we hold these particular destinations to) long overdue refurbishment or replacement, while some of the new stuff is genuinely just bad. In some ways it's a shame Nintendo didn't end up going here, as a new high-budget area with some good new major attractions is exactly what the place needs.

6. Hollywood Studios (Last visited before Galaxy's Edge)
So I visited here once while both Toy Story and GE were under construction and once when GE still wasn't open yet and TS was so obscenely busy that I never got on Slinky anyway. Take my review accordingly. I've found this to be by far the most overcrowded and hard to enjoy park at Disney. Just not enough to do (when I visited) and far, far too many people fighting over them. It's a shame because ride and show quality is pretty good, but it was just unbearable to navigate. Arguably my fault for going to a half-closed park in summer, but for it to get as bad as it got was to me a symptom of a park that simply wasn't big enough to begin with.

 

[Matt N]

As with @Burniel, I haven’t had the chance to visit Epic Universe yet. I last went to the Disney quartet in 2019 and the Universal duo in 2023, so my thoughts on them should be taken with that in mind.

With that being said, I would rank them as follows:

1. Islands of Adventure - This is absolutely one of my favourite ever parks, and possibly the most well-rounded park I’ve been to in terms of aspects that hit. There is something that hits and hits hard in most categories; Spider-Man and Kong are both amazing, world-class dark rides (I’ll admit I disagree with the consensus on Forbidden Journey, but if you rate that highly as well as the other two, then that’s a further win!), the theming is spectacular throughout the park, Jurassic Park is a top-tier water ride, and while I would historically have said that coasters were a relative weak spot of IOA, VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s have rectified that big time, being in strong contention for my favourite one-two punch anywhere (both are in my top 10 out of 137 coasters), and Hulk isn’t half bad either! With how IOA fires on all cylinders, it would be tough for me not to place it on top of the list!
2. Universal Studios Florida - This might be a controversial pick for 2nd, but I do love USF! There are some great rides here; Mummy tops the tables, and the likes of Gringotts and Transformers are also awesome! I also have to admit that I really like the theming and atmosphere of the park; while studios is arguably a slightly outdated park archetype, I think some of the Hollywood and New York streets have a really nice atmosphere to them, not to mention that some of the newer areas like Diagon Alley and Springfield are wonderful!
3. Animal Kingdom - Animal Kingdom is always nice to visit! The theming throughout is wonderful, and the general landscaping is also lovely; it feels like you’re in a jungle in large parts of this park! There are also some strong rides here too; Flight of Passage is brilliant, Kali River Rapids is an awesome water ride, and Kilimanjaro Safaris is undeniably stunning! I’ll admit that I’ve always found Everest a touch on the overhyped side, but it’s still a fun enough family coaster to boost the park’s lineup.
4. Epcot - As someone who’s quite a ride-focused person in parks, you’d think I wouldn’t like Epcot very much… but I actually remember it being a very pleasant surprise in 2019! World Showcase is absolutely stunning; I’ve always been a fan of the idea of geographical theming in parks, and I think World Showcase pulls it off beautifully, even if I’ll admit the portrayals lean into caricatures a bit at times! I’ll admit, however, that I’m not a big fan of Future World; I don’t think that portion has aged terribly well. Rides-wise, there’s not much to talk about, but I’ll admit that Test Track is absolutely, and Frozen Ever After was also a very positive surprise!
5. Magic Kingdom - Oddly, as someone who went to Florida a fair amount as a child, it took me until my 4th Florida visit, when I was not quite 16, to visit Magic Kingdom. It’s a park that’s built up so much, and one that I wanted to love… but I’ll admit that it didn’t quite hit the spot for me compared to some of my other Florida favourites. It lacks… something. I don’t quite know what. It has quite a lot of rides, but I wouldn’t have said any of them were particular standouts as far as Florida goes. The theming is nice enough, but again, I wouldn’t say it’s as nice as that of other parks in the area, and bits of it arguably feel slightly dated. I also found the crowds very overbearing at points; this is the world’s most visited park, and you can certainly feel it. One thing I will give Magic Kingdom, however, is that the fireworks were spectacular, even for someone who wouldn’t have called himself a theme park show person as such!
6. Hollywood Studios - I probably don’t have the fairest circumstances under which to review this park, as I only visited this park while Star Wars and Runaway Railway were both under construction, but I have to say that this definitely played second fiddle to the other major parks in Central Florida when I went. There really was very little there in 2019, and it felt like the park didn’t pull off the whole studio street vibe nearly as well as Universal down the road does. One thing I will say in the park’s favour, however, is that for a park with not many rides, general ride quality was very good. Tower of Terror is a superb headliner; that was quite easily my favourite ride in Walt Disney World and possibly my favourite non-coaster attraction of all time! Rock’n’Rollercoaster and Slinky Dog Dash were also decent, being possibly my two favourite roller coasters in Walt Disney World. And with Runaway Railway and Star Wars, I can imagine the ride quality is only higher now!

