Florida or California help me decide please!

daz1985

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Hi All,

I went to WDW last year (about a year ago now :() but due to an unexpected payout I can possibly afford to go again!!

I am torn between the 2 above venues as I LOVED florida but perhaps 2nd time isnt ever as good and its worth trying something different?

i am thinking of going next March-May for 10 days to 14 days.

I have seen on WDW website i can get the above for £4600 as a package which is about my budget but the disneyland california site is all in american dollars and i cannot seem to scroll past December so im not sure how to book that anyway?

it is important to me that i do not drive in USA (dont want added stress) and would prefer to stay in a disney resort. i have to say last year went like clockwork, we just did 2 taxi trips to walmart which was perhaps $40 return each one and the rest of the time i got public transport or disney shuttles.

I would 100% want to go to universal this time having missed out last time.

thanks in advance for advice!
 
I think with California you would need to drive as there is only the two Disney Parks and everything else is some distance away I believe (haven't been yet but planning July 2016) if you are looking to fill 10-14 days. We are going to do 4 nights at DL then head to WDW.

WDW never disappoints for us and I have been every year since 2006 and most years multiple times (and a couple of times pre 2006) - we love everything about the place hence the split trip to Cali - we want to go "home" as well :thumbsup2
 
disneyland resort (California) is very nice (maybe nicer than WDW) but 10 days are way too much, even if you add Universal Hollywood.

It is possible to do Anaheim without a car, but if you don't want to drive because of the stress ... I wouldn't advise trying public transportation or shuttles in LA ... (stress squared ...)
Distances are huge

Disneyland tickets are only for up to 5 days, so if you want 10 days, this means getting 2 sets of tickets, or having other points of interest (Las Vegas or Frisco for example but that will require a car or additional plane ticket)

staying onsite in anaheim for 10 nights will cost you between £2500 and £3000 with 5 day tickets. without food, airfare and transportation (airport to resort and back, and transportation to other attractions like USH for example)


in the end, if you're planning a California trip, you might want to make it a non disney-central trip.
It would need to be a more general "western" trip, with a disney stay. But if you're looking at a 10 to 14 nights disney stay, then Florida is best suited.
 
We loved Disneyland but only stayed for 6 nights and also included one day into LA/Hollywood on an organised tour. We'll definitely go back as we didn't manaage to see/do what we wanted in the parks. We've been to WDW approx 20 times but never tire of it and flew down to Orlando from LA. I couldn't imagine staying in Disneyland for more than a week - like others have said you'd need to plan a more west coast trip.
 


We loved our 2 trips to DLR but can't imagine it without a car (saying that I wouldn't goto Orlando without a car) as said there are only the 2 Disney parks in Anaheim, Universal is about 1 hour drive away (2 hours back in rush hour as we found) SeaWorld is about 100 miles away and around 2 hours drive. I am sure its possible without car but wouldn't be the place for me.
 
Reading the title, I was going to reply "California", but if you don't drive that's more difficult. The best amount of days for Disneyland resort is 4 days, and this allows you to smell the roses as well. Not sure what you could do with the remaining days. 1 day to Universal. 1 to Knott Berry Farm? 1 tour of Los Angeles? Then not driving you would be stuck. Maybe a week in a nice hotel somewhere by the ocean?
I did a tour starting in Los Angeles and ending in San Francisco, visiting Arizona and Nevada in between. 2 of the most wonderful weeks of my life. However a part from 4 days at DL, it was all on the road. WDW is much more relaxing from that point of view.

P.S. Driving in the USA is not that bad. Streets are huge and speed limits are strictly enforced. It's not like driving in Italy :-) (and I know it, I'm Italian)
 
I'm in agreement with everyone else - California is beautiful and Disneyland is, of course, the Mecca for all Disney fans - but it is much smaller than WDW. You would need to see some other things in California if you were planning on spending 10-14 days, and that would definitely involve a car.

For what it's worth, I'm 26 and I've been to WDW about 10 times in my life. It never gets old, it never loses its magic...it is always an amazing vacation for us :thumbsup2

PS zavandor is very, very correct - if you've driven in Italy, driving in America will be like racing turtles on a closed track. I can't imagine that there is anywhere in the world where driving is more intense than it was in Italy :drive:
 


thanks all for responses. perhaps if i did california i could do just 1 week but it seems that 'price per night' you may as well do the 2 weeks as its not exactly half price for 1 week.
 
If I were you, I would want to get the most for my money and stay as long as I could afford, since international flights aren't necessarily cheap. If you're going to come all the way over here, might as well make the most of it!! :teeth: That being said, I would either do WDW for two weeks, or if you think you could let go of your fear of driving over here and give it a shot, you could do Disneyland CA and make the short (about an hour and a half, it's a lovely drive, too) drive to San Diego and explore there. I have been many, many places in the world, but I dream of returning to San Diego often. It's quite lovely, the weather is perfect, beaches, amazing authentic Mexican food, they have an excellent zoo, lots of really interesting museums, etc.

Those are just my suggestions! Whatever you decide, have a great trip! :wave:
 
Flights between the two aren't that bad... could you do both? *That* would be an awesome trip if you adore Disney! I'm half-kidding...
 
We flew into Vegas for a 4 nights before LA/DLR. not somewhere we thought we would enjoy but turned out 4 nights wasn't enough so maybe do split stay with Vegas or Florida.
 
.....

P.S. Driving in the USA is not that bad. Streets are huge and speed limits are strictly enforced. It's not like driving in Italy :-) (and I know it, I'm Italian)

Speaking as a California native and someone who has been driving all over the U.S. for 40 years, your post made me laugh. Speed limits in the U.S. are not strictly enforced, except maybe in small southern towns looking for ticket income. Streets are not all "huge" either; it's just like everywhere else in world.

