Disney World vs Disneyland question.

[mom2rtk]

OP, we live in the middle of the country. WDW was our home park for some time. Once FP rolled out, we headed west and haven't looked back. My 15 year old daughter LOVES Disneyland. She loves the history of it. She loves the charm of it. She's still working at getting over the puny castle thing though.

I wouldn't wait for Star Wars land to open though. My personal feeling is that those crowds will really take away from the experience.

 

[westie55]

I love WDW. I grew up going there, I still love it as an adult. This spring, I headed west to DL for the first time. Incidentally, it was also my first trip as a mom. I fell in love with DL, but it didn't take any of my love away from WDW. I love them both for what they are! They have similarities for sure, but there are plenty differences to make them unique experiences. It was great to be able to experience all new things at DL when I thought I'd seen and done it all at WDW! To any Disney fan, you MUST try both!! I definitely intend to return to both parks in the future. Since I live much closer to WDW, I will probably go there more often, but honestly I loved DL so much that might not be the case if it weren't 3x as far away!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We are a WDW family but we made our first trip to Disneyland last October - and I have to say that it confirmed for us that we really are a WDW family

It was very cool to be in Disneyland and see the light on in Walt's apartment but we found it unbearably crowded and with the tighter streets it just took so long to get from one attraction to another and was a chore that we didn't have time to take in the details.

It's definitely something great to do at least once and there were some strong positives - Cars Land is awesome, some of the attractions that are in both are much better in DLR and the food (especially counter service) was great. But there is no EPCOT, there is no Animal Kingdom, and there are no theaters for the night time shows so logistics of getting into and out of viewing areas for WOC and Fantasmic! is a nightmare. I also found the character meets to be a challenge as they would leave for breaks and then come back to not the exact same spot and people swarm them and you would lose your place in line, etc.

Don't get me wrong, we really enjoyed Disneyland and you do appreciate some of the uniqueness of it and to walk where Walt walked is amazing, but it also made us appreciate what is great about WDW

 

[85glht]

I really want to take a trip to Disneyland someday. I just always go to Disney World. Mainly because it's closer and I love Florida.

My one fear of Disneyland is I'm worried about how it might change my view of Disney World.

For those of you that have made the jumps (either FL to CA or CA to FL) did it change how you felt about your "home" park?

When we finally planned on going to the west coast to visit where it all started, everyone who had been there before said that we wouldn't like it, it is smaller that the World, blah, blah blah..etc. Well, we still decided to go despite all these negative comments. So we went with low expectations so as to not be too dissappointed when we entered the parks. Well, I tell you what, the only thing that everyone was right about, was that Disneyland is smaller than the Magic Kingdom... That was it!
We found that there was more attention to detail at all the attractions. MOST of all the special effects WORKED in all the attractions (can't say that at the World). The food is WAY better in Cali than Florida. Also, we found that some characters actually mingled with the crowds. For example, waiting in the queue for the Star Wars ride, some Storm troopers came in through the queue stopping and taking photos with the guests.
These are just some of the things we noticed while visiting. Oh, and Cars Land.... It is perfect. Felt like we were in the movie.

We stayed at a hotel near the resort. Made sure they offered free parking and we rented a car from the airport... Flew in and out of John Wayne airport. It is a little closer to Disneyland. Also with a car you have freedom to visit other tourist attractions in the area.... Plenty to see!

 

[Angel Ariel]

I really want to take a trip to Disneyland someday. I just always go to Disney World. Mainly because it's closer and I love Florida.

My one fear of Disneyland is I'm worried about how it might change my view of Disney World.

For those of you that have made the jumps (either FL to CA or CA to FL) did it change how you felt about your "home" park?

I consider my home park to be DLR. It's where my first memories of Disney are from. I still love WDW - I love both parks. The fact that they are such entirely different experiences makes it easy to love them both while not taking anything away from my "home" park at all. I love them both, for completely different reasons, but DLR will always be my home park

ETA: So I guess the short way of answering your question is, no, visiting (and loving) WDW hasn't affected my love for DLR at all

 

[Angel Ariel]

I'm sorry I have to be that person but WDW Space Mt is SO much better

Have you been on the new Hyperspace Mountain they have at DLR? The Star Wars overlay works so incredibly well in that ride! And the John Williams soundtrack playing from the speakers behind your head as you ride? Absolutely. Awesome.

 

[Angel Ariel]

No home park here. One of the noticeable things about traveling to DL is that you do not need to spend a week there---three days max should do it. It is much, much smaller than DW. .

