In love with Disneyland... would I hate WDW?

[gillep]

We are CA residents, who are passholders at both WDW and DLR, and although we really enjoy both we prefer WDW for a variety of reasons. That said, there are things we much prefer about DL, including MP, which is far superior to FP+. I think that if you go into it with a good attitude and open mind, and if there are things that you are really looking forward to, you will still find the Disney magic.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

I don’t think you’ll hate WDW. I grew up on the east coast and went to WDW twice as a kid. Loved it of course. When I moved to the west coast as an adult and went to DL for the first time, I was shocked how tiny it felt and how odd that it was in the middle of a city. But I love DL and it’s my fave of the 2. I like WDW too and especially the rides they don’t have at DL. But for me, the planning that’s involved with WDW for Dining and fastpasses is not fun. I’m not the most organized person and far from OCD, so planning out meals months in advance is crazy to me. DL is charming and has a more casual vibe. Less planning is a huge plus to me. But WDW does have its perks, more parks, more to do, different rides.

 

[MIALIAS]

Folks you have to stop...

Excluding weather WDW is far superior in every way.

Take it easy. It’s okay.
Understand Walt learned from all his mistakes he made at DL and improved upon them with WDW. Doing it the way he really wanted to...

It’s a world not a land. Simple.
Disney “land” is great.
Disney “World” is better.

 

[HydroGuy]

Folks you have to stop...

Excluding weather WDW is far superior in every way.

Take it easy. It’s okay.
Understand Walt learned from all his mistakes he made at DL and improved upon them with WDW. Doing it the way he really wanted to...

It’s a world not a land. Simple.
Disney “land” is great.
Disney “World” is better.

I am always skeptical of simple answers. If you want simple, Walt Disney personally built and oversaw Disneyland. He had an apartment there. He slept there. Many times. He died well before MK was completed. And before construction ever began. He never saw WDW. Disneyland is the only true Disney park. That is simple if you want simple.

So, we can easily conclude that Disneyland California is superior to whatever was built in Florida after he died. Or can we?

Walt Disney had the gift of storytelling and a desire to share that with the world. The magic behind his storytelling now transcends California and Florida.

IMO true Disney fans seek that out wherever it can be found.

 

[rkstocke5609]

OK — I have been to WDW 10 times and then went to California. Stayed at VGC and fell in love with Disneyland & CA. Now partly this was caused by overdosing on WDW (3 trips, 19 days in 10 months). We loved California so much we returned the following year and loved it again. 13 major attractions across 2 parks within walking distance as opposed to 14 major attractions across 4 parks is one reason to love DL & CA — easier on the feet. But, there are other pluses about WDW. I love AK Park. It is the most beautiful theme park I have ever seen. The castle at MK is far superior. The monorail is a necessary part of transportation, not a ride (its much bigger, you stand in it). Having said that, the details in the rides are superior in California with the exception of Splash Mountain which is better at MK. There are also 2 water parks at WDW, Disney Springs is great also. Then there are special shows like the Luau, Hoop de Doo, & Backyard BBQ.

I am concerned about my return to WDW this March because we loved Disneyland so much, but we look forward to returning to Wilderness Lodge. Both spots have lots to love but remember they are different, enjoy the journey of each independently. Hope this helps, you should definitely give it a try — but keep in mind here are still things I haven’t done in WDW, you won’t see it all in one trip, let alone ten.

 

[Mysteryincorp]

Thanks all. I just loved Disneyland so much. Like literally cried multiple times haha. It’s so much money that I would hate to not love something as much. Know what I mean? We live in Iowa so both take planning and saving to achieve.

We are actually headed to universal Orlando in 2018, but I’m a totally Harry Potter nerd and I’ve been there before and know what to expect there.

I love Disneyland too and I totally understand shedding a few tears. I get a feeling when I walk down Main Street....nostalgia, pixie dust, seeing a place I grew up loving through my daughters eyes. It’s my happy place and I’m really good at navigating, I know the ins and outs. Soooooo WDW was super fun but it just wasn’t the same. Was it lacking the nostalgia, was it because I wasn’t as adept at navigating the park, I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great trip, we even took a second trip but the magic just isn’t there for me.
BUT it is still a great place to vacation and I would absolutely plan another trip.
Now....Im also a HP fan. We also went to US this last trip and experienced WWoHP for the first time. Now that was magical for me! I got the same feels there as I do when I walk down Main Street at Disneyland! I didn’t want to leave!!!

 

[Vala]

I find myself in a lot of these replies.

I've done WDW and DLR back to back for my fall trip this year. 2 WDW trips and have been coming over from Germany to Disneyland for over 10 years now.

It's unlikely you are going to hate WDW. Yes, it's different. Some aspects I could definitely do without. The distances are enormous. The drunk people at Epcot. The Avatar stampede. The fact that you rarely found any roaming characters. But that's not enough reason to hate the whole place.

