And the Disney theme park with the best castle is....

[nathan detroit]

Well, the votes have been counted and verified and the results are in. I can now reveal the winner of the MiceChat Poll for Best Disney Castle. But first I would like to give a bit of background as to why I decided to conduct this poll, not only on this forum but on the other four theme park forums on this site.
It started about a week ago during the obligatory discussion on the WDW forum of DL versus WDW. The matter of castles arose and someone suggested that a poll should be set up to decide once and for all whose was best. This original suggestion was for a poll pitting DL against WDW although I saw an opportunity to ‘investigate’ something that had struck me ever since arriving at MiceChat…
My observations have always been that people fight for their ‘home’ park. DL forum regulars are all for DL and WDWers generally believe that WDW is the best. My decision to set this poll up was less about seeing which park had the best castle (the winner was pretty predictable) but more about seeing how park loyalties fell in each of the forums. This aspect of the results show much more interesting trends.
Also I was interested in people’s interpretation of the word ‘best’ in the question ‘Which park has the best castle?’ Many argued for looks alone although some focussed on interactivity and ‘special features’. Was it just a walkthrough or was there stuff to do in it?
(Another reason for starting this ‘investigation’ was partially as a sort of apology for my infamous ‘Here’s a Thing…’ thread on the WDW forum. Although it made some people want to pat me on the back, others wanted to slap me in the face. This is an effort to show that I can be sensible too!)
Some people queried the validity or sanity of the same poll on five different forums and said that the results would not reflect the truth. In my opinion, this was the only way we could get anywhere near the truth as the variation in the below results show. It was also suggested that voters would simply go into each forum and vote for their own castle. This was clearly not the case since the most subscribed to forums are DL and WDW and, as you will see, neither came out on top.

The overall winner was the castle at Disneyland Paris. This was predicted by many from the outset although it is interesting to note that this particular castle won the poll in all five of the forums, suggesting that it is universally admired.

Each forum’s results were as follows: -
Disneyland – DLP 45.61%, DL 41.23%, WDW 7.89%, TDL 4.39%, HKDL 0.88% (Total votes – 114)
Hong Kong Disneyland - DLP 52.51%, DL 17%, WDW 17%, HKDL 7.5%, TDL 5% (Total votes – 40)
Disneyland Paris - DLP 80.43%, DL 15.22%, WDW 2.17%, TDL 2.17%, HKDL 0% (Total votes – 46)
Tokyo Disneyland - DLP 58.14%, DL 23.26%, TDL 9.3%, WDW 6.989%, HKDL 2.33% (Total votes – 43)
Walt Disney World - DLP 51.32%, WDW 28.95%, DL 13.16%, TDL 6.58%, HKDL 0% (Total votes – 76)

As you can see, both of the US parks placed their own castle in second place whereas the Eastern parks were constantly in the bottom two (with the exception of the TDL forum where WDW was knocked doen into fourth). Is this because US MiceChatters are more territorial about their parks? Or, as someone suggested, is that the Japanese are better travelled and so have a more informed opinion? Discuss!

And so the overall results are as follows: -
Total votes – 319
1st DLP 54.5% 174 votes
2nd DL 25.4% 81 votes
3rd WDW 13.2% 42 votes
4th TDL 5.3% 17 votes
5th HKDL 1.6% 5 votes

Thank you to all who voted and contributed to the threads - there were some great comments and fantastic pictures. And now I pass the baton to everyone else to comment or criticise the results and my observations. Feel free…

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by nathan detroit

The overall winner was the castle at Disneyland Paris. This was predicted by many from the outset although it is interesting to note that this particular castle won the poll in all five of the forums, suggesting that it is universally admired.

No surprise there.

