Are Disneyland or WDW fans the most stubborn about trying the "other" park?

[DLR92]

Both fans are stubborn. I do agree Disneyland Fans can be snobs.

For someone living in California, I live 2 hours away from Disneyland. Honestly have no desire to visit WDW when I have Disneyland 2 hours away as a weekend stay. I don’t even have strong desires to travel to Florida. The only thing I would actually want to see in Florida is host of amazing faunas, especially the Manatees. After that I don’t have desired to see any of the cities out there either.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Personally I am reluctant to try Disneyland - a few reasons:

1. We are from the UK and it's a longer flight.
2. WDW is worth a vacation alone because it's huge and you can spend time in the water parks too. Disneyland is smaller so you would be taking a longer flight to have less to do.
3. The castle is smaller, so although it's the original which makes it special, it will always appear less impressive.

Please don't be offended by my comments, this is only my view. Disneyland has many attractions and reasons I would think about visiting, but for the above WDW will always win out.

I say do it once. If only once. But at least once. The castle is smaller, but you can walk through it. It's an attraction and tells the story of Sleeping Beauty. It is always worth it to go and see the original. I know, I'm a WDW lifer but a decade ago we tried it over there and loved it, can't wait to do it with our kids now. And you will NEVER run out of things to do in Southern California. You will want three days at Disneyland/California Adventure. There is the beaches, Universal Studios, Hollywood, the studio tours (we did Warner Bros.), Knott's Berry Farm and a little further inland there is Magic Mountain. 9 days we spent there and we just simply ran out of time.

Do it.................at least just once!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

First, I’m 100% east coast, and have spent enough time in CA to learn that. So I'm biased in that regard.

Maybe we’ll do DL again, but one day for two parks was too much time. (This was back when they had paper fast passes.) Once you’ve done everything at WDW a million times - we skipped things that were "duplicates" except the ones we knew were significantly different - Pirates, HM, etc. IASW was closed. DCA didn't hold much interest. The submarines were cool because I had never done them at WDW before they were removed. New Orleans Square was cool. Otherwise, it was underwhelming compared to our 4 park sprawling resort.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I don’t really understand why people get so competitive about it to begin with. Both resorts are great, and I would happily spend time at each. I love them equally.

This is us also, if we only have a weekend nothing beats DL, if we have a full week we typically choose WDW, if it’s a vacation longer than a week we’ll likely end up in Europe, including a couple days at DLP.

I could make lists of pros and cons for all the Disney parks (we’ve experienced) but the reality is I recommend them all to everyone and we jump at the chance to go to all of them.

PS, I always say DL is in the LA area too and it drives my girlfriend (who lives in San Diego) crazy, she “corrects” me every time I say it. I think most people just refer to metro areas by the most well known city in the area, unless you’re a local and know the borders and individual cities it‘s just easier.

 

[SamandplanningUK]

I say do it once. If only once. But at least once. The castle is smaller, but you can walk through it. It's an attraction and tells the story of Sleeping Beauty. It is always worth it to go and see the original. I know, I'm a WDW lifer but a decade ago we tried it over there and loved it, can't wait to do it with our kids now. And you will NEVER run out of things to do in Southern California. You will want three days at Disneyland/California Adventure. There is the beaches, Universal Studios, Hollywood, the studio tours (we did Warner Bros.), Knott's Berry Farm and a little further inland there is Magic Mountain. 9 days we spent there and we just simply ran out of time.

Do it.................at least just once!

I can imagine we will visit when our kids are no longer holidaying with us in a few years time. I definitely don't rule it out!

 

[KatiebugFan]

This discussion could also be related to the Disneyland Parks in other countries. Why would I want to go to Disneyland Paris, Tokyo, et al. when I have Disneyland here.

 

[SplashJacket]

Trying to understand how a WDW vacation is somehow more expensive for some of those who live closer to Florida than California… How?

Here was my planning spreadsheet for my most-recent trip to Disneyland in the middle of March.

Atlanta to Orlando cost $52 and Atlanta to LAX cost $178.

Every other Disneyland cost was substantially cheaper. 5-days at Disneyland were $210 cheaper, which already makes-up for the difference. I only priced on-site hotels because we weren’t planning on renting or having a car, so we wanted easy-transportation or walking to the parks. Moral: hotels were comparable or cheaper.

Food is also cheaper at Disneyland, partly due to in-park food prices, but also access to nearby places and an unbeatable 3 am Denny’s stop.

Obviously a 3 am denny’s run might not be up your alley, but for us, a WDW trip would just be leagues more expensive.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

This is us also, if we only have a weekend nothing beats DL, if we have a full week we typically choose WDW, if it’s a vacation longer than a week we’ll likely end up in Europe, including a couple days at DLP.

I could make lists of pros and cons for all the Disney parks (we’ve experienced) but the reality is I recommend them all to everyone and we jump at the chance to go to all of them.

PS, I always say DL is in the LA area too and it drives my girlfriend (who lives in San Diego) crazy, she “corrects” me every time I say it. I think most people just refer to metro areas by the most well known city in the area, unless you’re a local and know the borders and individual cities it‘s just easier.

To me it is like a Red Sox fan not wanting to visit Yankee Stadium (especially old Yankee Stadium). Or a Yanks fan being like "Nah, I'm good" when talking about visiting Fenway Park in Boston. A baseball fan you would think would want to try both. Same with theme parks. I can't comprehend how you wouldn't want to do both, especially since many of us on here have done this and have full testimonies of it. That's how I got interested in Disneyland and going out there. I always thought "Nah, WDW is the better place" but when I heard people talking and telling how Disneyland in itself is the better theme park then I had to try it myself. So we did and it was worth it.