It's true that you don't *need* to spend a week there, but it's also very easy TO spend a week there. DLR is smaller, but there's just about as many rides in their 2 parks as WDW has in their 4. We spent 4 full days at DLR last year (with 1 partial evening entry), and we didn't get to everything we wanted to (didn't even really spend a lot of time in DCA..maybe 1 day at DCA all told?). And it wasn't that lines were long or anything (we didn't wait long for most things), but there's just a *ton* to experience!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I grew up going to DL (before there was a DCA). I love both DLR and WDW, but once I started going to WDW, there's been no comparison. I would rather spend a day at DLR than do almost anything else, but I'd rather spend the day at WDW than at DLR hands down.

DLR is a park I'd spend maybe three days at as part of a larger CA trip (although I really dislike CA). WDW is a resort destination - I can happily spend weeks there without ever leaving the property. Aside from all the rides, I love that there is so much more do to at WDW (the water parks, golfing, exploring resorts,...), and how it really does feel like it's own 'world'.

I do think DLR is worth seeing, especially for things like Cars Land that WDW doesn't have. It's also kind of fun noting the differences between ride versions - POTC is better at DLR, but TOT is vastly superior at WDW. I do think that overall, DLR is really lacking in their queue theming, since they don't have the same interactive elements WDW does. (For instance, the majority of the POTC queue was through a rope line, seemed jumbled, and almost like an afterthought.)

Especially after going to WDW, I feel like the "real world" being so close to DLR is kind of jarring. I HATE kitsch, so none of the tacky hotels/motels, or much else right outside DLR, is appealing. We went to DLR in March (DH had a work trip so the family tagged along), and there were multiple homeless people digging through the trash along the street right outside the parks. That's not something you see at WDW. I'm also not a fan of crossing busy streets while pushing kids in strollers.

I also felt like finding a decent hotel at DLR was a chore (much more time consuming than, and not nearly as fun as, making ADRs and FP+), since so many seemed like dives. I can pretty much choose any WDW resort and know I won't be put off, but many of the hotels in Anaheim just grossed me out. And actually, we couldn't find a decent place for a reasonable price for our family size, and we ended up spending more for a crappy offsite hotel than we did to stay at a moderate at WDW last year. Two of the three DLR owned hotels look ok (obviously the GC being the nicest, even tho it's not the aesthetic I'd prefer), but they are ridiculously expensive.

I didn't really notice any differences in food quality between WDW and DLR this last year. But we also don't tend to go for the typical quick service hamburger/chicken finger/pizza options. Maybe it was because of the time of year (around spring breaks), but we did wait in ridiculous quick service lines at DLR. I've seen bad lines at WDW, and sometimes had a hard time finding seating, but I waited over half an hour just to get water at DLR.

DH and I also both noted how small everything at DLR feels. The walkways are narrow, the queues seem compacted, the rides are squished together... I personally prefer having things spread out a bit more, and don't mind the extra walking.

I think you'll have fun whichever park you go to. To me they're just different vacations; WDW is Disney-centric with maybe a couple days of other attractions thrown in, whereas DLR is CA-centric with a few days of Disney.

 

[BrianL]

Don't worry, DLR is great, but it won't color your view of WDW. It's great in different ways, and that is a good thing. I find DLR to be a little less "grand" maybe. The castle is smaller (heck, everything's smaller), and you don't get the "bubble" effect quite as much. It does have a more classic feel though and a lot of rides that aren't at WDW. I like to spot the little differences between rides that area ta both parks too. DLR is definitely worth going to.

Now, if you don't want to spoiled for either WDW or DLR, stay away from Tokyo Disney. Now THAT will color your expectations!

 

[Angel Ariel]

I also felt like finding a decent hotel at DLR was a chore (much more time consuming than, and not nearly as fun as, making ADRs and FP+), since so many seemed like dives. I can pretty much choose any WDW resort and know I won't be put off, but many of the hotels in Anaheim just grossed me out. And actually, we couldn't find a decent place for a reasonable price for our family size, and we ended up spending more for a crappy offsite hotel than we did to stay at a moderate at WDW last year. Two of the three DLR owned hotels look ok (obviously the GC being the nicest, even tho it's not the aesthetic I'd prefer), but they are ridiculously expensive.

If you ever do go back to DLR, I suggest checking out the reviews of good neighbor hotels that the DIS Unplugged: Disneyland podcast team has been doing. Tom stays in the hotels, then gives a review that covers basically everything you can think of that you might want to know.

For us, we stay at the Tropicana Inn. It's nothing fancy, but the room has always been clean, the beds are comfortable, the service we've gotten there has always been great (even over the phone service leading up to arrival), and it's right at the intersection where you cross to walk through security into the Esplanade. It's about a 5 min walk from the turnstiles to our room. Plus, the rates (when we've gone) have been less than $120/night. Like I said, it's nothing fancy...but it isn't a dive

Many of the hotels on Harbor are not anything to look at, but many (if not most) of them are clean and well-run.

