Manifest Destiny: A Lifetime Walt Disney World Fan's First Trip To Disneyland

[SpaceMountain75]

I agree with the statement of Magic Kingdom having a better layout, but needing more rides. I know this is arguable, but I really enjoy the open-spaced feel at MK, compared to the "cramped" feel of Disneyland's. Both have awesome aspects, but I think where each excel are as follows:
MK- castle, Main Street, New Fantasyland (old Fantasyland excluded), Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion
DL- hub, Main Street ambience (vehicles & characters), Fantasyland, Adventureland, Space Mountain, Pirates, Big Thunder

As far as DHS and DCA go, I'd take California Adventure any day of the week over Hollywood Studios. Buena Vista Street alone would make me think that!

 

[Sage of Time]

As a package, MK feels more complete than DL park. As much as I love DL, when I think about the park, it's like I see a big (mostly empty) hole to the right of main street. TL is so bad it's like it stains the park for me. The rest of the park is so strong that I still very much look forward to every visit but man TL needs help...Space is fantastic though.

I really like DCA in it's current state and put it way above DHS for the time being and there's nothing like Epcot. There's an ambiance at Ecpot that only parts of MK/DL can match. Epcot's what I miss the most when I'm out in Anaheim.

I feel the same way about DL TL.. I was only impressed with Space Mountain and the subs. That alone boosts the right half of the park above MK for me. And when you think that Matterhorn, IASW, and a Toontown with a ride back there? DL takes the cake.

Agreed about EPCOT having the best ambiance, though.

 

[tirian]

You shouldn't feel the need to switch up how you feel about the parks. If you like DHS more than DCA, that's okay.

I've got to agree with @Mike S here. Although Cars Land is a huge win for DCA, the overall ambiance is better at DHS, even though DHS needs a lot of help! I think the two reasons are (1) D-MGM was built under the old guard of WDI and benefits from layers of details and old-school Disney storytelling, and (2) ToT is unquestionably superior in Florida.

But even as I type this, I'm questioning how it makes sense, because Cars Land and World of Color are better than any one attraction in DHS. I think the cheap look at Paradise Pier and the tiny leftovers of San Francisco simply kill DCA for me.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I've got to agree with @Mike S here. Although Cars Land is a huge win for DCA, the overall ambiance is better at DHS, even though DHS needs a lot of help! I think the two reasons are (1) D-MGM was built under the old guard of WDI and benefits from layers of details and old-school Disney storytelling, and (2) ToT is unquestionably superior in Florida.

But even as I type this, I'm questioning how it makes sense, because Cars Land and World of Color are better than any one attraction in DHS. I think the cheap look at Paradise Pier and the tiny leftovers of San Francisco simply kill DCA for me.

Paradise Pier is not cheap-looking to me. It looks almost exactly like the seaside piers one finds in California.

 

[Mike S]

I've got to agree with @Mike S here. Although Cars Land is a huge win for DCA, the overall ambiance is better at DHS, even though DHS needs a lot of help! I think the two reasons are (1) D-MGM was built under the old guard of WDI and benefits from layers of details and old-school Disney storytelling, and (2) ToT is unquestionably superior in Florida.

But even as I type this, I'm questioning how it makes sense, because Cars Land and World of Color are better than any one attraction in DHS. I think the cheap look at Paradise Pier and the tiny leftovers of San Francisco simply kill DCA for me.

Can't beat that old school Disney magic, especially now that the BAH's gone

 

[tirian]

I went to WDW for all my life before DL and I had become so disenchanted with MK and EPCOT. I cannot realistically consider any of the other US parks in their current form superior to DL.

It depends on the last time you were at the MK. If you grew up going to WDW in the 90s and you have memories of the "true" MK and EPCOT Center, DL is very quaint but not much more than that. If you haven't been to WDW since the mid 2000s when maintenance was low, DL is incredibly better. But if you've been to the MK since NFL opened, it's a difficult comparison, because for all its faults, the MK looks really good right now (maintenance and overcrowding not withstanding).

