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

[SierraR]

I love how originial Disneyland is. Disney world is so cool but it is huge and I do like the somewhat compact feeling of Disneyland. It just makes it seem more authentic for me!

 

[CheshireCat12]

What I like about DL is how close it is to CA. It is literally walking distance. With WDW, I don't buy a park hopper because it takes too long to go from one park to another (unless you're going from MK to EPCOT). With DL, I always bought a park hopper.

As for DW, I like the queue area for Toy Story Mania better. I have no doubt that it is probably just as long as the CA version but, each time I went to it in California, I was exhausted before I even got on the ride. I think the difference is that the queue in CA folds and twists inside of itself. Thus, just when you thought you made progress, you are turned back around and not that far from where you were before. With Florida, the queue keeps moving forward so you can psychologically feel a sense of progress. Also, the queue in Florida has more to look at it. Thus, you can be distracted while waiting in line.

The queue for Space Mountain at DL is awful too...nothing to do, nothing to see, stuck out on the roof for a long time...

 

[StarWarsGirl]

The yeti may work on Matterhorn, but they could really use some seat cushions...would have vastly improved my impression of the ride

Yeah, I have an old back injury from a car accident, and I could definitely feel it when I was on Matterhorn. The only other time I can feel it is on the wooden rollercoasters at Hershey. While I still enjoyed it, I could only do it once or twice before my back would really start to hurt. Don't really have that problem on anything at WDW.

 

[CamiCan]

We did San Diego Zoo and loved it. I think Animal Kingdom has an edge just because it has actual rides. But then again, AK is a theme park and San Diego is a zoo, so apples and oranges basically. You can see that a lot of the design from AK came from San Diego Zoo.

Yep: I definitely noticed the similarities. I just meant for animal watching, SD zoo is better but obviously the rides make AK a unique experience. I did enjoy the Yeti Ride (like the Matterhorn in DL) and the Dinosaur Ride (Same track as the Indy Jones ride at DL but difference scenery) but the only ride we did more than once was the Safari ride. We did that about a total of 10 times and the line was never longer than 20 minutes! We also did some of the walk through trails as well.

You can walk from DHS to Epcot and vice versa. It's about a mile and takes around 30 minutes, but you can. 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.

We didn't book the trip til late August so we were limited in the number of reservations an a lot of the better stuff we gone. We did eat at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, 50s Prime Time Cafe at HS, Tony's Town Square Restaraunt at MK, and various ethnic restaurants at Epcot, but were unable to get some of the better stuff (such as the Cinderella Restaurant at MK) so we settled for the cafeteria breakfast at the POP and did a some quick service meals (even though the food was terrible and overpriced). We decided not to go to other hotels for meals just give us more in the parks. Next time, we will plan several months in advance and get a meal plan staying at moderate restaurant so we can have a fuller dining experience.

Where in Hawaii did you go? I've been to Honolulu and Kahana (Maui) and really enjoyed both.

Well, yes, it is Florida, but pretty much if you check the radar on your phone, you can see what weather is coming your way, but you have to keep a check on it. When clouds start piling up around you, that means it is going to storm, and it does storm pretty much every afternoon. I have to ask: when you saw that it was raining that hard, why did you try to walk through it? Yes it does rain, but it doesn't rain that hard for very long. Even if you were going to be late for an ADR or a FP, all you'd have to say is, "We got stuck because of the downpour." It's a valid excuse. Besides that, if there's a lot of lightning around, you shouldn't be walking around either. Yes, it is better in the winter. You pretty much won't see rain, and it is more predicatable, but your temperatures can also be funky. I went last January. In the nine days that I was there, it went from 70s to 80s to 40s and back up to 80s. We didn't see much rain, though. My parents went two weeks later and it was in the 50s and 60s the entire time.

Actually we had a FP to go on the Snow White Mine Train Ride right after Space Mountain so we tried to put on our ponchos and make a run for it but when we got there we were soaked and ride was temperorily shut down due to lightning (We didn't see ANY lightning but we heard thunder). Eventually rain let up and the sun came out and the ride reopened so we used our FP but then when we tried to go indoors we got cold in the AC so we went to the hotel and changed before coming back to MK for dinner. It was kind of amusing to us even if a bit inconvenient to see such heavy rain and it to still be hot outside.
/QUOTE]

Not as many locals come to WDW. It's a destination. September is still a really good time to go. But you'll still encounter parents with little kids, couples, and parents who homeschool or pull their children out. So...just more people

Yep: saw plenty of those. I just didn't think people would pull their kids out during the FIRST FEW weeks of school but I guess some do and some are homeschoolers as we saw way more families with school age kids than you'd ever see at DL on a September weekday. I noticed the difference between weekend crowds and weekday crowds was quite minimal while at DL it's huge, so it gives it away that a very small percentage of attendees are Orlando area locals.

