My family (me, my wife and two kids, 11 and 5) just wrapped up our first ever trip to WDW.
We have been annual Disneyland (DL) visitors for 5 or so years now, and I’ll be honest that I had a preexisting bias that DL was better than WDW for various reasons. Much of this came from just talking with people, especially people who had been to both resorts and from feeling overwhelmed and stressed from the additional planning that is involved in a WDW trip.
Again, while excited for the trip and expected to enjoy it, I was fully prepared that this would be a one and done experience we would do just for comparisons’ sake. I’m happy to report I was very wrong!
I’m not going to do a full trip report, but I do want to share some of the preexisting beliefs I had about WDW and what I believe now after visiting.
1. Magic Kingdom (MK) is a much worse park than Disneyland Park (DLP) with more stress and less charm and way fewer attractions
-DLP certainly has a level of charm and it is Walt’s park. That charm comes at a major cost, though. Walking around DLP is a nightmare when it’s crowded. Getting around MK was a breeze in comparison. It was a great change of pace and made it less stressful for us overall. We also loved all the “non-ride” attractions at MK that DLP doesn’t have. Nothing better than waiting 10 minutes for 15-20 minutes of entertainment. It’s true there’s fewer overall moving rides in MK than DLP, but when comparing total attractions it’s a lot closer. Overall, taking advantage of all these attractions meant we weren’t just queuing up in lines all day and made our days much less stressful than a day at DLP.
Full disclosure, I used LL liberally and we stayed at Bay Lake Tower (rented DVC points) for walking access to MK. YMMV on #1 accordingly.
2. WDW is dirtier than Disneyland.
-Nope. They both have issues with trash, particularly in queues. I think this is mostly a guest issue. When guests trash the queues throughout the day, I assume custodial isn’t getting in there to clean it? The walkways and bathrooms at WDW were relatively clean, perhaps even a bit more than at DL.
3. WDW quick service and snacks are much worse than at DL.
-Marginally true on the QS dining side. I enjoyed Harbour House a lot. Cosmic Ray’s had food pretty equal to Galactic Grill at DL but Sonny Eclipse was such a cool touch. Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary was great. In general, the French fries at WDW seem way better than the fries at DL. They were always great and hot. The hot dog from Casey’s Corner was terrible, though. Pasta from any location was terrible.
For snacks, we actually loved them at WDW more than DL. I feel like there was a lot more variety, whereas DL often feels like it’s a lot of ice cream and churros.
4. WDW wait times are worse than DL.
-The week of 1/6-1/10 didn’t seem busy at all, and we rarely waited longer than we do at DL. For most rides, LL availability was usually same-day. We could consistently get Space, Jungle Cruise, etc. day of. Epcot, we got Soarin’ day of. DHS, we got RnRC day of. By using LL and doing most of the “non-ride” attractions, we never waited long for rides and had very stress free days. Again, YMMV.
5. DL’s Pirates and Space Mountain are so much better than at MK.
-I agree on Pirates, but I appreciated the awesome queue and the smells in the ride that aren’t at DL. I came in expecting to hate Pirates and just compare it negatively, but I found it enjoyable and a worthy experience on its own.
Space, I actually prefer the MK version by far. There is a charm about it that DL lacks. The star tunnel, the space scenes in the post-ride walk, it’s terrific. And I was expecting the ride to be terrible, as people compare it to DL’s Matterhorn. It is not nearly as jerky as Matterhorn. Matterhorn hurts me, Space was fun. It isn’t smooth as butter like DL’s, but it wasn’t jerky at all IMO. I really enjoyed the ride layout more at MK, with drops and hills, whereas DL’s version is mostly just gliding down without any drops.
6. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS) is a subpar park.
-I really liked DHS, especially at night. I could take or leave Toy Story Land. But Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, and Echo Lake were all such a treat to just wander at night. This is such an amazing night time park. Tower of Terror, Fantasmic, the Endor queue for Star Tours… I also really loved Muppet Vision (possibly the biggest positive surprise of the whole trip, sad that it’s leaving) and my whole family enjoyed the Frozen show, Toy Story Mania and Runaway Railway. I did think Slinky Dog Dash was insanely overrated and lacked any Disney charm. I don’t understand how it’s so popular.
