There’s a plethora of phenomenal amusement parks scattered throughout the United States, though some have a good deal more to offer than others. It’s hard to know which ones are the best without having visited them all, and that’s where we come in! Join us in this article as we take a look at the best amusement parks in the US.
Walt Disney World Resort
Of course, there’s one chain of amusement parks that stands over all other in the eyes of most of the public, and that would be the Disney chain of parks. There are two different Disney amusement parks in the United States, and there are several others located throughout the world. The bigger of the two Disney amusement parks in the Untied States is the Walt Disney World Resort, which is also sometimes referred to simply as Walt Disney World, or even Disney World. Whatever you call it, the amusement park, which is located in the city of Orlando, Florida, has a staggering amount of attractions to offer it’s guests.
Though Walt Disney World Resort is generally referred to as an amusement park in and of itself, it’s actually made up of four individual amusement parks that each require a different ticket to enter. This can make experiencing the entire Walt Disney World Resort an expensive prospect, but tourists can rest assured that they will be getting their money’s worth. The main amusement park comprising the greater Walt Disney World Resort goes by the name of the Magic Kingdom Park.
The Magic Kingdom Park isn’t all that different from Disneyland Park, which is the original Disney amusement park created all the way back in the 1950s by Walt Disney himself. We’ll be taking a look at Disneyland Park next in this article, so there’s no need to delve too deep into Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park.
Besides the Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort is also comprised of three other amusement parks, all of which have something unique to offer. These three other amusement parks are Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. Each park can be visited individually, and each can easily entertain tourists for an entire day. Many tourists choose to visit all of the parks over a span of a few days, which is a great option.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park was created with the vision of showcasing the beauty of the natural world. In particular, the amusement park has an emphasis on animals. The amusement park has come to be known as an elaborate zoo of sorts, though there is much more offered to tourists than just the chance to see a variety of animals. While there are plenty of animals to be seen within the confines of the amusement park, there are also several rides and a host of other attractions to keep visitors entertained.
The visual centerpiece of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park is the Tree of Life, which is a 145-foot sculpture made to resemble a baobab tree. However, the most popular area to visit within the amusement park would have to be Pandora. Pandora is an area of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park themed after James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster Avatar. The area provides one of the most immersive themed experiences that can be had at any of the Disney amusement parks across the world, and it’s likely to become even more popular after the release of the upcoming sequel towards the end of 2022.
Pandora is certainly one of the most popular themed areas in the entirety of the greater Walt Disney World Resort, but it’s arguably been beaten out by Galaxy’s Edge. Galaxy’s Edge is the section of Walt Disney World Resort themed after the Star Wars franchise. Galaxy’s Edge originally opened up in Disneyland Park before opening up a second location at Walt Disney World Resort. At the Walt Disney World Resort, the themed area can be found within Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The opening of Galaxy’s Edge has made Disney’s Hollywood Studios an incredibly popular amusement park to visit, and the experience is just as immersive as Pandora.
Finally, you can’t talk about the greater Walt Disney World Resort without mentioning Epcot. Epcot may not be the absolute most popular of the four amusement parks comprising Walt Disney World Resort, but it may be considered the most iconic. That would arguably be because of the geodesic sphere that stands as it’s visual centerpiece, the same way the Cinderella Castle stands as the visual centerpiece of the Magic Kingdom Park and the Tree of Life stands as the visual centerpiece of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Inside the geodesic sphere is Spaceship Earth, which is an educational dark ride.
This educational theme spans across the entirety of Epcot, with the amusement park having taken it’s inspiration from the World’s Fair. Epcot is comprised predominantly of various themed sections that each attempt to accurately represent a different corner of the world, and they each offer attractions and authentic cuisine.
Disneyland Park
Given that Walt Disney World Resort is comprised of four different amusement parks and Disneyland Park is just one, it may seem like one is obviously a good deal better than the other. However, the battle between the two United States-located Disney amusement parks isn’t all that cut and dry. In the eyes of many, Disneyland Park stands as the ultimate Disney amusement-park experience in the United States, despite the fact that it’s smaller than it’s younger brother.
As we already mentioned briefly when discussing Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Park was the first park that Walt Disney created. This alone gives the park a special appeal in the eyes of diehard Disney fans. However, there’s much more than just sentimentality that makes many consider Disneyland Park to be better than Walt Disney World Resort. For one thing, there’s the fact that the reduced size of Disneyland Park means that the attractions that manage to stay afloat are of a consistently higher quality.
The cream rises to the top at Disneyland Park, and any attraction that doesn’t get a good number of visitors is quickly replaced with a new attraction offering something that they’ve never seen.
