Disneyland or Disney World?

[bds613]

We are currently in the process of planning a Disney vacation during the middle of July (14th - 21st) and can't decide between Disneyland and Disney World. We have been to Disney World many times, with our last trip being about 8 years ago, but have never been to Disneyland. Should we give Disneyland a try? Or will it be disappointing compared to Disney World?

 

[Geemo]

Oh you are a New Member.

Take in to consideration the opening of StarWarsLand. This will increase the volume in Disneyland for sure.
Most of the lower AP's are blocked so that will help a little.


If you do decide to go to DL you should be making your room reservations real soon.
Either way you'll be enjoying Disney.

G

 

[chickapin parterre]

there are currently two threads that can help you with that decision just a few clicks down this page.....SWGE in the summer? and WDW vs Dl from the perspective of visitors who have never left WDW for a first time visit to Disneyland

The only way we can truly help you with your vision request is the same way a professional helps me with my new vision....One or Two?....is One better than Two?.....two or one?....I have to provide information in order for the ophthalmologist to give me a better vision choice.

folks are friendly here and have a vast range of experience to help you with the choice.....those folks just need some information about your Disney style........because that waiting room at the ophthalmologist has many choices of frame references.

 

[Zooey]

When in doubt, do both.

 

[MooseBucks]

We did DL recently for the first time after always being told it’s not as big or as magical (I did feel that way a bit) but we had an amazing time! DL needs to be done at least once. You can’t really go wrong IMO though one trip to DL is enough for us for now since it’s so much further BUT we hope to go back at some point.

 

[gottalovepluto]

This 4th of July WDW. Just because 1-2 weeks after the most anticipated land/rides ever open at Disneyland sounds like a recipe for an awful first trip to the Land.

 

[DWillowBay]

You have to realize that though they were 'birthed' by the same father, they are completely different entities. If you approach them in a "compare and contrast" mode, you will ruin the experience. They are fully different with a few similarities that only serve to confuse the matter. Both are wonderful in their own right and you will enjoy both, but not in the same ways. I have been to WDW more than 30 times and to DL at least 20. I don't go to one hoping it is more like the other. I truly enjoy each one's own personality.

 

[wdwfan22]

You have to realize that though they were 'birthed' by the same father, they are completely different entities. If you approach them in a "compare and contrast" mode, you will ruin the experience. They are fully different with a few similarities that only serve to confuse the matter. Both are wonderful in their own right and you will enjoy both, but not in the same ways. I have been to WDW more than 30 times and to DL at least 20. I don't go to one hoping it is more like the other. I truly enjoy each one's own personality.

This!!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Some threads to give you good food for thought:
A DLR Guide for WDW Vets
Are you going to DLR this summer or skipping it due to SWGE crowds? I can't decide!
WDW and DL.... your thoughts!
Article about SWGE

Whichever trip you choose, have a great time!

 

[McNs]

When in doubt, do both.

This is what we do, but then we do come from New Zealand so not that much of an extra hop!

If you are desperate to do Galaxy's Edge, then for sure Disneyland. It will likely be wall to wall people so not the best introduction to the resort. If you can leave that for another visit, then WDW may be a better option.

Both really need to be experienced, I love how it is a mix of same but different, some aspects better in one, others better in the other. Both are magical. Disneyland was our first park so my heart is with that one, but you really can't go wrong with either.

 

[finchy3]

We are from the UK and hands down it's DL where our heart belongs.

 

[bds613]

Thanks for all of your help! We decided on WDW because of the large crowds of SWGE in Disneyland.

 

[tarheelalum]

Go to the park Walt built. Disney World is just a port over.

 

[cdatkins]

WDW vet here. Read my latest trip report to DLR: [URL="https://www.disboards.com/threads/dlr-trip-report-november-1-6-aka-how-dlr-became-our-favorite-disney-destination.3349143/"]DLR Trip Report: November 1-6 (aka how DLR became our favorite Disney destination!)[/URL]

And - as others have mentioned - SW:GE will be open if you visit DLR this summer.

You won't regret it!

 

[SorcererPanda]

I find WDW vs DL to very much be due to personal preference and favorites. Our family and friends have been pretty split between the two.

Personally, I love the WOC dessert party and Radiator Springs/Cars land - but WDW still prevails.