So it becomes a comparison game.

Entrance: quaint and old-fashioned at DL, stunning at the MK

Main Street: feels like a place in DL and a concrete shopping center at the MK

AL: IJ is incredible but everything else is better in the MK (excluding POTC)

NOS vs. LS/CPlaza: POTC is better at DL and the HM is better at the MK. The ambiance is about equal, although I lived in the real New Orleans for a few months and NOS feels like a joke to me.

Fr.L: the entrance fort in DL is really cool because you feel like you're in a TV western from the 50s, and the ROA is a pleasant theme park stream; but the MK's FrL feels like an actual outpost on a real river. The MK Splash is much, much better than the dinky version in Critter Country.

FL: This is where things get complicated. IASW has a better façade in DL but superior staging and show scenes in the MK. The dark rides are better maintained in DL but significantly expanded in the MK (Pan is almost a full minute longer in Florida). DL has the upper hand with classic dark rides, the Matterhorn, and the canal boats; yet DL feels like a collection of unrelated rides compared to NFL, which creates an actual sense of place. Unfortunately, NFL contributes little more than pretty landscaping, a short coaster, a short dark ride, and a restaurant that actually requires FP for lunch! DL wins for attractions; the MK wins for landscaping.

Toontown/Storybook Circus: Storybook Circus is pretty enough, but ToonTown is better.

TL: Space is smooth in DL. That's it. TL is much better in Florida, which isn't saying much because both coasts need some futuristic help.

Castles: Sleeping Beauty Castle is a cute throwback to a simpler time in America. Cinderella Castle feels like a legit palace.

Overall ambiance: in its heyday, the MK felt like a true fairy-tale kingdom across a lagoon from reality. Now it's a corporate behemoth, with attractions ripped out for poor substitutes or nothing at all, and overcrowded streets bustling with tourists who are just trying to make it to all their appointments on time. DL is clearly a theme park in the middle of a city, and the pass holders wreak havoc on weekend crowd control, but it maintains a relaxed pace that feels like a vacation.

The choice is too difficult to make. I call it a tie.

 

[Mike S]

Paradise Pier is not cheap-looking to me. It looks almost exactly like the seaside piers one finds in California.

The worst part of DCA for me was Hollywood Land. Good lord, I thought the soundstages at DHS were bad!!!!! Especially since it feels like ToT is just plopped there for no reason where it actually fits its surroundings in Sunset Blvd. at WDW. Also you can't beat that facade and random drop sequence

 

[tirian]

Paradise Pier is not cheap-looking to me. It looks almost exactly like the seaside piers one finds in California.

For someone who grew up going to WDW where everything in the MK, EC, and DAK feels like a *place*, Paradise Pier rips you out of the Disney bubble you've come to expect.

The sound stages in DHS do the same thing.

 

[SoccerLover100]

Well now I'm beginning to wonder if DCA and Disneyland are worth even going to with most of the people here saying they are not even as good as Disney World parks. Ranking DCA below DHS doesn't seem very encouraging to me and Disneyland below Magic Kingdom (though I love both parks).

 

[Sage of Time]

It depends on the last time you were at the MK. If you grew up going to WDW in the 90s and you have memories of the "true" MK and EPCOT Center, DL is very quaint but not much more than that. If you haven't been to WDW since the mid 2000s when maintenance was low, DL is incredibly better. But if you've been to the MK since NFL opened, it's a difficult comparison, because for all its faults, the MK looks really good right now (maintenance and overcrowding not withstanding).

So it becomes a comparison game.

Entrance: quaint and old-fashioned at DL, stunning at the MK

Main Street: feels like a place in DL and a concrete shopping center at the MK

AL: IJ is incredible but everything else is better in the MK (excluding POTC)

NOS vs. LS/CPlaza: POTC is better at DL and the HM is better at the MK. The ambiance is about equal, although I lived in the real New Orleans for a few months and NOS feels like a joke to me.

