Been to WDW, what to expect of DL?

[figueroa4]

In 2009 we went to Disney World which we were planning to do again in March. But for some reason we got side tracked and decided to maybe try Disneyland and Hollywood etc. Just curious to hear from some who have been to both what differences to expect?

At WDW we did 1 park a day. I undertsand DL has 2 parks so can I assume it will be the same or would 1 day cover it?

Also we will probably be choosing a resort hotel there. Do we need to book now and does it require only a deposit or payment in full? Do you have a preference in resorts?

These are just the first of probably many questions! Thanks!

 

[irisbud]

In 2009 we went to Disney World which we were planning to do again in March. But for some reason we got side tracked and decided to maybe try Disneyland and Hollywood etc. Just curious to hear from some who have been to both what differences to expect?

We have been to WDW multiple times and to DL twice. They are very different experiences. The best advice that I could give you would be NOT to expect them to be the same, and appreciate each resort for what it is. If you spend the entire trip trying to compare the two, you may find yourself disappointed.

I love WDW and also loved DL, but not as much. I WANTED to, but I just didn't. DL was fun, the rides were great (often we found that if DL and WDW have the same ride, the DL version was better) and the weather was nice, but it was just lacking something for us. I think it was the immersive experience that we get at WDW. We went into it knowing that, but it still was somehow not quite as magical. We also felt a little wrong-footed and lost at DL itself...like we were in WDW's MK but someone had moved things around and shrunk the castle.

We did a lot of other things in SoCal on our trips though, not just DL whereas at WDW we have always just done WDW, which may have been part of the difference for us.

We also found the CMs at DL to be far less engaging than those at WDW, but it seems that many others have had the opposite experience.

Like I said, we love both but they are different!

At WDW we did 1 park a day. I undertsand DL has 2 parks so can I assume it will be the same or would 1 day cover it?

I don't think one day would cover it but it would depend how much you really wanted to do/see. Our first trip we had 6 day tickets and probably totaled about 4 days in the park (just did mornings a couple of times). We did pretty much everything we wanted to do and at an easy pace, but couldn't have done it in one day for sure. On our next trip we had about 2.5 park days and missed some things we would have liked to have seen, but I was pregnant then and not really into commando touyring even though our time was limited. Both visits had low crowd levels.

Also we will probably be choosing a resort hotel there. Do we need to book now and does it require only a deposit or payment in full? Do you have a preference in resorts?

No idea on the deposits; we used DVC points. We stayed at PP and at DLH on our first trip (went to San Diego over a weekend). We much preferred DLH. It was very "Disney" and should be even more so now after the rennovations. PP was blah for us...we could have stayed offsite and had the same experience. On our next trip we stayed off site at the Red Lion. It is a bit of a walk, but a nice, clean hotel with comfortable rooms

HTH!

 

[jj548548]

I do WDW all the time and was a CM at WDW. I tried DL 2 times and I went into it open for the new experience but was disappointed. The crowds seamed larger and the family felt cramped. The CM's where not as much fun. My family is opting out of DL in the future.

 

[Taja]

I grew up at and with Disneyland and love it to pieces. But when I choose a Disney vacation, I choose WDW.

Disneyland was built as a park for locals, although it certainly draws international guests. It is much smaller (even including California Adventure) than WDW, and can feel very crowded most days. California Adventure (CA) is much more spread out than Disneyland (DL), but in many ways feels more like an average amusement park than Disney. And in other ways feels very Disney! It feels a bit like DHS--not sure what they wanted to do, but needed to do it quickly! While DL has lost some of its special details over time, it still is much more detailed than MK and other WDW parks, for the most part.

DL/CA are located in Orange County, not too far from Knott's Berry Farm. It tends to have more thrill rides than Disney parks, but it isn't as well themed. Different verse, same chorus, right? *LOL*

Hollywood doesn't exist in the sense that most people expect. It's part of Los Angeles. In recent years, there has been more of an attempt to actually create more of a "Hollywood" area. It's still over an hour away from DL/CA, so you'll need a car. And Universal Studios is in the San Fernando Valley--about 1.5 hours from DL/CA (about the same as WDW to Busch Gardens, but probably fewer miles and more traffic!). And you need to plan with more entities--no one-stop shopping!

