Skip3key
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2012
Epilogue!
This was a wonderful trip, and we are so looking forward to seeing Disneyland in California on our own again very soon... but not before we go back to Disney World first!
As far as Adventures by Disney.... I never want to travel any other way! Almost every need, every desire, every want was anticipated and taken care of with little to no effort on our part... all Disney magic. We are planning our next adventure, and it will 100% be with ABD.
Heres a picture of all the loot we brought home courtesy of ABD...
And here is a closeup of the lanyard with all the pins we collected from our guides on this trip!
A few observations about our Disneyland vs Disneyworld experience to close out ...
OMG, I didn't realize how much we would miss Magic Bands and Fast Pass plus... if I had any doubt about the new systems in place in Florida, they are laid to rest now and I bow down to the technology. We really did not like returning to past system of room key cards, paper tickets to enter the park, and the old fast pass system.
I was paranoid the whole time that I would lose our paper "4 day park hopper" tickets, especially since you had to take them out to not only get in the park, but to get your fast passes... and then you have multiple pieces of paper to keep up with and hopefully not lose....
On the last day we never did use our TTT fast pass as I didn't want to walk all the back to that side of the park to use them... If we had been in Florida, I would have just used My Disney Experience on my phone to set up the TTT fast passes at the right time, and we would have just ridden it when we walked by... and we probably would have ridden Soarin' again or another ride, but as we had such a small amount of time on the last day, we didn't want to wait 20-30 minutes in line or take the time to go back and forth in the park to utilize the old fashioned FP.
The hotel room key was also inconvenient after having used the Magic Band in Florida- it was just one more thing to keep up with that is eliminated with the magicband.
I think Florida does such a better job of managing crowds... at Disneyland the walkways are already narrow, and then they bring out all these ropes and crisscross areas to effectively "herd" the crowds, that it makes it super hard to get where you are going! At one point we entered Tomorrowland from the Matterhorn end to try to get to Star Tours, but they had roped off the entire center area so you couldn't cross and we had to walk all the way to the main hub by the castle before we could turn around on the other side (and even there they had more ropes and we had to beg a cast member to please let us just run through because we were getting so far away!)
Food... while we had some good meals here, we sorely missed the food and restaurant choices of Florida- we are not really fans of quick service, and there just weren't the choices here, and what there was, was pretty much booked leaving few alternatives.
Now, Disneyland does shine over Disneyworld in several areas...
The nostalgia factor of course... DL will always be the only park that Walt walked in and what makes it super special. I love that DL holds on to some of the "not quite PC" rides like Mr Toad... and it was superfun to ride the Nemos submarines even though I know the ride has some shortcomings that forced it to be closed in the MK.
The character interactions are hands down 100% better in DL... these characters are just above and beyond amazing and WDW should take notice and try to learn from this.
The cast members in DL obviously are passionate about the Disney brand and protect it and hold themselves to a certain standard. Most every castmember we met was super friendly and very knowledgable, and if they couldn't help you, they would find someone who could. Very different from the prototypical transient college program cast members you frequently encounter in WDW.
The convenience... everything was so close that a quick walk got you anywhere and you never have leave the magic...
So many fewer ECV's in California! The ones we did see were few and far between, a far cry from Florida.
I'm sure I could go on and on... but thats enough for now! Each park has its highs and lows, and one can argue for and against... but what I am left with is the fact that I love the Disney offerings on both coasts...they remind me of siblings .... they are different and the same at once... but they are all part of the same family.
Until our next adventure.... Thanks for following along!
This was a wonderful trip, and we are so looking forward to seeing Disneyland in California on our own again very soon... but not before we go back to Disney World first!
As far as Adventures by Disney.... I never want to travel any other way! Almost every need, every desire, every want was anticipated and taken care of with little to no effort on our part... all Disney magic. We are planning our next adventure, and it will 100% be with ABD.
Heres a picture of all the loot we brought home courtesy of ABD...
And here is a closeup of the lanyard with all the pins we collected from our guides on this trip!
A few observations about our Disneyland vs Disneyworld experience to close out ...
OMG, I didn't realize how much we would miss Magic Bands and Fast Pass plus... if I had any doubt about the new systems in place in Florida, they are laid to rest now and I bow down to the technology. We really did not like returning to past system of room key cards, paper tickets to enter the park, and the old fast pass system.
I was paranoid the whole time that I would lose our paper "4 day park hopper" tickets, especially since you had to take them out to not only get in the park, but to get your fast passes... and then you have multiple pieces of paper to keep up with and hopefully not lose....
On the last day we never did use our TTT fast pass as I didn't want to walk all the back to that side of the park to use them... If we had been in Florida, I would have just used My Disney Experience on my phone to set up the TTT fast passes at the right time, and we would have just ridden it when we walked by... and we probably would have ridden Soarin' again or another ride, but as we had such a small amount of time on the last day, we didn't want to wait 20-30 minutes in line or take the time to go back and forth in the park to utilize the old fashioned FP.
The hotel room key was also inconvenient after having used the Magic Band in Florida- it was just one more thing to keep up with that is eliminated with the magicband.
I think Florida does such a better job of managing crowds... at Disneyland the walkways are already narrow, and then they bring out all these ropes and crisscross areas to effectively "herd" the crowds, that it makes it super hard to get where you are going! At one point we entered Tomorrowland from the Matterhorn end to try to get to Star Tours, but they had roped off the entire center area so you couldn't cross and we had to walk all the way to the main hub by the castle before we could turn around on the other side (and even there they had more ropes and we had to beg a cast member to please let us just run through because we were getting so far away!)
Food... while we had some good meals here, we sorely missed the food and restaurant choices of Florida- we are not really fans of quick service, and there just weren't the choices here, and what there was, was pretty much booked leaving few alternatives.
Now, Disneyland does shine over Disneyworld in several areas...
The nostalgia factor of course... DL will always be the only park that Walt walked in and what makes it super special. I love that DL holds on to some of the "not quite PC" rides like Mr Toad... and it was superfun to ride the Nemos submarines even though I know the ride has some shortcomings that forced it to be closed in the MK.
The character interactions are hands down 100% better in DL... these characters are just above and beyond amazing and WDW should take notice and try to learn from this.
The cast members in DL obviously are passionate about the Disney brand and protect it and hold themselves to a certain standard. Most every castmember we met was super friendly and very knowledgable, and if they couldn't help you, they would find someone who could. Very different from the prototypical transient college program cast members you frequently encounter in WDW.
The convenience... everything was so close that a quick walk got you anywhere and you never have leave the magic...
So many fewer ECV's in California! The ones we did see were few and far between, a far cry from Florida.
I'm sure I could go on and on... but thats enough for now! Each park has its highs and lows, and one can argue for and against... but what I am left with is the fact that I love the Disney offerings on both coasts...they remind me of siblings .... they are different and the same at once... but they are all part of the same family.
Until our next adventure.... Thanks for following along!
I think we might be meeting up with Lori and David at wdw for the run Disney races. I'd tag them but I don't know their disboards names.