Glad you had fun at DL and hope you continue to come back to Southern California every few years. If you want beach or pool weather, September and early October are way warmer than June here. Low on crowds until fall break too (second week of October for Southern California schools).

I would also happily visit WDW once a year for a longer period of time also but it's not within our budget and my bf being the one who's making the money said he'd go again in about 3 years. We are planning to visit New York City and Washington D.C. for our next big trip (hopefully next summer).

 

[StarWarsGirl]

The queue for Space Mountain at DL is awful too...nothing to do, nothing to see, stuck out on the roof for a long time...

I'm not really understanding this, "Space Mountain is so neglected at WDW" stuff. Other than the sound effects and the fact that it's probably due for a refurb, there is nothing really wrong with the WDW Space Mountain. I enjoy both versions of Space Mountain; DL's for the newer track and the awesome soundtrack and WDW's for the classic, nostalgic feel.

 

[ShoalFox]

Aerosmith is a mediocre ride after the launch and it's over before you know it. Screamin' is more bang for your buck and the wait time is generally shorter as well. Aerosmith has better theming by far, but Screamin' is the better coaster.

I feel like CS really only has three thrilling moments (launch, main drop, loop) and feels a lot slower. Whereas most of RnRC moves a lot faster and has more thrills overall (more drops, more turns, and more inversions).
Either way, I dearly love both rides.

 

[SCB502]

Roller coasters with inversions: RNRC beats California Screamin' by a mile

I say California Screaming beats RNRC by a mile. I live near Cedar Point and California Screamin is about as good as it gets. Sure there are better roller coasters but no inside roller coasters can compare.

 

[FettFan]

Disneyland = Walt's baby. It's got the original Pirates, original Haunted Mansion, and original Small World.

Magic Kingdom = The better Pirates queue, the better Haunted Mansion, and the bigger castle.

 

[CamiCan]

For me, California Screaming wins for thrills (and you can actually see more of where you're going!) and Aerosmith wins more for theming (more of a dark inside coaster kinda like Space Mountain).

But in general, both Disney Parks are rather weak in the thrill rides department. Disney is more about themed rides and shows. If you really want thrills there's Knottsberry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California and Universal Island of Adventures in Florida.

 

[FettFan]

Well, given that WDW was originally swamp and the hotels are located around Bay Lake, I would expect that unless you want to put the monorail underground, you're going to see, well, swamp.

"Everyone told me I was DAFT to build a castle in a swamp, but I built it all the same!"

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Yep: I definitely noticed the similarities. I just meant for animal watching, SD zoo is better but obviously the rides make AK a unique experience. I did enjoy the Yeti Ride (like the Matterhorn in DL) and the Dinosaur Ride (Same track as the Indy Jones ride at DL but difference scenery) but the only ride we did more than once was the Safari ride. We did that about a total of 10 times and the line was never longer than 20 minutes! We also did some of the walk through trails as well.

Safari's a really cool ride. Tip for whenever you make it back: try to hit it in the morning. You'll see more in one shot. Then in the afternoon the lines will go down. The nice thing about AK is that it's pretty much never crowded except during Christmas/New Year's. I'm surprised you only did Everest once; that line also tends to plummet in the afternoon.

We didn't book the trip til late August so we were limited in the number of reservations an a lot of the better stuff we gone. We did eat at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, 50s Prime Time Cafe at HS, Tony's Town Square Restaraunt at MK, and various ethnic restaurants at Epcot, but were unable to get some of the better stuff (such as the Cinderella Restaurant at MK) so we settled for the cafeteria breakfast at the POP and did a some quick service meals (even though the food was terrible and overpriced). We decided not to go to other hotels for meals just give us more in the parks. Next time, we will plan several months in advance and get a meal plan staying at moderate restaurant so we can have a fuller dining experience.

