Last year, we were able to experience all 10 Universal and Disney American theme parks. Loyal readers know that I love a top 10 list and what better time to rank them when they’re all fresh in our mind? In this post, we’ll rank the stateside Disney and Universal theme parks from worst to first.

Epic Universe opened last year, giving the United States their first new Universal or Disney theme park since California Adventure opened in 2001. That was the longest stretch without one of the two companies adding a park since Disneyland opened in 1955.

Of course, there’s business globally and both powers have expanded in that realm. There have also been water parks and major additions to current theme parks. But an entirely new build for a park in the states hadn’t happened in 24 years! Outside of the kids park that Universal is set to open in Texas, it might be another 24 years before either company opens another spot in America

That’s all well and good because 10 is a nice number to rank! There’s also plenty of room to improve for the majority of these parks. For our rankings, I did not include water parks even though they are a great source of joy in my life. Universal Orlando really pushes for Volcano Bay to be considered a water theme park and, well, good for them but I’m the captain here. Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon are also exceptionally themed.

Like most of my park rankings, I’m considering theme, attractions, entertainment, aesthetic, food and a few other aspects in this post. Others will surely be more ride driven and that’s fair enough. Unlike our yearly theme park rankings that I work on every few months, I won’t take big refurbishments into account as much in this post since I won’t update it as often. Let’s get to the rankings!

10. Universal Studios Orlando

It’s a close competition to get out of the cellar, but someone has to finish last. The good news is that Universal Studios Orlando has Diagon Alley, one of the most immersive theme park lands ever created. The bad news is that the rest of the park still exists. I like E.T. and the Jason Bourne stunt show but there’s just not a lot else here that sticks with you. Hopefully, the park will get more meaningful investments, beyond the Fast & Furious coaster, soon and rise in the rankings. If not, at least we have that dragon.

9. Universal Studios Hollywood

There are definitely parts of Universal Studios Hollywood that are, to be blunt, bad. Most of the lower lot is frustrating and the portions of the upper lot feel like a waste of space. That said, simply having the incredible Tram Tour is enough to keep this from a last place finish. Once you add in Hogsmeade, with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, as well as a surprisingly cute Secret Life of Pets ride then I think this park is easily better than its namesake on the east coast. Super Nintendo World is a plus and a minus, I’m glad it exists in this park but the Epic Universe version is significantly better.

8. California Adventure

I had a tough time deciding the order of the next 3. California Adventure draws the short stick here and ends up in 8th place, thanks in large part to not having as many standout rides as the other two parks. Yes, DCA always has Cars Land and that includes the exceptional Radiator Springs Racers. The park also has good food and the quietly wonderful Grizzly Peak. But there isn’t much of an identity, including whether or not this should be a festival driven park. California Adventure is at a low point for the last few years, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future.

7. Islands of Adventure

Islands of Adventure jumped a Disney Park on this list on the back of some exceptional attractions. Anything in Hogsmeade or the Jurassic Park areas of this park is fantastic. We can even stretch that to the King Kong attraction. It’s the other half of Islands of Adventure that I find frustrating and that ultimately lands this park on the bottom half of the list. I just don’t enjoy looking around, save for those few lands, here at all. A thrill seeker might bump this up a few spots and that’s totally reasonable because the ride has 4 of our top 20 Orlando attractions.

6. Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios and Islands of Adventure do share some similarities. Both are attraction driven parks with a few incredibly immersive lands. They also have some lands that could use some work. I gave Hollywood Studios the nod here as there’s more quality rides for all ages and the park looks better in general. There’s also something to be said about how much better the food is at the Disney Parks than it is at almost all of Universal’s parks.

5. Epic Universe

The newest park on the list falls right in the middle, which is an excellent spot for a debut. For what it’s worth, I was closer to moving it to number 3 or 4 than I was to moving it to number 6. Epic succeeds with those wonderfully immersive lands, all of them are winning in some way or another. There are a few issues with the park, a lack of shade being the most prominent. But this is easily our favorite Universal park to date and one we’re itching to get back to.

4. Animal Kingdom

I’ll say what you’re thinking, this might be too kind of a ranking for Animal Kingdom. You might be right! That argument is built around the park having the least amount of rides on this list. My argument is that Animal Kingdom is the most beautiful park on the list and takes theme to an exceptional level. We can all agree that the park needs more rides but is extremely unique and lovely to look at.

3. Magic Kingdom

I stuck with my order from the 2026 Disney Parks Rankings in this post, which has Epcot just narrowly beating out Magic Kingdom. I don’t know how long that will last, with Magic Kingdom bringing Big Thunder and Buzz back this spring and then adding new lands over the next 5 years. The lack of interesting food and the overwhelming crowds do hold Magic Kingdom back but it’s the most popular theme park in the world for a reason. There’s a great and lengthy attraction roster here as well as stunning sights throughout.

2. Epcot

Epcot rises all the way to 2nd place thanks to finding some solid footing over the last few years. There are mistakes that have happened in the rethought Epcot but there are also hits like Cosmic Rewind, Test Track 3.0 and Journey of Water. Even the World Showcase attractions have made improvements over the last year! Even if you take out the rides, Epcot is probably the best park on the list to just walk around in.

1. Disneyland

Deciding who wins this very important top ten list was the easiest choice I had in the whole post. Disneyland is the best park in the states. Between the atmosphere, attraction roster, and history, no other US park comes close to the classic. Even without a major expansion on the horizon, Disneyland is improving by making incremental gains on keeping attractions in working order and making the place look nice. It would take some drastic changes for anyone to challenge Disneyland as the best theme park in America.

What do you think of our top ten list? Let us know in the comments! Planning a trip to a Disney Park? Check out all of our Planning Guides to help you along the way. You can look for discount theme park tickets at this site. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!