This thread is mainly for those who have been to both DLR and WDW. I grew up in California and went to DLR pretty regularly as a kid and currently hold the annual passport and still go about once a month. My bf and I took our first trip to WDW recently and stayed at POP for 2 weeks. We spent a total of 9 days exploring ALL the WDW parks.
Here are the things I like better about WDW:
EPCOT: my science geek bf actually enjoyed the attractions there much better than any other park. He has a hard time getting into the fantasy genre of DLR. Also Epcot has way better restaurants for foodies in terms of both quality and diversity of ethnic food. The showcases were interesting as well. Bigger; more stuff to do on site. Better if you're planning a long vacation where you stay in property for a week or longer.
Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain are both better at WDW.
More variety of shows given that there are more parks.
Animal Kingdom is worth it just for the Safari ride and we did it multiple times and got different animal sightings each time (although if you're an animal/nature buff, you can still make a side trip to San Diego Zoo from Disneyland which IMO is way better than Animal Kingdom but you DO have to drive about 2 hours).
Park Hopping can be hectic but still provides a lot more choice and variety within the same day. For example, after we had seen all 7 parks, we'd mix and match like spending the morning at Animal Kingdom, head to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon, and Epcot for nice dinner.
Only park I really didn't like was Disney Quest; even my gaming geek bf wanted to leave after an hour so we ended up walking through Downtown Disney instead.
More variety of on site resorts including bargain prices. Although you are pretty much locked on Disney Property unless you rent a car and dedicate an entire day to going on another outing).
Here are the things I like better about DLR:
Much easier to navigate; can hop easily between the two parks without having to wait for a bus for 20 minutes or walk to a parking lot and drive. Can walk back and fourth multiple times and easy to leave the park for meals and come back to the resort there are several restaurants within a short drive (or even walk) off of Disney property. You are not locked on property at all. For those who don't want to drive, there are still options to take an airport shuttle to a hotel within WALKING distance of DLR and get from your hotel to DLR and back in less time than it takes to catch a shuttle bus between WDW parks.
Fantasyland is way better in terms of layout and I strongly prefer the originals (Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie The Pooh, to the replicates at WDW.
While WDW has way more rides and attractions that DLR doesn't have, here are a few rides that are unique and special to DLR.
California Screaming
Cars Land (Radiator Springs is better than its twin Test Track)
Aladdin- A Musical Spectacular- I liked it better than Beauty and the Beast at Hollywood Studios as there is some hidden humor in the Aladdin show geared towards adults.
Storybook Land Canal Boat Rides
DLR is MUCH less crowded on weekdays during the off season. WDW was still quite crowded at certain parks even on weekdays in mid-September. Lot of foreign visitors, homeschoolers, and childless travelers, and people pulling their kids out of school for vacation. DLR is mostly locals with some from other parts of the West Coast making long weekend trips.
The weather is WAY better in Southern California in the summer and fall. Hardly ever rains at all and not as humid. Even in winter, it's predictable in the sense you know what days it's going to be sunny and when it's going to rain. At WDW, weather is a wild card each day. We got into the line at Space Mountain and it was perfectly sunny and actually very hot and we came out 40 minutes later to a torrential downpour. We still got wet through our ponchos and even though was warm out, we got cold when going into the AC buildings all wet so we had to take a bus back to the hotel to change. Crazy stuff. Although I hear that the weather in winter is better in Florida.
To sum it up, I really like both and will continue to be a regular at DLR and will probably take another trip to WDW in a few years. Both have their pros and cons but I'd say DLR is better for a shorter trip (4 days or less and if you stay longer, there's plenty to do in Southern California OFF of Disney property). WDW better for longer trips of a week or more and you can be perfectly entertained without even leaving Disney Property.
Please post you what like personally better about each park.
