How does DisneyLand compare to Disney World?

[KristiP]

We have been to Disney World 4 times and we love it. Our kids are 8 and 6. We have been thinking of going to Cali. and getting the southern Cal. City pass. We also are DVC members and would like to stay at the Grand Cali. I want to know what people who have been to both think of DisneyLand. Thanks so much
KristiP

 

[bumbershoot]

Come on over to the Disneyland forum here, and check out HydroGuy's tips (they are in a "sticky" thread)!!!

 

[Snow Shoe]

They are the same in name only. They are two veeeeery different worlds. We visited DL and stayed at GCR as DVC members last June. We had a room facing DTD right over a Disney store entrence on the 3 fl. Great view and no noise from the store below. You will find rides that are different in presentation between the two parks. PoTC is by far better at DL, while HM at WDW I feel is better. DL was not built with TS restaurants much in mind. Blue Bayou is fabulous though. The Carnation Cafe' is wonderful for lunch. I wouldn't give anything for our experience at DL, and someday I will return. If you can, take the tour, Walking in Walt's footsteps. It really gives you some great background and unique access to the park. The highlite of our tour was getting to ride in Walts private railroad car

and the lobby of Club 33

About staying at the GCR on points, you really need to call MS and findout when the resort is being removed from the list of places to stay at. I read something recently that CR and GCR were going to be removed because of the new villas at both.

 

[SLK1]

We live about five miles from WDW and love it. However, every year we go to California to experience DisneyLand as well. We find DL to be much more intimate and fun for our kids - we stay at Gr. Californian and they have the run of the place - there are no buses or monorails to get on, and everything is right there. We thoroughly enjoy it. We also love CA Adventure - and I know we're in the minority, but we find that park to be very special.

 

[KristiP]

Thanks for the info.
I think we will give DisneyLand a try.

 

[KristiP]

Thank you I am looking at that tread right now

 

[adventure_woman]

I think the neatest thing about DL is that when you are there you almost 'feel' Walt's presence. It is so neat to know that he walked those streets. Way back when, I was a cast member for WDW and was sent to DL to help open DCA. One of the most awesome things was guest relations taking our small group on a tour of Walt's apartment above the firehouse in DL. Everything was just as it was back then, again, it felt as if he was there.

As everyone else said, they are totally 2 different parks. DL is much smaller, my first thought was - Where's the castle? But then you realize that everything is smaller, the buildings, the train, etc.

I love DL at Christmas time, how they have It's a Small World lit up is JUST like they show it on Soarin' (which came from DCA btw).

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I tend to get somewhat overwhelmed with WDW so to us DL and DCA were just perfect. I second Bumbershoot's tip on reading Hydroguy's thread, we found that info. invaluable. I also want to mention that if you aren't able to stay at GC you aren't missing out on the experience by not staying on-site because there really are plenty of other hotels within walking distance, it's not as important to the magic as it seems to be at WDW.

 

[KristiP]

Thanks everyone for the tips.
I do love Walt Disney, it would be very neat to see the first place he built.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I love DL because you can walk to everything. And some of the attractions that you think may be exactly the same at both parks are totally different at DL. For example, I love the Haunted Mansion at DL. And Pirates it so much longer with better theming. California Adv is loads of fun. Plus the GC has a back entrance into that park nearly Grizzly Rapids (kind of like Kali River Rapids but different theming). Toontown at DL is so much cooler. And Small World starts outside instead of all under cover. Teacups also is uncovered.

Plus they have fried cheese at the counter service places.

We've been to WDW at least 20+ times and only two times to DL. But I love DL.

 

[missnanse]

I love Disneyland because it was my first live experience with Mr. Disney .It is a Magical Place small and intimate and full of memories for me. Ride Pirates but make sure you have a ressie for Blue Bayou so you can wave to the next riders and have a really wonderful meal as well. When you walk through the castle think of Walt standing there welcoming everyone that first day.
DCA is a fantastic amusement park, ride Soarin it is the original..and just enjoy the atmosphere it is wonderful.
Then you walk through their version of DTD, wonderful stores and yummy Restaurants.
I love WDW and go there more now but DL will always have a special place in my

 

[Tribe0701]

We have done the California city pass twice in the past 3 years. Are you planning on staying at Disneyland the entire time or staying other places in California? I would suggest staying other places in California like San Diego and Hollywood. Mostly because it takes hours to travel to these places to go to Seaworld, San Diego zoo and Universal. We loved it and it is a great value! Have a great time.

