Most theme parkgoers recognize there are some major differences between Disneyland and Disney World. The former has two parks and fits its best attractions in a tight space in Orange County, CA. The latter has four sprawling parks spread across 40+ square miles and with its own road system. They each have their charms, but they aren’t the same thing. So, I recognize that Disneyland and California Adventure would have more attractions per park than their Florida counterparts. And yet, I did not fully realize the insane differences between some of the parks.
A recent post created by the Disney Lemons popped up while I was perusing Instagram the other day, and it totally blew my mind out of nowhere. Here’s the breakdown of rides at each of the Disney parks built in the United States:
- Disneyland: 35
- Magic Kingdom: 26
- California Adventure: 19
- Epcot: 11
- Hollywood Studios: 9
- Animal Kingdom: Noted as 6 (*Let's talk this number out)
Listen, I knew Animal Kingdom was on the lower end of ride experiences when it came to Disney theme parks but the difference between it and Disneyland is truly shocking. Yes, it’s been exacerbated by recent changes in the parks, but still, there are 29 more rides in Disneyland than Animal Kingdom, and 29 is still a number larger than the park with the second most attractions (Magic Kingdom).
While there are some heavy hitters at Animal Kingdom between Expedition Everest and World of Pandora stuff, AK is going through some changes recently. The entirety of Dinoland, U.S.A. was shut down. While I was fine with Primeval Whirl going the way of the dinosaur (pun very much intended), it was a much sadder day when Dinosaur shut down, and that honestly cuts the number of “rides” even lower.
Right now Animal Kingdom has: Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Na’vi River Journey and if you count, Kilimanjaro Safaris and the Rafiki's Planet Watch Train, that's six rides. If you aren’t counting the latter two as "rides," there are only four rides currently open in the park, plus a slew of shows, experiences, walking trails and more.
I’m just saying, the difference between the value of what you get at Disneyland or even California Adventure trumps the parks, at least individually, at Disney World. What you get at World though includes many permutations of park hopping, world class restaurants, fun transportation including boats and the Skyliner, and great hotels at many different price points.
The good news? A Tropical Americas section of the parks is allegedly going in where the dinosaurs used to roam. AK will also be taking a note from Disneyland and putting an Indiana Jones ride in where Dinosaur was, which makes all the sense in the world since both rides were similar to begin with. It's also worth noting an Encanto ride is going into the area. All the construction has been great, but it's been a concern on many theme park fans' minds for a while.
Change is afoot, and I’m excited to see the Florida parks expand a bit in the coming years. I do think I should leave you on one final note. The post mentions that between the two parks in California, there are more rides in total than all four parks in Florida combined! (Though Disney World still has some of the best attractions.) I’d never thought about it, but when you put it that way it does give you fodder for thought.
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