Disneyland vs. Disney World- name things you like better about each park`

[cheezbat]

Walt Disney World...Tower of Terror is way better, much larger resort, and the water parks!
Disneyland...way better Space Mountain and Pirates, Indiana Jones Adventure, and a second gate almost as good as the original!

 

[Chef Mickey]

Not seeing how so many people say Space Mountain is better at DL. The WDW is far superior to me. It's much more thrilling...not as smooth, but everything else is positive. I much prefer the single rider setup and still think WDW version is darker.

Dare I say, the DL has cheesy audio and much prefer WDW's sound effects and no in ride audio.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

The biggest issue I have with people and these comparisons are that not everyone has been to both. Don't tell me Disneyland is better if you never bothered going to WDW. And don't tell me Disneyland is inferior if you've never gone to the west coast to check it out. Do you have everything figured out just by watching a movie trailer? Nope. You watch the actual movie.

That being said, I never get sick of comparing these two parks with the people who have been to both. It's a hobby of mine as well.

Look, both parks have their pluses and negatives. WDW is bigger, more parks, more variety, etc. More time to spend if you want. You'll never run out of things to do even if you are there 10 days. That's a huge plus, huge.

Disneyland means you should have some other options in Southern California to make up a week. However, Disneyland is the best individual park of all of them. It trumps Magic Kingdom. In fact, DCA is 3rd in between all 6 Disney parks (DL and WDW) in my opinion. It is a great, great park.

You will miss things at either park. You'll miss Country Bear Jamboree and Carousel of Progress if you are in DL. But you'll be glad there is Mr. Toad, Casey Jr., Alice, Pinocchio and others there. On top of a much better Fantasyland you've got Toontown, one that was better than Magic Kingdom's in the first place. I don't need to try and sell Disneyland over Magic Kingdom. It's just a better park. But is the whole experience at DL better than WDW? Hmmm, that's a tough one, and I think the overall experience - family experience - is better at WDW.

But on the flip side Disneyland has more rides. Lots more. It is a little more charming, the theming is a bit better, and let's face it, Walt created it out of his own mind. You can still see that. Even a place like New Orleans Square, it's just wonderfully done.

You'll be happy at either place, but no Disney "fan" - if they want to call themselves that - should ever say "I don't want to go there" I like "my" park better. I know those people, and I chuckle at them. Seriously, don't miss the chance to go to both parks.

 

[fractal]

Disneyland - 1) Overall better attention to details 2) PotC - best dark ride ever.


WDW - The "bubble"

 

[JillC LI]

DL: Better quick service restaurants. Everything in both parks within walking distance. POTC. World of Color. CarsLand. Indiana Jones.

WDW: More parks with different feels and more to do (2 packed days in DL for the first time felt like just enough this past May). More resorts on property. RnRC. Closer to my home (although still a plane ride away).

 

[CamiCan]

I think you would prefer the winter unless you plan on doing the waterparks again. It's cooler and does not rain everyday, though you'll run the risk of being there during a coldspell. If you go in early January (so right after New Year's) you'll also get to see the ice decorations on the castle that make it stunningly gorgeous.

By that time, I'll have my teaching credential and hopefully my own classroom which means I'll have to go only when the school district that I'm working for is off. I know to avoid Christmas vacation at all costs due to the elbow to elbow crowds. Even president's week and spring break would be too crowded. The only option would really be fall break which is the second week of October here in Southern California (since not all schools have this and the ones who have different weeks throughout the U.S.). How are the crowds, weather, events, and prices in October? We would probably fly on a Friday night red-eye flight and fly back the Sunday before school resumes giving us 8 full days on property.

BTW- This time we went the second two weeks of September because of my college schedule (quarter system starts in late September) and with priority of avoiding summer and Christmas crowds. My bf is an engineer and can pretty much take his two weeks of vacation at anytime of the year as long as he puts in a request.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I was actually sort of surprised a bit with Disneyland. Before I went, I was told that half of the place is locals. This might be true, I didn't interview people while I was in line, but you know the truth, I really couldn't tell either way. No doubt there were tourists coming down to see Southern California and of course Disneyland is among the crown jewels down there. I think at WDW you might "notice" these people a bit more. But it didn't feel like I was surrounded at all by people who come here a few times a year and know what it's all about at Disneyland.

