The Ultimate Question.

[Disney_dude]

Apples and Oranges.

All Fruit

 

[jaredliu]

I will say that people have not yet been to Disneyland, go give a try for the 50th celebration starting May 5th. The new firework, new space mountain, new parade, Indy ride, POTC, Fantasmic will not dissapoint you. it's better than rejecting DL as a inferior park before you really experience it by yourself.

 

[Edeyore]

Disney World is larger, but I have heard, many times in this forum, that people that have been to both prefer some of the versions of rides that are
at Disneyland, better than the version at Disney World. (ie. PoC)

 

[Captain Chaos]

I have never been to Disneyland so it is unfair for me to comment. If I was given a choice of where to go, I would choose Walt Disney World.

 

[DonaldD1987]

Never been to Disneyland to really can't say. But I would choose WDW!!!

 

[zjer]

Even tho I havent been to Disneyland, My sister says it was stupid, she said that it's more of a rollercoaster park, not that WDW insnt, but, that just doesnt seem like Walk, ne one w/ me? So I would probably like WDW better!(and i'm not a roller coaster fan,(well more of drops))

MickeyMan101

I think a few people in this forum are a bit biased on this issue. (Edit: In My Opinion) Disneyland knocks the socks off off Magic Kingdom. It is not a roller coaster park, California Adventure has traditional coasters, but Disneyland has many of the same coasters that MK does. (ex. Space Mountain.) Disneyworld is more of a vacation place however, because it has so much more to do. (Edit: In My Opinion) Disneyland is better than Magic Kingdom. (Edit: In My Opinion) Disneyworld Resort is better than Disneyland Resort. Disneyland should NEVER be called stupid, everything you see at Magic Kingdom is because of Disneyland.

 

[Brad]

It's funny how a lot of the replies are from those who have never been to Disneyland.
The first knock against DL is often it's size, something like all of it would fit into the WDW parking lot. Well bigger isn't necessarily better all the time.
I was pleasantly surprised with DL in comparison to WDW. I didn't get the "stuck on a freeway" feel that some complain about. I really enjoyed the ability to walk anywhere, from resort to resort and from park to park.
I thought California Adventure had a lot to offer beyond the boardwalk-coaster label. In a lot of ways it combines the best of Epcot and the Studios with the added benefit of some traditional thrill rides.
And as an added bonus the weather is much better.
Given the option of visiting either I would probably pick WDW more often because it does have more to offer. However I think DL gets an ufair bad-rap at times and if given the opportunity, some of you might try visiting.

 

[FamilyMan]

I'd like to take a minute to point out the differences. A lot of you have this idea of Disneyland that simply isn't true. Someone said that Disneyland was a coaster park? Give me a break. LMAO.

First off, let's use the Proper Names. When you refer to the entire resort (all the theme parks, hotels, etc.) use Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort. And to be honest, when you say Walt Disney World or Disney World, that's okay too.

Since this is a WDW Site, I'm going to go from a WDW Visitor's point of view.

Disneyland Resort (in California) has 2 theme parks:

-Disneyland Park (Which has the Magic Kingdom style layout, but note that the park is NOT called the Magic Kingdom Park like it is here in WDW.)
-Disney's California Adventure (Their version of the Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Wilderness Lodge, A Bug's Life, and the Boardwalk all smashed together.)

Disneyland Resort has 3 hotels, but only one is Disney Built:
-Disneyland Hotel (Bought it only in the 90s, but was operating since the 50s. Disney has since re-themed most of the resort.)
-Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel (Bought a few years back, Disney re-themed it to the Paradise Pier section of Disney's California Adventure)
-Disney's Grand Californian Hotel (Disney-built, very similar to the Wilderness Lodge)

And finally, Disneyland Resort also includes Downtown Disney. A District much like our own, but with a very different theme and layout.

Disneyland Resort's infrastructure is very similar to that of Universal Orlando. Except there are no boats or waterways. The parks are across from one another, they connect to a night-time district, and they also use a gigantic parking garage.

Disneyland Park is like their version of of Magic Kingdom. But if you were to compare our Magic Kingdom against Disneyland Park, Disneyland Park would surely win. (Though they have a smaller castle.) They have most of the attractions we have, and then some. The Matterhorn, Indiana Jones Adventure, and Roger Rabbit's Car-toon Spin are all attractions that we don't have in WDW. And that's just a sample. But they also have Star Tours and Innoventions, attractions not found in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, but found in other parks instead. From that aspect, Disneyland Park is much better than the Magic Kingdom.

