If you want the essence of Walt Disney, you might want to skip Orlando

[bcla]

First of all, some of us on the Dis with fairly long memories, have a rather unique connotation of "essence" and where it is spread.

I don't suppose there's much "essence of Walt" coming from his cryogenically frozen head.

 

[disney world dreamer]

i think a lot depends on which resort you went to first.
if you're used to one then the other can be very overwhelming or disappointing.

when i went to DLR for the first time i was very unimpressed.
i felt no magic.
it felt more like a regular old amusement park with as many things crammed into as small of an area as possible.
many of the lines are outside in the blazing sun and inside the a/c could be a bit cooler.
i did not find the CM's to be very welcoming and saw many of them complaining to each other while guests were standing right there.
i also feel they need to catch up with the technology of WDW.
i mean really matching your ticket to your photo is what WDW was doing in the 90's.
i'll be returning next year but this time without the expectations i had before.

meanwhile i absolutely love WDW and feel the magic the whole time i'm there.
i'm in the disney bubble when i'm there.
i enjoy how spread out things are.
its really a vacation destination.
CM's go above and beyond most of the time in my opnion.
btw TTA people mover had a refurb maybe 6 years ago?
the narration is completely different. personally i miss the old narration and i liked the mr moorrow joke better when it was "paging mr morrow, mr tom morrow. your party has arrived from saturn please give them a ring."

walt said that disneyland would never be complete and that it would always be growing but honestly thats not what i saw when i was there however that is what i see at WDW.

 

[disneychrista]

Honestly, if you want the essence of Walt Disney, you should visit the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Fransisco.

 

[bookgirl]

I've never had any problem channeling Walt either place.

They are different parks, with different vibes, and I love them both for different reasons.

Yes I feel a bit of nostalgia knowing the Walt walked the park in DL, it's production value is better, it is a smaller more manageable park for those with young children or folks with mobility problems, and it has some of the classic rides and more of Walt's input, but WDW is a much better park in many ways like more variety of rides, better theming and better organization/crowd maintenance.

I'd never skip Orlando and I don't feel like I miss out on anything that Walt gave to the brand.

 

[NHdisneylover]

No doubt, DLP Main Street and Castle wins over the states. Sleeping Beauty Castle at DLP is my favorite! Love it.

Fantasyland and Adventureland are really well done. But I think the states win on Tomorrowland and Frontierland.

IMHO, DL vs. DLP is a harder call than DL vs. MK.

And I haven't been to the other locations, I'd love to hear if Hong Kong, Tokyo, or Shanghai DL's are comparable.

Funny-I adore Frontierland at DLP, with Phantom Manor towering over that section of the park and the huge, Big Thunder mOuntain dominating from inside teh lake, and nice views and interesting parts to be seen from every section when you ride teh river boat--I find it much more intricate and well thought out and detailed than the US counterparts.

 

[jevs]

Disneyland is for sure easier to get to for us.

They also entice us over with the 10 day passes which are a little more - around $30 pp, than a 5 day pass.

That said, I'd happily go to either

 

[RedAngie]

California Adventure was poorly executed when it was new. The Disney execs thought that they could build a place for relatively little and that the Disney name and theming would attract crowds. Now they did start off with some state of the art attractions such as Soarin' Over California and California Screamin', but much of it was cookie cutter rides that were dressed up. They had to spend a lot of money to turn a dud into a world class theme park. Radiator Springs Racers is supposed to be the most expensive attraction that Disney Parks has ever built.

Yes, California Adventure was a dud for years. We heard all the bad word of mouth when it first opened, so our expectations were low, but we were still majorly disappointed when we visited about six months after opening. Is THIS what they spent six years building???

I could understand if Disney charged about half of DL's admission cost for CA, but nope, same price. It really wasn't until Carsland opened that CA was truly worth it.

