Disneyland Vs. Wdw

[86cammie]

We only have about 4 days vacation, and DS13 and I hear Mickey calling us to come visit. We've been to WDW 4 times. I want to go to Disneyland, but he says kids he has talked to don't like it. He wants to go to Florida. I looovvvveeeee WDW, but like to have at least 7 days to really do everything in a relaxed pace. If you have been to both, what do you think? Is it worth my while???????? (We live in north east USA)

 

[kilee]

With the amount of time you have I'd go to WDW. My biggest reason is travel time. You'll eat up a lot of time traveling if you only have 4 days. Figure 1 full day at the start and end of the trip in airports.

 

[webray]

We have been to WDW numerous times and just went to DL for the first time this past spring. Man are they different. DL is fun, but it isn't WDW, definately not WDW. It may be the original park with all the charm, but you can't even see the castle at the end of main street when you enter the park. The castle is teeny tiny. I don't think we will ever need to visit DL again. The food options are not good either at DL. We tried many of the upscale restaurants, park quick serve restaurants..they were nothing special. It is nice to see once and you only need a couple days other than that..stick with WDW.

 

[Bellefan66]

We've been to both,and being on the east coast as well,we are HUGE DW fans . I would ONLY go back to DL if I were visiting relatives.I wouldn't pay to fly there JUST for DL . It's just not the same. The atmosphere is different,of course the park is much smaller,and you can't count on the weather. Can you tell,we are HUGE DW fans. Good luck on whatever choice you make.In the end,it's still Disney!

 

[Texian@WDW]

Let me start by saying that we LOVE WDW, but, we really liked DL. We stayed at the Grand Californian (?) and had a wonderful view of California Adventure. We could even watch the fireworks from our balcony. It was perfect for a 4 day trip. The only food I found not to be too good was the Blue Bayou, but the atmosphere was great. Best thing about it - California weather - we didn't sweat in July. Everything is closer and not so much walking so you can get alot of territory covered. No long lines at Soarin. I think it was fun just to see where Walt started his dream.

 

[Dana_Buckley]

I live in San Diego and have had AP to DL for about 3 years now. I love Disneyland! It is very manageable and lovely. There are several rides at DL not at WDW, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, Mr Toads Wild Ride... We actually skip a lot of big rides though, our DS are only 2 and 5. We go for the weekend and stay at the DL Hotel once or twice a year. With a few day trips also.

That being said, for me WDW is more of a vacation, and not just a trip. We are going in October for 6 days. After going to Marco Island for three days.

Four days is perfect for DL and CA, but you will have to consider the flying time and time change though. And decide if it is worth it for you to travel so far, for a short trip.

Happy planning!

 

[HaleyB]

We've been to both,and being on the east coast as well,we are HUGE DW fans . I would ONLY go back to DL if I were visiting relatives.I wouldn't pay to fly there JUST for DL . It's just not the same. The atmosphere is different,of course the park is much smaller,and you can't count on the weather. Can you tell,we are HUGE DW fans. Good luck on whatever choice you make.In the end,it's still Disney!

OK, I have to say something. You can't count on weather??? What the heck? What kind of freak weather happened to make you say that? Southern California is known the world over for having nearly perfect weather. It almost never rains and if it does rain it is not a down pour... Flordia has unperdictable weather. In California the joke is the weather men can tape a weeks worth of news casts at a time because the weather is so very perdictable and stable. Have you ever seen the movie "L.A. Story"?

Now to the OP- Whatever park you first visited will hold special memories for you. Most people strongly prefer their "home" park. We love both, but I admit DL is my 'home' park, the one I grew up in.

Disneyland is the original and for us that has meaning. Walt walked these streets, slept in this park, and if the magical details are your thing Disneyland has more. As for the castle thing, I think the castle in MK is no where near as magical as the one in DL. It tries too hard to be a "real" castle (and fails). The one in Disneyland is the icon of Disney for a reason. It is fairytale like and sweet. Bigger is not always better.

Disneyland is more limited than WDW, nothing like the AK or EPCOT WS. No full resorts like WDW has (Grand Californian is great, but not the same as the Poly...) What it does have are the rides. It has more rides in less space than the MK, hands down. It has better versions of rides (Jungle Cruise and POC come to mind and now Space Mountian too). It is easier to tour. Oh and the fireworks. You would need to go to Japan to beat the ones in Disneyland. That is always what hits me at WDW, the feeling that they are a good decade behind what DL is doing.

WDW has the resorts, it has the water parks, it has my all time favorite place- EPCOT WS. It has beautiful landscaping. It gives you the feeling that you are really in another world. It has a size and scope DL will never match. The DTD area in WDW is bigger and better and has DisneyQuest which your son might enjoy.

WDW beats DL for onsight food, but DL is not really trying. Southern California has some of the best dining in the world. Since fewer people stay onsite in California there is less need for on site dining. You can go to the real Brown Derby in California.

Either is a great choice, neither can be done correctly in four days unless that does not include travel days. We find it much more expensive to visit Disneyland. Disneyland has record breaking crowds this year too- which is not a good thing in my book.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Disneyland is worth a visit.

Other than this past year, it doesn't rain all that much and the summer is bearable. It also has the Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Story book canal boats, Alice in Wonderland, Casey Junior circus train, Pinnochio's journey, A canoe ride, Mr. Toads, Roger Rabit, the original Tiki Room show, and other stuff that's different.

I'd say it would be perfect for a little 4 day trip. If your bookend days are for travel, you'll only have 2 days...unless you can find a direct flight in that leaves early and a direct flight out that leaves late. That's not quite enough for both DL and CA but it's REALLY not enough at WDW. If your 4 days didn't count the bookend days you can do 3 at DL/CA and one at Knott's Berry Farm about 5 miles away in Buena Park. Or 4 at DL wouldn't be too many. Also remember, hotels and eateries outside the land are really close out there and LA has some great restaurants.