I'll say this, Disneyland utilizes its space better. There is no reason WDW couldn't have kept Toontown. They have land, even if it overlaps the train track a bit, big deal. Now I know they want to have a more open feel contrary to Disneyland, but they still could and add a few more rides to it while they're at it.

 

[TP2000]

I think it depends on what you are looking for, I did a rough count and:

DLR = 57 Rides (22 unique), 2 parades, 1 fireworks show, 2 spectaculars, and 3 major shows.
WDW = 61 Rides (26 unique), 2 parades, 2 fireworks shows, 1 spectacular, and 9 major shows.

It always surprises people who have only been to WDW to learn how many attractions/rides DLR has versus WDW. It doesn't help WDW's cause that they just closed the DHS Backlot Tram Tour without any announced replacement, thus killing a major attraction and leaving DHS with only five rides.

I came up with this slightly different tally:

DLR (Disneyland & DCA)
78 Attractions, 57 of which are rides. 2 parades, 1 fireworks show, 2 water spectaculars, 2 major live theater shows (Aladdin, Mickey & Magical Map).

WDW (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, DHS & DAK)
85 Attractions, 45 of which are rides. 2 parades, 2 fireworks shows, 2 water spectaculars, 4 major live theater shows (Finding Nemo, Lion King, Little Mermaid, B&TB).

@Vegas Disney Fan , you and I seem to stray wildly when it comes to the number of "rides" at WDW. I count 45 and you counted 61. Where do you get the extra 16 rides? Are you counting individual water slides at the WDW water parks?

Examples of non-ride "Attractions" I counted in my WDW tally include; Pangani River Trails, Maharaja Trek, Conservation Station exhibits, Disney Jr., American Idol, and every World Showcase pavilion that doesn't have a film or ride like Italy, Germany, Japan got counted as an attraction. Things like the Main Street Vehicles in Disneyland and Magic Kingdom got counted as one ride for each park, even though technically they are three separate rides; Omnibus, Fire Engine, Horseless Carriage.

There's a couple things that are hard to define and didn't get counted; like Mad T Party at DCA and Celebrate It! street party at Magic Kingdom. I suppose you could count each as a "street party" unique to their properties, but Mad T Party is a very different thing than Celebrate It! is.

Most tellingly, here's the tally of rides and E Tickets between Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park. And this is without a new ride for Magic Kingdom Park in sight, while Star Wars Land is heavily rumored for Disneyland by the end of the decade.

Disneyland Park
47 Attractions, 34 of which are rides, 11 of which are E Tickets. 1 parade, 1 fireworks show, 1 water spectacular, 1 major live theater show.

Magic Kingdom Park
35 Attractions, 25 of which are rides, 7 of which are E Tickets. 2 parades, 1 fireworks show.

 

[Thumper14]

My wife and I are planning, at some point in the near future, on going to DL and we have a few questions if you DL diehards don't mind answering. Thanks in advance.................
We usually go to WDW in Sept so we want to plan a trip to DL around 4-6 months after that. So......
Between Jan and March, when is the least crowded time to go without springbreakers and tour groups, etc?
Is there a meal plan like in WDW?
Is the Blue Bayou Restaurant worth it? Sounds like a good place.
What other restaurants are there and are most of them good?

One thing of note that I saw when I did some research is that.....as most people already know....I cannot believe the difference in price between the on property hotels vs the ones across the street. I REALLY wanted to stay at a DL hotel but when I saw the prices, my mouth dropped. I then saw the price for....I believe...a Best Western right across the street and breathed a sigh of relief and was thrilled at the price to stay there. Wow.

I love the Blue Bayou and yes it is totally worth it!
Dining at DLR is easy and there are lots of good places.
They are transfat free in DLR and the choices are healthier.
Burgers and fries are hard to come by.
My must eat is the hand dipped corndog at the Little Red Wagon on Main Street.
Flo's V8 has great desserts and coffee, we like to stop by there late in the evening and sit facing RSR.
The canyon comes alive at night and it is an all around great way to wrap up the day.
There is a Creole restaurant in Downtown Disney with a little café attached. You can get a bag of warm beignets there and they are amazing!