 

[Morgalla]

I have been to DL numerous times, and DW once. I can say for certain that DL is a lot like Magic Kingdom- but there is more of a retro feel. As it was built in the 50's you can understand why. Anaheim and Orlando are so very different- I think that had a bigger effect on my experience than any actual differences between the theme parks themselves. The "total Disney immersion" seems to begins miles from any actual Disney theme park or hotel in Orlando. It really isn't like that in Anaheim, unless things have changed since I have been. I agree that DL has a more "intimate" feel. You feel more of the inventor there, more of his cadre of Imagineers at MK.

 

[KristiP]

[B]We have done the California city pass twice in the past 3 years. Are you planning on staying at Disneyland the entire time or staying other places in California? I would suggest staying other places in California like San Diego and Hollywood. Mostly because it takes hours to travel to these places to go to Seaworld, San Diego zoo and Universal. We loved it and it is a great value! Have a great time. [/B]We are Dvc members so we would spend at least 3 or 4 nights at either Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian, and then we would try to stay 2 or 3 nights at San Diego.
we would also like to see some of Hollywood

 

[jessica52877]

We LOVE Disneyland! WDW is of course bigger and more to do that is disney but DL is just a complete different feel! I would go there every trip if I could. I do think alot of it has to do with Walt.

We stay at HoJo right outside for 7-9 days and do the whole So Cal thing. I have not found driving bad at all or the time it takes. Our first trip we drove to the SD Zoo, Legoland, Hollywood and Malibu all on seperate days. Not once did I feel like we went long in the car.

 

[SGMCO]

We've been to DL once and WDW several times and I find
that you can tell that DL was built in the 50s.
The walking areas are very narrow and whenever we went (June)
it was jam packaged. We were able to see the whole park in less than
a day (which is nice if you only have one day there) but it hard to
make a longer vacation there.
I didn't care for DL version of Fantasmic because you had to
stand around all jam packed together or sit on the pavement
and not see anything.
I like WDW version of Spash Mountain
because 2 people can sit in one seat and the drop is longer
on the WDW version.
At DL I did like the remake of the Swiss Family Robinsons Tree houses
into Tarzans tree house (more updated).
I also really thought that DL Toon Town was much better.
The Castle at DL is very small compare to WDW MK Cinderellas Castle.
When we went my DS was little and he really liked the Casey JR train Ride
(he was really into Dumbo back then).
We hopped over to California Adventure and really enjoy that park alot
we liked the It's a Bug life section the most but that was because
DS was little--not sure if we would like it as much now.
I was disappointed that DL doesn't have the same perks that WDW
does (no Magic Express to pick you up at the Airport) and the
cost of the DL resorts are outragous so most guest have to
stay at Disney good neighbor hotels and it's just not the same).
We might go to DL again someday but for the cost I think
WDW is a much better value (alot more things to do--much more
variaty, larger space for the amount of people).

 

[mom2meiko]

we have not been to DL since CA opened so my opinion is likely dated. we loved DL, it was dh's first disney experience ever. we plan to go back once the kids are old enough to handle such a long flight. it's smaller than WDW. in my opinion it's the same as MK while being very different. i know - it doesn't make sense but i think it does once you experience it. i don't know that you could make an entire week long vacation work at just DL, but there are so many other things going on in CA that you can do. we combined our DL trip with Universal Studio's and then we traveled down to San Diego and did the zoo, SeaWorld, some sight seeing, etc. It was a wonderful vacation - I'd definitely recommend something similar.

 

[Redbudlover]

I love WDW and finally two years ago was able to realize a long held dream of attending DL. I was so disappointed I gave away my last day's ticket. I found it jam packed, dirty, not pretty like WDW, paths narrow. I did like the ride - shoot can't remember the name just now - searching for lost treasure - anyway IASW was tired dismal. It was like an old Six Flags or something for me. I doubt if I will ever go back. But one of the things like best about WDW is the beautiful landscaping and gardens - AK is gorgeous. So no, Walt may have walked there but when he had a chance to do it the second time he did it much differently - and I appreciate the difference....

 

[mickeymaker2003]

I did like the ride - shoot can't remember the name just now - searching for lost treasure QUOTE]

I think that ride is Indiana Jones. Animal Kingdom's version of a similar type ride is Dinosaur.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I adored the DL version of Fantasmic. No tired old Pocohontas stuff. Instead you have Peter Pan fighting the Pirates on the Columbia Sailing Ship. True, seating can be a real problem, but the show is about 100 times better than the one at WDW. If only they would revamp the show at WDW to be the same show as DL (but they don't have a Columbia Sailing Ship at WDW, so that would be a problem).

If you have smaller kids, DL has so many more little kids attractions. More than twice as many. DL may be smaller than the MK, but has so many more attractions.

When you see Cinderella Castle at DL, it's a real shock because it is so small compared to Sleeping Beauty Castle at WDW.