We asked Orlando Sentinel readers for their votes in several major theme park categories, and the results are in with a lot of Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Wizarding World(s) of Harry Potter mentions.
The final tallies weren’t too crazy, and participants got around town to make a list of favorites. There’s also a handful of categories for dislikes, unless queasiness is considered a good thing.
We’re sharing the top three vote-getters in each category, and, just for grins, follow up with my opinions. Among the mild surprises, readers unclenched on Splash Mountain issues and embraced Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, are fans of Disney’s Animal Kingdom eateries and carry deep Mission: Space feelings.
This exercise was held in the earliest days of Epic Universe, so we are waiting for more people to get through its portals before tossing those attractions into the mix (stay tuned for your chance to vote those in at the end of the summer). In the meantime, butterbeer cheers to your Orlando theme park favorites.
Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel
Universal’s VelociCoaster at Islands of Adventure is at the top of the Theme Park Ranger’s roller coaster list. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Favorite roller coaster
READERS: Top pick was Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot. A distant second was Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Islands of Adventure, which edged out IOA sister attraction Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure for the runner-up crown.
DB: VelociCoaster tops my coaster list with SeaWorld Orlando’s Mako nipping at its heels.
Favorite dark ride
READERS: Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion is the dark favorite. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands and Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain are next on the list.
DB: I have almost no quibble with Haunted Mansion, but the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride, an Islands of Adventure original, sets the standard. But hold on, Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios is also top notch.
Favorite must-do / most recommended
READERS: Eating and drinking around the World (Showcase), a home-made T-shirt fave, gets the must-do nod. Cosmic Rewind and the Hagrid ride also finished favorably.
DB: For years, I’ve said if you go to Magic Kingdom and don’t do Haunted Mansion, did you really do Magic Kingdom?
Favorite animatronic
READERS: The figures in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios top the chart, followed by the robotic families in Magic Kingdom’s Carousel of Progress and the multi-arm shaman in Na’vi River Journey at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
DB: Let’s give it up for the ensemble animatronic cast of Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Islands of Adventure. There’s an intriguing shawoman (and a wiggly worm thing) in the queue, Terapusmordax hanging around and the sniffing mega-Kong head that ends the experience.
Favorite stage show
READERS: “Festival of the Lion King” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom earns the most applause, followed by Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and The Bourne Stuntacular at Universal Studios.
DB: “Lion King” is emotional (you can feel the love tonight), athletic (tumble monkeys) and educational (learn what a giraffe sounds like).
Favorite original (there when the park opened) ride
READERS: It’s a tie — with an asterisk — between longtime Magic Kingdom attractions Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Next up is E.T. Adventure, the last original ride standing at Universal Studios.
DB: Oh, readers. Bless your hearts. Pirates is not an original MK attraction. It just feels like it because it opened in 1973, two years after Magic Kingdom debuted. The Mansion is a strong pick, but Spider-Man at IOA is too.
Favorite no-longer-with-us ride
READERS: The Great Movie Ride, which closed at Hollywood Studios in 2017, has the most misty-eyed fans. Runners-up include Jaws, which left Universal Studios in 2012, and Magic Kingdom’s madcap Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which exited in 1998.
DB: Feeling sentimental about Dueling Dragons, a pre-Potter coaster at Islands. (It was renamed Dragon Challenge and then dismantled in 2017 to introduce the Hagrid ride.) And although it wasn’t a ride, this feels like a good time to mention “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth,” the end-of-night spectacular that closed at Epcot in 2019 after a 20-year run.
JOE BURBANK, ORLANDO SENTINEL
Readers picked the queue for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, as their favorite. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Favorite queue
READERS: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey wins the most hearts with its tour of Hogwarts. Beyond that, it’s Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios (stormtrooper alert) and Haunted Mansion again.
DB: For the variety within the halls of Hogwarts, we agree on Forbidden Journey. Hot take: If I suddenly were Disney Czar, I’d be entertaining options to the stretching room “there’s always my way” climax.
Favorite frozen snack
READERS: Dole Whip, a Magic Kingdom staple, leads the way. Mickey Bar, found in multiple Disney World locations, is second, followed by Universal’s ever-flowing butterbeer.
DB: Chocolate gives Mickey Bar the edge.
