Me, me me! I am so excited I can't stand it.
DH, DS (5) & I will be there 23-27. We're WDW veterans so I can't wait to see how different (or similar) it is.
I've been to both at least a few times.
You'll be surprised by how different it actually is. It's not worse, just different. It's a different vacation. It's pretty drastic.
1. The parks are literally right next to each other. It takes 5 minutes to walk from one to the other. No monorail waits, bus waits, or anything. Just walk to everything.
2. The hotels are right on the parks... literally. Walk out of your hotel into Downtown Disney. Walk right out of Downtown Disney into the parks. Downtown Disney is not separate from the parks like in WDW. Downtown Disney is part of the experience every day. If you're staying at the Grand Californian you can literally walk from your hotel property onto the Grand California Adventure park through a back entrance.
3. There are only 2 parks and 3 hotels, so the amount of stuff to do is really about 35-40% of what you can do in WDW. We take 3-4 day vacations to DL, 10 day vacations to WDW.
4. The castle in Magic Kingdom is weak compared to WDW and very small. Most people who are used to the castle at WDW will not be impressed.
5. Grand California Adventure is a park unlike any at WDW. It's more of a traditional amusement park, and it's fantastic in my opinion. I honestly wish something like it was at WDW. It's unique.
6. I personally like the Magic Kingdom in
Disneyland better that WDW for attractions. Disneyland has New Orleans and some of the more traditional Disney rides that most people think of. It has a more "Walt" feel to it.
7. There are a few things about Disneyland that make it more of a locals parks than a tourist park. No PhotoPass, limited dining options, not nearly as many character dining experiences, and more.
8. Downtown Disney is significantly different that at WDW. I like the DL one a bit better. It's very compact and busy with people, lots of stuff in a small area, and much more lively. You pretty much have to walk through it to get to the parks, so it's a busy place and fun. WDW is much more laid back and spread out.
9. You're in the middle of the city. Some standard view rooms will give you a view of the city. Very different again from any WDW hotel. Takes a bit of the magic away.
10. World of Color is amazing. Go see it. Nothing at WDW like it in the least.
11. The monorail is a lot different. More jarring curves, a lot smaller, short distances, no hotel stops. You have to get off at the final destination. More of a just a fun thing to do than anything else.
12. If you read this far, congrats. I'm done for now, and this should probably be in a different thread.
Ethan
confused3). No matter, it will still be a great time!
I'll add this thread to the Meet sticky at the top of the page!
and we're very excited!! (Well, at least I)