If you want a castle dining experience, the one to go for would be Be Our Guest, which is in the Beast's castle. You can pretty much only get it at 180 days out, but it's in the ballroom from Beauty and the Beast and is absolutely spectacular. While the food is not as good as what you would find over at Epcot, it's still very good and much better than at Cinderella Castle. If you get the dining plan, Cinderella Castle will cost 2 TS credits while BOG will only cost one. You should also try Kona over at Polynesian. Breakfast is absolutely wonderful (and reasonably priced surprisingly, so don't use a TS credit) and dinner is also very, very good. Much better than what you'll find at Tony's. You did get the good place over at DHS. Prime Time is one of our favorites. The other one that used to be okay but has gone back up in quality is SciFi. If you don't want to stay at DHS all day, you can try Cape May over at the Beach Club. It's a seafood buffet and it's very, very good. You can take the boat from DHS if you don't feel like walking. If you want to go from DHS to World Showcase for dinner, you can also take the boat. Epcot has two entrances: Main and International Gateway. International Gateway drops you in World Showcase in between France and UK. Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great one as well. Short bus ride from AK. A lot of times, what we'll do for dinner after AK is go to one of the resorts or go to Epcot. One thing we did like better at DL was that the QS options for breakfast in the park were better. Loved eating at Flo's for breakfast; it was great. Also really enjoyed Tomorrowland Terrace.

Actually we had a FP to go on the Snow White Mine Train Ride right after Space Mountain so we tried to put on our ponchos and make a run for it but when we got there we were soaked and ride was temperorily shut down due to lightning (We didn't see ANY lightning but we heard thunder). Eventually rain let up and the sun came out and the ride reopened so we used our FP but then when we tried to go indoors we got cold in the AC so we went to the hotel and changed before coming back to MK for dinner. It was kind of amusing to us even if a bit inconvenient to see such heavy rain and it to still be hot outside.

Yeah, this is probably pretty obvious to you now, but don't do that. They will shut down all outdoor attractions during a weather event. If you have a smartphone, next time, download the My Disney Experience app to check whether or not the ride is operating. They may also send you an email if something happens with your FP+. 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.

Where in Hawaii did you go? I've been to Honolulu and Kahana (Maui) and really enjoyed both.

Oahu. My parents bought into Aulani so that they can go every few years. We had just been the year before, but since it was my high school graduation trip, my dad decided to tack on a week there after DL. I've been to Oahu twice and Maui once as a baby (so that doesn't count). We are planning on going back to Hawaii in June of 2015.

Yep: saw plenty of those. I just didn't think people would pull their kids out during the FIRST FEW weeks of school but I guess some do and some are homeschoolers as we saw way more families with school age kids than you'd ever see at DL on a September weekday. I noticed the difference between weekend crowds and weekday crowds was quite minimal while at DL it's huge, so it gives it away that a very small percentage of attendees are Orlando area locals.

The other thing is that since you're getting people from all over the country and from other parts of the world, a lot of them aren't starting school all at the same time or you'll see all of the parents who homeschool their kids all coming down at once because, Hey low rates! I have a friend who lives in FL who moved down there from MD a few years ago, and he said it was amazing how many people our age had not been to Disney World or were under the impression that they hated it.

Glad you had fun at DL and hope you continue to come back to Southern California every few years. If you want beach or pool weather, September and early October are way warmer than June here. Low on crowds until fall break too (second week of October for Southern California schools).
I would also happily visit WDW once a year like you do but it's not within our budget and my bf being the one who's making the money said he'd go again in about 3 years. We are planning to visit New York City and Washington D.C. for our next big trip (hopefully next summer).

I hear ya about WDW. We're able to go twice a year since my parents are DVC members, so that makes annual passes and hotel costs a bit better, and flights from Baltimore to Orlando are pretty inexpensive, but the cross-country flights will kill ya. I think next time we will go will probably be 2017 since that's when I'll be graduating college. Unfortunately June is when we can go with my brother still being in grade school and me being in college (until the next time we go probably) but we get plenty of pool time at WDW. I'd love to do a longer trip and see more of Southern California next time, but we'll see. Three years should be a good time to go for you guys. By then we'll have some new stuff open in WDW.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I don't know. I love the Pirates queue at Magic Kingdom, at least before they started to ruin it by removing elements and making it impossible to choose a side without Fastpass, but there's something just plain magical about entering an unassuming building in New Orleans Square, suddenly finding boats and pirate paraphernalia (something you would never expect) and gradually transitioning through the arches into the Blue Bayou Lagoon.

 

[SCB502]

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.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

For me, California Screaming wins for thrills (and you can actually see more of where you're going!) and Aerosmith wins more for theming (more of a dark inside coaster kinda like Space Mountain).

But in general, both Disney Parks are rather weak in the thrill rides department. Disney is more about themed rides and shows. If you really want thrills there's Knottsberry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California and Universal Island of Adventures in Florida.

I like that CS is a longer coaster, but RnRC is more thrilling for me. I agree with you that both lack thrill rides, though I think overall WDW wins for thrill rides because TofT is better in WDW (more thrilling), plus you've also got Everest and a better Splash Mountain.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The queue for Space Mountain at DL is awful too...nothing to do, nothing to see, stuck out on the roof for a long time...