The first time we went to DL was during summer; We found the crowds to be too much and the staff all seemed tired and grumpy. Our experience felt much less "magical". The second time we went to DL, it was during off season and we had a much better experience. I can't imagine how much worse it'd be with Galaxy's Edge crowds in the summer.

 

[Pookie9922]

I think it all depends on what your focus/goal is for your trip.

Background on me - I'm a DLR AP vet with 3 kids for many years (although not recently due to a move) and recently did a WDW (5 days in the parks) trip in November. We loved our trip to WDW and even though it was supposed to be one-and-done, I daily dream about going back. But I think the fact that we've always had APs for DLR really affected our experience with our WDW trip, in that in made it hard to compare well. A day visit at DLR is vastly different from a vacation/trip. So my enjoyment of our WDW trip was greater because of the whole planning and vacation aspect.

$$ Disneyland is definitely a better bang for your buck. All the best of WDW without a bunch of filler rides. You can easily do everything in the DLR parks in 2-3 days. When you get down to the details of the rides, I feel like DLR is the best abridged version of WDW, if that makes sense. Like WDW has so much more just because it has 4 parks, but just about everything that is worth doing they have at DLR or something similar. (With the exception of FOP of course!)

For example,
Big Thunder, Star Tours, Little Mermaid, Soarin', etc. are all identical. Queue's might be different but no one pays that much wanting to stand in line.
Both have Space Mountain. They're similar but DLR's is better.
DLR as Matterhorn, WDW has Everest. Matterhorn is good, Everest is better.
Both have Buzz Lightyear. WDW's is awful!!! (Can I put more !!! on this??)
DLR has Incredicoaster, WDW has RockNRollercoaster. Loved them both.
DLR has Radiator Springs, WDW has Test Track. Loved them both.
WDW has 7DMT. Which I felt was a little kids' Big Thunder. It was cute, but we wouldn't go back just for that. Probably wouldn't ride it again if we do go back.

We'd have a hard time justifying going back to WDW when everything that DLR doesn't have felt like filler (with the exception of Frozen and FOP - those were both good and unique)
Land of the Living - I liked it but I was the only one in my family that did. I wouldn't go back for it though.
Zoo aspect of AK was nice, but not as good as a real zoo, which are plentiful and cheaper.
Spaceship Earth - Was awfully boring
Epcot World Showcase - My kids and I enjoyed it, my husband was unimpressed, except for some of the food. Wouldn't make a trip just for it, but would visit again if we go again.

DLR has a lot that WDW doesn't, so if you've never been to DLR, there are definitely new things to see - like Cars Land (which is so well done and so fun), Toon Town and all the rides of Pixar Pier. DCA has the Artist Studio class on site (which my kids love - we had to go to the Art of Animation resort for that).

Performance shows - I'd say WDW is better, just because there are more option. But the shows DLR has are wonderful. We don't normally do shows, so that wasn't a huge draw for us.

Night shows - Gotta give this to DLR. DLR's fireworks shows have always been great. And World of Color is awesome. HEA at WDW was amazing, we didn't get to the see the DHS's firework show, but the other 2 were very very lacking. World of Color is heads above better than the AK's Rivers of Light and it's a good thing they're changing Illuminations at EP cuz that was so boring.

If food is important, WDW blows DLR out of the water. I think the food was our favorite part of our WDW trip. The options in the park are so much better, both TS and QS. But we've never really planned our meals at DLR - our trips to DLR were more ride focused and WDW was more experience oriented. We do love the options at Downtown Disney and the proximity makes it easy to hop over for a meal. But usually we stay in park and grab a quick meal and go on another ride.

Weather - CA has FL beat 100 times over. Never a bad day in Southern California. There's no need to schedule "rest hours" because you're about to pass out from the heat. Which makes the trip even more economical, cuz you're not paying Disney to let you sleep! And if you have spare time on your trip, you're less than 40 minutes from great beaches. Or great mountains, or great deserts. We have it all.

Planning FPs ahead of time at WDW was great but it seemed like it made all the lines so much worse. Nothing was more frustrating that getting to the front, only to watch 30 FPs go in front of you! The fact that Winnie the Pooh had any kind of line had to be because there are FPs for it. We've never waited at DLR. The FPs at DLR work great, if you get there early even better. I haven't been since you can pay for the MaxPass but that seems like a great addition. No more sending the hubby running around like crazy to get FPs.

