Is DL A Nice Place?

[Goofy45]

Me and my family are going down to Disneyland in July. We've never been there before. I was hoping some people on here who have been there before could tell me if it's really a nice place to go. I always thought it was crowded at Disneyland becuase everything is so close together. I've been going to WDW at leats three or four times a year ever since 2001 and I'm addicted to it since its a nice place to sit and relax and there was a lot to do there. Is Disneyland like that? Is it a nice place to go? I wanna make our trip worth going there.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rockstargeisha]

Of course it is. Disneyland is held to the same standards as the other Disney parks. Great service, clean, and most importantly fun for the whole family. Disneyland is crowded at times yes, but so is WDW. It's the first Disney park and I think it's a place that every family should go to at least once. It's layout is very similar to the Magic Kingdom.

So close together? You mean because the parks and Downtown Disney are in walking distance of each other? I love that personally. Makes park hopping a whole lot easier.

I'm sure you will have a great time, it's Disney how could you not?

 

[Goofy45]

I just thought that the thought of everything being so close together, it would be very crowded. Oh, and yes, I know, Disney couldn't not be fun. That's why I take my family to WDW three times a year. Thanks for the help though!

 

[HydroGuy]

Actually, in many ways DLR is nicer than WDW. The weather is nicer for sure, especially in the summer. The transporation system is faster (feet vs buses ). Many of the rides are nicer. And IMHO, DLR really cleaned itself up for its 50th anniversary in 2005 and has maintained a high quality appearance ever since. It is kept up better than WDW and looks spiffier.

In addition, by my count DLR has 67 rides in its two parks compared to the 73 rides at WDW in its four parks. That's right. WDW only has about 10% more rides than does DLR.

DLR is more crowded. Well, it can feel like it - especially when you are there at peak crowds. However, DLR works differently than WDW in that there are many more local day trip visitors and lots of hotels within a stones throw of the parks. The upshot is that DLR is much better suited than WDW to avoiding crowds.

We visit DLR during peak summer days and rarely wait in lines more than 20 minutes and usually less than ten.

Here is some reading material to get you better oriented - have a great trip:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

 

[DLR29]

Yes, DL is a nice place. In fact, I like the atmosphere at DLR more than at WDW (especially comparing MK to DL). DL's Fantasyland and Toontown blow MK's out of the water. Even though DL is more compact than MK (not crowded, compact) there are still plenty of places to relax and get away from the crowds.

Some include New Orleans Square (there are places in the back that are off the beaten path), back Frontierland path, (never crowded), Pirate's Lair (fun place to explore), the hub (right in front of the castle), and Hungry Bear Restaurant (over in Critter Country right on the waterside.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

As for nice...I really think Disneyland is the cleanest and nicest park I have ever been to. Try to find garbage on the ground.....it's a very rare sight with all the CM's there keeping the place in tip top condition. They have trash radar or something.

 

[DoomBugger]

Is Disneyland a nice place? What kind of answer are you expecting from a buch of Disney fanatics!

 

[Tink208]

Is Disneyland a nice place? What kind of answer are you expecting from a buch of Disney fanatics!

I was thinking the same thing when I read the thread title!

 

[CoolPool]

Let me start by saying I live in SoCal.

Disneyland itself is nice, Anaheim, meh, not so much.

 

[kellymom]

As for nice...I really think Disneyland is the cleanest and nicest park I have ever been to. Try to find garbage on the ground.....it's a very rare sight with all the CM's there keeping the place in tip top condition. They have trash radar or something.

I second that!!! We went to Disneyland at least twice a week for years since we lived so close and had always had AP's. When we moved to TX in 2005 we took our daughter to Six Flags for her birthday. Disneyland is IMMACULATE, Six Flags was similar to a city park in downtown LA, trash everywhere, rude employees, chipped paint everywhere etc. It was a glorified carnival. Now others may disagree but I was holding it to Disneyland standards which are bar none.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Anaheim, meh, not so much.

It's seems to be getting better though.

 

[CoolPool]

It's seems to be getting better though.

I wish, so very wish, I could agree. Maybe in a few years, if the economy doesn't totally die a foul death. I had reason to fill a prescription out there last Friday night while we were visiting and my hair stood on end til I could get back in the landscaped zone if you know what I mean.

 

[Mrs. Bee]

Disneyland is fabulous. But WDW and Disneyland are quite different. You can compare them...but at the same time you can't.

If you compare Disneyland to WDW's Magic Kingdom, Disneyland's is a million times better.

I agree with everyone about the cleanliness of Disneyland. We just got back from WDW and I noticed right away that it isn't as clean as Disneyland. There's a lot more trash on the ground. I even stepped in some gummy candy and almost stepped in gum. And the bathrooms were pretty filthy.

I love both WDW and Disneyland and I would recommend both parks to people. Just don't go to one park expecting it to be like the other because they are quite different experiences.

Disneyland can get pretty darn crowded. Especially the walkways since they are somewhat narrow. And around parade and fireworks times it gets a little difficult to get where you're going. They have a lot of crowd control during those times so sometimes you'll have to walk all the way around a huge area in a jumble of people just to get where you need to be.

