Florida v California

[DCDMarkyG]

Hi,

We have 5 weeks until we are off to Florida again. I really can't wait. We love the huge rides and whole way of life over there.

We are however in two minds over where to go next time, I'd like to try Annaheim and Six Flags Magic Mountain, Seaworld CA etc just for a change and to try a different Disney experience. Others in our party are reluctant to go anywhere other than Orlando.

Has anyone been to both Florida and California, if so which is best? The rides in LA look much more extreme (supermans escape etc) our kids are getting older and want scarier rides but Florida looks more 'themed' and better presented in both Disney and the other parks.

 

[paulh]

would do knots berry farm as well if going cali
Paulh

 

[Frances999]

One isn't "better" than the other, they are different and should be appreciated as different vacation destinations. Disneyland Resort California has just two parks and no water parks, and a week would probably suffice and give you plenty of time to do everything. The location of Disneyland California means you have easy access to the attractions of Los Angeles, but be aware that SeaWorld and Legoland are further south (SW is in San Diego and Legoland in Carlsbad) - about an hour to ninety minutes drive, depending on the traffic.

We were not impressed with Knotts Berry Farm on our first trip and won't be returning, but do they have some extreme coasters. Never been to Six Flags but, again, it seems like they sacrifice theming for the extreme rides and attractions.

If your children are getting older, they might prefer the other attractions in the area - Hollywood and LA as a whole has a ton of things to do including movie studio visits and tours of movie stars homes. There are also some awesome beaches and great surfing opportunities nearby if they are attracted to that.

 

[wayneg]

Upto now we have spent about 45 weeks in Florida over the last 14 years, going back for at least another 5 weeks next year, still find more to do every visit as well as still love going to all the parks. We can't get enough of it.

We visited Anaheim last Oct for 8 nights and loved it, going back again this oct but we will have enough with 5 nights there so going to Vegas for 4 nights 1st. After this trip I doubt we will go back again.
If you like driving and exploring then there is a lot to Cali but its too spread out and too busy for us, From Disney to SW can be anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on traffic. Disney to Universal was great going 45 mins but going back at end of day took well over 2 hours.
If you are going for theme parks I would stick to Florida, If you want more than theme parks its worth going.

 

[Frances999]

Disney to Universal was great going 45 mins but going back at end of day took well over 2 hours.

You got stuck in the 101 and I5 rush-hour traffic, too. We were sat there for a couple of hours as well!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I am doing Disneyland CL again in 2008, there are differences,

Weather better at Disneyland in summer months Florida winter months.
Rides Pirates space mountain better at Disneyland.
Disneyland is more compact less walking.

WDW has more parks and water parks Disneyland has one and a half parks. Californian adventure is not as good as other Disney parks.
More good meals and character meals at WDW and more reservations.
WDW has more distance between resorts but better supporting parks.
Disneyland is the original
I have found crowds better at DL in Summer than WDW.

Its nice to change them around every so often,

 

[wayneg]

Rides Pirates space mountain better at Disneyland.

Its nice to change them around every so often,

Pirates I agree but Space mountain I love at WDW, I suspect they will change it when it closes for refurb and turn it into something like DL which you and DW will prefer but Its one of my fave rides at WDW I will be sad to see it change (if they do).

I think any Disney fan has to visit DL once to see the original then make up their own mind if its worth anther visit.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Pirates I agree but Space mountain I love at WDW, I suspect they will change it when it closes for refurb and turn it into something like DL which you and DW will prefer but Its one of my fave rides at WDW I will be sad to see it change (if they do).

I think any Disney fan has to visit DL once to see the original then make up their own mind if its worth anther visit.

Agree each park is different funny my award for best Big Thunder mountain goes to Paris, then CL and lastly WDW.


DL still has a lot of the 'old' favs, Alice, Mr Toad etc,

On Universal Hollywood is a bit further away than I-drive, Hollywood is the original has the backlott tour, and the Mummy is far better than Orlando.

Orlando has more rides and a 2nd park, and is far closer to Disney.

 

[paulh]

On Universal Hollywood is a bit further away than I-drive, Hollywood is the original has the backlott tour, and the Mummy is far better than Orlando.

.