Time required to see DL/CA varies greatly. I would say two to three days would be adequate to see most things comfortably. You can do both parks commando style in one day (depending on how busy DL is), but you would miss a great deal of both parks.

As PP said much more concisely, they are two very different vacations. WDW is a vacation destination. DL/CA is a vacation area destination! Appreciate both for what they are!

Edited to add:

We stayed at the Grand Californian one night and discovered the perks we're accustomed to at WDW don't really exist at DL/CA. There was one morning EMH at DL each week (we missed it). That said, if you love WL, you'll like GC! Similar lodge theme!

Someone else paid for the room, but I believe it was a typical deposit--one night room plus tax. And we discovered the Story Teller Cafe at the GC--great place to eat and get away from the parks for a bit, regardless of where you're staying! I believe ADRs are required.

Since the perks for staying on site are minimal--besides convenience--it wouldn't hurt to check out the nearby Howard Johnson's (mostly good reviews) and other motels/hotels. There are a lot of them!

 

[Taja]

Just thought of something.

I have been told (hopefully it's correct) that the three DLR hotels are based on the following:

Disneyland Hotel (original hotel): Geared more toward adults and families

Paradise Pier: Geared more toward families.

Grand Californian (flagship hotel): Geared toward adults & families. Think GF for pricing--possibly higher! I can vouch for the latter part! *LOL*

 

[twinboysmom]

Loved, loved, loved DL. We went for 4 days and that was more than enough time to see everything. One day is not enough. To me it was easier tonged around than WDW. Just walk everywhere. The parks are across from each other. We stayed at both the GC and DLH on DVC points. Loved them both. GC has it's own entrance into DCA. I understand that many of the offsite hotels are also in walking distance to the parks and are reasonably priced. Don't know I'd you have young children but fantasyland is so much better at DL. Also I found it more laid back. The characters walked around, not the big meet and greets and not the ridiculousness of WDW with the ADRs to eat a meal. We will go back when the boys are around 5 again but for now it is WDW as it is a one day drive. Did I say I loved it?

 

[MissChris]

I grew up on the west coast and my parents were from the LA area so we went to Disneyland pretty much every year during my childhood and I love it. I live on the East coast now so WDW is where I take my family, but I found WDW disappointing when I went the first time as an adult.

Disneyland is smaller, but it is also more dense. At WDW the headliner attractions were spread out among the different parks to encourage people to visit all the resort areas.

I haven't been to DL in a number of years but when I went they had Star Tours, Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain all in one park in addition to the usual big attractions that I go to at WDW (like, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Tom Sawyer's Island, Small World, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Pooh Bear...) There are more rides in Fantasyland, like the storybook boats, Mr. Toad, the Finding Nemo Submarine ride, and Alice in Wonderland. Disneyland also has a completely differently themed toon town with a Roger rabbit ride as well as a mini roller coaster. Also, when I last saw it Fantasmic was shown on the "Rivers of America" so you could be just strolling through or stop by and see it instead of having to attend a special showing. I don't know if that's still the case but that's how it was.

Of course its older, so it is smaller and in some ways less spectacular. Although the Matterhorn and Everest are roughly equivalent in their theming (mountain ride, yeti/abominable snowman, thrills...) Everest is the much newer and sharper and more exciting evolution of that ride.

I think that expecting to do both parks in one day would be unrealistic. Even though DL is smaller, I think it might have more attractions that the Magic Kingdom (I'm not sure about that) but it will also be all new to you and so will probably take more time.

I think going to Disneyland is less immersive than WDW. You can't just stay inside the magic all the time. I would say it is less important to stay in a Disney resort at DL because the resort is less of a world apart. But its still pretty great.