 

[AC7179]

I like both but at WDW you are completely in the Disney bubble. At Disneyland you don't have to walk too far to notice you aren't in Disney anymore. At WDW, if you choose, you can limit your experience with the real world to whatever you happen to see out the window on your way from the airport to your resort.

I hear this all the time, so I know you're obviously not the only person to feel that way, but it always blows my mind because we've had completely the opposite experience. At DL, we stay at Paradise Pier, the cheapest and furthest away of all the DL Resorts, although still a Deluxe hotel. I start in my hotel room and load the infant/toddler/small child in to the stroller, then we set out the front of the hotel, down a lovely landscaped sidewalk, cross a street, into the Grand Californian, through DTD and security, through the turnstile, and the child stays in the stroller until the first ride. I find that SO MUCH MORE MAGICAL than I found at WDW where I had to unload the stroller for the bus, hold a child in my lap or next to me while adults stood butt level to her face and hoped nobody fell into her, then uncollapse the stroller once at the park and reload it. I'm not a fan of the busses, clearly, and the monorail resorts are a little out of our budget, so the quick ten minute walk DL provides from our hotel to front gates, all walkable, is far more magical than that hullabulloo you have to go through to get to the Magic Kingdom!

When mine were really small, they had maybe a four to five hour window where they'd be happy and fresh and not whiny. We'd go to the park in the morning and then try to return in the evening, but with each leg from hotel to park taking about thirty minutes total, it really ate into our park time. Disneyland for the win!

 

[lizabu]

I hear this all the time, so I know you're obviously not the only person to feel that way, but it always blows my mind because we've had completely the opposite experience. At DL, we stay at Paradise Pier, the cheapest and furthest away of all the DL Resorts, although still a Deluxe hotel. I start in my hotel room and load the infant/toddler/small child in to the stroller, then we set out the front of the hotel, down a lovely landscaped sidewalk, cross a street, into the Grand Californian, through DTD and security, through the turnstile, and the child stays in the stroller until the first ride. I find that SO MUCH MORE MAGICAL than I found at WDW where I had to unload the stroller for the bus, hold a child in my lap or next to me while adults stood butt level to her face and hoped nobody fell into her, then uncollapse the stroller once at the park and reload it. I'm not a fan of the busses, clearly, and the monorail resorts are a little out of our budget, so the quick ten minute walk DL provides from our hotel to front gates, all walkable, is far more magical than that hullabulloo you have to go through to get to the Magic Kingdom!

When mine were really small, they had maybe a four to five hour window where they'd be happy and fresh and not whiny. We'd go to the park in the morning and then try to return in the evening, but with each leg from hotel to park taking about thirty minutes total, it really ate into our park time. Disneyland for the win!

It might depend where you stay too. We too stayed at paradise pier and the walk includes various CMs in uniform on their way to work. There's traffic and traffic lights. At WDW we stay in Epcot area resorts and walk or take a boat. Ak or MK you have to take a bus but it still seems Disney with Stacy tell you about her must dos and the announcer over the bus loudspeakers. Both resorts are great and different.

 

[SGMCO]

I've been to both DL 2 times and much prefer WDW (8 times going on 9)
From the time I check in at Disney's Magic Express until I go back to the Airport I am living the Disney Magic.
It was not that way at all when we went to DL. The DL resort were way to expensive for our family to afford to stay there, so we had to stay at a hotel within walking distance.
So glad that there are every price levels for the Walt Disney Resort, so no matter your budget you can stay onsite.
There is so much more to do at WDW with 4 different parks and 2 water parks.
I didn't care for how crowded the walkways were at DL, no matter what time of year you go, they are very narrow and with the amount of people it's very crowded.
You can see most everything within 3 days at DL.
My DH never wants to go back to DL but request to go to WDW because he can truly relax, he doesn't have to drive, he can stay back at the resort and meet up with the rest of us later, if he wants.
I love Cinderellas castle more, much more impressive.
We've been to WDW 8 times and have yet to do everything, plus they have much more land to expand than DL.
I think if Walt would have lived to see WDW he would love it!!