 

[magical nugget]

No, they aren't.

The word is that in the process of making their fastpass system electronic, but that does not involve magic bands. Nothing has happened yet except a few tests of using electronic bar codes for fastpass returns.

Oh thanks, it's confusing now since I associate fp+ with magic bands now

 

[gatorlisa]

Florida born and raised, now live in Georgia, so WDW would be my home park. Just spent 5 days at Disneyland last month (had been one other time, but was only for a day, so didn't get a good feel for things that time). Visiting Disneyland did not really affect the way I feel about WDW. I still love WDW, but I also really love DLR as well. DLR resort is like a throwback to a simpler time when you really could just wake up and say "where do we want to go today?". I really really liked that aspect. Our Disney trips tend to be long weekends every year or two and they are not planned out months or years in advance, so I liked knowing we could do and see most things without having to schedule our days. We enjoyed it so much that we are thinking that maybe every third or fourth trip to "Disney" will be to Land instead of World from now on, even though it is a much longer trip.

Highlights from my recent trip:
Having a Dole Whip while sitting in the Enchanted Tiki Room
Carsland - everything about it...just amazing... I am afraid that Test Track is going to seem extremely lame now that I've ridden Radiator Springs Racers
Hyperspace Mountain - I'm in agreement with others who say the DL version of Space is better, and the Star Wars overlay was awesome. Space is generally a once per trip thing for me at MK these days, I rode it 4 times at DL
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - man do I miss this ride!
Fantasyland - so charming. MK is down to one remaining old school dark ride. DL still has all of them. I liked that. I like a thrill ride as much as the next person, but I also enjoy the charm of the original dark rides.
Autopia - this seemed so much more fun than Tomorrowland Speedway. The track seemed a lot longer with more interesting scenery.
Characters everywhere, out on sidewalks in plain view, with mostly short lines (again, a throwback to a more simple time)
Oswald - got my picture with him twice - totally fun interaction with him - my new favorite character
California Adventure - I think this is a very underrated park. I could spend several days just there and be perfectly happy. Lots of fun stuff to see and do at this park.
The compactness of things - the two parks are a football field apart, across the esplanade. Security is before you enter the esplanade, so no need to go through security every time you park hop. Park hopping was so easy.

A few things I couldn't help but compare to WDW:
The castle - I remember my first trip to DL, when we came through the tunnel and came around the circle on Main Street, looking up and thinking "that's the castle?!?" It's so much smaller! I do love Cinderella Castle. But Sleeping Beauty Castle also has its own special charm.
Splash Mountain - this is one I think is so much better at WDW. It feels longer there, the scenes are more detailed to me there, and I like our two-wide logs better than their single-file logs.
Haunted Mansion - I like MK's better. A good portion of it is exactly the same, but there are a few extra details in MK that I like (though we don't have the hatbox ghost and he's pretty cool). I also like the upgrades they have made in MK to the hitchhiking ghosts. And I am so glad that MK does not do the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay like DL. My first trip was in October, so was there during the overlay and I hated it! But I also love the Haunted Mansion and don't care for the movie, so it felt like they had totally ruined a perfect ride to me.
Small World - while different, the rides themselves I consider a draw...neither better than the other. However, the DL ride exterior is much much cooler than the MK version. We watched the fireworks back there at DL and thought the projections on the SW exterior were very cool.
Tower of Terror - I've ridden this in 3 parks (FL, Paris, California). Florida's is far and away the best. The 5th dimension scene, the random drop sequence, the queue, everything about it is just better than the rest. Still a really fun ride no matter where you go, but Florida's will always be the best in my opinion.

 

[KittyKitty]

I go to WDW every year, even tho I live in Seattle, but about 2 years ago I decided to go to Disneyland. I hadn't been there for 7 years or so. I just loved it. My favorite part was getting lost and having to use the map. Been many years since I've done that. Also I went on "Walk in Walt's footsteps" tour and admit to crying a tear in his apartment. Carsland has the best ride, Radiator Springs. I went when the "Nightmare before Xmas" overlay was up. I had my mouth opened in awe all thru the Haunted Mansion ride!

I liked that I could stay at a non Disney hotel within walking distance and cost much less. There was a small mall I could walk to get dinner.

WDW is still my go to place, like being in the Disney bubble, but Disneyland is wonderful in it's own way.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

If you ever do go back to DLR, I suggest checking out the reviews of good neighbor hotels that the DIS Unplugged: Disneyland podcast team has been doing. Tom stays in the hotels, then gives a review that covers basically everything you can think of that you might want to know.