Have fun, thinking about it again I wish I was going too.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I love the ease of park hopping at DLR. You go to DL in the morning and when the crowds start getting bad you hop over to DCA (Which is bigger and handles crowds better). The parks are directly across from each other so it takes less than 5 minutes. Then you go back to DL in the evening when the locals start heading home and the park become less crowded.

Also, staying on-site at DLR is not as necessary as at WDW. There a quite a few nice hotels directly across the street from the parks. We stayed at the Best Western Park Place which is right at the crosswalk on Harbor and it took about 5 minutes for me to walk from my room to the turnstiles.

Since this would be your first trip to DLR I would do about 3-4 days just so you can take your time and really soak in the original.

 

[acmmommymouse]

My biggest reaction when I went to DL was "where is the castle!".....
Definately agree that they are both wonderful for different reasons, but would take WDW over DL in a heartbeat. You are lucky if you get to see them both however.

 

[EKW]

First, skip the Disney hotels unless the cache of that is central to your happiness. Stay at HoJo's. They have great Entertainment Book rates...and are as close as two of the three Disney Hotels. Google them or find them on Facebook.

Second, I'd plan spending two days at Disneyland and one at California Adventure...and that will allow you to do most everything.

Third...the differences: DLR is much more compact than WDW. You'll feel the crowds more...and, if you go at a high attendance time, there will be lines. I've never seen any line at Disney World...even for Dumbo...that can begin to compare to the lines at Disneyland.

All the "magic" you're used to at WDW...the rope drop shows, etc, really don't exist at DLR. I've also found that the DLR employees don't go out of their way to make magical moments the way the ones at WDW do. As far as restaurants go, you aren't going to find any that remind you of the table service restaurants at WDW. Goofy's Kitchen is great. Other than that, the only restuarant that reminds me of the ones at WDW is Blue Bayou. The food is very good...if you book waaay ahead of time and you're nice to them you might get waterside seating...but, the cost is much higher than comperable restaurants at WDW.

One major difference: be ready to stake out a spot on the grass to watch Fantasmic faaar in advance...or buy viewing tickets or snag seats at the restaurants back around the lagoon early. It's not like WDW where there is plenty of seating.

That said, Disneyland has a magic all it's own. There is a charm and a history there that doesn't exist at WDW.

 

[pixiewings71]

OP why don't you come down to the Disneyland section of the boards? We have a full forum there and you can find all kinds of information there, we are very friendly (much like the CM's at DLR/DCA ) and we would love to help you out!! The DL section of the boards is farther down, just scroll down and you'll find us.

While DLR/DCA may be smaller you can not do them in 1 day...unless you are OK with missing a LOT of stuff. I recommend a miniumum of 4 days and all tickets over 1 day are park hoppers, the parks are very close together (about the length of a football field) so it's very very easy to hop.

I hope to see you on our DL forum soon with tons of questions!

 

[Missus Toad]

DL is wonderful-- wonderful! But you will see that when you get there. I was raised on WDW and still love it, but DL has just as big a piece of my heart now for more reasons than I can list here. It is very, very special, and 1 day will not be enough for both.

 

[Evi]

I agree with what another poster said about great rides less then cheerful cm's. But I also will skip dl in the future I just didn't love it. I liked it a little bit and wanted to love it but there is something a little dreary about dl to me. I don't know if its the location of the parks with all the homeless kids living in motels across the street or that I found a lot of rides to be dirty like ice cream spilled on seat and cm telling you to get in and me looking at him like he was crazy and pointing to ice cream and no one picked it up I was just told ok you can wait for the next one. I saw soda cups on rides and even a mother snatch a drink from an ice bucket in front of a pushcart and yell at the cm refusing to pay saying how her kid was thirsty and she already paid to get in the park. It just lacked the magic for me. I was there in 06 who knows maybe its alot nicer now.

But I will say I've gotten total opposite remarks from other people who love it. Here is what I would advise. Stay on property don't stay at one of the funky motels on the strip we stayed on site and that did make it better.

