News Disneyland Resort 2025 Event Calendar

[PiratesMansion]

You know, the fact that you’ve been to all (or almost all?) the Disney parks worldwide and you choose to go Disneyland a couple times a year (and seemingly never Disney World) really doesn’t help motivate this DL AP of 10+ years to shell out 10k for his first WDW trip. Haha

There are of course plenty of people who love WDW, casuals (just had a coworker go there for the first time with his family and although he went in expecting to hate it and minimal planning was done, they all had a blast and are actively talking about going back soon) and devoted fans, and there are definitely good aspects to it, and some things they do better than everyone else.

I'm just (as you've gathered) very, very opinionated on what I like. If I thought WDW was worth its price point and the amount of stress that goes into a trip there, I'd go there more often. As it stands now, though, when I look at WDW I just see a bigger, more stressful, more complicated, worse maintained version of Disneyland, with little of value around it besides other (also mostly overhyped) theme parks. I'm much happier flying into SoCal instead, with its much less complicated Disneyland, much better weather, and a plethora of new-to-me high quality things to see outside of the parks each time I visit.

 

[mickEblu]

There are of course plenty of people who love WDW, casuals (just had a coworker go there for the first time with his family and although he went in expecting to hate it and minimal planning was done, they all had a blast and are actively talking about going back soon) and devoted fans, and there are definitely good aspects to it, and some things they do better than everyone else.

I'm just (as you've gathered) very, very opinionated on what I like. If I thought WDW was worth its price point and the amount of stress that goes into a trip there, I'd go there more often. As it stands now, though, when I look at WDW I just see a bigger, more stressful, more complicated, worse maintained version of Disneyland, with little of value around it besides other (also mostly overhyped) theme parks. I'm much happier flying into SoCal instead, with its much less complicated Disneyland, much better weather, and a plethora of new-to-me high quality things to see outside of the parks each time I visit.

Yeah that makes sense. I may come to the same conclusions you when you factor in what it takes to get there but I definitely have to go at least once. Probably will depend on how much I lean into the "vacation" aspect of being at WDW as that is clearly where its strength is. But I know myself - it's going to be a marathon at the parks. Just waiting for my daughter to hit 40 inches and deciding how crazy/expensive the trip will be. I'm very a much a go big or go home type when it comes to "once in a lifetime" (or close) things so I might be looking at 10 days in Orlando, including Universal and staying at a Deluxe resort for at least part of the trip if the perks are worth it at the time of travel. I could also see me taking advantage of my Bonvoy points by staying at one of the WDW resorts on property since they offer the same perks as other onsite hotels.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Yeah that makes sense. I may come to the same conclusions you when you factor in what it takes to get there but I definitely have to go at least once. Probably will depend on how much I lean into the "vacation" aspect of being at WDW as that is clearly where its strength is. But I know myself - it's going to be a marathon at the parks. Just waiting for my daughter to hit 40 inches and deciding how crazy/expensive the trip will be. I'm very a much a go big or go home type when it comes to "once in a lifetime" (or close) things so I might be looking at 10 days in Orlando, including Universal and staying at a Deluxe resort for at least part of the trip if the perks are worth it at the time of travel. I could also see me taking advantage of my Bonvoy points by staying at one of the WDW resorts on property since they offer the same perks as other onsite hotels.

Taking some days for just resorts or going to Disney springs or the water parks would probably be a good idea. The resort areas are quite like a little town, especially the Epcot and MK resorts.