For us, we stay at the Tropicana Inn. It's nothing fancy, but the room has always been clean, the beds are comfortable, the service we've gotten there has always been great (even over the phone service leading up to arrival), and it's right at the intersection where you cross to walk through security into the Esplanade. It's about a 5 min walk from the turnstiles to our room. Plus, the rates (when we've gone) have been less than $120/night. Like I said, it's nothing fancy...but it isn't a dive

Many of the hotels on Harbor are not anything to look at, but many (if not most) of them are clean and well-run.

Thanks. I checked out hotels on here, as well as a multitude of other sites. Asked people I know, looked at pictures, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I was satisfied with at a decent price. Also, most of the rooms I found were for a max of four people. Any more than that, and the price jumped. All of the hotels within a 10 min walk to DLR were $250+ a night (plus parking), and we spent less than $150 (after discount) to stay at a WDW moderate less than a year earlier. Day-for-day, DLR cost us quite a bite more than WDW.

I'm sure we'll go back to DLR, especially since I'd like my parents to see Cars Land (and my moms been going to DLR since it opened - she remembers seeing Walt there), but we'll probably just bite the bullet and stay at the GC. (Though spending $500+ per night for a hotel I'm not jazzed about really pains me.)

 

[magical nugget]

Have you been on the new Hyperspace Mountain they have at DLR? The Star Wars overlay works so incredibly well in that ride! And the John Williams soundtrack playing from the speakers behind your head as you ride? Absolutely. Awesome.

I wish I could experience that but unfortunately I went last year and probably won't be going back for awhile(who knew traveling cross country was expensive lol). My problem with the original Space Mt in DL is there was more build up/anticipation than an actual trill ride/coaster, if that makes sense lol (still gave me goose bumps though)

 

[Angel Ariel]

Thanks. I checked out hotels on here, as well as a multitude of other sites. Asked people I know, looked at pictures, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I was satisfied with at a decent price. Also, most of the rooms I found were for a max of four people. Any more than that, and the price jumped. All of the hotels within a 10 min walk to DLR were $250+ a night (plus parking), and we spent less than $150 (after discount) to stay at a WDW moderate less than a year earlier. Day-for-day, DLR cost is quite a bite more than WDW.

I'm sure we'll go back to DLR, especially since I'd like my parents to see Cars Land (and my moms been going to DLR since it opened - she remembers seeing Walt there), but we'll probably just bite the bullet and stay at the GC. (Though spending $500+ per night for a hotel I'm not jazzed about really pains me.)

I wasn't trying to imply that you didn't do your research - sorry if it came across that way. I've just found those podcasts to be very helpful (and usually come with many pictures to see for yourself also). i know I have heard them talk about hotel rooms that fit more than 4 (though I can't speak to their price point).

As to the bolded - I don't doubt that that was true for you on your trip, but in our experience that isn't a universal truth. Our hotel costs are less at DLR (though, as you pointed out, we fit into a room for 4), we don't eat at as many TS places at DLR (because their CS has so many better offerings), and the ticket cost is significantly less at DLR.

What usually makes it more expensive for us, coming from the east coast, is flights. Even that, though, this year won't be a huge increase. We managed to find flights on Southwest that, roundtrip, are appx $850 total for the 3 of us to fly cross country. We're saving about $300 on the flight this year compared to what we spent on the same flights (same time period) last year. All in all, last year (and I expect this year), we didn't spend any more to go out to DLR than we would have to go to WDW.

 

[BrianL]

On the Space Mountain debate, I like the WDW one better because it is bigger and has better theming. The "Star Tunnel" line queue (and the music) really make it. From a purely ride system POV, DL is technically better (whereas WDW is the Matterhorn), but other than the lift hill with the projection tunnel, I find the rest of the ride more bland than the WDW counterpart.

 

[Flipper]

After many trips to WDW we went to DLR this past winter and I have to say I absolutely loved it. We live on the east coast so for us it is not a destination vacation, but we visited on our California trip. WDW is still a destination vacation for us. Cars Land in not to be missed. We stayed on Harbor and loved the quick walk to the park and park hopping between the two parks was so easy. While expensive to do, if you are in the LA area and have a free day buying a one day park hopper, having a good plan and staying open to close, you will be able to do a great deal of attractions in both parks. I wish we could have stayed longer!

 

[yngsj]

DL is my home park since I lived 40 years in WA and the last 4 years in Vegas. I love both but it's easier for me to go on smaller trips to DL than fly 5 hours to FL and deal with a 3 hour time change. I prefer DL and CA over HS and MK but LOVE Epcot and AK. I also enjoy staying on property at WDW but feel no need to stay at a DL hotel. I will continue to visit both.

 

[magical nugget]

I think we can all agree that Cars Land is one of the best themed lands Disney has ever built