Deciding between Disneyland and Disney World

[Auroraborealis18]

Hi! I'm so happy to be back on the Disboards. There's a promotion for 3 days and up for Disneyland. It's such a good deal. I'm trying to swing cheap flights and I want a decent hotel that won't break the bank. However, Disney World is my favorite.

I'm working with a budget, like most of us. Can someone help me work out which is actually the better deal? I'm coming from nyc and going around March 24th. I find the relaxed planning refreshing with Disneyland. The rides and attractions we loved, are closed or being refurbished. Like the Tomorrowland Speedway, the trains and a few others. Star Wars won't be there until later in the year.

 

[kymom99]

Look into Howard Johnson. It’s where we stayed. It was a good deal and not a bad walk. They used to give a discount through mousesavers

 

[HeatherC]

I would much rather fly to FL on a 2 1/2 hour flight instead of taking two days out of my vacation to get all the way to and from CA.

Plus, there is sooo much more to see and do at DW.

If I were already going to CA then I would DL, but DW always wins in my book.

Have a great time wherever you decide!

 

[dclpluto]

I’m from south jersey. Disneyland is nice I have dvc points at Disneyland and also at wdw. The only way I will go to Disneyland if I was doing something else out there. Two times it was for a cruise when dcl left from la. Next time this year we are going to Disneyland 5 nights than on to aulani.
There is no way I will do Disneyland just to do Disneyland.

 

[JKalai]

Apples and oranges. Disneyland does certain things better than WDW, and vice versa. ME and SO love going around both parks and comparing the differences.

You will have a blast no matter what park you visit. One thing to be sure is to grab a maxpass if you do visit Disneyland because that service is nothing sort of amazing. We went the weekend before Christmas and almost rode every ride in both parks.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Going from NYC in March, I would say WDW simply because by that point you will be heartily sick of the cold NY winter weather and the warmth of FL will be very welcome. Anaheim will be significantly cooler.

 

[focusondisney]

I don’t know how we could tell you which is a “better deal”. Especially since we don’t know what prices you are looking at for airfare, hotels or tickets. We go to WDW at least once a year. But we also love DL & do fly from Buffalo just to go there. But we only go to DL every 4 years or so. Our decision is based on how long it has been since we were there & how much we want to go back rather than the deal we get.

So my questions would be how long has it been since you were at either one? How much time do you have to invest in travel? What is the airfare to either one & how do the flight schedules look to you?

 

[tvguy]

I can't speak for air fare costs, but there are SOOOO many more inexpensive motel options at Disneyland that are closer to the park than anything to WDW. The Motel 6 in Anaheim is 2 1/2 miles from the main gate and costs $86 a night.

 

[Auroraborealis18]

Look into Howard Johnson. It’s where we stayed. It was a good deal and not a bad walk. They used to give a discount through mousesavers

I was going towards them but they're full for our dates.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I personally like Disneyland better than Disney World, but keep that quiet. Just seems more nostalgic and we really like the California Adventure park. We stay at Hilton properties either a long walk or short ride to the parks with costs in the low 100's range. That includes breakfast, but it seems like food at DL is a bit cheaper than DW.

On the flip side, there is nothing else for us to see as we've made 3 trips to DL. We really do not like LA and Hollywood was the biggest disappointment we've ever had at a travel destination. Last trip we drove to San Diego for the day and LOVED it.

With RunDisney stopping races our trips out west are likely gone for awhile. For flying, we have very few direct flight choices from here(LEX, CVG, SDF) to LAX. We decided that if we were laying over anywhere, we would fly into John Wayne airport instead. That made a HUGE difference in travel times to DL. We are able to work a full day, hit our flight, and land near DL on the same day. Coming back we take a 7-8:00 AM flight, which lands us around 5:00-6:00 PM EST.

My guess from NYC is from a true cost standpoint, the flight will be cheaper to Florida. Hotel costs will vary based on where you want to stay. Crowds are likely going to be larger in Florida as colleges are on spring break around that time. It's probably not enough of a monetary difference to matter either way, is the time difference worth the extra flight time needed?

 

[FCDub]

Disneyland actually feels like a vacation to me. So much less overwhelming than WDW.

 

[tvguy]

Disneyland actually feels like a vacation to me. So much less overwhelming than WDW.

Yeah, WDW was a lot more work, and down time getting from the hotel to the parks was lost time. Glad we went once to WDW, we were there in June 2017 and stayed at the Grand Floridian, but we went back to Disneyland in September, and stayed at the Grand California. It took us less than 5 minutes to get from our room to CA, and less than 10 minutes to DL.