Other things I loved. The variety of restaurants. The amount of character meets. You can actually get FP+ for some character meets. The Magic Bands - I was actually trying to scan my watch for entry for almost a week after I left Florida.

They have more room in Florida, so they can add more things. But that ends up in certain "variations." I think it was in the WDW Restaurant section here were I saw a topic "how many Italian Restaurants does WDW need." Bigger doesn't always mean better, and things get repetetive.

WDW was fun. I will go back when I can, but I am in no rush. After a week there this trip I texted one of my West Coast friends: "I am ready to come home."

Disneyland is home for me. Not WDW, not Disneyland Paris. I smile when I even see the first billboard coming from the airport. I love it that there's almost without exception a character meeting on Town Square when I walk in. I love it that on occasion a character or a Cast Member will remember me. And the new Maxpass is a really cool feature in my eyes, better than FP+. But I don't think it would be doable in WDW - too large and too much pressure on the Wifi.

Years ago during the D23 Expo a friend of mine was in a store with her son and wanted to buy a pin for me. There was a series of Mickey with the parks' different castles. She had grabbed the Paris one. He saw, asked her why she had got that one and she told him because Paris "was my home park" He shook his head "no", took the pin from her hand and said: "She wouldn't be caught dead calling Paris her home park. She needs this one." And he grabbed the Disneyland pin. How right he was...

 

[Frozen2014]

I had the opposite question. I had been to WDW and absolutely loved it...such magic. I am a planner though so liked the months in advance research and planning.

We decided to try Disneyland since we were travelling end of the summer and preferred CA weather over Florida weather. I did wonder though how I would find Dinseyland. I didn't like the sound of Legacy FastPass (we decided to come before MaxPass started) with having to walk to the ride to get a Fastpass, only to return later. And I didn't know if the DL parks would seem small. Well, I LOVED Disneyland too...don't even know which I like better. Both are amazing for different reasons (but yet both have the wonderful similarities too).

And yes the FastPass system is different, and all have advantages. I have to say that I love MaxPass. It was really efficient and helped us avoid long standby lines for the headliners. But FastPass+ is nice too as you already have 3 FastPasses booked per day even before you enter the park.

 

[Susie63]

We did a back to back trip last year. DL is closer for us to visit, but we wanted to check out the World. For us it was one and done. It was okay but we would not spend thousands of dollars to go again. I just didn't find any magic there. WDW seemed very commercial to me. I love to sit and watch people and at DL I see so many magic moments,where characters pop out of nowhere and engage little kids. That is magic for the kids and their parents. The dining and advance fp were an issue for us. I don't know what I want to eat tonight, let alone planning six months in advance. I did try to make reservations for Beauty and Beast at 180 but there were no available times....ever... for 5 days. At thirty days out there were no fp's available for any of the headliners.
Transportation was the biggest pain in the butt and why does every monorail car smell like a urinal. Is that a humidity thing?
I loved AK. We all did. Expedition Everest is my favorite roller coaster. Epcot was not fun.
Anyway...just my 2 cents. I am glad we went. It made me appreciate DL even more.

 

[GatorChris]

One thing you'll for sure love at WDW is that each park has a nighttime spectacular every night of the year (barring refurbs). It's not just weekends or all summer/Christmas vacation days. It's every single day. So after a fantastic day at the park, you finish it with a grand finale'. And on top of that, they don't get cancelled for "high winds". We were there in the middle of a huge tropical system....got soaked. But....the fireworks went on without a hiccup.

One thing you'll really love, if you stay onsite, is the Disney Bubble. I never get the feeling at DL that I do at WDW. It's because you're on Disney property the entire trip. No cheap hotels. No chain restaurants. No busy streets to cross full of people going to work. You are completely removed from the real world. It's a magical feeling that you'll love.

 

[tlcdoula]

I love both, of course they are different and WDW requires much more planning but I am a planner and love to plan. I actually find that when we go to DL I miss the planning (I know weird)

We have only been to WDW twice both were over Labour Day weekend, weather was hot and humid but we knew that going and just worked with it.

I think we all need to try both parks, we are planning on going back to WDW in 2 years, don't be intimidated with WDW I know the fast pass system is different but you can make changes while you are in the parks. There is so much help on these boards to help you plan.

 

[katyringo]

Thanks everybody! It’s hard to commit to WDW after having loved Disneyland soooo much and knowing we will love it spending that much money.

I think we might try But WDW when kids are older and we don’t have to haul a stroller everywhere.

 

[Haley R]

Thanks all. I just loved Disneyland so much. Like literally cried multiple times haha. It’s so much money that I would hate to not love something as much. Know what I mean? We live in Iowa so both take planning and saving to achieve.

We are actually headed to universal Orlando in 2018, but I’m a totally Harry Potter nerd and I’ve been there before and know what to expect there.