 

[pixiewings71]

I agree with what another poster said about great rides less then cheerful cm's. But I also will skip dl in the future I just didn't love it. I liked it a little bit and wanted to love it but there is something a little dreary about dl to me. I don't know if its the location of the parks with all the homeless kids living in motels across the street or that I found a lot of rides to be dirty like ice cream spilled on seat and cm telling you to get in and me looking at him like he was crazy and pointing to ice cream and no one picked it up I was just told ok you can wait for the next one. I saw soda cups on rides and even a mother snatch a drink from an ice bucket in front of a pushcart and yell at the cm refusing to pay saying how her kid was thirsty and she already paid to get in the park. It just lacked the magic for me. I was there in 06 who knows maybe its alot nicer now.

But I will say I've gotten total opposite remarks from other people who love it. Here is what I would advise. Stay on property don't stay at one of the funky motels on the strip we stayed on site and that did make it better.

wow...just wow...are you sure that all happened at DL and not at 6 flags? LOL We had APs for 2 years, we went anywhere from 24-30 times in those 2 years, all our trips were at least 2 full days (we are a 6 hr drive from DLR) and I can say with all honesty that the people in the hotels across the street are NOT homeless, they are visiting DL/DCA! What a crazy opinion, sure there are homeless people at the bus stop but they don't bother anyone and most of them are actually waiting for a bus.......we only stayed on-site 2 or 3 times and it NEVER detracted from our DL experience. I bet that the CM who told you to wait for the next car then had them pull the car with ice cream on the seat out to clean it, I never saw soda cups on rides, I saw water or soda bottles a time or two but we just picked them up and put them in the recycling bins, soda cups are not allowed on the rides, we had to throw out our cups many times before getting in line for a ride, the CM's don't let you in the line with a cup..... And to address the woman who refused to pay for a drink, the drinks sitting on the carts are hot, if someone thought they needed a drink that badly then whatever, lol there are crazies like that everywhere tho, I would bet there are crazies that would do that at WDW.

Seriously, what you described is much more like the 6 flags that we've been to and NOT DLR/DCA.

 

[Grog]

There are actually a lot of nice hotels and motels within walking distance of the parks. In some cases they are closer to the front of the parks than the onsite hotels. I'm sure there are a couple of motels nearby that are a bit seedy (never really noticed them myself) but the majority seem to be nice and well kept.

I second pixiewings71's suggestion to come over to the DLR boards. There are a lot of great people there, trip reports you can check out, and stickies with lots of great info. Probably the best one is Hydroguy's tips for WDW vets visiting DLR.

 

[Petraman]

After 9+ trips to DLC and 3 to WDW now I can say I love them both... but very much in a different way. You are smart to ask what to expect that's different, because they are very different

In 2009 we went to Disney World which we were planning to do again in March. But for some reason we got side tracked and decided to maybe try Disneyland and Hollywood etc. Just curious to hear from some who have been to both what differences to expect?

At WDW we did 1 park a day. I undertsand DL has 2 parks so can I assume it will be the same or would 1 day cover it?!

--As has been mentioned, no way you can do this if you are a 1st timer wanting to check it all out. DL has more to do than MK and is much denser. You will need a couple days at least to enjoy.
--DCA is doable in one day possibly depending on how many shows you want to see, etc. Do NOT MISS the Aladdin show, it may be the best Disney show they have ever done in the parks

Here's the key good points about DL over WDW...

--Many of the key rides found in the 4 WDW parks are found in the 2 parks at DL.
--It is a 100yd walk from one park to the next. Park hopping takes on a whole new meaning. We quite often will go back and forth all day to do the events we want from both parks on same day. Also, taking a break for lunch or swimming in pool is a breeze.
--Much easier to experience all you want if you are on a shorter vacation. We can enjoy a 4day trip to DL and walk away rested and happy with the experience. I don't think we could ever feel like 4 days was enough at WDW... we would have to miss so much, you simply can't do WDW justice in 4 days.
--Easier access. You think it's a short walk from Beach Club to Epcot? Try using the private entrance from GCV to DCA. Literally took us 4 minutes to walk from our room into the park our last stay!
--It is cheaper. Tickets are cheaper, you can do hotels cheaper, food can be done cheaper.