Totaly agree on mummy and if doing universal do backlot tour first as it sets the whole day up
We loved SanDeago Zoo
We Got the Sun pass which good value,Did knots berry as stayed at there hotel.At first was disapointed with disnyland(it was the"is`nt the castle smal effect")But grew on me after a few days also stayed Pradice pier and disnyland hotel
Would mix it up with a trip to Las vegas and grand canyon
Paulh

 

[wayneg]

Totaly agree on mummy and if doing universal do backlot tour first as it sets the whole day up
We loved SanDeago Zoo
We Got the Sun pass which good value,Did knots berry as stayed at there hotel.At first was disapointed with disnyland(it was the"is`nt the castle smal effect")But grew on me after a few days also stayed Pradice pier and disnyland hotel
Would mix it up with a trip to Las vegas and grand canyon
Paulh

I agree with Mummy also, it was so quiet we just stayed on about 5 times.
I think SD Zoo is the best in the world, we were there from opening to closing and I am sure we still missed some.
Thats what we are doing next month Vegas 4 nights before Cali 5 nights, just not sure we will like Vegas, booked to see Cirque show 'O' and making a list of things to see. My brother loves Vegas but he doesn't like Disney, I have a feeling its going to be the other way around for us.

 

[disneyholic family]

i agree with much of what has already been written - i totally agree with Wayne regarding space mountain - i MUCH prefer the WDW version..

regarding DL/DCA vs WDW......there really isn't any comparison......nothing comes close to WDW...
however, every disney fan should try DL/DCA at least once (and also DLP, DLHK, TDL/TDS).....and there are some attractions at DL that are better....
it also has some that WDW doesn't have, like Indiana Jones - which is kind of like Dinosaur in AK, but IJ is far superior.....

california is a place unto itself.....and certainly worth a visit, even without Disney.....but as everyone has described - it's BIG and BUSY.....the roads are crazy.....don't expect the compact simplicity of orlando....orlando is teenie tiny compared to LA......

as for DL itself vs the Magic Kingdom (which is pretty much the direct comparison), there are pros and cons to each park, although overall i've always felt that DL is the prettier park....except for the castle which is about 1/100th the size of the castle in florida...ok...i exagerate....but it is soooooooooooo short you'll be shocked....my kids wouldn't even look at it....every time we walked by they'd say "OH NO, THE CASTLE... DON"T LOOK AT IT".....(and they were about 18 and 16 at the time)..

also, IMO, fantasyland at DL is better than fantasyland at the MK....it's prettier and has several rides that just don't exist in the MK (my favorite is the tiny circus train that goes through the storybook area - i could ride that thing all day - call me crazy)....

the year we did DL, we also did WDW.....we started at WDW for 3 weeks (plus a 4 day wonder cruise)...then headed to DL/DCA for 4 days, which was enough time to completely cover both parks....we stayed at the grand californian, which was nice since you have direct entrance into DCA and DL is very close by....
then after 4 days in anaheim, we flew to vegas for 4 days, but that's another story...

i would definitely go for DL/DCA at least once to experience it...

it also has the original Tiki Birds (if you remember them)...and yes, their pirates is far superior to the one at the MK....(the ride is twice as long)...
and you can eat at the Blue Bayou, right inside pirates...

oh....one thing that we thought was fantastic at DL......the fantasmic desert buffet on the balcony of the gallery....only 20 people sit up there and you have the best seats in the park for fantasmic....and you get all the deserts and drinks you can consume....it was lovely....and we really really enjoyed all the people we met that evening...

enough of a ramble for one day...

i'm coming back to add, that i would also go to all those other things everyone has mentioned...
we didn't, because that trip wasn't geared as a california trip....but if you go just to california i would definitely include all the places that have been mentioned....however i wouldn't use the disney hotels as my base....i would stay at one of the disney properties while visiting disney, and then stay at a hotel or hotels that are more convenient for the other attractions i want to visit (e.g., actually stay in san diego for the sea world, san diego zoo portion of the trip)...being caught in southern california's famous traffic jams is not my idea of a vacation....

 

[alisonbestford]

We've been lucky enough to do both LA and Florida

The first time we visited Disney we stayed in Anaheim for the first week and San Diego for the second.
I'd agree, with others, that one week was long enough but we absolutely loved San Diego and wished we were staying longer

We hired a car, for a day to drive to Hollywood as we only had to walk over the road to Disney and got a bus transfer to San Diego