By the way, I do the whole L.A. thing too. I realize people in Anaheim hate that. Orange County is not L.A. It reminds me of up here when you broadly say "Toronto" and the towns surrounding it jump in and correct you. It obviously isn't all Toronto either!

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Once you’ve done everything at WDW a million times - we skipped things that were "duplicates" except the ones we knew were significantly different

Why would you want to re-visit wdw then? Wouldn’t you just be re-riding duplicates?

The only real duplicates are the Star Wars rides. Everything else is different to some extent.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I understand WDW fans and people in general enjoying the bubble (I wasn’t affected by it), and, to an extent, I can understand enjoying a week there. Personally, I’m the kind of traveler that doesn’t like to stay in one spot for a week or longer vacation, so the thought of staying at WDW for an entire week doesn’t sound pleasing to me. Additionally, I would never recommend someone spend a week at Disneyland.

The thing about WDW is that you can stay at different resorts and have a completely different experience. Staying on the boardwalk will be a totally different experience from staying at the Animal kingdom lodge. The monorail resorts are very different from the skyliner resorts, and the Disney springs resorts are different from the Animal kingdom resorts. You can definitely spend a week and have a totally different experience staying at 2 separate resorts.

 

[Californian Elitist]

The thing about WDW is that you can stay at different resorts and have a completely different experience. Staying on the boardwalk will be a totally different experience from staying at the Animal kingdom lodge. The monorail resorts are very different from the skyliner resorts, and the Disney springs resorts are different from the Animal kingdom resorts. You can definitely spend a week and have a totally different experience staying at 2 separate resorts.

I completely understand that this is possible and that many fans enjoy doing this. But, I’m not interested in resorts and hotels and I’m definitely not interested in staying at WDW for an entire week. That’s just not the kind of traveler I am. I like to move around. The last time I went to New York, I was there for about four days and was staying in Manhattan, but also hit up Brooklyn and Long Island, and almost went to Queens.

@SplashZander said it quite well that everything depends on the type of traveler. I think my sister would totally be up for spending a week at WDW without ever leaving the property. She loves staying at resorts and is completely fine with only doing resort activities while on vacation. If people want to spend a week or more at WDW, they should absolutely do that.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I completely understand that this is possible and that many fans enjoy doing this. But, I’m not interested in resorts and hotels and I’m definitely not interested in staying at WDW for an entire week. That’s just not the kind of traveler I am. I like to move around. The last time I went to New York, I was there for about four days and was staying in Manhattan, but also hit up Brooklyn and Long Island, and almost went to Queens.

@SplashZander said it quite well that everything depends on the type of traveler. I think my sister would totally be up for spending a week at WDW without ever leaving the property. She loves staying at resorts and is completely fine with only doing resort activities while on vacation. If people want to spend a week or more at WDW, they should absolutely do that.

That’s totally understandable as well!

 

[SplashJacket]

I predict my most recent trip to Disneyland will change my long-term consumer behaviors.

I really have no intention to visit MK or HS for the foreseeable future. I have a lot of family in Orlando and a potential employment opportunity, so may eat my words very soon, but if I take a trip to Orlando, I’d stay at an Epcot or Disney Springs resort for a couple days and visit exclusively Epcot and Animal Kingdom, and then spend the rest of my time at Universal, with family, Sea World, or head to Busch Gardens.

The Boardwalk, Yacht club, Dolphin area may be one of my favorite places on the planet, and the gondola just magnified that.

But if I want to do a Disney focused trip (longer than a weekend), I’d probably just jump over to Disneyland.

Even currently, Animal Kingdom needs more. Really only Epcot is calling my name at the moment, and I can’t wait for Epic Universe.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I think the answer largely depends on what type of traveler you are, 10 years ago I was at the park from rope drop to close, it was about doing as much as possible and going on as many rides as possible (all things that favor DL), now we get there when we get there, we only go on a handful of rides a day, and our focus is on slowing down and relaxing on vacation. This favors WDW with the resorts, bigger selection of restaurants, and more bars.

Lately we’re spending most of our time cruising rather than going to the parks, same Disney fix but it’s much more relaxing.

 

[Jrb1979]

IMO I would say both are stubborn and it's not just about each other. I have been here long enough to know how most feel about non Disney parks. A good example is how the park down the street from Disneyland doesn't get talked about much (Knott's)

 

[LittleBuford]

IMO I would say both are stubborn and it's not just about each other. I have been here long enough to know how most feel about non Disney parks. A good example is how the park down the street from Disneyland doesn't get talked about much (Knott's)

This is a forum devoted to Disney theme parks. I don't think it's all that surprising that other parks aren't discussed or liked as much.

 

[BlakeW39]

IMO I would say both are stubborn and it's not just about each other. I have been here long enough to know how most feel about non Disney parks. A good example is how the park down the street from Disneyland doesn't get talked about much (Knott's)

Regional parks like Knotts don't have the same appeal as a major theme park like Disney or Universal. I've been to quite a few regional parks and while they're fun enough...they're not comparable to a Disney park. They don't have anywhere close to the amount of depth that a major theme park has. They do have larger thrills though. So, different strokes.

 

[LittleBuford]

He dislikes liberals. And he thought it was appropriate to voice that opinion here.

I suspected as much, but the reference to the year (which I still don’t entirely get) threw me.

 

[Wilbret]

He dislikes liberals. And he thought it was appropriate to voice that opinion here.

Are you projecting?
Crime, massive homeless camps, open drug use, cost, distance... you name it. California 2023 is a far cry from what it used to be.

 

[Wilbret]

I suspected as much, but the reference to the year (which I still don’t entirely get) threw me.

See above. The only thing it has to do with liberals is they are the ones in charge. The other poster made it political.