7. Animal Kingdom (AK) is a half day park.
-AK was my favorite park. I just loved the vibes. It could use more rides, but we stayed for 11 hours and didn’t feel like a chore. Granted, my kids played in the Boneyard for a bit and we walked the animal trails. But that’s part of the experience. Definitely felt the Disney Magic here and a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
8. Chef Mickey’s is loud and overstimulating with bad food.
-We had a great experience here. Dinner was good (for Disney, we have to temper our expectations here of course), and it was not overstimulating at all. It wasn’t quite fine dining, but it wasn’t annoying. It was a fun atmosphere. Donald was an A+ character experience for our family.
9. Haunted Mansion is better at MK
-Finally, a positive pre-existing belief I had about WDW. And it definitely came true. Haunted Mansion at WDW is way better than the DL version.
10. Epcot is the second best WDW park after MK.
-Epcot ended up being my least favorite park by far. I just didn’t connect. I know, unpopular opinion. I don’t go to Disney to eat and drink around the world, and much of Epcot just felt like a mall. World Showcase was the best themed mall in the world, but it still had that feeling. And the Land Pavilion felt like a mall from the 90s. The rest of Future World felt like an outdoor mall. I like Soarin’, Ratatouille was a nice surprise, and Spaceship Earth was REALLY good. But overall the vibes just weren’t there for me with Epcot. I think that negatively impacted by perception of Guardians… while I can objectively say it’s a good coaster, it just felt kind of cold and charmless. I enjoyed Space and Tron more, probably due to their setting rather than objectively being better.
I won’t neglect to mention the few negatives, though, relative to Disneyland.
1. Railroad - MK’s railroad is very sad compared to DL. It feels less like a ride and lacks any measurable theming.
2. Rivers of America - Tom Sawyer Island and the Riverboat are both better at DL. I’m sad it’s leaving MK, but I kind of get why now.
3. Kali River Rapids - It has no redeeming qualities compared to Grizzly River at DCA. One and done.
4. Character interactions - Overall, they are a little better at DL just because it’s easier to meet them. I feel like the characters at DL are maybe just a little better too and felt more natural… perhaps more cast members trained in acting being in the LA area?
Overall, we had a great trip and intend to go back. Rather than being annual Disneyland visitors, we would probably go back and forth now. We really enjoyed being in the bubble. I thought the Disney bubble would be kind of overrated, but it really was awesome. Even though Bay Lake isn’t the most themed hotel, we still really felt so removed from the real world which just isn’t possible at DL.
We have been annual Disneyland (DL) visitors for 5 or so years now, and I’ll be honest that I had a preexisting bias that DL was better than WDW for various reasons. Much of this came from just talking with people, especially people who had been to both resorts and from feeling overwhelmed and stressed from the additional planning that is involved in a WDW trip.
Again, while excited for the trip and expected to enjoy it, I was fully prepared that this would be a one and done experience we would do just for comparisons’ sake. I’m happy to report I was very wrong!
I’m not going to do a full trip report, but I do want to share some of the preexisting beliefs I had about WDW and what I believe now after visiting.
1. Magic Kingdom (MK) is a much worse park than Disneyland Park (DLP) with more stress and less charm and way fewer attractions
-DLP certainly has a level of charm and it is Walt’s park. That charm comes at a major cost, though. Walking around DLP is a nightmare when it’s crowded. Getting around MK was a breeze in comparison. It was a great change of pace and made it less stressful for us overall. We also loved all the “non-ride” attractions at MK that DLP doesn’t have. Nothing better than waiting 10 minutes for 15-20 minutes of entertainment. It’s true there’s fewer overall moving rides in MK than DLP, but when comparing total attractions it’s a lot closer. Overall, taking advantage of all these attractions meant we weren’t just queuing up in lines all day and made our days much less stressful than a day at DLP.
Full disclosure, I used LL liberally and we stayed at Bay Lake Tower (rented DVC points) for walking access to MK. YMMV on #1 accordingly.
2. WDW is dirtier than Disneyland.
-Nope. They both have issues with trash, particularly in queues. I think this is mostly a guest issue. When guests trash the queues throughout the day, I assume custodial isn’t getting in there to clean it? The walkways and bathrooms at WDW were relatively clean, perhaps even a bit more than at DL.
3. WDW quick service and snacks are much worse than at DL.
-Marginally true on the QS dining side. I enjoyed Harbour House a lot. Cosmic Ray’s had food pretty equal to Galactic Grill at DL but Sonny Eclipse was such a cool touch. Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary was great. In general, the French fries at WDW seem way better than the fries at DL. They were always great and hot. The hot dog from Casey’s Corner was terrible, though. Pasta from any location was terrible.