Someone said that they've been to DL in the peak times with waits of 10-20 minutes. For what rides?? For the more popular rides (Splash, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Peter Pan, etc.) plan on waiting for a looooong time unless you get fast passes.

And although the weather has potential to be better than Florida's weather...don't just count on that. We were there in August last year and they had record high temps. It was awful. Luckily our hotel had a nice pool to cool off at. Needless to say, we won't be making anymore trips to Disney in the summertime. (I HATE heat and getting sunburned and sweaty. Yuck.)

You won't need to spend a week at Disneyland like you would at WDW. However, you could if you wanted to. We used to visit disneyland once a week or more and we never got sick of it! There are rides, shows, parades, fireworks, and of course fabulous people watching!

The types of people are a bit different than at WDW too. Disneyland has a lot of locals. And I mean a LOT of locals! WDW seemed to be almost all tourists but Disneyland doesn't have that feel at all. Even though I used to be a DL local....I always prefer places with more tourists. It's especially fun to experiences rides with people that are unfamiliar with them. (I love getting on a jeep for Indiana Jones with people that have never ridden it before!)

Okay...I'm babbling. The end. Haha.

 

[HydroGuy]

Someone said that they've been to DL in the peak times with waits of 10-20 minutes. For what rides?? For the more popular rides (Splash, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Peter Pan, etc.) plan on waiting for a looooong time unless you get fast passes.

I believe I was the one referring to wait times, and never said anything about lines "peak times" being 10-20 minutes. I said we personally never wait in lines longer than 20 minutes. There are plenty of lines longer than 20 minutes in the summer - almost all of them. And we do go on tons of rides - usually 15-25 per day, sometimes as many as 30. My point was that while it can be crowded at DLR in the summer one can still experience a lot.

 

[ballarinamom]

At WDW we experienced more smokers who left their butts on the ground. I thought it was really dirty compared to DL. We saw so many parents SCREAMING at their rowdy kids at WDW and we didn't see much of that at DL and definately no smoking. I think the difference between the two parks in regards to crowded situations, WDW makes all strollers go to the stroller parking area. Dl does not have that and they can take up alot of space around the rides.
We very much prefer DL over WDW for SOOOOOO many reasons.
-You have to take a bus at some point at WDW no matter how uch you pay for your hotel.
- I have never been at a hotel where the furniture was chained to the wall like AllStar movies ( It was also the ONLY hotel with Disney theming- we want all Disney all the time while on a Disney vacation!!!)
- The identical rides at MK and DL are SOOOOOO much better at DL
_ Don't even get me started on ToonTown!!!

Enjoy your trip! I hope you have a great time and love DL as uch as we do.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Yes, DLR is a nice place. Go....enjoy!

 

[Mrs. Bee]

Actually, in many ways DLR is nicer than WDW. The weather is nicer for sure, especially in the summer. The transporation system is faster (feet vs buses ). Many of the rides are nicer. And IMHO, DLR really cleaned itself up for its 50th anniversary in 2005 and has maintained a high quality appearance ever since. It is kept up better than WDW and looks spiffier.

In addition, by my count DLR has 67 rides in its two parks compared to the 73 rides at WDW in its four parks. That's right. WDW only has about 10% more rides than does DLR.

DLR is more crowded. Well, it can feel like it - especially when you are there at peak crowds. However, DLR works differently than WDW in that there are many more local day trip visitors and lots of hotels within a stones throw of the parks. The upshot is that DLR is much better suited than WDW to avoiding crowds.

We visit DLR during peak summer days and rarely wait in lines more than 20 minutes and usually less than ten.

Here is some reading material to get you better oriented - have a great trip:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

See above.

While you may not have meant that the lines are short...that is what your post made it seem like.

 

[bumbershoot]

And although the weather has potential to be better than Florida's weather...don't just count on that. We were there in August last year and they had record high temps. It was awful. Luckily our hotel had a nice pool to cool off at.

Yes but in Florida, you'll get high temps AND high humidity, so you'll feel like you're breathing water (note, I'm talking the parts of FL I've been to...perhaps Orlando isn't like that, but I don't remember from my non-WDW 2 day visit once), and then at 2pm it's going to monsoon on you, then 20 minutes later it will stop and you'll be wet. And still feeling like you're breathing in water.

OK now I don't want to go to WDW, LOL.

There's Anaheim hot and there's Florida hot, and they are just different and hard to compare!


Disneyland is very nice. I haven't smiled as much as I did last weekend on my solo trip as I have in a long time (OK that's sad, I think!).

 

[Mrs. Bee]

For me...hot is hot. Anything about 75, humidity or no humidity, is too hot for me...haha.

 

[Tink208]

For me...hot is hot. Anything about 75, humidity or no humidity, is too hot for me...haha.

I agree hot is hot, but humidity just seems to add to the misery in my opinion. Feeling like you are breathing in liquid while also being sticky and sweaty is just hideous. I find it much easier to cope with a dry heat.