Disney World vs Disneyland

[cblaramore]

Our family of 4 went to Disneyworld in Feb 2012. We did one day Disney, 1 day Sea World, 2 Days Universal parks, stayed in a hotel amd rented a car. I booked all of these things. I contacted a travel agent for a trip to Disneyland and its hotel, Disney, Universal and Legoland (no car rental) and the price is double already out Orlando trip. Is it more expensive to travel in CA or am I seeing sucg a difference cause Im not booking myself?

 

[alyssa810]

Our family of 4 went to Disneyworld in Feb 2012. We did one day Disney, 1 day Sea World, 2 Days Universal parks, stayed in a hotel amd rented a car. I booked all of these things. I contacted a travel agent for a trip to Disneyland and its hotel, Disney, Universal and Legoland (no car rental) and the price is double already out Orlando trip. Is it more expensive to travel in CA or am I seeing sucg a difference cause Im not booking myself?

IMO, probably. The only time we've had decent luck using a travel agent to get us a deal was the first 2 times we stayed at DLH, and we booked through AAA. The other times we've been to CA, we take care of everything ourselves. Sign up for the mousesavers newsletter as they often have decent deals...the other thing is you're looking to go to places that are much further apart than they are in Orlando. Sea World is in San Diego, Legoland is in Carlsbad, DL is in Anaheim, and Universal is in LA. Is the TA arranging transportation for you? Maybe that is adding to your cost.
The difference in price between a 1 day pass at WDW and a 1 day pass at DL is only a few dollars. Sea World in San Diego is much less than Orlando, but both have ways to save. You might want to consider getting a SoCal CityPass - that will have DL, Universal, and SeaWorld admissions.

 

[eliza61]

Our family of 4 went to Disneyworld in Feb 2012. We did one day Disney, 1 day Sea World, 2 Days Universal parks, stayed in a hotel amd rented a car. I booked all of these things. I contacted a travel agent for a trip to Disneyland and its hotel, Disney, Universal and Legoland (no car rental) and the price is double already out Orlando trip. Is it more expensive to travel in CA or am I seeing sucg a difference cause Im not booking myself?

Going to agree with alyssa810. Most of the time when I travel I seem to get a better deal investigating and booking myself.

The only time I find that not to be true is when I travel with my entire family. We took 8 people to Europe this may and we were able to get great airfare rates due to a group discount. (750 for roundtrip tickets to Paris)

Vegas maybe an exception because Vegas hotels tend to give ridiculous discounts. I'm staying at the Bellagio over the Christmas holiday for 200 bucks through my TA.

Generally for simple domestic travel I book myself.

 

[tvguy]

Never been to Disneyworld, but you did peak my interest so went to the Disney website.

Interesting that Disney quotes Disneyland package prices WITH park admission, and Disneyworld it only quotes the hotel room only.

I get $1773 total for Disneyland for 2 adults for 4 nights and 5 days in the park, and $1658 for the same thing at Disneyworld, so Disneyland is $14.38 a day more expensive per person.

 

[mad hatter fan]

What hotel did you stay in at WDW? Disneyland only has 3 onsite hotels and they are all deluxe hotels and priced accordingly. If you did not stay deluxe at WDW that could be a main factor. Disneyland's hotels are very pricey and they have not had to offer any discounts recently to keep them full. You could save a bunch of money by staying off site just across the street and be as close to the main gates as Disney's hotels. We love the Disneyland Hotel but usually can't afford it. Make sure to check out the Disneyland Board. (scroll way down to find it )

 

[tzeitel]

I don't think booking with a TA is the problem. Staying onsite at DLR is very expensive. There are several motel/hotels right across the street from the parks for 1/3 of the price of staying onsite.

Legoland is about 2 hours from DLR, Universal is about 40-45 from DLR (more if you hit traffic). Maybe the price you are seeing is with transportation - that could be cheaper by doing some research. We rented a car from the SNA airport and it was less than $80 for 7 days.

WDW has much better deals than DLR but I doubt you got a great deal at WDW anyway since you only went for 1 day

 

[queenbetsey]

In a word, yes, we live out here and are amazed at how the prices are different than at WDW. If you are staying on Disney Property the rooms are crazy expensive. sure you can get rooms cheaper outside the resort and they are in walking distance just do your homework first, try the unofficial guide to Disneyland for a good reference. it has amap with the hotels in the area clearly marked. also all hotels are reviewed and rated.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Have you visited the Disneyland board? It's great with lots of tips and advice.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=26

WDW and DL are so different in the way you approach the trip altogether. Staying off site at DL is great option. We've always stayed off site, and can walk to the front gate in about 8 min.

Like previous posters, I just can't see any reason for using a TA for DL.

I love DL, but that's because I grew up going there. I love walking across to CA Adventure a couple of times each day that I am there.

BTW - how did you do just one day at WDW?? Did you park hop at all?

 

[Karlzmom]

We live in CA and were shocked to find we could do a trip to WDW for less than a DL/ SoCal trip, even after taking the plane tickets in to account. The discounts for onsite hotels are far better at the world.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Never been to Disneyworld, but you did peak my interest so went to the Disney website.

Interesting that Disney quotes Disneyland package prices WITH park admission, and Disneyworld it only quotes the hotel room only.

