USA Today: Break out the butter beer, muggles: Universal's Islands of Adventures, powered by last year's debut of the wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter, earned the top spot in the 2011 Theme Park Insider reader poll. The website's annual awards are presented to the highest rated theme park, new attraction, table-service restaurant and on-site hotel, based on average reader ratings over the past 12 months. Islands of Adventure nabbed the best theme park award for the second time in a row; runners up were Busch Gardens Tampa and Disney California Adventure, which has lagged in earlier rankings but is in the midst of a $1 billion-plus makeover.
The Force was with Disney this year, as Theme Park Insider readers voted Star Tours: The Adventures Continue at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios as best new theme park attraction of 2011 by a wide margin. (Coasters were also popular, with Busch Gardens Tampa's new Cheetah Hunt and Texas Giant, the reconstruction of Six Flags Over Texas' classic wooden coaster, earning nods.)
Walt Disney World Epcot's Bistro De Paris was named best theme park restaurant for the second year in a row, with runners-up including longtime reader favorite Mythos at Universal's Islands of Adventure and a newcomer, Epcot's Via Napoli.
Three hotels earned kudos for being within walking distance of their respective parks: Disney's Grand Californian Hotel at the Disneyland Resort was named best on-site theme park hotel, with Universal's Portofino Bay Resort and Disney's Beach Club Resort coming in second and third.
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