Study names the ‘best’ theme park in California

[Karin]

"The study was divided into three sections: Top Theme Parks, ranked by price; Best Amusement Parks, based on the number of attractions; and Top Theme Parks in California overall."

Disneyland and DCA were in the top 10 of each category, but only Disneyland broke the top 5 (landing at #5) in the "Best Amusement Parks, Based on Number of Attractions" category.

Click here for full article.

[Dave1313]

I think there's a slight typo in the second list for one of the parks(I know it's not a MP list, just pointing it out). "California Great Adventure" should most likely be "California Great America" like in the other lists.

If anyone wants to check that one out, they still have a few (10 or so) years(I actually have not been there, but used to go on work trips near it and it looks pretty decent, and I know the locals I was visiting for work thought it was nice). Seems the property was sold (I recall reading that last year), but further evolution of the deal will keep it running for a while.

Hazards of having an amusement park in the middle of Silicon Valley. Very hard to justify not selling when the land is worth so much to the tech companies.

To the point of factors they considered in making the lists, I really feel they should factor in "ease of visiting" for such lists in the future. I guess that could have been factored into the "Overall" list, since that sounds like it's not really quantified in any direct way.

Are there any other nationally known parks (either in CA or FL, or even elsewhere) that are still playing the park reservation game like Disney is? It seems most others have long since dropped it when they eased out of COVID mode of operation.

[olegc]

I think DCA is destined to always be in the lower half of top 10s on attractions. There is a lot of space there but most of it is visual design structures to create place instead of attractions inside of those. IDK if it will ever get there. In fact only 1 more attraction is slated for DCA in the next 3 to 5 years (King Thanos battle in Avengers Campus). Lots of talk about other offerings but it will still be behind. I guess its not just that there is lots of space but many of their attractions are large in footprint, and many dont have the luxury of show building outside the berm (if Im comparing DCA and DLAND for example).