Oh, SDC is definitely the best. I've been to SFStL, I've been to Disneyland (twice) AND Disney World, I've been to Busch Gardens Tampa (Africa), I've been to Knott's Berry Farm... and of course to Worlds of Fun.
And of all my theme park trips, there has never been anything that remotely touched SDC on quality. I love thrills as much as the next person, but I also like to be IMMERSED in theme. If a park is going to have themes, they need to go all the way or else it just feels fake to me.
With SDC, they've done an ingenious thing wherein the entire park is a single theme. With SF, each ride is of a totally different movie/TV show/etc. With Disney, they have four or five "lands", as does Worlds of Fun.
But with SDC, it's all one single theme, with everything in the park fitting into that one theme. And that's what's so great about it is because no matter what part of that park you are in, you are always in the 1880s. Front, back, left, right. No matter what, I am really in the old Ozark mountains of the late 1800s.
It's really difficult to properly explain why SDC has become to me what Disneyland is to many others, but I think it's partly that I feel a type of magic when walking through those turnstiles that I've never felt anywhere else. I feel like I'm time traveling and that I really am where the theme says the park is supposed to be.
I also feel this sense of belonging that I've never felt anywhere else. I've often wondered if I was an Ozark inhabitant in a previous life... I've just latched onto it so quickly and easily. I mean, this is a Californian city girl who within just a year or two completely became a Midwesterner.
So, yeah, I'm rambling. But, I definitely think SDC is the best out there.
Oh, and I've never encountered employees as friendly and kind as the SDC Citizens. They really do seem like they live there and LIKE "living" there, unlike employees at other parks.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