I get $1773 total for Disneyland for 2 adults for 4 nights and 5 days in the park, and $1658 for the same thing at Disneyworld, so Disneyland is $14.38 a day more expensive per person.

Not sure I understand? You can get quotes for both room only and packages on the WDW website.

 

[tvguy]

Not sure I understand? You can get quotes for both room only and packages on the WDW website.

For some reason the WDW site just gives me room rates, without admission tickets.
DL they include the park hopper tickets for the duration of your stay in the room price. But including admission tickets is pretty normal for the non-Disney hotels around the park at DL too.

 

[CdnCarrie]

For some reason the WDW site just gives me room rates, without admission tickets.
DL they include the park hopper tickets for the duration of your stay in the room price. But including admission tickets is pretty normal for the non-Disney hotels around the park at DL too.

Then you're not doing it right. You can get quotes for all kinds of packages on the WDW website. Right on the home page - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ - choose hotel, tickets or packages. On the left side in orange under "I am looking for".
If you go down to the bottom you can choose "Special offers" for any discounts.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Our family of 4 went to Disneyworld in Feb 2012. We did one day Disney, 1 day Sea World, 2 Days Universal parks, stayed in a hotel amd rented a car. I booked all of these things. I contacted a travel agent for a trip to Disneyland and its hotel, Disney, Universal and Legoland (no car rental) and the price is double already out Orlando trip. Is it more expensive to travel in CA or am I seeing sucg a difference cause Im not booking myself?

Something is not right. I just got back from Disneyland and did universal and the prices were almost identical. It must be the hotel jacking up the price.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[ktlm]

We have gone to DL and WDW each year for the last 3 years. It always costs us the same (or more) to stay 4 nights at DLR, as it does to stay 7 or 8 nights at WDW. We usually stay deluxe at WDW too, if we did moderate or value, DLR would be substantially higher. I think the reason is probably that DLR only has 3 on property hotels. They also do not run as good of discounts as WDW, because they don't have to to keep the hotels fairly full. DL always gives us sticker shock, but we do love it there.

 

[sissy_ib]

Then you're not doing it right. You can get quotes for all kinds of packages on the WDW website. Right on the home page - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ - choose hotel, tickets or packages. On the left side in orange under "I am looking for".
If you go down to the bottom you can choose "Special offers" for any discounts.

He's not saying you cant do that. But the WDW site defaults to room only.

 

[DizneyLover]

I am currently pricing both DL and WDW for November, while I do agree that WDW has better specials, FDP and such. When it comes right down to comparing resort pricing there is not a lot of difference in prices when you compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The Grand Californian and the Grand Floridian are both very comparable in pricing, the difference is there is no budget resorts on site in DL. I grew up in SoCal so my heart will always be in DL but we are definitely leaning towards WDW for hopes of the FDP, even with the more expensive airfare we will come out on top.

 

[ktlm]

I am currently pricing both DL and WDW for November, while I do agree that WDW has better specials, FDP and such. When it comes right down to comparing resort pricing there is not a lot of difference in prices when you compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The Grand Californian and the Grand Floridian are both very comparable in pricing, the difference is there is no budget resorts on site in DL. I grew up in SoCal so my heart will always be in DL but we are definitely leaning towards WDW for hopes of the FDP, even with the more expensive airfare we will come out on top.

I totally agree that part of the sticker shock for many is that DL does not have any moderate or budget hotels, although I think the PPH is probably comparable to a moderate at WDW, but we usually stay deluxe at WDW, and we still get sticker shock at DL. In my opinion, the Grand Californian and Grand Floridian are not comparable hotels. I think comparing them is a bit like apples to oranges. The Grand Floridian has much larger standard rooms (the GC rooms are 353 sq ft. and the GF are 440). The GF is a more upscale hotel with more shops, dining, activities and entertainment etc. The GC's quick service closes early and GF's is open 24 hours even though the food options are limited after 11:30 p.m. Also the CG's quick service doesn't have nearly as many options as the GF's quick service. There really is no comparison between the 2 resorts, yet, as you said they are about the same price.

The apples to apples comparison would be the GC and the Wilderness Lodge at WDW. We consider the Grand Californian to be a scaled down version of WDW's Wilderness Lodge. It is extremely similar in design, feel, style and room size to the Wilderness Lodge at WDW, which is significantly cheaper than the Grand Floridian. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Wilderness Lodge and we have stayed there multiple times, but I sure wouldn't want to pay the GF prices for it! Plus, I don't like paying more than the WL prices for a resort that is a scaled down version of WL.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

If you are pricing the hotels on Disneyland property, that would explain the big price difference. They are deluxe and expensive.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson's near Disneyland and had a nice deal 2 years ago. We walked to Disneyland and ate some meals outside of Disneyland/DCA which saved us money.
Then we used that as our home base when we went to Universal Studios and did a day in Hollywood.

We found that staying offsite at Disneyland made it comparable to staying onsite at a moderate at Disney world cost wise with the hotel we picked.
We also had airfare and a rental car cost for our California Trip but didn't use that to compare costs since we normally drive to WDW.

One thing I would do next time though is the day we are going to Universal Studios, I would book a hotel room near there for one night instead of doing the drive from Disneyland to Universal Hollywood. Traffic was a bear and at the end of the evening we were tired which made it more frustrating.

Good luck!