…And let me pose this... I'm a life-long DLR guest, since 1982. I still love it but ever since I've been to WDW I sometimes feel like DLR just isn't as good. I mean, I love it! I've held AP's/Magic Keys though, not currently. I went to WDW last year for the first time in over a decade and it brought me back to that feeling I love about those parks where there is no city right there and you really can't see it from the tops of the tall rides.
Does anyone else feel this way? I also kind of feel like CM's at WDW were in better spirits though, I can't blame the folks out here because they deserve a much higher wage. My last few visits went from "let me see what we can do to accommodate you" to "hard no" (mostly related to wanting to dine solo often requesting a seat at a bar to do so. I've been visiting solo in recent times but when I had a park buddy it felt even more magical here at DLR so I wonder if that is part of the equation? My visit to WDW solo was as exciting and fun and adventurous as when I had a travel partner.
Ok yeah, random thoughts here. Thanks if you took the time to read.
As a 60+ DLR regular who’s a recent Florida transplant who spent the last year using the cheap local WDW annual pass… here’s my perspective:
The charm of WDW, for me, wore off very quickly due to a lot of factors, most of it to do with price, maintenance and management, but some of it is simply the resort’s design.
As a first-time or once-every-few-years tourist, the trek from MK’s parking lot to the TTC and then the ferry or monorail ride to MK (and the reverse slog at day’s end) is kinda neat. It achieves the designed effect of isolation from reality.
For me, it got old quickly, and now I look at MK as simply being a complete pain to get in and out of.
The parking lot-to-gate experience for the other three parks is about the same as you’d get from any Six Flags, Sea World or Cedar Fair park.
Park hopping is a time-consuming pain at WDW, and, for me, all 4 parks are too light on number of attractions.
And If not paying the prices to stay on-site, getting around WDW is, IMO, not a very magical experience. It feels to me like driving along the roads and intersections of an enormous business park. And people drive no more courteously or sanely on those roads than anywhere else in the U.S.
I much prefer the tighter, denser, easier-to-get-around, more-fun-per-square-foot feeling of DLR and Universal Orlando Resort. DLR (IMO) has better parks than WDW, and UOR has its own extremely fun, fresher-feeling vibe.
Right now, I think UOR offers the best and easiest “escape from the real world” bubble. If you stay at a water taxi hotel (and Sapphire Falls is very affordable), getting around is a joy and the outside world is nicely camouflaged. Staying at the super-fun-and-inexpensive Cabana Bay lacks the water taxi but does have amazingly quick resort bus service. And even arriving at the parks by car is a more fun entry experience than I get at WDW.
WDW has the potential to be much better than it currently is. It’s got some great attractions and deserves its fame, but, for me, quoting Bilbo Baggins, it currently feels like butter that’s been scraped over too much bread. Universal’s a work in progress, but I love where they are and where they’re going.
And DLR, despite being stranded in Anaheim, still offers the best in-park and park-hopping day experience. If it had an on-site hotel selection as easy, wide and budget-accommodating as UOR currently has, it would be nearly perfect.