We live in Iowa also and I absolutely love dw. I’ve never been to Disneyland (we just started thinking about taking our first trip). I love booking my dining and FPs ahead of time because I think it’s fun to make a schedule and score hard-to-get reservations. It’s almost thrilling to me. Two years ago we did universal and dw in one trip and haven’t been back to universal since. We felt more at home at Disney and love the Disney bubble. I would say definitely give it a chance and there are some cheap flights if you go through frontier.

 

[Spintopbeach]

We’ve gone to wdw 6 times, stayed in best hotels there and Disneyland blew me away. We went because we hated the fast pass plus and would have been happy with legacy fast pass, then they roll out max pass and we love love loved it. Most of the best rides at wdw are at dL and they also have rsr which is one of best rides ever. Loved gog version over tot. Loved walking out of my hotel (dgc) to the theme park. Loved not having to wait as crowded monorail goes past us at monorail resort hotels because there’s no room. Loved not having to wait on monorail because it’s broken. My favorite thing was probably not having to endure jam packed buses where if we’re lucky enough to get a seat, we have someone’s butt in our face for ride back to hotel. Loved the people. Loved the service. Loved everything. Wdw is much closer to us but we don’t care. We’re going back again in October. Did I mention that I loved it?!

 

[chickapin parterre]

We’ve gone to wdw 6 times, stayed in best hotels there and Disneyland blew me away. We went because we hated the fast pass plus and would have been happy with legacy fast pass, then they roll out max pass and we love love loved it. Most of the best rides at wdw are at dL and they also have rsr which is one of best rides ever. Loved gog version over tot. Loved walking out of my hotel (dgc) to the theme park. Loved not having to wait as crowded monorail goes past us at monorail resort hotels because there’s no room. Loved not having to wait on monorail because it’s broken. My favorite thing was probably not having to endure jam packed buses where if we’re lucky enough to get a seat, we have someone’s butt in our face for ride back to hotel. Loved the people. Loved the service. Loved everything. Wdw is much closer to us but we don’t care. We’re going back again in October. Did I mention that I loved it?!

Why is RSR the best ride ever from your perspective?..........I am looking forward to the correct answer!!!!!

 

[Haley R]

We’ve gone to wdw 6 times, stayed in best hotels there and Disneyland blew me away. We went because we hated the fast pass plus and would have been happy with legacy fast pass, then they roll out max pass and we love love loved it. Most of the best rides at wdw are at dL and they also have rsr which is one of best rides ever. Loved gog version over tot. Loved walking out of my hotel (dgc) to the theme park. Loved not having to wait as crowded monorail goes past us at monorail resort hotels because there’s no room. Loved not having to wait on monorail because it’s broken. My favorite thing was probably not having to endure jam packed buses where if we’re lucky enough to get a seat, we have someone’s butt in our face for ride back to hotel. Loved the people. Loved the service. Loved everything. Wdw is much closer to us but we don’t care. We’re going back again in October. Did I mention that I loved it?!

I’m very excited to experience cars land for the first time. Rsr looks great! Is it similar to test track or no?

 

[chickapin parterre]

RSR is 100% immersive, from beginning to end the story is present.....in a 100% caddliac range.....100% Disney

 

[katyringo]

RSR blew me away. I have a video of my sons face as we are driving through the canyons and it’s pure magic.

 

[Malcon10t]

Folks you have to stop...

Excluding weather WDW is far superior in every way.

Take it easy. It’s okay.
Understand Walt learned from all his mistakes he made at DL and improved upon them with WDW. Doing it the way he really wanted to...

It’s a world not a land. Simple.
Disney “land” is great.
Disney “World” is better.

In your opinion. Walt never set foot in WDW, he died while they were still purchasing land. While I enjoyed the park, I didn't feel the love. I don't feel it is better. I feel they are 2 separate, very different theme parks. I enjoyed our trip, and while it may not be a one and done for me, it is going to be 5-8 years at least before I go back.

I’m very excited to experience cars land for the first time. Rsr looks great! Is it similar to test track or no?

Very similar, but different!

 

[Malcon10t]

One thing you'll really love, if you stay onsite, is the Disney Bubble. I never get the feeling at DL that I do at WDW. It's because you're on Disney property the entire trip. No cheap hotels. No chain restaurants. No busy streets to cross full of people going to work. You are completely removed from the real world. It's a magical feeling that you'll love.

Never found this "Disney Bubble" you love. Stayed the first few nights of our visit in a Grand Villa at Kidani. Loved waking up to see giraffes and zebras, but the bubble burst on the 2.5 hour wait for a bus to Epcot. After a few nights there, we spent the remaining 8 nights at Bay Lakes. Loved the hotel, still didn't like the 30 mins on a monorail to get to Epcot, or an hour to get to Animal Kingdom, or the time to get to Hollywood, and Disney Springs. I'm glad you prefer WDW, but I really can't see it. I will take my walk back to the Candy Cane Inn, Hilton, or DLH any day.