Fr.L: the entrance fort in DL is really cool because you feel like you're in a TV western from the 50s, and the ROA is a pleasant theme park stream; but the MK's FrL feels like an actual outpost on a real river. The MK Splash is much, much better than the dinky version in Critter Country.

FL: This is where things get complicated. IASW has a better façade in DL but superior staging and show scenes in the MK. The dark rides are better maintained in DL but significantly expanded in the MK (Pan is almost a full minute longer in Florida). DL has the upper hand with classic dark rides, the Matterhorn, and the canal boats; yet DL feels like a collection of unrelated rides compared to NFL, which creates an actual sense of place. Unfortunately, NFL contributes little more than pretty landscaping, a short coaster, a short dark ride, and a restaurant that actually requires FP for lunch! DL wins for attractions; the MK wins for landscaping.

Toontown/Storybook Circus: Storybook Circus is pretty enough, but ToonTown is better.

TL: Space is smooth in DL. That's it. TL is much better in Florida, which isn't saying much because both coasts need some futuristic help.

Castles: Sleeping Beauty Castle is a cute throwback to a simpler time in America. Cinderella Castle feels like a legit palace.

Overall ambiance: in its heyday, the MK felt like a true fairy-tale kingdom across a lagoon from reality. Now it's a corporate behemoth, with attractions ripped out for poor substitutes or nothing at all, and overcrowded streets bustling with tourists who are just trying to make it to all their appointments on time. DL is clearly a theme park in the middle of a city, and the pass holders wreak havoc on weekend crowd control, but it maintains a relaxed pace that feels like a vacation.

The choice is too difficult to make. I call it a tie.

I hate comparisons, but I love this.

 

[Sage of Time]

Well now I'm beginning to wonder if DCA and Disneyland are worth even going to with most of the people here saying they are not even as good as Disney World parks. Ranking DCA below DHS doesn't seem very encouraging to me and Disneyland below Magic Kingdom (though I love both parks).

Nooooo. Go. Make up your own mind. The experience of seeing them in person is really what's important.

 

[tirian]

Well now I'm beginning to wonder if DCA and Disneyland are worth even going to with most of the people here saying they are not even as good as Disney World parks. Ranking DCA below DHS doesn't seem very encouraging to me and Disneyland below Magic Kingdom (though I love both parks).

No, we're talking about nostalgia and landscaping.

Disneyland as a theme park is significantly superior to the MK, even though WDW (with EC, DHS, DAK, and the water parks) is a better resort overall.

You need to go to DL and DCA.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I've been to WDW during all those time periods. I still prefer DL. Ranking DCA below DHS is kind of ridiculous. Look, I dig on The Great Movie Ride (it's one of my favorite Disney attractions and one of the few I would really want to transplant to DLR) and WDW Tower of Terror, but aside from doing those two, having an ice cream from Gertie's and listening to the Echo Lake loop, I can't think of a way to spend more than a couple hours at DHS without getting bored out of my mind. The shows are the same as they've been since 1989 and Toy Story isn't worth waiting 2 hours for, or waiting for a Fastpass return time. The park has become pretty much of a dud whereas DCA, while far from perfect, has really flourished.

 

[Mike S]

Well now I'm beginning to wonder if DCA and Disneyland are worth even going to with most of the people here saying they are not even as good as Disney World parks. Ranking DCA below DHS doesn't seem very encouraging to me and Disneyland below Magic Kingdom (though I love both parks).

I loved my trip I don't regret it one bit. Go have fun. When it comes to fans like us comparisons like this are inevitable.

 

[tirian]

I've been to WDW during all those time periods. I still prefer DL. Ranking DCA below DHS is kind of ridiculous. Look, I dig on The Great Movie Ride (it's one of my favorite Disney attractions and one of the few I would really want to transplant to DLR) and WDW Tower of Terror, but aside from those two and having an ice cream from Gertie's, listening to the Echo Lake loop, I can't spend more than a couple hours there without getting bored out of my mind.

You also prefer Countdown to Extinction over Indiana Jones, so maybe you fell and cracked your head as a toddler.