Each forum’s results were as follows:

Disneyland – DLP 45.61%, DL 41.23%, WDW 7.89%, TDL 4.39%, HKDL 0.88% (Total votes – 114)
Hong Kong Disneyland - DLP 52.51%, DL 17%, WDW 17%, HKDL 7.5%, TDL 5% (Total votes – 40)
Disneyland Paris - DLP 80.43%, DL 15.22%, WDW 2.17%, TDL 2.17%, HKDL 0% (Total votes – 46)
Tokyo Disneyland - DLP 58.14%, DL 23.26%, TDL 9.3%, WDW 6.989%, HKDL 2.33% (Total votes – 43)
Walt Disney World - DLP 51.32%, WDW 28.95%, DL 13.16%, TDL 6.58%, HKDL 0% (Total votes – 76)

As you can see, both of the US parks placed their own castle in second place whereas the Eastern parks were constantly in the bottom two (with the exception of the TDL forum where WDW was knocked doen into fourth). Is this because US MiceChatters are more territorial about their parks? Or, as someone suggested, is that the Japanese are better travelled and so have a more informed opinion? Discuss!

Not at all. It's due to the fact that the majority of MChatters have never been to the Asian parks and do not know any better than what they have seen in photos or video, which is hardly the way to rate anything Disney if you ask me. Also, I found it interesting that TDL's castle was at the bottom of the poll in the HKDL section... Maybe because the chinese are envious of the fact that Japan still has the best Disney Resort while they got stuck with the puniest?
Of course.. for those of us who go to all of the resorts frequently... we beg to differ. Still... I agree with DLP's being the perfect castle.

[davewasbaloo]

What is interesting is that in the early 90's, I didn't like DLP's. Now I love it and it is my favorite. Funny what happens over time.

[TDR_Fan]

Originally Posted by davewasbaloo

What is interesting is that in the early 90's, I didn't like DLP's. Now I love it and it is my favorite. Funny what happens over time.

I didn't like it either when I first looked at pictures. Thought it was gaudy and rather tacky. Now, it too is my favorite of the 5 castles.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by davewasbaloo

What is interesting is that in the early 90's, I didn't like DLP's. Now I love it and it is my favorite. Funny what happens over time.

Well, look at my history... back in the 70s and early 80s, I thought nothing could come close to WDW's majesty and grandeur... Then I went to DL, then Tokyo.. then Paris... and recently HK.. TDR is still my favorite after Paris and HK, but even those two and the original DL far surpass WDW in many ways...

[Scorchio]

Originally I didn't like the TDL castle. But I have to admit, after its recent new paint job it easily beats all but the DLP castle!

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Scorchio

Originally I didn't like the TDL castle. But I have to admit, after its recent new paint job it easily beats all but the DLP castle!

I quite agree, especially since I get to see all of the castles very often.

[ZeekSlider]

Originally Posted by davewasbaloo

What is interesting is that in the early 90's, I didn't like DLP's. Now I love it and it is my favorite. Funny what happens over time.

I didn't like Paris's castle aesthetically until after my art education. In other words, not until about two years ago. Before then, I thought the castle was too "cartoony" for what it was suppose to be. Shows what I know.

But I'm still more impressed with the versitility of TDL's castle since it can shoot water, fire, and pyrotechnics whenever the show designers what it to.

[Scorchio]

I was quite impressed to see how they turned an ordinary carbon-copy into such a brilliant castle just by adding pink highlights. It truly shows that that little extra touch goes a long way!

[TDLFAN]

Pink touches? On TDL's castle? I know of the golden touches, but pink?

[Scorchio]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

Pink touches? On TDL's castle? I know of the golden touches, but pink?

They added touches of pink (ala DLP/HKDL/DL castle) on the white sides of the castle didn't they?

[TDR_Fan]

Originally Posted by Scorchio

They added touches of pink (ala DLP/HKDL/DL castle) on the white sides of the castle didn't they?

It's more of a light pink/tan color rather than the bright pink colors of the Sleeping Beauty Castles.

[Scorchio]

/\ I just checked the pics again, and yes, it's more of a tan pink/beige than pink. But still, it looks better than the MK white.

[TDR_Fan]

Originally Posted by Scorchio

/\ I just checked the pics again, and yes, it's more of a tan pink/beige than pink. But still, it looks better than the MK white.

I agree. I think the new color brings out the beauty of Cinderella Castle more so than the white.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Scorchio

/\ I just checked the pics again, and yes, it's more of a tan pink/beige than pink. But still, it looks better than the MK white.

I thought it was a light peach... or else, my eyesight is going bad.