Favorite themed drink
READERS: Say cheers to butterbeer, followed by “anything from Trader Sam’s” and the Night Blossom sold at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
DB: I’ll agree to a butterbeer option. As it turns out, most of the beverages I consume at the parks are available at Publix and Starbucks.
Favorite sit-down restaurant
READERS: Le Cellier Steakhouse at Epcot’s Canada pavilion is the favorite, eh? Also on the menu of top eateries: Tiffins at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Mythos at Islands of Adventure.
DB: Skipper Canteen, the Jungle Cruise-inspired eatery at Magic Kingdom, has a good blend of theming, seating and escaping from the MK masses.
Lauren Delgado / Orlando Sentinel
The blueberry cream cheese mousse at Satu’li Canteen, a restaurant in Disney’s Pandora — The World of Avatar in Animal Kingdom. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Favorite quick-service restaurant
READERS: Split decision between Magic Kingdom’s Columbia Harbour House and Satu’li Canteen at Animal Kingdom. Third is Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe at Magic Kingdom.
DB: Unusual entrees, serenity and air-conditioning make Satu’li Canteen a winner.
Favorite special event
READERS: Epcot International Food & Wine Festival tops the list, followed by Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom.
DB: When I pay a special price for an event, I want to feel special, and Not-So-Scary achieves that with an atmosphere that’s not like another day in the park. (You could say the say about HHN, but that one prompts me to walk in a defensive position.)
Favorite kids ride
READERS: Peter Pan’s Flight, another Magic Kingdom original, wins the kids ride vote, followed by E.T. Adventure from Universal Studios and the Barnstormer roller coaster at Magic Kingdom.
DB: Seconding the motion for Peter Pan’s Flight, loving the lift-off, little London, Tick-Tock and Hook. Here we go. (Hmm, there are echoes of this at E.T., too.)
Favorite water ride
READERS: Voters still think Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom is a splash. Islands of Adventure is home to two runners-up: Jurassic Park River Adventure and Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls.
DB: Jurassic Park has a multi-whammy ending of dino danger, steep decline, showy splash and cue the theme song. (For a proper drenching, we send folks to nearby Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges.)
Favorite themed land
READERS: Wizarding World of Harry Potter is head of this class. Next up: World Showcase of Epcot and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios.
DB: Wanted to say Galaxy’s Edge just for Millennium Falcon, but there’s just so darned much Potter these days.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
Readers choose the “Happily Ever After” show at Disney’s Magic Kingdom as their favorite night show. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Favorite night show
READERS: “Happily Ever After” makes people happy at Magic Kingdom, voters say. See also “Fantasmic!” at Hollywood Studios and the Hogwarts light shows at Islands of Adventure.
DB: “Happily Ever After,” which melds pyro, projections and modern classics “How Far I’ll Go” (written by Lin-Manuel Miranda), “Love Is an Open Door” (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez) and “Go the Distance” (Alan Menken and David Zippel).
Ride makes you the most queasy
READERS: Voters resoundingly hold their hands over their mouths while picking Mission: Space, the Epcot spin fest. Runner-up stomach-turners: The Incredible Hulk Coaster at IOA and Epcot’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, ironically their top coaster pick.
DB: Going off the board for Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall, the drop tower experience at Islands. I’ll just sit over here and hold the purses.
I’ll-never-ride-that-again ride
READERS: Nausea wins again with Mission: Space at the top spot. Then it’s Fast & Furious – Supercharged, a maligned ride at Universal Studios and Cosmic Rewind again.
DB: Issues beyond queasiness for Mission: Space are claustrophobia, centrifugal force facelifts and fear of contact lenses flying out of eyes.
Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel
Readers chose Fast & Furious – Supercharged as their most hated ride. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Most hated ride
READERS: Fast & Furious – Supercharged was the most likely attraction to cause fury, according to the poll. Nausea must persist into this category, too, as Mission: Space was second. We’ll blame earworms and precious children from around the globe for the third-place standing of “it’s a small world,” another Magic Kingdom opening-day attraction still on endless loop.
DB: Hate is such a strong word. So let’s retool to “I don’t get it but others really, really love it” with Living With the Land, the slow boat ride/greenhouse tour in the World Nature neighborhood of Epcot.
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.
Originally Published: July 18, 2025 at 6:06 AM EDT
