DW vet just back from first Trip to DL

pfanny37

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
46
First of all, let me say thank you to everyone for all the helpful info on this site! Some background on my family: My DW and 2 DS (6 and 9) just returned from a week stay at BWPPI. We have been to DW 3 times in the last 5 years staying both onsite and offsite. We finally decided to give DL and DCA a try, and we are so happy we did.

We enjoyed DL so much more than DW. I am a huge planner (I even think that is the most fun part) so it was difficult for me to prepare for DL. We got SWGE reservations, but other than that we just had a basic plan for what we wanted to do. We are rope droppers, and coming from the midwest made that very it easy. We walked back to the motel everyday and had lunch before returning to the parks. I did not miss the DW buses at all! We loved having the ability to come and go from the parks without having to wait on a bus. We also never missed "the bubble." Once we were in the area of the parks we felt immersed. We are already planning a trip for next year because we enjoyed it so much.

Our Highlights:
Cars ride was great (we rode it 5 times over 2 days.
Maxpass was amazing. We only used it 2 days, but it was very easy to use.
The crowds were very manageable. Our first day we were in the parks for a total of 7 hours and managed to do 17 rides without rushing around.
SWGE was so much fun. We built droids and a light saber along with riding Smugglers Run 4 times. We went back another night and managed to get great pictures with everything lit up.
We loved how close the attractions were to one another.
Hyperspace Mountain was a highlight. The Star Wars music made it great.
BWPPI was perfect. Super close and clean. The pool was small, but my kids had fun. The breakfast was also a nice perk.

Things we missed compared to DW:
We knew Splash Mountain was not the same, but it was still a disappointment.
We missed magic bands. They are just so much more convenient, especially when you are trying to get paper FP.

Just my opinion, but we were converted. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.
 
We're plannin our trip to WDW in spring. I've gotta feeling it's gonna beat me up,bein in my mid 60s. I'm sure 40yrs ago it would have been fun. Glad you liked the Land though.
 
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to the happiest place on earth!!

We are planing a trip to WDW next year. I really don't want to go but my wife has been dying to go for years so I'm gonna suck it up. I'm not looking forward to the weather, buses, lines, crappy quick service and FP+. But to keep the peace, we are going. I'd personally much rather go just go to Disneyland or Disneyland in Tokyo. We are not planners and I've looked into it a bit and everything requires a lot of planing there if you want to ride stuff and eat decent food.
 

Glad to hear that you really enjoyed yourselves at DLR. We too are WDW vets that have converted to DLR. We love how you can walk to both parks so easily (we too don't miss the buses while there) and I love how some of the rides that WDW used to have, DL still has. Before our first trip out there we said it was going to be a once and done trip (we are from the Midwest too) and those that have gone said "no worries you will be back"...well we are planning our 4th trip to DLR for next June and cannot wait to get back there :goodvibes .
 
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We have great memories from WDW, but we always run ourselves ragged when we are there. The character dining was great when our children were younger, and they loved the Disney hotel themes, but now they are all about the rides. I do think a lot of it has to do with the lower than expected crowd levels. The last time we went to WDW was spring break 2018 and it was so packed you couldn't even moved at certain times in the parks. We had planned and were able to accomplish everything we wanted to, but the mass of people just sucked all the magic out of it for us.
 
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to the happiest place on earth!!

We are planing a trip to WDW next year. I really don't want to go but my wife has been dying to go for years so I'm gonna suck it up. I'm not looking forward to the weather, buses, lines, crappy quick service and FP+. But to keep the peace, we are going. I'd personally much rather go just go to Disneyland or Disneyland in Tokyo. We are not planners and I've looked into it a bit and everything requires a lot of planing there if you want to ride stuff and eat decent food.

There are a lot of great things to love about WDW.
 
So glad you found helpful info here for your trip planning and that your family had a great time at DLR! Feel free to start asking any and all questions here for your next trip. :)
 
We are planing a trip to WDW next year. I really don't want to go but my wife has been dying to go for years so I'm gonna suck it up. I'm not looking forward to the weather, buses, lines, crappy quick service and FP+. But to keep the peace, we are going. I'd personally much rather go just go to Disneyland or Disneyland in Tokyo. We are not planners and I've looked into it a bit and everything requires a lot of planing there if you want to ride stuff and eat decent food.
I understand. I am also the anti planner. Despite that, we had a good time at WDW. It was different than Disneyland, in my opinion, you can't compare the 2, they are too different. (My daughter and a friend did most of the planning and threatening to give me a Xanax. I planned the airfare and hotel, they did the rest.)

We found good quick service, not sure why you call it crappy since you haven't tried it. The buses are a pain, we ended up driving after the 3rd day, was just easier. It was a very different trip than Disneyland.

There were things I liked about the WDW trip, such as I found I really liked the Magic Bands. I realize due to RFID, we won't get them in CA, but overall I did like them.

Like I tell people who comment negatively about an upcoming DL trip, if you go into the trip with a negative attitude, you may think you are keeping the peace, but you will be souring your wife's trip. It is a different trip, enjoy it for what it is. BTW - My fav park at WDW is Animal Kingdom and Epcot is a close second.
 
I understand. I am also the anti planner. Despite that, we had a good time at WDW. It was different than Disneyland, in my opinion, you can't compare the 2, they are too different. (My daughter and a friend did most of the planning and threatening to give me a Xanax. I planned the airfare and hotel, they did the rest.)

We found good quick service, not sure why you call it crappy since you haven't tried it. The buses are a pain, we ended up driving after the 3rd day, was just easier. It was a very different trip than Disneyland.

There were things I liked about the WDW trip, such as I found I really liked the Magic Bands. I realize due to RFID, we won't get them in CA, but overall I did like them.

Like I tell people who comment negatively about an upcoming DL trip, if you go into the trip with a negative attitude, you may think you are keeping the peace, but you will be souring your wife's trip. It is a different trip, enjoy it for what it is. BTW - My fav park at WDW is Animal Kingdom and Epcot is a close second.

I know its not all bad. I'm just venting because I'd just rather not spend so much money to go there. But some things I'm actually looking forward to experiencing.
 
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to the happiest place on earth!!

We are planing a trip to WDW next year. I really don't want to go but my wife has been dying to go for years so I'm gonna suck it up. I'm not looking forward to the weather, buses, lines, crappy quick service and FP+. But to keep the peace, we are going. I'd personally much rather go just go to Disneyland or Disneyland in Tokyo. We are not planners and I've looked into it a bit and everything requires a lot of planing there if you want to ride stuff and eat decent food.
I'm sure you will have a great time at WDW. It might be more been there and done that for us. The freshness of DL is probably weighing on my impression. You can still do it with without too much stress. Just make sure you get a Flight of Passage FP because that ride completely blew us away. It totally lived up to the hype.
 
Glad you had a great time on your trip! I love Disneyland!! I loved WDW too, but Disneyland has things that WDW will never be able to recreate imo. (and v/v)
 


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