Originally Posted By DlandDug Disney-MGM was my favorite park at WDW in its early years. Now... not so much. But in looking over other recommendations, I would agree that you should see Great Movie Ride. It's definitely an old-fashioned audio-animatronic extravaganza. The cast members make or break your experience. And it is a bit creaky. But just gliding into Munchkinland alone makes it worth the rest.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "But just gliding into Munchkinland alone makes it worth the rest." Okay this definitely convinced me! I can see this being one of my husband's favorites as he hates thrill rides and loved slow moving "shows" like Pirates/IASW, etc.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 "My daughter is 9 so she totally wants to do TOT, never has before. " Oh, wow. For some reason I thought she was only like 6 or 7. Well, even with TOT, and possibly Rockin Roller Coaster, we didn't find HS to be a full day park.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Magic Kingdom = "Half of the attractions as Disneyland, with a third of the charm, spread out over twice the space". Ferret, I couldn't describe Magic Kingdom in comparison to Disneyland any better! It's funny, but it's true. Constance, you'll enjoy WDW, don't fret. But it's very different, very big, and feels very corporate and pre-fabricated. And as has been mentioned here, you can plan to spend about 3 hours in DHS one afternoon, skip most of the clones from Anaheim, and then focus on the better stuff at WDW. Rock N' Roller Coaster and the Great Movie Ride for decent attractions, then do the Backlot Tour just to get a sense for how truly fake and bad it is compared to the fully legit 60 minute tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. Then leave. Epcot is fabulous though. There's not a whole lot of rides, but many good shows, and just walking around World Showcase and exploring the pavilions is a wonderful day.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Next time we go to the Studios we will do TOT, Rock N Roller Coaster and The Great movie ride and then split. Besides those attractions I pretty much dislike the park. TOT is awesome! Way better than the DCA version and RNRC is a lot of fun too. The backlot tour is pretty lame and Star Tours is the same. I agree about the MK not be great either. The pirates sucks, the railroad isn't great and even with the additions has less to do in Fantasyland. I do think the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder are much better versions and I think Space Mountain is fun too. I think if you are a Disneyland regular the MK and Studios won't be your favorite. I love WDw for what I can't see at Disneyland which is Epcot, DAK, the beautiful resorts and the landscaping. Make sure to ride the Monorails in WDW because they actually take you somewhere lol.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt If you're short on time skip it, although it be a shame to be that close to the awful Great Movie Ride and not experience it at least once. Maybe save DHS for the last day of your trip and go if you've done everything else on your list.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 Tasha, that is pretty much my view of MK! There are things I like, and I love the Haunted Mansion and that they sill have a People Mover, but there are too many poorly maintained things, and Pirates suck. The MK Splash Mountain wasn't as fun either...I don't think the drop feels as steep. It is fun to see the different buildings and things though. Oh, and I love that they still have the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse too! I do love DAK and Epcot, and the water Parks. I love a couple of the rides at HS too.
Originally Posted By u k fan I also agree with dagobert that if I had to skip a park it would be MK. We all really enjoyed DHS. I wonder if that's because we have such a great MK style park at DLP, but a terrible excuse for a studio park!!!
Originally Posted By tashajilek Jenn we have a lot in common The drop isn't nearly as steep and I didn't get wet at all. The same goes for the Kali river ride at Dak, the rafts are too big and the drops are not as fun as GRR. I was lucky enough to have visited WDW and DL less than two months apart and you can really tell the differences between the similar attractions.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper How can people skip the Magic Kingdom? It still has the best versions of the Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain. On top of that it still has the Peoplemover, Carousel of Progress, Country Bear Jamboree, an awesome version of Tom Sawyer's Island, the Tiki Room, etc, etc. If I'm skipping any WDW it's DAK or EPCOT. DAK is a glorified zoo with 3-4 mediocre attractions thrown in, and EPCOT is a languishing shadow of its former self.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Disney-MGM was my favorite park at WDW in its early years.>> Me too. It was our family's favorite park back before they banished the studios from the Studios. Now it seems to lack a reason for being. The Great Movie Ride is still one of Disney's most ambitious dark rides, but it suffers terribly from lack of maintenance. Turntables that don't turn, burning buildings that don't burn, and an Alien that seems to be a no-show a good percentage of the time. It also seems they now staff it with CM tour guides without regard to their acting ability, greatly detracting from the experience. Munchkinland is still spectacular though, and everything always seems to work. I think the ride could be wonderfully renovated, but there always seems to be a question of whether they actually want to keep the attraction or not.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 Tahsa, I did the two two months apart too, so I know what you mean. Kali isn't nearly as fun as Grizzly...and I love Grizzly so I was a little bummed about that. I do love DAK in general though.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "How can people skip the Magic Kingdom?" That's what I was thinking. Coming from California AK is my favorite, but yeah MK is, well, the Magic Kingdom.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Tasha, I bet you'd hate TDL's MK. It's well maintained, but going there is similar to experiencing a greatest hits version of MK and DL smashed together.
Originally Posted By tashajilek I don't think anyone should skip it, but it obviously isn't Disneyland. I don't get the big deal with COP? very dated, in terrible condition and a lot of people go there to sleep. I'm not really huge into shows, so I don't care much about the CBJ or the Tiki room.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Really Hans? I probably wouldnt like it then. Are the attractions different at DLP?
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>How can people skip the Magic Kingdom? <<< We didn't skip it, but if we would only have time to do three parks, we would skip MK, because compared to DLP it doesn't look as beautiful. For us the other parks were more special, because we don't have them in Paris and so they were more interesting.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 I would not skip MK, I just don't like it as much as DL. There are still a lot of things I like about it, it just isn't my favorite of the WDW parks. It lacks the charm of Disneyland.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I think DL park is much better than the Magic Kingdom, and skipped the MK a couple of times when I had recently been to DL. I found though when I did that, I felt like I hadn't really been to WDW. In addition to the attractions that have already been mentioned as being better at WDW or missing at DL, I would add a few. Although a minor attraction, I think WDW's Pooh is considerably better. The Hall of Presidents is very well done and worth seeing. Mickey's PhilharMagic may be "just" a 3-D movie, but I think it is the best of any that Disney has done. And as I previously mentioned, I think WDW's Tomorrowland is far superior to the pathetic plot of land at DL with the same name.
Originally Posted By tashajilek That's how I feel too. Sure it has a big castle and a few good rides, but that's as far as it goes for me. It was great to see the Electrical parade though.