 

[disneycat321]

Well, I live in CA, and I'd choose WDW. It's my favorite. I've been to DLR many, many times, and I love it - I guess it'll always be home to me - but WDW is the destination. There's so much there and it's more magical. Plus, I love that Disney bubble, which is harder to stay inside at DLR.

However, if you have any desire to visit DLR, now's the time to do it. I am really apprehensive about what SWGE is going to do to Disneyland. I think it's going to have a much worse impact than at WDW, one that will last a couple years at least.

I don't know much about hotels near DLR since we've always stayed with family now that we aren't local, but if you post on the DLR board, they can help!

 

[DisMommyTX]

How long can you stay? DL is a great 3-4 day trip, which doesn't seem long enough to travel that far, but perfect if that's all the time you have. At WDW we need at least 4 days, but anything less than 7 feels rushed. So, WDW for a week or DL for a weekend. DL is definitely cheaper for us, but mostly because of length of stay.

 

[MomToOne]

Check out Getawaytoday.com for DL hotels. They often have pay-for-3/4-nights, get one free deals on many of them.

 

[wide awake]

We live in CA and DL is a big yawn. Seems like an expensive day trip, more in line to going to Six Flags or something. Also...hate the food options. Now WDW on the other hand...staying on-site, Magic Express, Free Dining...that is truly a vacation in my mind.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Live in CA & grew up going to DLR so it’s where my heart is WDW has a lot to do but it’s SO inconvenient!

To find the better deal you will have to price out each trip. Tickets, hotels, airfare, transportation. Save yourself a rental car in DLR by getting a hotel where the parks are walkable but remember your rideshare cost from SNA, LGB or LAX. Search each hotel you’re considering on the DLR Forum and you’ll probably find info on them. If you don’t see anything recent for specific hotels just ask.

ETA: There is also something to be said for your favorite rides being running at DL but keep in mind this March at DL Fantasmic is down, WOC *might* be back open (“late 2018” return has passed) & the Castle will be under scrims. More returns could be added to that list anywhere from now to a week prior to your arrival. F&W CA Adventure will be running (1/3 size of EP F&W but FYI I find the prices higher), no menus or activity info has been released yet.

OH- and Disneyland has MaxPass ($10/day/person) which is awesome & I encourage you to budget for at least 2 days of that. Pull any FP you want from your phone every 90 mins!

 

[Teal03]

Well I plan on going to Cali flying cross country just for Disneyland but I hope some day I can experience other parts of the state eventually. Especially LA and San Diego. The hotels on WDW and Orlando in general are cheaper and look much safer than the ones I see for DLR and Anaheim.

 

[kymom99]

We spent 2 days at DL as part of a trip to San Diego. I really enjoyed it. But I would agree that I wouldn’t consider it a vacation in itself. We flew into San Diego and drove immediately to Anaheim. We stayed there 3 nights. Then we returned to SD for a week, staying at the island palms on shelter island. You wouldn’t have to stay a week in SD for it to be worthwhile. We saw a lot but relaxed some too. Some if the things we did were: USS Midway, SD Zoo, Safari park, Cabrillo national monument and Point Loma lighthouse, took a bike tour in La Jolla, julien CA which is an old mining town famous for their apple orchards, and Belmont amusement park to ride the Big Dipper. It was one of my favorite vacations of all.

 

[kathy884]

My son and I who are HUGE Disney fans always wanted to go to Disneyland and planned a week long trip LA/Anaheim. We did some Hollywood/LA stuff and then spend three nights in Anaheim. We did both Disneyland and the California Adventure park. We loved the Disneyland park -- actually liked it even more than the Magic Kingdom, and we liked staying at a good neighbor hotel that we could walk to. California Adventure was cute and fun to see, but we like the other Orlando Disney parks better than that one.

All that said it is so much cheaper and easier for us to get to Orlando, there is more to do in Orlando, and even though the Disneyland original park was our favorite park ever, the Magic Kingdom is really similar. Plus getting a rental car and driving in LA traffic while we did fine was not all that much fun. I would never tell someone not to go to Disneyland, but for us it was a one and done place to check off and Orlando is our go to place for a quick easy and inexpensive by comparison Disney fix.

We do have a future California trip planned, but that is to see the big sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park and check out Yosemite too (flying in and out of Frisco).