Help--lots of questions--disneyland vs. world

[2littleprincesses]

HI from MN! I am kind of looking into a trip for us to possibly disneyworld or land. We could go at two times--end of March/beginning of April or the middle of June. I was thinking of going to Disneyland and then doing Legoland, SeaWorld and SanDiego Zoo, but with the 4 days/3 free deal--I was wondering if that would be a better deal. Will it be crowded during those times?

We have 2 dds (5 and 8). They have not been big on rides in the past--especially dd5. Also, can you get into the character dinners if I book the March time now--or is that not possible?

THanks for any and all help.

Amy

 

[Mom loves Disney]

Every time I price out the same vacations you are talking about, WDW is the cheapest. I would love to go to Disneyland, Legoland, and the Zoo, but the price has kept me from booking.
You would have extra transportation (and Disney tickets are cheaper the longer you stay). When you factor the cost of each place (DL,Legoland,Zoo) it will cost alot more.
Good luck making your coice.

 

[DannysMom]

Also, can you get into the character dinners if I book the March time now--or is that not possible?

THanks for any and all help.

Amy

Hi, I've never been to Disneyland, so not a lot of help there. Currently WDW is only booking dining reservations (ADRs) through March 22nd. They are upgrading their reservation system & the usual 180 ADR booking window is not in place, except for CRT, Chef Mickey's & V&A's.

The good news for you is that *no one* yet has any ADRs for the end of March beginning of April, so you have just as good a shot as anyone else to get ADRs for character meals whenever they do open up bookings past 3/22. There have been rumblings that it might be 12/21 or 12/22, but could easily not open up until Jan sometime. There is a sticky at the top of the Restaraunt board if you want to keep current with when they may let us book past 3/22.

Bad news for me is my trip is 3/19-3/26 & I can only plan out half of my days.

 

[brockash]

HI from MN! I am kind of looking into a trip for us to possibly disneyworld or land. We could go at two times--end of March/beginning of April or the middle of June. I was thinking of going to Disneyland and then doing Legoland, SeaWorld and SanDiego Zoo, but with the 4 days/3 free deal--I was wondering if that would be a better deal. Will it be crowded during those times?

We have 2 dds (5 and 8). They have not been big on rides in the past--especially dd5. Also, can you get into the character dinners if I book the March time now--or is that not possible?

THanks for any and all help.

Amy

Just wanted to give you my 2 cents. I've been to land and world many times, and once to land with both DS-6 and DD-20 months. I've been to world twice with DS and once with DD, and we completely prefer world. To us, it's just more magical, especially if you're planning on staying on property. The cost has always been less for world than land when we've priced as well.

 

[tnd]

We just did a San Diego/Disneyland trip this past March with our 3 year old son, since my husband had a work conference in San Diego. It was fantastic. The weather was amazing, in the 70s and 80s the whole time and it was not the least bit crowded. Disneyland is smaller than the Magic Kingdom (at least it feels that way to me) and California Adventure is big, but not huge. They are also adjacent to each other, so you can walk between them. Park hopping is more of a must for Disneyland IMO. I don't know that I'd spend more than 3-4 days there, we did 3.5 and it was just right. I grew up in California, so Disneyland has a lot of happy childhood memories for me, but it is a totally different experience than WDW. It's sort of plopped down in the middle of a suburb that grew around it. But the trade-off is cheaper hotels, restaurants and grocery stores within a few blocks of the park.

Accomodations are expensive, mostly because there are only 3 hotels that are owned by Disney. We splurged on the Disneyland Hotel and it was great. We had a perfect room that was about 5 steps from Downtown Disney, which you walk through to get to the parks. It was a 5-10 minute walk from our room to the main gate of the park. You can easily stay off-site and walk to the parks, there are that many hotels in the area.

We did the character breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel and it was pretty good. Very good character interaction, decent food. My son adored it and it made us decide to book our upcoming trip to the World. We booked it the night before, so it wasn't really crowded or anything.

We also had a blast in San Diego. We stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado and spent a lot of time on the beach and wandering around Coronado Island. We didn't do the Zoo, but it is supposed to be fantastic.

 

[mybestieismickey]

I think think you could make it a wash either way. You can get the Southern California City pass from the Disneyland web site. Costco and I think others sell them too. They cost somewhere between $250 and $300 each for adults (not sure about the kids price). It includes a 3 day park hopper, a day at Universal, a day at either the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park (pick the zoo!) and I think a day at Sea World too. You have 14 days to use the passes. DLR doesn't offer a dining plan in the same form as the one at WDW, so you would have to pay for food at the time of purchase. My husband and I roughly priced it out, and we think that if we directly compared week for week our upcoming 4/3 trip in April, it would cost about the same if you used the City Pass. The only thing that would be different for us is that we would drive to DLR and fly to WDW.