 

[Mike S]

You also prefer Countdown to Extinction over Indiana Jones, so maybe you fell and cracked your head as a toddler.

 

[Sage of Time]

Also, New Fantasyland is.... pretty... but Disneland's Fantasyland feels more cohesive and has more to do. I kinda don't get what WDI was going for when you have TLM's mountains just merge with Belle's. It's very strange and feels cobbled together. DL FL, meanwhile, just feels so organic and cozy and like it's always been that way.

 

[tirian]

Also, New Fantasyland is.... pretty... but Disneland's Fantasyland feels more cohesive and has more to do. I kinda don't get what WDI was going for when you have TLM's mountains just merge with Belle's. It's very strange and feels cobbled together. DL FL, meanwhile, just feels so organic and cozy and like it's always been that way.

Fantasyland alone could have a thread for comparisons. For everything I prefer in California, there's something I prefer in Florida.

However, I cannot overlook the losses of Toad and SWSA in Florida.

Edit: NFL is pretty but it suffers from very bad—almost amateurish—forced perspective. And of course it doesn't contribute much to the MK's capacity problem, so much as closing some attractions to open others. Still, the placemaking from NFL and the Tangled Toilets really help FL feel substantial.

 

[Mike S]

Fantasyland alone could have a thread for comparisons. For everything I prefer in California, there's something I prefer in Florida.

However, I cannot overlook the losses of Toad and SWSA in Florida.

Found that out after my trip. It's quite the conundrum.

 

[SpaceMountain75]

It depends on the last time you were at the MK. If you grew up going to WDW in the 90s and you have memories of the "true" MK and EPCOT Center, DL is very quaint but not much more than that. If you haven't been to WDW since the mid 2000s when maintenance was low, DL is incredibly better. But if you've been to the MK since NFL opened, it's a difficult comparison, because for all its faults, the MK looks really good right now (maintenance and overcrowding not withstanding).

So it becomes a comparison game.

Entrance: quaint and old-fashioned at DL, stunning at the MK

Main Street: feels like a place in DL and a concrete shopping center at the MK

AL: IJ is incredible but everything else is better in the MK (excluding POTC)

NOS vs. LS/CPlaza: POTC is better at DL and the HM is better at the MK. The ambiance is about equal, although I lived in the real New Orleans for a few months and NOS feels like a joke to me.

Fr.L: the entrance fort in DL is really cool because you feel like you're in a TV western from the 50s, and the ROA is a pleasant theme park stream; but the MK's FrL feels like an actual outpost on a real river. The MK Splash is much, much better than the dinky version in Critter Country.

FL: This is where things get complicated. IASW has a better façade in DL but superior staging and show scenes in the MK. The dark rides are better maintained in DL but significantly expanded in the MK (Pan is almost a full minute longer in Florida). DL has the upper hand with classic dark rides, the Matterhorn, and the canal boats; yet DL feels like a collection of unrelated rides compared to NFL, which creates an actual sense of place. Unfortunately, NFL contributes little more than pretty landscaping, a short coaster, a short dark ride, and a restaurant that actually requires FP for lunch! DL wins for attractions; the MK wins for landscaping.

Toontown/Storybook Circus: Storybook Circus is pretty enough, but ToonTown is better.

TL: Space is smooth in DL. That's it. TL is much better in Florida, which isn't saying much because both coasts need some futuristic help.

Castles: Sleeping Beauty Castle is a cute throwback to a simpler time in America. Cinderella Castle feels like a legit palace.

Overall ambiance: in its heyday, the MK felt like a true fairy-tale kingdom across a lagoon from reality. Now it's a corporate behemoth, with attractions ripped out for poor substitutes or nothing at all, and overcrowded streets bustling with tourists who are just trying to make it to all their appointments on time. DL is clearly a theme park in the middle of a city, and the pass holders wreak havoc on weekend crowd control, but it maintains a relaxed pace that feels like a vacation.

The choice is too difficult to make. I call it a tie.

This is one of the best comparisons I've ever seen. Well done. *claps*