Parks you like more than most and parks you like less than most

Hi guys. Often, parks will have a large-scale consensus opinion that most enthusiasts seem to have about them, and in many cases, you might conform to that opinion. However, there might sometimes be cases where you think differently to the hive mentality. For instance, there might be that highly rated park you don't get the hype for, or that panned park that you don't get the hate for. So my question to you today is; what are some parks you like more than most and parks you like less than most?

I'll get the ball rolling with my answers:
Parks I like more than most

• Thorpe Park - Thorpe Park is the unloved step-child of the major UK parks, and it's almost become a dirty word for most UK enthusiasts; most seem to talk about the park like it's the spawn of satan, and have absolutely nothing good to say about it. However... I've got a real soft spot for it, and I've personally never understood the hate! The park has a really excellent coaster lineup, and I also think the park has a fair amount of filler, as well as some really great theming in places! Areas like Amity Cove and Swarm Island amongst others are actually really detailed and atmospheric, in my opinion, and I think the park is actually pretty well landscaped in others! I also find something quite magical about the park's whole "island" setting and vibe; I know it seems very minor, but I've always really liked the bridge at Thorpe as a feature, where you cross over to the Dome and see all the coasters laid out ahead of you. It almost feels like you're entering a separate world, which I love; it provides a very pure sensation of escapism, and surely that's what theme parks are all about providing? Overall, though, I really do like Thorpe Park a lot; it's not quite there on Alton Towers for me, but I think it's a pretty nice park in its own right, personally!
• Oakwood Theme Park - A lot of people despise Oakwood, but I'll admit that I've really liked it on both of my visits; I think it's a really charming little park, with a nice forest setting and a very warm feeling about it throughout! I can't quite put my finger on what causes that warm feeling for me, but the place definitely seems to have a certain charm about it! And for a smaller park, I do think the ride selection is decent; while I don't rate Megafobia as highly as most, I do think it's a fun wooden coaster, particularly in the front row (although I won't deny that the first drop in the back is absolutely phenomenal), and while Speed isn't my personal cup of tea, I'll admit that it's a very impressive ride for the park with some great elements; that airtime hill is spectacular! Between Speed's hill and Megafobia's back row first drop, Oakwood may well have my two favourite individual airtime moments in Britain, which for a park of its size is really quite remarkable! As well as that, you also have a really fun family coaster in Treetops and some other nice bits of filler! Overall, while Oakwood isn't the largest or most expansive park, I've always had a good time there; it's certainly a hidden gem that I like more than most, and a nice little place to spend a few hours, in my opinion!
• Epcot - Now I wasn't sure whether to include this one, as I know it does have its fans and seems somewhat polarising, however I'll include it due to raw surprise value and due to the fact that I know it does have its fair share of haters. I know that a fair few people don't particularly like this park at all, and in films and TV shows, it often gets mocked as the "dull and boring" Disney park that noone wants to visit, and I'll admit that before my visit, I was unsure if the park would be my cup of tea. There didn't look to be much in the way of appealing ride hardware on the face of it, and sections of it are often dismissed online as somewhat dated. However, to my surprise, this park really gelled with me, and it actually ended up being one of my highlights of our 2019 trip to Disney World! Yes, I'll admit that Future World, although I admire the concept, wasn't my favourite, and did feel a little bit dated as the park's critics point out, but the whole park had a really relaxed, pleasant vibe to it that I really liked, and World Showcase was a stunning enviroment that I absolutely loved, with gorgeous theming and lots of places to explore! The park's landscaping is also absolutely gorgeous, and every bit of it is decked out in vibrantly coloured flowers and plants (although visiting during the Flower & Garden Festival may admittedly have helped there). Admittedly, I do feel that the park lacks appealing ride hardware, however that's not to say that the park doesn't have some great attractions; I loved Test Track, I surprisingly really liked Frozen Ever After, and of course, the likes of Ratatouille and Guardians will have made the park more appealing in this regard by the time I next get round to visiting! Overall, while I'll admit I was unsure if Epcot would be my thing prior to visiting, and was thinking I might be more of an Epcot sceptic, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time there, and I certainly consider myself among the Epcot lovers, personally!