I have stayed off property and on.
I much prefer on property and it is so convenient and worth every penny!
The Paradise Pier hotel is nice and the cheapest hotel.
You can walk across the street and use the back entrance to DCA. You come out at the Grizzly River Run.
The Grand Californian is by far the BEST hotel, but can be pricey. But WOW what a hotel it is.
I have never regretted spending money to stay there.

Be prepared to be completely blown away by Carsland. Use the single rider line at RSR. That way you can likely race you other group members. It is worth any wait you have to endure. They sell snacks and beverages in the line. The rest of Carsland is awesome too. Bugsland is very cute to. I am an empty nester but still love to stroll through it every visit.

Thunder Mountain was recently updated, I have not been there to ride it since it reopened, but it is supposed to be great!

The one thing you will notice about DLR is that it is slower paced. Most of the visitors are locals with season passes. It is very common for them to give away left over fast passes and such to people in line. They still have the old paper FP. Do not wait in the hour long line for the RSR FP, it does not make too much sense. They are gone within an hour after opening and the lines are still manageable for RSR then.

 

[Thumper14]

People say they like WDW better because they feel more immersed in Disney. We stay at the Grand Californian when we go to DL and for a week I see absolutely nothing but Disney. I don't need to get on a bus, boat or car to get anywhere, in fact I can go an entire week without seeing a car. All I see for a week is the Grand Californian, Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney. Most of the time our hotel room overlooks California Adventure. It's hard to get much more immersed in Disney than that.
The real reason I like DL better is neither park has only four rides.

You cannot beat a stay at the Grand Californian for a relaxing 3-4 days at both parks. I love not having to worry about buses and boats.

 

[Thumper14]

Dl has the Monster Inc ride and I love the door room!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I kinda prefer Splash Mountain at Disneyland now. I was taken aback when I first experienced it, but it's really grown on me. I prefer the more traditional logs with single-file seating to the weird giant loafs of bread you ride in on the Magic Kingdom version. I enjoy the faster pace and the additional song number after Br'er Rabbit is captured. That's actually a glaring omission from Magic Kingdom's version. That one has a longer length, a slower pace, but if I had to describe why it isn't better for me...it's kinda like a director's cut of a film. So that's not to say that it improves on the original version. I actually feel Magic Kingdom's in comparison has more filler. Disneyland's interiors have more of a spooky dark ride quality. I'm going with Disneyland's!

 

[CamiCan]

I love the Blue Bayou and yes it is totally worth it!
Dining at DLR is easy and there are lots of good places.
They are transfat free in DLR and the choices are healthier.
Burgers and fries are hard to come by.
My must eat is the hand dipped corndog at the Little Red Wagon on Main Street.
Flo's V8 has great desserts and coffee, we like to stop by there late in the evening and sit facing RSR.
The canyon comes alive at night and it is an all around great way to wrap up the day.
There is a Creole restaurant in Downtown Disney with a little café attached. You can get a bag of warm beignets there and they are amazing!

I have stayed off property and on.
I much prefer on property and it is so convenient and worth every penny!
The Paradise Pier hotel is nice and the cheapest hotel.
You can walk across the street and use the back entrance to DCA. You come out at the Grizzly River Run.
The Grand Californian is by far the BEST hotel, but can be pricey. But WOW what a hotel it is.
I have never regretted spending money to stay there.
n.

I have never even seen the inside of a hotel at DLR; since I grew up in Southern California, it's always been a day trip. Yes; dining is a LOT easier since you don't have to make e f. Imagine our dismay (both of us are foodies) when we booked our WDW about a couple weeks ahead of time and found out that MOST OF THE GOOD EATERIES (recommended on here) were already reserved. We had to take the lesser popular ones and take them at odd times. We did enjoy much o tf the food at Epcot but often, we had to eat crappy Disney overpriced pizzas and burgers for the times we did not have reservations and to save money, we only had one sit down meal a day.