To add on to Syd’s great Disney’s Overrated and Underrated post, I’ve decided to post a few of my own:

• Overrated: Main Street, U.S.A.: In the early days, Main Street was a fantastic collection of A-ticket and B-ticket attractions. Main Street Cinema, Main Street Arcade, The Walt Disney Story, glass blowers, and more. There were quaint side streets and areas such as Flower Alley. Today, Main Street is just a large shopping mall. The Emporium, which carries virtually no unique or park-specific merchandise, dominates the entire west side of the street. The Main Street Bakery (which is quite good for a cup of coffee or pastry in the morning, however very busy) and other food options line the rest of the street. Save yourself some time, go directly to your first attraction when entering the Magic Kingdom, and maybe consider visiting on your way out of the park.
• Underrated: Columbia Harbor House: Pecos Bills may have the most condiments, and Cosmic Ray’s may be the busiest, but Columbia Harbor House is hands down the best. The selection is a bit more limited than the Magic Kingdom’s other two large counter service restaurants, however it is usually tasty, quiet and quick. Honorable mention for Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station – on those rare times that it is actually open.
• Overrated: Table Service Restaurants in the Parks: There are very few table service restaurants that are within the confines of the 4 WDW theme parks that I can honestly recommend. Teppan Edo, Tokyo Dining Room, Biergarten Restaurant, and Le Cellier (if you can get a reservation) are all I really highly enjoy. I highly recommend the options outside of the park, including Boma and Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beaches and Cream at Yacht Club Resort, The Wave and California Grill at the Contemporary Resort, and Raglan Road at Pleasure Island.
• Underrated: Non-thrill rides: Some of the best rides in the parks are the ones with shorter lines, great theming, and a shot at some real rest and relaxation. After all, this is a vacation, right? Tommorowland Transit Authority is the model ride for this in the Magic Kingdom. Universe of Energy at Epcot is a fantastic ride for air conditioning and short waits. Great Movie Ride is probably the closest thing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch gets the nod here at Animal Kingdom.
• Overrated: Disney’s Hollywood Studios: While this park has it’s fans and websites dedicated to it (Hi, Matt Hochberg!), I find it to be my least favorite. This park can be done easily in half a day – we hit Rock’n'Roller Coaster, Great Movie Ride, Toy Story Mania, Muppetvision 3-D, Star Tours, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, had PhotoPass pictures taken, and had lunch in our first 4 hours there. Add in that this was while baby swapping and during the first day of Star Wars Weekends, and it should be indicative of the size of this park. The dining options here are easily below the quality and variety of other parks. The only reason to stay late for this park is Fantasmic, and that is if you are there on a day it is being performed and don’t mind standing in line for an hour or more to get into a showing.
• Underrated: Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Interestingly, many of the same fans of DHS (Hi, Matt Hochberg!) find Animal Kingdom to be a half-day park. While Animal Kingdom does close earlier than other parks – typically at 5:00pm – it is meticulously themed, with attention to detail not seen in any other theme park in Orlando, or possibly the United States. The park is light on classic Disney rides – there’s only one true dark ride – however there is so much to explore here. Treks through trails full of exotic animals. Broadway-quality shows for the entire family. Great food, especially at the Yak and Yeti counter service restaurant. It’s great to spend some time at Dawa Bar and Tusker House. We had no problem getting there at rope drop and staying until the park was closed, and loved every minute of it!

So, there we go. Let me know what you think in the comments!

So, I thought I would give my two cents about the Disney attractions or restaurants that are either underrated or extremely overrated.  The opinions expressed below do not reflect the opinions of all contributors of this blog, only mine.  My husband and I have definitely had some heated discussions about this…

1. Overrated: Mickey’s Toontown Fair.  You want to meet Minnie, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy?  Don’t go here.  In my humble opinion your time would be better spent elsewhere.  Now I see the arguments now, “I have kids who have to meet Mickey, I have no choice.”  Well you do.  First of all, you have to wait in separate lines to see the characters at Toontown.  I much prefer the character pavilion at Epcot.  You get in one line and in an orderly fashion you get to meet all the characters in one shot.  You’re in and out.  Or consider a character breakfast.  Pick the breakfast with the characters your kids most want to meet and get that out of the way at breakfast.  Now that I’ve saved you 2+ hours of life you’ll have otherwise never gotten back, you can go ride Space Mountain again.
2. Underrated: Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.  I didn’t think it was that bad!  It was crowded — extremely crowded, but the food wasn’t horrible as I’ve previously read by other Disney enthusiasts.  In fact, the Greek salad I had there was the best on property.  Also, considering how busy they were, we got our food FAST.  They definitely have their work flow down pat.  And the entertainment, aka Sonny Eclipse, was cute…although I did think maybe they could have used that area for extra seating.
3. Overrated: All the restaurants in World Showcase.  I’m sorry…maybe it is because I live in Atlanta and the restaurants here are fabulous or because I’ve visited many other countries, but the food at World Showcase just is ok.  I think the only restaurant that deserves mention is Tokyo Dining at Japan. The sushi bar is truly an authentic experience.  I also enjoy a brat at the counter service restaurant in Germany.  Literally every other place I’ve eaten has just been mediocre.  Mexico – come on – EVERYONE has eaten decent Mexican food.  Don’t waste your money.  Although they do get an A+ for atmosphere.  Chefs De France?  I was tres disappointed.  The French onion was good but really, Ruby Tuesday also makes a “good” French onion.  The German buffet was ok– not great, but ok.  I also enjoy the pastries at the counter service restaurant in France, but I’ve had better baked goods at Publix.  Granted, I haven’t tried all the restaurants and I do have it on my list to try Morocco and Le Cellier.  I just can’t bring myself to try the Chinese restaurant or Italian. Call me a food snob, I just call it how I see it.
4. Overrated: Boardwalk Resort.  Why is this resort so expensive?  It is definitely well appointed and nicely themed but I just wasn’t overly impressed and would opt to stay at another resort of the same class.   Boardwalk itself, is eh.  There is a couple of clubs, A Disney store, a restraunt or two but no counter service.  Where do I fill my mug at?  The pool is cool with the amusement park theme…I don’t know.  I just think it’s eh.  I think it’s the fact that there is no counter service.  It really bothers me!
5. Underrated: Goofy Candy Company Sweet and Sour Character candy.  I actually don’t know if these are underrated but I friggin’ love this candy!  I buy them the instant we get to the parks and eat them until I’m sick.  They are like sweet tarts but they crumble easily and are just delicious!  I wish I could buy them at home.  Boo.

What do you think?  What areas of Disney do you think are overrated or underrated?  Feel free to disagree with any of my assessments, I love a great debate!