Parks I like less than most

• Disney’s Magic Kingdom - Surprisingly, it took me until my 4th Florida visit to actually visit Magic Kingdom, and by this point, I’d heard a lot of very superlative reviews of it. I’d seen it ranked up there with the likes of Europa Park as one of people’s all-time favourite parks, and it’s many people’s favourite park in Florida, so while I was on team Universal prior to my visit to MK (based on previous experience of Animal Kingdom), I did wonder if MK might sway me onto preferring Disney parks. When I finally went in April 2019, I was super excited… and while MK was nice, don’t get me wrong, I was somewhat underwhelmed. There were some good rides there, but nothing I really loved, personally, and me and my family all thought that the park seemed more aimed at the younger audience than our age group. While I can imagine the park would be amazing with young children, I’ll admit that as a 16 year old (at the time) enthusiast, I was personally a little underwhelmed after all the hype I’d heard.
• Busch Gardens Tampa - I do wonder if I’d like this more if I went back, and at the time, I very much wanted to like it, but something about BGT didn’t quite resonate with me the way I’d hoped, and I can’t quite put my finger on what. On paper, it has a lot to like; a great coaster lineup, reasonable theming, good landscaping. However, I wasn’t falling in love with it after one visit like many seem to for a reason I can’t quite pinpoint. Maybe it was because my family all hated it, maybe it’s because I didn’t spend too much time there, I don’t know. This is based off of one visit back in 2016, so I would like to give this one a revisit and see if I like it more, particularly with the additions made since then, but for now, it doesn’t rank as highly for me as I’d perhaps hoped it would prior to my visit.

But what are some parks that you like more than most and parks that you like less than most?

Toverland I think is the park I champion more than anyone else. Seeing the progression from humble beginnings as a glorified play shed into an uplifting theme park with vibrant themed areas is just a delight.

It's a park of colour, warmth and a soothing energy. I know the majority prefer Efteling not too far away, but I would pick a visit to Toverland if presented with the choice.

I couldn't care less that it is no longer a park that you can nip into as if it were a service station with no queues. I'm all for Toverland being a rampant success, and I'm excited to see what the next 20 years holds for the park.

As for Efteling, this is the park I certainly dislike more than most. Strip the theming from the rides and the park would be mediocre.

There is nothing stand out that draws me there. This is more the park I'm forced to visit when in a group passing by who will want to visit.

I also seem to like Drayton Manor more than most. I think it's the atmosphere for me. The place isn't brilliant ride wise at the moment but at least new stuff seems to be being added so I've got more to look forward to.

Parks I like the most:

Epcot - spoke about before, pure nostalgia.

Busch Gardens - Just love the feel of the park and after stepping out of the Disney mayhem, always feels like it's a nice change of pace. Plus Montu is one of my favourite rides.

Disneyland Paris Castle Park - Superior to Magic Kingdom Orlando by a country mile.

On the negative side just one park for me.

Flamingo Land - utter carnage and operated by people that clearly do not care much for customer service. Shame as the park has potential.

Matt N said:

Busch Gardens Tampa - I do wonder if I’d like this more if I went back, and at the time, I very much wanted to like it, but something about BGT didn’t quite resonate with me the way I’d hoped, and I can’t quite put my finger on what. On paper, it has a lot to like; a great coaster lineup, reasonable theming, good landscaping. However, I wasn’t falling in love with it after one visit like many seem to for a reason I can’t quite pinpoint. Maybe it was because my family all hated it, maybe it’s because I didn’t spend too much time there, I don’t know. This is based off of one visit back in 2016, so I would like to give this one a revisit and see if I like it more, particularly with the additions made since then, but for now, it doesn’t rank as highly for me as I’d perhaps hoped it would prior to my visit.