For snacks, we actually loved them at WDW more than DL. I feel like there was a lot more variety, whereas DL often feels like it’s a lot of ice cream and churros.
4. WDW wait times are worse than DL.
-The week of 1/6-1/10 didn’t seem busy at all, and we rarely waited longer than we do at DL. For most rides, LL availability was usually same-day. We could consistently get Space, Jungle Cruise, etc. day of. Epcot, we got Soarin’ day of. DHS, we got RnRC day of. By using LL and doing most of the “non-ride” attractions, we never waited long for rides and had very stress free days. Again, YMMV.
5. DL’s Pirates and Space Mountain are so much better than at MK.
-I agree on Pirates, but I appreciated the awesome queue and the smells in the ride that aren’t at DL. I came in expecting to hate Pirates and just compare it negatively, but I found it enjoyable and a worthy experience on its own.
Space, I actually prefer the MK version by far. There is a charm about it that DL lacks. The star tunnel, the space scenes in the post-ride walk, it’s terrific. And I was expecting the ride to be terrible, as people compare it to DL’s Matterhorn. It is not nearly as jerky as Matterhorn. Matterhorn hurts me, Space was fun. It isn’t smooth as butter like DL’s, but it wasn’t jerky at all IMO. I really enjoyed the ride layout more at MK, with drops and hills, whereas DL’s version is mostly just gliding down without any drops.
6. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS) is a subpar park.
-I really liked DHS, especially at night. I could take or leave Toy Story Land. But Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, and Echo Lake were all such a treat to just wander at night. This is such an amazing night time park. Tower of Terror, Fantasmic, the Endor queue for Star Tours… I also really loved Muppet Vision (possibly the biggest positive surprise of the whole trip, sad that it’s leaving) and my whole family enjoyed the Frozen show, Toy Story Mania and Runaway Railway. I did think Slinky Dog Dash was insanely overrated and lacked any Disney charm. I don’t understand how it’s so popular.
7. Animal Kingdom (AK) is a half day park.
-AK was my favorite park. I just loved the vibes. It could use more rides, but we stayed for 11 hours and didn’t feel like a chore. Granted, my kids played in the Boneyard for a bit and we walked the animal trails. But that’s part of the experience. Definitely felt the Disney Magic here and a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
8. Chef Mickey’s is loud and overstimulating with bad food.
-We had a great experience here. Dinner was good (for Disney, we have to temper our expectations here of course), and it was not overstimulating at all. It wasn’t quite fine dining, but it wasn’t annoying. It was a fun atmosphere. Donald was an A+ character experience for our family.
9. Haunted Mansion is better at MK
-Finally, a positive pre-existing belief I had about WDW. And it definitely came true. Haunted Mansion at WDW is way better than the DL version.
10. Epcot is the second best WDW park after MK.
-Epcot ended up being my least favorite park by far. I just didn’t connect. I know, unpopular opinion. I don’t go to Disney to eat and drink around the world, and much of Epcot just felt like a mall. World Showcase was the best themed mall in the world, but it still had that feeling. And the Land Pavilion felt like a mall from the 90s. The rest of Future World felt like an outdoor mall. I like Soarin’, Ratatouille was a nice surprise, and Spaceship Earth was REALLY good. But overall the vibes just weren’t there for me with Epcot. I think that negatively impacted by perception of Guardians… while I can objectively say it’s a good coaster, it just felt kind of cold and charmless. I enjoyed Space and Tron more, probably due to their setting rather than objectively being better.
I won’t neglect to mention the few negatives, though, relative to Disneyland.
1. Railroad - MK’s railroad is very sad compared to DL. It feels less like a ride and lacks any measurable theming.
2. Rivers of America - Tom Sawyer Island and the Riverboat are both better at DL. I’m sad it’s leaving MK, but I kind of get why now.
3. Kali River Rapids - It has no redeeming qualities compared to Grizzly River at DCA. One and done.
4. Character interactions - Overall, they are a little better at DL just because it’s easier to meet them. I feel like the characters at DL are maybe just a little better too and felt more natural… perhaps more cast members trained in acting being in the LA area?
Overall, we had a great trip and intend to go back. Rather than being annual Disneyland visitors, we would probably go back and forth now. We really enjoyed being in the bubble. I thought the Disney bubble would be kind of overrated, but it really was awesome. Even though Bay Lake isn’t the most themed hotel, we still really felt so removed from the real world which just isn’t possible at DL.