So all in all, my opinion is that if you've never done DLR, you should. It's different enough that you will enjoy it. It's definitely a cheaper trip in that you don't need as many days to see it all. The atmosphere and the magical feeling of being at Disney is great wherever you go!

Hope that helps!

 

[maltdizzy]

For those who spend as much time in the park as possible, riding rides, as possible, DLR is king. The two DLR parks have more rides than all four WDW parks combined, and fit them into a space the size of Epcot. CL may ruin the MK for some (it did for us). And, yet, many of those rides are longer or better than their WDW counterparts (but not all).

However, just riding rides is not making the most out of what WDW offers. WDW is much more of a vacation resort, offering more dining, nightclubs, fishing, golf course, water parks, shopping, more resort-based activities, and a much more diverse park selection overall. These are things DLR does not offer, at least not in the same abundance.

DL is a hands down favorite for my family, but we go to both. I think WDW's water parks is a big plus for my kid.

For the OP, if you spend most of your time in the parks, especially the MK, and the theme parks are the bulk of your WDW vacation you'll probably love DLR (I compare DL to what the MK used to be before the nightmare of ADRs and FP+ and before Main Street USA became just a shopping mall). And if history buffs, DL is truly a piece a piece of "living history" for those who bulk up of the trivia.Plus, the on-site hotels are pretty compatible to many WDW hotels. But if you used to spending a lot of time outside of the parks, you may run out of activities quickly.

 

[DisneyHusker]

We did Disney World as a Disneymoon last year. When we were looking for a way to use our PTO later in the year, we decided why not go try Disneyland. So we did both parks within about 6 months of each other.
I am in love with Disneyland now and probably wouldn't want to go back to Disney World for a while ..maybe years.. my DH would say the opposite he loves Disney World more. It's very hard to pick it's like choosing a favorite child, right?
But this is what I like about Disneyland vs World.

1) Hotels. At DL, you can book a hotel right across the street and walk. On the other hand, Disney World has pretty much set themselves up to where you need to stay on property to have an above decent experience.
2) Commitment. The amount of time you need to stay in Orlando vs Anaheim. There's 4 parks at DW so there's 5 days right there if you don't go to a park on your arrival day, that's expensive. At DL, you could do a 2 or 3 day trip to Cali no problem and still have an amazing time and get a lot done. Also, planning. I planned our Disney World trip day in and day out to get what we wanted. Fast Passes, dining ressies. I had to wake up at 6 am one day to book them. Not easy. Disney Land we just walked in and started our day.
3) Food. While Disney World has an amazing SELECTION of food, I would say that interferes with the QUALITY of food. More is not better. At Disneyland I think everything we ate was amazing. There's nothing we had for food at Disneyland that I can say was bad. Disney World, while we had good food, there was nothing that makes my mouth water. Even the Dole Whip tasted better in Disneyland.
4) Space. Disney World has so much more space to work with which might be nice but everything is spread out. Florida is a literal swamp & walking far is 10x harder. My DH got Disney Rash maybe on day 2 so for the rest of the trip he was not comfortable. Disneyland is so tiny, you could fit it in your pocket. Everything is right next to each other so we could rope drop & get everything we wanted done by 1 pm, walk to the bus depot, walk back to our hotel from Toy Story parking lot, cross the street to our hotel (~20 minutes to do this), and take a nap. We'd come back later at night when the wait times dropped and do it all over again. For example, we rode Big Thunder maybe 10 times when were at DL compared to our 1 time with our Fast Pass at DW. Also, the buses in DW are terrible. You have to wait for the buses to load full of screaming kids and tired people every day, not fun.
5) Weather. I mean that's what California is known for is the weather. Flordia always seems to have a downpour in the middle of the day or all day but you can't be sure because it's so random. It's hot in FL and it's MUGGY. California's weather was just perfect not too hot, not too cold & it never rained.
*All in all I wouldn't say one's better than the other. I would say that FL is more of a once every 4 years park and Disneyland is way easier to do and doesn't feel like a marathon nightmare. Disney world is IMPRESSIVE, I mean it's a show stopper. Go to either and it will be fun.

 

[Lane308]

In July? California over Florida all day long. (I despise extreme heat/humidity and love California summers!)

 

[cjbcam]

I took my family to DL this January for the first time ever. All I heard the whole time was Disney World is way better.
My kids also said too bad the incredicoaster and cars land wasn’t at Disney World.
So for us we like Disney World better. I’m glad we tried Disneyland once though.