 

[adventure_woman]

The big cost difference for me between DL and WDW is that you have to rent a car for DL. The 2 parks are totally different. It is neat going to DL and knowing that Walt created it. DL is a much smaller scale than WDW. I remember seeing the castle for the first time - I was like: "Where is it?" But it is a lot of fun in DL. There is a lot of other stuff to do too besides DL. In WDW, you are basically all Disney, and at DL, it doesn't feel that way. (Which is precisely why Walt created WDW).

 

[tink_lover]

Hello Amy fellow MN! We have been to DW over spring break the last 2 years. It is an incredibly busy time of year there. We did the TGM thing and followed his suggestions and were okay. We like staying on the property and doing the ddp - so much so that we finally bought DVC. However, spring break 2009 will be at DL. We are splitting the stay and doing some time near the ocean and will do Legoland, Zoo, etc. then moving to GC. I wish DL had the dining plan. We just have found that to be really convenient and saved us a lot of money. Flights to CA from MSP are more expensive than Orlando as well. Good luck with your decision!

 

[MommyBryn]

We've been to both 3-4 times each. Definitely prefer Disney World, even though we're across the country from it but only a state away from Disneyland! WDW has SO much more, and really is more magical IMO. It's more like a vacation, to us. That said, if I only had a few days, maybe just like 2-4 days, I'd probably just go to Disneyland because I wouldn't feel like I could get enough done in WDW and I'd feel disappointed. LOL

 

[melancholywings]

I like them both - each has it's own perks and charms. But even with our airfair DW is cheaper per day than DL. Also if you are going to do Seaworld/San Diego Zoo you are looking at more commuting as they are not really near DL. Isn't March/April spring break? I know when DL gets busy it turns absolutely hellish as DL has a higher local ratio. I don't know about DW.

 

[mousiemom]

i'm a huge wdw fanatic so when my 15yr bonus was coming up at work, i knew i wanted for dh and our 7yr dd to fly somewhere. so, we chose so.california. we knew we wanted to go do DL but there's so much other fun stuff out there. i learned a lot from the disneyland dissers on here about saving money on my trip. we did the cali.city passes thru costco and saved a bundle. we stayed at hojos across the street w/a disneyview room for $74 a night and walked to DL for 3 days and the other days we took a grayline bus tour (i bought a 4 day pass -$104) and they picked us up from the hotel and we went to san diego zoo one day, seaworld, universal studios, and a hollywood tour. it was awesome!!! our trip was perfect!! everyday was gorgeous and we watched wishes everynight from our balcony. i knew i didn't want to pay prices for the disney hotels but this was great! the rooms were much bigger than even the moderates. we enjoyed DL but like others nothing compares to wdw. i missed all the water around our parks. i liked the fact we didn't have to walk so much. the castle is tiny compared to cinderella's. Aurora needs to talk to them about that. we loved california adv. we loved all the other places we went. we would talk to people in DL about wdw and would tell them about all the 4 parks and the safaris at AK, and epcot and they couldn't believe it. our dining is waaaayyy better! we did like 2 adr while we were there cause that's about all they offer.
good luck!
mousiemom

 

[mom2faith]

Another point is you can do Sea World and Universal at WDW too. We did (although we did not enjoy them as much as the world itself!!)

There is also Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.

We really liked our Florida trip!!

Have fun planning.

 

[tink_lover]

I just have to post a funny OT about Discovery Cove. My dh and I went there years ago when we only had one child and she was about 2 at the time. DH and I did the swim with the dolphins experience. This week, I thought I would price it out for our family to do in August - OMG - it was over $1500 for the day!!!

 

[tink_lover]

I just have to post a funny OT about Discovery Cove. My dh and I went there years ago when we only had one child and she was about 2 at the time. DH and I did the swim with the dolphins experience. This week, I thought I would price it out for our family to do in August - OMG - it was over $1500 for the day!!!

 

[TxRabbit]

I grew up in northern CA, but I ended up in DL a lot. I could go every year of high school through the marching band when we went on "Tour." My great Grandma lived in So CA. The last time I went was in the early 90s and I didn't go to the other Disney park. I don't even remember if it was open.

And I've only been to WDW 3X. The first was a single day trip in the late 90s. The second two trips were in 2007.

So my opinions are based on this experience, you understand.

In WDW, you could rely completely on WDW services and have a completely satisfying vacation experience. You could stay on site, eat on site, be provided transportation on site. You could literally leave reality outside the property and just immerse yourself in the Disney community. Many of us love WDW for just that reason.

The DL vacation will be totally different. Food, hotel changes, traveling to and from will all be a part of the So CA scene. You WILL deal with traffic traveling from Aneheim to San Diego.

Which is the better deal? That is the personal part of your decision. The 4/3 deal sure does make the accomodations more affordable. Many are able to stay at a hotel that they otherwise wouldn't. For me, it is enabling us to go at all!

People who have never been to WDW but have been DL cannot imagine that there is enough at WDW to keep you occupied for a week long vacation. The people who go to WDW wonder how they are going to get it all in a week!

I hope this helps.

Happy decision making! Whatever you choose, I hope you have a wonderful vacation.