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I think Busch Gardens Tampa combines the rides of Thorpe Park with the animals of Chessington, but it doesn't have many of the inbetween stuff like dark rides rides. Therefore if you don't like thrill rides you are left with a zoo and sesame street really, so I can see why some wouldn't like it.
Magic Kingdom is kinda the opposite to that, it has the dark rides and family-thrill coasters but nothing huge like a B&M coaster, which BGT has plenty of.

jon81uk said:

I think Busch Gardens Tampa combines the rides of Thorpe Park with the animals of Chessington, but it doesn't have many of the inbetween stuff like dark rides rides. Therefore if you don't like thrill rides you are left with a zoo and sesame street really, so I can see why some wouldn't like it.
Magic Kingdom is kinda the opposite to that, it has the dark rides and family-thrill coasters but nothing huge like a B&M coaster, which BGT has plenty of.

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Interestingly, I’m not sure it was that for me, even if that is a pretty good guess.

I don’t normally mind if there aren’t necessarily tons of things other than big coasters, and I can also appreciate a park that’s not necessarily a hardware haven, even if I might seem quite hardware orientated at times (for instance, Epcot ranked surprisingly highly for me on the same trip as I did MK).

I’ll admit my very favourite theme parks tend to be the ones where great hardware and great theming coexist in relative harmony (hence my love of Islands of Adventure), but I do still really enjoy parks that gravitate more strongly towards one particular item.

BGT in particular was a weird one for me, as it has decent theming and decent hardware, but something about it didn’t quite resonate with me… I think it needs a revisit, for sure. My memories of it are admittedly growing hazier, as I had one day there back in 2016, that I seem to remember feeling somewhat rushed (that may have been my family trying to do it as quickly as possible, as I get the impression that none of them especially liked the park).

Magic Kingdom, on the other hand; don’t get me wrong, it was a lovely park that I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to, but for me, it seemed to lack any singular standout attractions that I really loved, even if the range of attractions was admittedly very wide, and I went round the park feeling this underlying feeling that I was a bit too old for it. It felt very much aimed towards a younger demographic than myself; I know that sounds odd given that Disney is said to be for everyone, but I can’t really put a pinpoint on why I felt like I did. Also, I found Magic Kingdom strangely… stressful to be in at times. That could well have been due to the sheer crowd levels, as that has definitely caused me some degree of anxiety at parks in the past, but I couldn’t say for sure, as that didn’t seem to be an issue at any other Disney park or any other Orlando park full stop. For whatever reason, though, I found MK a somewhat stressful park to be in at times compared to any other I’ve been to… has anyone else found that, or am I completely nuts?

My park preferences are at times odd and inexplicable…

Out of interest, do you guys think it would be completely blasphemous for me to say I liked somewhere like Paultons Park more than I liked MK? I only ask because even though MK currently sits higher within my park rankings than Paultons due to the theming and overall sum of its parts being more impressive and on an overall much grander scale, I almost feel like I have a warmer opinion of Paultons than I do of MK…I liked Pterosaur and Storm Chaser more than I liked any coaster at MK, I got loads of rides done, yet never felt like I was rushing (we took our Paultons day at quite a relaxed pace), and I felt like the overall stress factor of the day was much lower than at MK, so I’m almost tempted to place it higher; I had a real smile on my face the whole time I was at Paultons, even though it’s not technically the most impressive of places. What do you guys think? Is that completely nuts, or am I onto something?

Matt N said:

I found MK a somewhat stressful park to be in at times compared to any other I’ve been to…

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Magic Kingdom and Disneyland park have got more rides and attractions than any other park in the world I think, so there is a feeling of having to cram in everything and see every parade and fireworks and you must not miss any little detail, while also being at an incredibly crowded park with a stressful FastPass(+) (now Genie+) system. Unless you really dedicated several days to it and take your time it probably is one of the most stressful parks.

Also I think you were the wrong age to some extent, as an adult without kids you see it in a different way, to a family with children and I think teenagers are not the best audience for the park unless you've been before and have the nostalgia already. Magic Kingdom (and Disneyland) relies on nostalgia a lot too.

