As has been mentioned, both properties appeal to different audiences. I think one reason WDW doesn't like overlays or overly thematic holiday decorations overing every square inch is that it a tourist destination. And even if a good portion of guests visit more than once, it isn't with any frequency once evry year or every couple of years. Look at this thread and a few posters complaining about how the HM overlay at DL, in their opinion, ruins the attraction for them. Visitors to WDW may only have this once chance to visit this attraction, which is dressed up differently for the holidays. DL, on the otherhand, serves mostly locals, and the tourists who visit aren't nearly as invested, since Disneyland is generally just a stopover and the whole vacation.
I find that argument to be overly simplistic. Not that it doesn't have some merit when it comes to demographics on a Sunday afternoon when the AP's arrive en masse. But it way oversimplifies the issue, completely ignores the reality of who exactly does visit Disneyland, and only seems to excuse WDW management for lowering their standards or not raising them to the levels of other Disney properties around the world.
I find that many folks back East who have never visited Disneyland have this quick n' easy idea that it's filled to the brim of local OC suburbanites dropping in for a few hours after work or on their way home from church on Sunday. While there is certainly that demographic at Disneyland, especially on Sunday afternoons, they are the minority overall.
The majority of Disneyland visitors walking the park and waiting in line with you for Haunted Mansion Holiday are tourists from Seattle and Salt Lake and Sydney and Seoul. While we will never get Disney to release detailed statistics on who their customers are at their parks, as they don't even offer total attendance figures let alone break them down into smaller demographics, we can use the statistics for the two tourism-dependent states.
Using 2008 as that was the most recent year easily researched from the two states' tourism departments;
2008 California Visitor Totals
138 Million Domestic Tourists (Americans visiting from other states for Leisure)
13.4 Million Foreign Tourists
- 6.7 Million Mexicans, 1.2 Million Canadians, 5.5 Million Other (Top 7 Countries: UK, Japan, Australia, South Korea, France, China, Taiwain)
2008 Florida Visitor Totals
76 Million Domestic Tourists (Americans visiting from other states for Leisure)
9.1 Million Foreign Tourists
- 2.9 Million Canadians, 5.2 Million Other (Top 5 Countries: UK, South America, Germany, France, Japan)
I think it's safe to say that some of those 150 Million domestic and foreign tourists to California are spending a day or two at Disneyland. And their vacation apparently wasn't ruined by the holiday overlays at Space Mountain, Small World or Haunted Mansion, because domestic and foreign tourism to California has only increased in the past 10 years along with annual Disneyland attendance since the overlays and upgraded holiday offerings appeared in the late 1990's through the mid 2000's.
The argument that Disneyland gets fancy decorations and better maintenance and swanky seasonal offerings because it's a "Locals Only Park" is
way, way oversimplified. And judging by the tourism statistics for both states, it's not at all accurate.
Judging by all the foreign languages (Japanese, Korean, and Chinese) and all the funny accents (Australian, New Zealand, British Columbia) and the painful sunburns on folks from the Pacific Northwest I notice on trips to Disneyland, I'd say Disneyland does quite a good job in pulling in their share of the larger numbers of tourists that visit California than visit Florida.
And Disneyland is also a great place for locals to visit, too!