Key points about WDW over DL
--much more immersive experience. We are talking much more. At WDW you really do leave your world behind, where at DL you still feel like you are in LA, not Mickey land
--Better unique "disney experience" dining. Nuff said
--More variety in "Disney accomodations". AT WDW every resort keeps you saturated in pixiedust... theme pools restaurants, activities, etc. At DL even the "resort hotels" can feel a little like nothing more than nice hotel rather than a disney experience

Also we will probably be choosing a resort hotel there. Do we need to book now and does it require only a deposit or payment in full? Do you have a preference in resorts?

These are just the first of probably many questions! Thanks!

If cost is not a barrier, I think staying at Grand Californian to be an amazing experience. Absolutely the ONLY thing we didn't like there was how you had to park across the street if you didn't use valet parking. Beautiful theming, relaxing atmosphere that really did help you forget you were in the middle of a big city, good pools, amazing restaurants, and that private entrance will spoil you rotten!

All that said, I always thought I preferred DL over WDW for the same reason many like WDW over DL ... we tend to like the one we are most familiar with or the one we cut our teeth on. Now that we have become more of a veteran WDW family, I honestly couldn't imagine picking DL over WDW. We fell in love with it. Truth is, we will never pick one over the other, we love them differently, but equally now.... but they are DEFINITELY different from each other

 

[Petraman]

BTW this is one of the most informative and helpful FAQ's you will ever read about DL vs WDW

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599&highlight=hydroguy+faq

The author Hydroguy has really dialed DL in and has a great handle on the DL experience. Enjoy!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

You could do DL in 1 day, but I don't recommend it.

There is just something so special about DL and I really like to slow down and enjoy it. Many of the attractions are similar, and there are a couple of favorites that are different (POTC and they still have Mr. Toad!).

New Orleans Square, the feel on Main Street, looking for Walt's Lamp at fire house... it really is its own park.

My mother told me that after going to WDW I'd be disappointed with DL since it could fit into 1 of WDWs parking lots. That's may be true size-wise but I fell in love with DL the second I went through the gates. DL is what turned me into the nut that's on here all of the time!

Will you eat at Blue Bayou for me?? I've always wanted to and never had the chance!

 

[doclegler]

...and I can say with all honesty that the people in the hotels across the street are NOT homeless, they are visiting DL/DCA!

I just wanted to let you know that I recently read in an article in People Magazine 9 (Aug. 2, 2010) that Alexandra Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi's daughter) just made a movie for HBO that aired July 26 entitled "Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County". The review says: She made the movie because when she took her two small children to DL, they saw children living across the street in motels that didn't even have any shoes. She follows those children throughout the movie to feature the homeless of that area. Unfortunately is DOES happen, even right next to the happiest place on earth!

 

[mychicks]

We went to DL in 2007 and loved it. I had been once years ago when I was 14 but didn't remember too much about it. DH, me and our 3 dds were there for a week (part of a longer trip to CA to visit relatives) Obviously you don't need a week to visit DL and DCA. I'd say 3 or 4 days would be good. We stayed at Paradise Pier, which we liked. View of the park was great from our room. Breakfast was good (Lilo and Stitch buffet) but I think it's changed from those characters now??? It was great being able to walk to the parks and having the separate entrance for resort guests. Only thing I didn't like was there was no laundry services. Had to walk over to the Disneyland hotel to do laundry. DH wants to stay at the Grand Californian with our DVC points next trip.

DH wasn't sure how he'd feel about DL since we go to WDW every year, but he loved it. He liked that the rides were closer together, it was more intimate than WDW. We both like the DL version of Pirates better than WDW's. I know some people don't like DCA, but we all enjoyed it. Like a PP said, it reminds me of DHS, which is my favorite park at WDW. Loved being able to walk between the two parks also.

The only thing that wasn't great was the lack of food choices in the parks. Not nearly as much variety as you find at WDW.

DH and I are already talking about when we'll go back to DL instead of Florida.