I imagine Epic would slot somewhere towards the top of the list, although I’m not certain on whether it would necessarily beat IOA for me. I guess I’ll have to wait and see whenever I eventually go back to Florida!

 

[Geeky Pastimes]

Won't be at Epic until September but have been to the others a few times - as you'll see I feel like I'm very food-centric!

1. Animal Kingdom - It might not have the best rides, or enough rides, but it's the most spectacular theme park I've ever visited. It's hard to imagine that they built this in what's essentially a swamp - every area looks fantastic, some of the rides are great (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Flight of Passage) and it really feels like they didn't have to compromise on what they wanted the park to be. It's also by far the nicest Florida Park to walk around when it's hot, so much water and shade.
2. Islands of Adventure - This all comes down to the rides. I don't think this is a great park to hang out in and it always feels incredibly busy and far too hot, but there's so many incredible rides. Velocicoaster, Forbidden Journey, Hagrids, Popeyes - I even used to love that crazy water tunnel in Poseidon. The theming in the Jurassic Park and Harry Potter areas is amazing too - I just wish they had some good food somewhere in this park
3. Hollywood Studios - this used to be my least favourite of the Florida parks but Galaxy's Edge has improved it a lot for me. It's still got some weird empty sections but Rise, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Runaway Railway are all great and I did used to love the Muppets ride. There's some decent food choices with Docking Bay, Hollywood Brown Derby and although the actual food is bad, I do like Sci-Fi Diner.
4. Magic Kingdom - It might not be the best of the main Disney parks, but it's still an amazing place to explore. Loads of really re-rideable rides and some great parades and fireworks shows. Food's not bad either with Jungle Skipper Canteen and plenty of nice snack options (I love LeFou's Brew). I feel like recently I've been less interested in this park just because I've done all of the rides so many times, but now we're going back and they have Tron and Tiana, it could move up a bit.
5. Epcot - This used to be our favourite in the area - the World Showcase is a really awesome area and loads of fun to explore, and lots of great places to eat and drink. Test Track was great (looking forward to the new version) and Guardians is a lot of fun. It's a shame the other rides don't really excite me (although I do love the change of pace with Living with the Land). It doesn't help that the last few times I've been it's been mostly under construction. Hopefully this visit will be better!
6. Universal Studios - I know there's some great stuff here, but I feel like whenever I'm there for anything other than Halloween Horror Nights, I'm just keen to leave. It's far too busy, there's big areas with no shade, and there's so few places to get any decent food. I don't even think there's really a single great ride here. I enjoy Transformers, The Mummy, and Rip Ride - but they're not super rerideable. The queue for Gringot's is amazing, but I don't think the ride is all that great. It doesn't help that every time we go there it feels like every single area is just full to the brim of people with their phones out, for me that really spoiled Diagon Alley a bit, it's just not fun to explore. Maybe if I ever went on a quieter day (does Orlando even have those anymore?) then I would like it more.