This is one of the major reasons I hope FP+ never comes to DL, I love Space Mtn and with legacy FP I can ride it several times a day without waiting in that boring line.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Well, you can keep your huge open areas of concrete. I don't see flooded rooms on small world and bigger air-conditioned Monorail cabins as an improvement. You won't get any argument from me that the Disneyland Monorail could use a couple extra stops, but it goes through Disneyland itself, which is breathtaking. Walt Disney World's mostly passes over swamp and the sad ruins of lowercase Epcot these days. I love the Hall of Presidents, but I wouldn't say it's more impressive than going into the Main Street Opera House and seeing robo-Lincoln deliver the speech. Lincoln is a more focused attraction, not just a hodgepodge of history on random presidents with occasional speeches. Disneyland has intimacy and quality. Magic Kingdom may have the Peoplemover and higher rockets, but it also has a pathetically neglected Space Mountain, completely out of place cartoon attractions and a pathetic version of the Autopia that has never fit any land's theme in Magic Kingdom's history.

Hall of presidents is superior to Great Moments with Mr Lincoln and it really isn't close. Furthermore, since Lincoln shares elements with The American Adventure, we can compare those. There is really no comparison actually...the American Adventure is miles better and that's not a knock on Mr Lincoln. It's just not in the same ballpark as Presidents and American Adventure.

I love DL too, but let's stick to the attractions and elements that are clearly beetr, not clearly worse.

Overall, DL is more properly maintained and its space is used better.

However, Given the chance to go either place, it's always going to be WDW for me. Just a bigger spectacle and more to do. I do like the Matterhorn for nostalgia, but the only truly unique attraction I really miss at WDW are Radiator Springs and Mr Toad. I actually prefer WDW Space Mountain. It's more thrilling with more drops and I actually prefer the sound effects and no "in ride" music to DL's version. Tower of Terror is superior by far at WDW, as is Splash Mountain.

At DL, I miss EPCOT and Animal Kingdom (Everest, American Adventure, SSE, Safari, World Showcase, etc etc etc. Wishes is far superior to DL fireworks. Fantasmic seating is miles better at WDW. Everything is bigger...bathrooms, castle, walkways, etc.

Disneyland isn't as magical for me. It feels like a park in a city. WDW feels like its own city...its own world.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Well, I have generally not directly compared Disneyland (the park) itself to attractions outside of Magic Kingdom. I suppose the exception would be the Monorail since it never actually stops within the Magic Kingdom like Disneyland's. It is Disneyland itself, the original park, that I feel simply delivers far more than any of the Walt Disney World parks. You can pile all the attractions and things you experience at the 4 World parks (and water parks, and whatever else) to what is contained in the Land, but that wasn't my intention. For me, a day at Disneyland is far more satisfying than a day at the World parks. When I walked into Disneyland for the first time after years of visiting the World, I thought, "How quaint." A few hours later, I had hit so many adventures within the park, it was unreal. I couldn't remember ever having done so much in a day at a Walt Disney World park or having so much fun, taking in Fantasmic! and the fireworks and then completing the night on Fantasyland dark rides, Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Matterhorn. In terms of the attractions, the Land's roster is easily the best of the Disney parks I've been to. It has become the quintessential Disney park for me.

 

[Communicore]

I love the Bengal BBQ at Disneyland. At WDW I love the free meals you can have with the fixins bar.

Back then when EPCOT Center still existed it's definitely the deciding factor. Now I prefer Disneyland because it's more fun.

 

[Little Green Men]

Agree with you on that. It's a shame you didn't get to experience the original TT, which is much better than the current version. If you're interested, you can check out this video of the previous version. The video shows the queue and the preshow, but if you want to skip to the actual attraction, it starts around the 11 minute mark.



Only thing better about TT is that it goes faster and (I think) it has a larger rider capacity. I know it has more loading platforms than RSR

TT has always been one of my favorite rides, but I think the new version is superior to the original. It has a much more Epcot feel to it, the car design is a great addition, the fact that the ride is darker makes the track more hidden so you can't see exactly where you're going, and you can't see the whole show building around you making it feel like a warehouse. The post show is a huge improvement as well.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Have never been to Disneyland so far but I am quite sure I stil know my answer. WDW - the sheer size of the resort, the escapist character of a vacation there, you do not ony visit a park, you are vacationing in a small world of it's own and can forget about the world outside (we always call it the "Outer Void" when we are "home" at WDW)
Disneyland - The enormous number of attractions, only two parks but they are packed with rides, shows etc. and feature nearly as much attractions as the four in WDW and they include Indiana Jones Adventure and Cars Land!