Back on BGT I think it is the Thorpe Park effect of being too heavy on the thrill rides that probably put your family off. But taking time to watch the animals, ride the train and do other non-thrill attractions can help a lot.

Might as well.

Parks I like more than others:

Disneyland Paris
Ok, I wouldn’t say it’s hated by others, but maybe less favoured to other Disney parks (it seems). I adore charming scenery which seems more elaborate than other parks, plus not to mention a decent mix of Disney classic rides. Such as Big Thunder, POTC and Phantom Manor. The Disney village is cheesy perhaps, but I like the fun atmosphere of the place.

Parc Asterix
Somewhere that seems overlooked mostly for other parks. Asterix might be near to Disney, but it’s different in it’s own way. Lots of theming, decent shows and a very good selection of roller coasters too. The water ride calibre seems a little undermined as things go. The accommodation is rather pleasant too.

Kings Island
A tricky one, but I know many who haven’t had a great time. I find the coasters either to be very good or just okay, but it has a wide variety of attractions, seems generally ‘well kept’ and a stunning entrance with a fireworks show. It’s not a top tier park by any means, but it’s still a park I have enjoyed.

Parks I like less than others:

Port Aventura
Lots of people I know seem to love this place and it’s probably the place I know where the most non enthusiasts visit.

Besides Shambhala, the park seems mostly overrated. It’s saturated with uncontrollable crowds and the worst queuing/operation system of any major park out there! The food was awful (in value and quality), so many of the main rides are disappointing (Khan, Diablo, Stampida etc.) and the general care and service from staff just seems poor.

The hotel stay I had in 2017 was probably one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had in recent memory. One day, I will give the park another go. But that’s not a high priority right now.

When it comes to parks, I'm pretty fine with most parks and can put up with their flaws to an extent. Though ones that stick out to me is my first visit to Lightwater Valley as part of a TST meet up then and I went into the place with little to no knowledge about the place and was really taken by the character the park had at the time which all led to quite an enjoyable experience.

Same with Loudoun Castle on my first and only visit to the place in 2007 or 2008 in which I went with some friends who like me hadn't been before. With such a happy and friendly atmosphere, actually some of the most friendliest staff I've ever encountered at any park and a beautiful hot summers day all led to it being really enjoyable with by the end of it my friends claiming it to be far better than M&D's which isn't really saying much but all the same it was the truth. Such a tradgey that it didn't have the lucky breaks to really go on into something much special.

Speaking of which for my worst experience...M&D's. Need I say more and has anyone else been to it?

And for perhaps the most anti-climatic one...Europa-Park. Yes, you read that right, though not for what you expected. There was nothing wrong with the place when I went as it is one of best parks I have been to, however the problem was more of it being a victim of it's own success thanks to the hysteria surrounding it by the many enthusiasts on here who will not stop raving about it. What I mean is that almost every little damn detail was covered from not just the rides, but theming, shows, park benches and pretty much everything that wasn't bolted down in that park so that when I did visit the place, it was almost as if I had already been there and that kind of ruined it for me. Had it not been for that and I had gone in with knowing hardly anything then I would have enjoyed it far more.

So yeah, sometimes the best plan I have for a park is perhaps not knowing anything about it as I like to be surprised most of the time.

QTXAdsy said:

And for perhaps the most anti-climatic one...Europa-Park. Yes, you read that right, though not for what you expected. There was nothing wrong with the place when I went as it is one of best parks I have been to, however the problem was more of it being a victim of it's own success thanks to the hysteria surrounding it by the many enthusiasts on here who will not stop raving about it. What I mean is that almost every little damn detail was covered from not just the rides, but theming, shows, park benches and pretty much everything that wasn't bolted down in that park so that when I did visit the place, it was almost as if I had already been there and that kind of ruined it for me. Had it not been for that and I had gone in with knowing hardly anything then I would have enjoyed it far more.

So yeah, sometimes the best plan I have for a park is perhaps not knowing anything about it as I like to be surprised most of the time.

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It's for this exact reason that I don't tend to engage in any discussion on here about parks I haven't been to. I want it to be fresh and new when I eventually do visit.