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FastPass: I really, really (really really really) hated FastPass at Disneyland. Anyone who says they don't like FastPass+ has never waited 40 minutes standby for Alice In Wonderland. On a WDW vacation, I travel for 8 nights. That's 24 FastPass selections plus 8 rope drops, giving me 32 attractions I'm guaranteed to ride with zero wait. No such luck at Disneyland. It's not so much the paper versus digital that's the issue, it's the complete lack of FastPass options at many attractions. Yes, I know that FastPass+ increases standby times, but if you're efficient at using the system (and I am), it's a huge time saver. We waited in far more standby lines in 6 Disneyland park days than we ever do at WDW in 8 park days. Another thing I didn't like is that Disneyland's FastPass is linked to your park ticket. I would have liked (for example) to have my wife using her Big Thunder FastPass with my older daughter while I went with the baby to get new FastPasses for Matterhorn, but since my wife physically needed the tickets in hand to redeem the Thunder FastPass, that was not possible. MaxPass would solve this, but that's a pay-for-play system that I dislike on its own merits.
Infrastructure: Absolutely loved being able to walk everywhere. Disneyland Hotel is the "further" of the two resorts we stayed in but I'd estimate it's about as far from the main gates as the Contemporary is from the Magic Kingdom, and it's a much more pleasant walk. So transportation gets an A+ simply because you didn't need any.
One problem Disneyland has is that it's completely unequipped for bad weather. It rained three of our six park days and the parks sort of came to a screeching halt during bad weather, even when it's just light rain. Almost all of the queues, ride loading areas, and quick service dining is outdoors and not under cover. If it's raining, you're going to get rained on. If it's cold, you're going to be cold. If it's hot, you're going to be hot. We got more soaked in a day of drizzle at Disneyland than we would in a midsummer monsoon at WDW because at WDW there are ways to stay out of it. Disneyland also has poor drainage so the streets flood very quickly.
Merchandise: Same quality as WDW, but slightly less selection from what I could tell. World of Disney at Downtown Disney was terrible. No "high quality" merchandise (books, watches, nice purses, Pandora beads, nice figures, etc.) All of that was in one specific shop in each park.
Cast members: Equal quality as WDW. Generally excellent, with one or two duds here and there.
Maintenance: Generally good, until the last night at Pacific Wharf when every trash can was overflowing. Bathrooms were generally clean, but a couple had stall doors that were somewhat off kilter.
Live entertainment: Much better talent at Disneyland, but the schedule for shows was often very limited during the week. Lots of shows were Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only.
Attractions: Disneyland is like Magic Kingdom, only better. California Adventure is like Hollywood Studios, only better. Basically. The only two attractions where I said "HOLY COW THAT'S WAY BETTER" were Pirates and Cars Land, which is the finest themed land I've ever been in and it's not even close.
I'll share other thoughts as they come to me, or feel free to ask me anything.