I agree that 10-14 days is far too many to spend at Disneyland. Breaking up the trip and visiting other areas in California would be a good plan (San Francisco, Napa Valley, San Diego, Yosemite, etc.), especially if you would be willing to rent a car.
 
Speaking as a California native and someone who has been driving all over the U.S. for 40 years, your post made me laugh. Speed limits in the U.S. are not strictly enforced, except maybe in small southern towns looking for ticket income. Streets are not all "huge" either; it's just like everywhere else in world.

I agree that 10-14 days is far too many to spend at Disneyland. Breaking up the trip and visiting other areas in California would be a good plan (San Francisco, Napa Valley, San Diego, Yosemite, etc.), especially if you would be willing to rent a car.

They are much more strictly enforced in the U.S. than in Europe - I think that's what he was trying to say? And most streets here are much larger compared to Italy. Driving over there is insane.
 
We have done DL California 3 times without a car (and DBF did it twice before that on his own before I joined him). We have used Grayline to do some days away from the Disney parks as well as transfers from the airport.
http://www.grayline.com/things-to-do/united-states/anaheim/
The first yr myself , DBF and DD did just a week with 5 days in the parks , 1 day at Knotts and 1 day at Sea world in San Diego (with Grayline)
The 2nd yr was just myself and DBF so we did I think 5 days in the parks and then flew to Vegas for another 5 days - I wasn't sure whether I would like Vegas but absolutley loved it and can't wait to go again
The 3rd yr we did about 6 days in the parks and did a day trip to San Diego zoo again with Grayline

So it is definitely do able without a car. You could do a split stay with DL and then a few days in San Diego
 
thanks again for the replies, i am currently trying to persuade my wife to go (she seems to think if youve done something once why do it again - which to me is an insane way of looking at it). our kids are quite young so i think overall it sounds like florida is the way to go as we know that all we want to do they will also love every day but my wife seems to think paris might be better at half the price but it looks rubbish compared to the states!
 
I have been to both, I think for the 'Disney Experience' the World wins everytime but California has a lot to offer and if you considered a multi=stay so a few days in the parks and then a trip to san fran or san diego or even Vegas that would be a great trip but it depends on what you are looking for. I agree about public transport in LA it is severely lacking and I would not recommend it.
 
thanks again for the replies, i am currently trying to persuade my wife to go (she seems to think if youve done something once why do it again - which to me is an insane way of looking at it). our kids are quite young so i think overall it sounds like florida is the way to go as we know that all we want to do they will also love every day but my wife seems to think paris might be better at half the price but it looks rubbish compared to the states!
From personal experience if your kids are still quite young then maybe (for now) WDW would be the safer bet.Those extra hours on the plane and the extra time difference might be too much, and a PP has said you need to travel more to do stuff on California. At least in WDW you can easily spend 2 weeks there and never leave!
As for DLP time for time it's much more expensive, for a long weekend for our family of 4, including flights/spending money we won't get much change out of 1k
 
I know Los Angeles well having spent a lot of time there when I was in my 20's, its a great city & we love it.
DLR is a completely different animal to WDW, even with the additional park you are looking at 4 - 5 days max.
It's a great park & still holds a special place in my heart as it was my first experience of a Disney theme park, it's got a different vibe to the Florida version & I like the fact that Walt himself walked around there & was involved with it up to his death.
Getting around L.A. without a car is going to be difficult, time consuming & frustrating, the city is huge & not really geared up to move people around on public transport, taxis will get you where you want to go but you will need deep pockets.
You mentioned Universal, the one in L.A. is amazing & is the original & still a working studio, we think it's way better than the Orlando one even without the Harry Potter attractions & roller coasters, but it is miles from DLR & would be a real pain to get to & from without a car.
Driving in L.A. is really not that bad once you get the hang of it especially with Sat Navs, I look back on my day's of driving around strange American cities with nothing more than maps & wonder how I managed. :-)
We went to WDW in 2012 for two weeks & went again last year for two weeks, we weren't bored & still managed to find new things to see & do whilst we were there as well as redoing some of our favorite things from the previous trip, the other thing to consider is the length of the flight to the West coast especially if your kids are young.
We are planing a trip to the West Coast next year & then heading back to WDW the following year because we still have things to see & do even after our two recent trips.
It sounds like your are now thinking more like WDW is the place to go & I think your probably right this time, once your onsite everything is taken care of & if you do want to head up to Universal the buses & taxis aren't that expensive.
It's interesting what you said about DLP, we just looked at going for 3 nights over the August bank holiday & got quoted £2,600 to stay at the DisneyLand Hotel without flights, needless to say we passed & will put that £2,600 towards California next year.
Have a great time whatever you end up doing & feel free to PM if you have any questions.
 
We have toyed with going to California but so far cost, combined with most likely wanting to make it a longer stay, has meant we have returned to Florida each time.
 
thanks again for the replies, i am currently trying to persuade my wife to go (she seems to think if youve done something once why do it again - which to me is an insane way of looking at it). our kids are quite young so i think overall it sounds like florida is the way to go as we know that all we want to do they will also love every day but my wife seems to think paris might be better at half the price but it looks rubbish compared to the states!

Again DLPR is only a couple of days and per day is expensive compared to FL. DLRP is smaller as like CA only has the two parks. It has some different attractions than WDW though. What dislike is the mix of English and French used.

The thing with WDW is you can not see everything it has to offer in one trip - I have done far more than that and still find things to do we haven't done before :thumbsup2
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top