Disneyland Park is located in Anaheim, California, clear on the other side of the United States from Walt Disney World Resort. Though the rides at Disneyland Park are always changing to make room for newer and more interesting attractions, there are some iconic rides that have stood the test of time. Some of the many classic rides that keep Disney fans coming back to Disneyland Park again and again include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, and the Haunted Mansion.
Though Disneyland Park doesn’t offer visitors the chance to visit four separate amusement parks at the same location like Walt Disney World Resort does, it does feature a single separate Disney amusement park right next to it by the name of Disney California Adventure Park. These two parks comprise the greater Disneyland Resort, though Disneyland Park has consistently been the main attraction over the years.
Still, Disney California Adventure Park has been getting a good deal more foot traffic than usual recently due to the fact that it has become the home of the Avengers Campus, which is a themed area based upon the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unlike Galaxy’s Edge, no iteration of the Avengers Campus has made it’s way over to Walt Disney World Resort, meaning that Marvel fans may prefer visiting the Disneyland Resort.
Universal Orlando Resort
Walt Disney World Resort isn’t the only amusement park in Orlando, Florida, that’s indebted to popular culture. Like Walt Disney World Resort, the name of the game when it comes to Universal Orlando Resort is themed attractions. However, the themed attractions at Universal Orlando Resort generally skew towards a slightly older crowd. While Walt Disney World Resort is likely the ideal Orlando amusement park for families with small children, those with older children and teenagers may find that Universal Orlando Resort is more their speed.
The park was opened up all the way back in 1990, and one of the original drawing points of the park was the involvement of blockbuster-film director Steven Spielberg. Nowadays, the park has expanded to incorporate attractions related to more recent blockbuster properties such as The Mummy, Transformers, and Fast & Furious.
For the past few years, the biggest thing drawing tourists to Universal Orlando Resort has been the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This is a themed area that gives the immersive themed areas at Disney parks a ride for their money. As the name of the themed area should suggest, it’s theming revolves around the Harry Potter franchise. The themed area was built with consultation from J.K. Rowling herself. Other themed areas that can be found at Universal Orlando Resort include it’s Springfield section, which is based upon The Simpsons. A Nintendo-themed area, named Super Nintendo World, is said to be opening in the early part of 2023.
Dollywood
If you’re not interested in the licensed properties on display at Universal Orlando Resort or the two United States-located Disney amusement parks, Dolly Parton may be more your thing! Thankfully, the country-music legend has her own amusement park. While Dollywood isn’t quite as impressive as any of the amusement parks that we’ve explored previously in this article, it certainly draws a crowd. The Dolly Parton-owned amusement park was opened up in Nashville, Tennessee, back in 1961, and it features nine rollercoasters.
Knott’s Berry Farm
There are several other popular amusement parks located in California besides Disneyland Park, and Knott’s Berry Farm is arguably the most notable. While it doesn’t have Mickey Mouse to draw in the crowds, it does have the Peanuts characters! Visitors can do meet and greets with Charlie Brown and the gang, and they can also find plenty of Peanuts merchandise in the amusement park’s various gift shops. An interesting fact about Knott’s Berry Farm is that it’s namesake berry farm originated the boysenberry. Besides it’s Peanuts theming, the amusement park features plenty of thrilling rides and attractions for guests of all ages.
Cedar Point
We’ve taken a look at amusement parks located on the east and west coasts of the United States, as well as towards the south of the country. However, those who would prefer to stay closer to the middle of America can find plenty of thrills at Ohio’s Cedar Point! Cedar Point feature nearly twenty different rollercoasters, and it has been a favorite of Ohio’s residents for well over a century. The park’s most popular thrill rides would have to be Steel Vengeance and Millennium Force, but there are also family-friendly attractions like Snake River Expedition. Finally, those who want to get wet can find the Cedar Point Shores Waterpark just next door.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Heading back to California, those who prefer DC Comics to Marvel may want to head to Six Flags Magic Mountain. The amusement park is located in Los Angeles Country and features thrill rides with Batman and Superman theming. Thrills are the name of the game when it comes to Six Flags Magic Mountain, and those who like scary rollercoasters need look no further than the ones offered here. The most popular rollercoaster at the park would have to be X2.
Hersheypark
The last amusement park that we’ll be taking a look at in this article is Hersheypark. Though Hersheypark is a bit meager compared to the other amusement parks that we’ve looked at, it should stand out to fans of Hershey’s chocolate. The amusement park is located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and features many attractions relating to it’s namesake candy company. However, there are also plenty of thrill rides to be enjoyed for less chocolate-obsessed visitors.
These eight amusement parks represent the best of the best when it comes to amusement parks in the United States. Whether you’re interested in the family-friendly thrills of the Disney amusement parks or the candy-themed attractions at Hersheypark, we hope this article helped you figure out which United States amusement park you need to visit first!