I’ve voted for SWGE. I am a big Star Wars fan, the original movie came out when I was 12 years old. I was able to convince parents and older siblings to take me to see the movie six times that summer.
My first visit was for the AP preview, drove down Friday evening went on Saturday, and drove back Sunday morning. We had a 12:30 entrance time, went in an hour early, and spent the entire afternoon there, till they started closing down in the early evening.
Walking into and around the land, I felt like I was really in the movies.
Bt the end of the day, MFSR was a walk on. My daughter and I just kept going back on. Feels like I really am on the Falcon.
In Orlando as a whole, the answer is easy: WWOHP. @ryan1 — who is dead to me — is simply wrong.
But limiting it to WDW makes it really tough.
Before I looked at the options I didn’t even consider AK. The theming is brilliant, but I’m not emotionally attached to it.
The candidates that had originally jumped to mind were: SWGE and TSL. I resonate emotionally more with TSL, but SWGE is clearly so much bigger and more visually complex and stimulating. On the other hand, TSL is so pretty at night.
Then I saw you’d included Main Street, which I adore. Though partly because of the view of the Castle in the distance, though that is not in the same “land”.
I have an affection for Pandora, but have also found it a bit disappointing. I don’t buy the floating mountains at all — they are clearly not floating: they are held up by suspiciously strong vines.
SWGE was a bit disappointing, too. It’s much more open than I was expecting, making it less immersive to me.
Ugh. Which to choose. Let’s do it on the following basis: if I was banned for life from ever entering all the others, which would I choose to save?
I think Main Street. It’s an original land, i.e. Walt himself created it and walked down it. It’s definitively Disney World. It’s richly themed. It has (ugh) a “wow” factor. It lifts my spirits to see it and be in it.
And it takes on different looks: at night, at Halloween, at Christmas.
I’ll take Diagon Alley over any WDW land any day! Before going to WWOHP, I had read the books, but won’t have considered myself a HP “fan”. Because of WWOHP, I now know my house (both UK & US) / Patronus / wand type / own t-shirts and multiple wands. I can & have spent entire days never leaving WWOHP from open to close at Universal. Plus, I’m actually allowed / encouraged to wear a wizard robe & play - unlike SW:GE.
Here’s my thing with Main Street. It’s the first thing I walk right on through to get to everything else.
Sure, I like the theming. And there is an emotional tug when you see it, with the castle at the end. But the emotional tug is more about what’s at the END of Main Street and where it leads than it is Main Street in and of itself. And at the end of the day, I also don’t tend to look at it. Instead, we end up going through the Emporium or just bypass it entirely to get out of the park.
Now, if you stop to actually look at it, the theming is great for it’s day. But it isn’t transportive for me at all, other than transporting me to Disney.
That’s because you’re enormously intelligent. It’s not fair on other — less intelligent (and, I’ll wager, sexually magnetic) — people to nominate Diagon Alley because they simply don’t have the capacity to appreciate it as the world-beating feat of imagineering that it is.
I was torn between Africa and TSL as well! I’ve only been to SWGE once and didn’t really have a lot of time to explore and ‘feel’ the land so I don’t feel like I can adequately evaluate it for my ranking. I LOVE TSL! Like @sanstitre_has_left_the_building said, the emotional attachment to that land for me is pretty high and the theming is just perfect. I ended up voting for Africa though because it really does make you feel like you are somewhere other than Florida. It’s quite breathtaking.
I did too! That’s why I voted for it. We went to the DLR SWGE last August and crowds were really low. My daughter and I walked in with no one around us. We entered into the back alley entrance and we could see/hear Storm Troopers in the First Order area. I instantly panicked as if I was a Resistance fighter that needed to hide from them! And hide we did. But they don’t seem to enter the alley area. All we did that first day was walk around and absorb. It was amazing.
Until I saw SWGE, I would have easily picked Diagon Alley as top. But after seeing SWGE, it has dropped to second place.
I think one of the key issues I have with Diagon Alley is that it still feels like I’m in an amusement park version of Diagon Alley. You can easily see the mechanism controlling the bunny under the hat, the dragon just does nothing but spew flames every 10 minutes (that is, it feels fake), etc. But of course there is plenty to love about it because I’m still ranking it #2! And, I also argue that the very reason SWGE is as immersive as it is is due to the incredible job Universal did with WWOHP. The bar was raised. Disney didn’t quite meet that bar with Pandora, I’m afraid. SWGE, though, surpassed it.
SWGE, the more and more I looked at the details, the more believable it all became.
I’ve never been, but confidently vote SWGE. I can’t wait to watch my husband’s face when we go there for the first time in November (I can almost say “next month!!!”).
In a way, Diagon Alley is a rip-off because it is basically a recreation of the movie set.
I think I have two problems with SWGE. A lot of my time there has been spent being involved in ROTR stress. So I don’t associate SWGE with being relaxed and enjoying myself.
Of course ROTR is itself jaw-droppingly themed. As is MFSR, though I’ve never give it the time it deserves.
If I were to give myself time to really enjoy SWGE and really get into it, I could see it ranking first … equal with WWOHP.
Yeah. I see your point. Though it’s partly your own fault for not giving it the time and attention it deserves.
I was so glad I could fit (almost) all the lands into one poll so I didn’t have to do a park-by-park tournament, but now you’re making me wish I had started at the park level! Oh, well. I can always do a park-by-park poll later!
You make a convincing argument!
The open space is odd, but the parts of the land that are more compact make up for it. I love the marketplace, the Falcon plaza, the cantina, the milk stand, the First Order outpost, etc.
I may agree with you, but just barely. Diagon Alley is far better than any other WDW land as far as being immersive and having a specific theme. But between DA and SWGE it’s tough for me, given my love for both franchises.
I havent voted yet. Im torn. I havent personally seen Pandora, the new TSL or SWGE. For me, I think about where could I sit in a park for most of the day and just take in the scenery and details. The 3 aforementioned are new to me so yes, they would be obvious. But having not seen them, who knows if it will be a favorite. From the stuff I have seen, Im down to 3. I just can’t stop thinking about Adventureland/ Frontierland East/ Liberty Square (south of Columbia Harbor House) area. I love that space and can sit there all day with the occasional circle lap. Now, if it were between that space and AK in its entirety, AK wins. But, I must pick a land there now, hmmmm. My favorite AK space is Discover Island. Done. But does Discovery Island alone beat out my MK space? I dont know yet… Last but not least, World Showcase. I mean, its full of variety, detail and theming. I absolutely love most of the countries! I do spend a whole day there- wandering, marveling, exploring, soaking up the different cultures. But do I love it more than my magical MK spot? No. But wait, wait, wait. I have to keep in mind, for voting purposes Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square are seperate (not really in my mind, but OK Arizona). If I can’t lump the westside of MK together, do I prefer one section the most? Maybe Frontierland? But really just where it meets Liberty Square. And Andventureland? Mainly by Swiss Treehouse and Jungle Cruise. Libery Square? Not overly without the other two sections. So, just pick one! Frontierland it is Now, do I love Frontierland more than WS? No. That leaves Discovery Island I guess. Do I love Discovery Island more than WS, wow thats a tough one. Soo, sooo very different. WS offers, just more. So WS it is. *wipes the sweat from forehead, pours a well deserved cocktail and finally votes for WS. @Jeff_AZ bet u want to rethink elaboration now dont ya?