Here are the things I like better about WDW:
EPCOT: my science geek bf actually enjoyed the attractions there much better than any other park. He has a hard time getting into the fantasy genre of DLR. Also Epcot has way better restaurants for foodies in terms of both quality and diversity of ethnic food. The showcases were interesting as well. Bigger; more stuff to do on site. Better if you're planning a long vacation where you stay in property for a week or longer.
Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain are both better at WDW.
More variety of shows given that there are more parks.
Animal Kingdom is worth it just for the Safari ride and we did it multiple times and got different animal sightings each time (although if you're an animal/nature buff, you can still make a side trip to San Diego Zoo from Disneyland which IMO is way better than Animal Kingdom but you DO have to drive about 2 hours).
Park Hopping can be hectic but still provides a lot more choice and variety within the same day. For example, after we had seen all 7 parks, we'd mix and match like spending the morning at Animal Kingdom, head to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon, and Epcot for nice dinner.
Only park I really didn't like was Disney Quest; even my gaming geek bf wanted to leave after an hour so we ended up walking through Downtown Disney instead.
More variety of on site resorts including bargain prices. Although you are pretty much locked on Disney Property unless you rent a car and dedicate an entire day to going on another outing).
Here are the things I like better about DLR:
Much easier to navigate; can hop easily between the two parks without having to wait for a bus for 20 minutes or walk to a parking lot and drive. Can walk back and fourth multiple times and easy to leave the park for meals and come back to the resort there are several restaurants within a short drive (or even walk) off of Disney property. You are not locked on property at all. For those who don't want to drive, there are still options to take an airport shuttle to a hotel within WALKING distance of DLR and get from your hotel to DLR and back in less time than it takes to catch a shuttle bus between WDW parks.
Fantasyland is way better in terms of layout and I strongly prefer the originals (Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie The Pooh, to the replicates at WDW.
While WDW has way more rides and attractions that DLR doesn't have, here are a few rides that are unique and special to DLR.
California Screaming
Cars Land (Radiator Springs is better than its twin Test Track)
Aladdin- A Musical Spectacular- I liked it better than Beauty and the Beast at Hollywood Studios as there is some hidden humor in the Aladdin show geared towards adults.
Storybook Land Canal Boat Rides
DLR is MUCH less crowded on weekdays during the off season. WDW was still quite crowded at certain parks even on weekdays in mid-September. Lot of foreign visitors, homeschoolers, and childless travelers, and people pulling their kids out of school for vacation. DLR is mostly locals with some from other parts of the West Coast making long weekend trips.
The weather is WAY better in Southern California in the summer and fall. Hardly ever rains at all and not as humid. Even in winter, it's predictable in the sense you know what days it's going to be sunny and when it's going to rain. At WDW, weather is a wild card each day. We got into the line at Space Mountain and it was perfectly sunny and actually very hot and we came out 40 minutes later to a torrential downpour. We still got wet through our ponchos and even though was warm out, we got cold when going into the AC buildings all wet so we had to take a bus back to the hotel to change. Crazy stuff. Although I hear that the weather in winter is better in Florida.
To sum it up, I really like both and will continue to be a regular at DLR and will probably take another trip to WDW in a few years. Both have their pros and cons but I'd say DLR is better for a shorter trip (4 days or less and if you stay longer, there's plenty to do in Southern California OFF of Disney property). WDW better for longer trips of a week or more and you can be perfectly entertained without even leaving Disney Property.
Please post you what like personally better about each park.
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You can easily go to the hotels for meals if you are at MK. You just come out, get on the monorail, and go to one of the resorts. Food is much better than at MK (although Poly has been a construction zone.) For AK, we like to go over to Animal Kingdom Lodge and get dinner there. It's about a five minute bus ride. You can also go to other resorts for dinner. For DHS, if you don't want to stay for Fantasmic, it's pretty easy to get over to Epcot for dinner, or you can go to one of the Epcot resorts for dinner. For me, being locked on property is part of the experience. We rarely go off property as we fly and do not rent a car. In 2009, we did some SoCal stuff outside of Disney. In 2013, we went to Hawaii after DL, so we basically stayed at DL.