As to the castle, you can't eat in it and it is overshadowed at times by the matterhorn, but it's still a beautiful castle.

 

[alicenwonder99]

I say go to DL. It is our favorite park. I'm not sure what Bellefan was talking about with the "unpredictable weather", but Southern California's weather is great. It is NEVER stifling like the summers in Orlando.

With 4 days, you can definitely see all of DL. And since you've never been there, you should go!

Don't try to compare the 2 parks, they are different vacations.

Have fun with whichever place you chooose.

Mary

 

[karrit2000]

Many of the rides at DL are better than WDW. For a short trip I think you can do more at DL. My all time favorite Disney ride is Indiana Jones which WDW doesn't have. Dinosaur is nothing like it even though the mechanics are the same. SInce you've never been to DL it would be great to be able to compare the two. I visited WDW several times before going to DL. I spend more time going to WDW bwcause it is closer & Cheaper for me to get to & I am a DVC member. But that said I always look forward to my trips to DL. I just did #5 in July for the 50th and I wish I had a couple of extra days because I never know when I'll have a chance to get back there. I was at a convention & didn't have enough free time to do everything I wanted. Just a tip if you choose DL. There are several Hotels/motels just across the street from the Main entrance to both parks that are much closer to the main entrance gates than the 3 Disneyland resorts. And I dont ever remember having Rain at DL.

 

[eeyore25]

I say go to DL. It is our favorite park. I'm not sure what Bellefan was talking about with the "unpredictable weather", but Southern California's weather is great. It is NEVER stifling like the summers in Orlando.

With 4 days, you can definitely see all of DL. And since you've never been there, you should go!

Don't try to compare the 2 parks, they are different vacations.

Have fun with whichever place you chooose.

Mary

I would say that if you have the time, try DL. I think it is an experience that you should do. We always got to DL and let year we changed our minds and did WDW. We compared the parks and we were so disappointed with WDW. WE are going this year with my inlaws and we know what to expect. The inlaws don't.

I agree with Mary, don't compare the two. They are totally different. My inlaws love DL and they go every year too. They also go to Knott's Berry Farm. They were comparing the two the other night, DL and WDW. I told them the best way to think about DL and WDW is thinking of DL and Knott's Berry Farm. You can not compare Knotts to DL. I hope that makes sense.....

Whatever you chose have fun and make the most out of it. After all, it is Disney!

 

[crusin'minnie]

I agree that it is hard to compare the two. DH and I did DL last Sept and it was great. Different but great. I had to pinch myself when I realized that we could just walk across from one park to the other. Amazing.

How long until you will be doing another Disney vacation. If the answer is 1 year or less I would definately choose DL. You can cover so much more here in a short time.

But if it will be several years before you take another Disney vacation, I would go ahead and do WDW. I guess we just like WDW better. Although we intend to go back to DL someday and bring our girls!! It is soooo cool that it was Walt's original.

The good news is that no matter what you decide you are going to DISNEY and it will be WONDERFUL


Good luck on the decision!

 

[heatherfeather24]

I actually think that the length of time you have is perfect for a visit to DL. California Adventure is, at best, a 1/2 day endeavor. There isn't immersive themeing to enjoy and there really aren't many rides. Moreover, DL's version of Downtown Disney is really just a mall -- there is the one big Disney store, but I can't think of any other store there that I haven't seen in one of the many malls around my area.

Having typed that first paragraph, it sounds really negative, but it isn't meant to because DL itself and the DL resorts can easily entertain for a couple of days. DL has some incredible, not to be missed theming (Pirates, the Haunted Mansion and the whole New Orleans square; small world and all of Fantasy land) that is far and away better (IMO) than WDW. It's also worth it for the rides unique to DL (Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, and even the lesser rides like Alice in Wonderland). I'm still ticked that Matterhorn was closed for renovation when I was there.

I still prefer WDW, but they are both definitely worth a visit at the very least so you can form your own opinions.

 

[safetymom]

I think you could have a great time at DL. I live near WDW and go all the time but right now I am in my hotel room near DL. We are having a great time at DL and CA.

 

[dbanzai]

I've been to both, and I think both are great.

As you are a fellow NE Corridor person, I would suggest WDW because, as one of the other posters said, the travel will make your actual time at the parks very small (maybe two days when all is said and done). If you had a week, I would say DL is definitely worth the travel to see the original. I do look forward to going back, and it's charming in its own ways. I love all the hotels along the road near the entrance.

Some other agreements and disagreements with other posters:

I found Dinosaur and Indy very similar. Different stories, sure, but enough similarities besides the hardware (Star Tours/Body Wars simulators on wheels).

The weather is definitely more predictable in SoCal. No gulf stream, few showers. It wasn't as warm there as I was expecting (the climate while I was there was very similar to that in NYC at the same time of year). Of course the mornings are hazy as that famed LA smog foats about, but the sun does seem to come out every day.

CA is my favorite Disney park so far. It has some of my favorites from the various WDW parks, all in one: MuppetVision and TOT from MGM, Califorina Screamin' has a launch like RnR but is bigger and outdoors, Soarin' was here first before EPCOT. One of the Great things about Anaheim is that park hopping is a cinch, as you just walk across the prominade from one to the other, and even in a peak time like June I had no trouble with lines or seeing everything every day (granted, I was a solo and I got the feeling solos here had it easier than in Orlando). The original monrail is more ride than viable transport (although it has a stop at the far end of DL's DTD), and is a fun ride which give you a good look of DL from the inside.