Disney's California Adventure has attactions from Disney-MGM Studios (Tower of Terror, Disney Animation, Muppet Vision 3-D) and also includes the original concept for Disney's Boardwalk (before it was turned into the hotel we know today) and also includes some attractions based on the Wilderness Lodge theme like Grizzly River Run, a rapids ride that's pretty darn amazing. (Think Kali at Animal Kindgom, but bigger, and with a Wilderness Lodge theme) And finally, they have a land dedicated to "a bug's life." Oh, Soarin' is also there as well.

Now, when you look at WDW, you have 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 2 night time entertainment districts, (Downtown Disney and Disney's Boardwalk) Campgrounds, Golf, mini-golf, too many hotels to name, and sooo much more.

In conclusion, WDW is much better than Disneyland Resort, but if you break it up and compare the Magic Kingdom to Disneyland Park, Disneyland Park is better.

At least that's how I see it.

 

[GenerationX]

We just got back from the Grand Californian, and I made many mental notes along the way comparing DLR to WDW. Here's an excerpt from my "Top Ten List" DLR trip report:

9. I like the way the Downtown Disney district connects the two parks and the three hotels. Everything is walkable, and no streets need to be crossed.
8. Better at DLR: Grizzly River Rapids (over Kali), Redwood Creek Challenge Trail (over Boneyard), Indiana Jones Adventure (over Dinosaur), Pirates of the Caribbean (except for the queue, which is far inferior to the WDW version), Mickey's Toontown (way better at DLR), and "it's a small world" (much better exterior, shorter ride).
7. Better at WDW: Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, the Castle, the number of parks/attractions/resorts, and the size of the property in general.
6. Also, the drive from Orlando International Airport to WDW is so much more pleasant than the drive from LAX to DLR. Driving in general around WDW is less stressful than driving around DLR. The DLR non-rush hour traffic is horrendous and the freeways are in a state of disrepair. The latter point baffles me, because I doubt there's a need to salt the roads in So Cal.
4. DLR CMs are, similarly to WDW CMs, some of the absolute nicest people on Earth.

One other major advantage WDW has over DLR: Kryssa. There is no counterpart to her fabulous, perky self on DLR resort TV.

One other major advantage DLR has over WDW: Haagen Dazs. Immediately across the Downtown Disney path from the Grand Californian is a great little Haagen Dazs ice cream store.

Bottom Line: We loved DLR, but we will probably only visit it once for every seven trips to WDW.

 

[nickcarraway]

Apples and oranges, my friend. Apples. Oranges.

 

[joshwill]

42

oops, wrong ultimate question.....

 

[yodathefrog]

Bottom Line: We loved DLR, but we will probably only visit it once for every seven trips to WDW.

Amen!

My thoughts exactly...great place, loved it. I agree with everything you said above. Although we are closer to and a DVC member at WDW. By the way...I thought the Haagan Daas store was AWESOME!

 

[Aurora_25]

I have heard this debate many times and couldn't comment before since I hadn't been to both. I finally had the opportunity to go to Disneyland and although small, it has it's good qualities also.
Disneyland was the first (obvious), it still has Mr. Toads Wild Ride (I miss that in WDW), It also has Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Storybook ride, The Matterhorn (which was closed when I was there) and several others. Although Disneyland is small, it's a nice place to visit.
I have to say though, I went through Disneyland and California Adventure in one day- no, I didn't go on every ride, but I went on alot of them. Wheras with WDW- I could go there hundreds of times and still never see everything that I want to see.
To me, I personally love WDW so much more than Disneyland, but I am so glad that I got to go to Disneyland and see how it is different.

 

[RedGear]

WDW

there are 4 parks and 2 water parks and Disneyland does not have as many parks, hotels.

 

[epcotfan]

Apples Oranges. 'Nuff said.

 

[Woody13]

Even Walt himself thought of Disneyland as the pits. He was VERY disappointed with Disneyland.

Our good friend "Baggy" had this to say:

At the 10th anniversary celebration for Club 55, the group of cast members (from front-line through executive) who had worked at Disneyland on opening day, Walt said:

“I mean, when we opened, if we could have bought more land, we would have. Then we'd have had control and it wouldn't look too much like a second-rate Las Vegas around here. We'd have had a little better chance to control it. But we ran out of money, and then by the time we did have a little money, everybody got wise to what was going on and we couldn't buy anything around the place at all!”

http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg040128.htm



​

 

[jaredliu]

DL is way better than MK as far as I am concerned. Fantasmic is way better in DL than MGM. Without Mark Twain, the boat at MGM is simply the most ugly thing I've ever seen.