In love with Disneyland... would I hate WDW?

[katyringo]

Anyone else follow Casey at Disneyland daily? She in WDW and seems to be having an awesome time.

I love Disneyland. I loved maxpass and staying across the streets and being able to get all the dinning options I wanted.

Would I hate WDW and the whole fastpass plus and booking rides months in advance? Like are you just SOL if you don’t get a fastpass to a ride you really want to expirence?

I thought I’d ask here on the Disneyland board to see if there are other Disneyland lovers who also enjoy WDW or maybe don’t.

 

[MacMama0930]

Anyone else follow Casey at Disneyland daily? She in WDW and seems to be having an awesome time.

I love Disneyland. I loved maxpass and staying across the streets and being able to get all the dinning options I wanted.

Would I hate WDW and the whole fastpass plus and booking rides months in advance? Like are you just SOL if you don’t get a fastpass to a ride you really want to expirence?

I thought I’d ask here on the Disneyland board to see if there are other Disneyland lovers who also enjoy WDW or maybe don’t.

I don’t know...but I am also in love with disneyland and I’m going to WDW this year...I am worried about adjusting expectations. Luckily I’m going to convention sans children -so I don’t feel the exuberant amount of pressure to plan, plan, plan. I read this morning that WDW is 50 sq miles and I nearly had a panic attack.

 

[LilyJC]

We’ve been DLR “veterans” and passholders for years. We just spent NYE and the following week through marathon weekend at WDW, and we fell in love with it! I had serious reservations about the size difference and crazy amount of planning required for the WDW trip, but it’s also what led me to the DISboards! I did tons of research to plan an amazing trip for our family. We loved Animal Kingdom and Epcot and enjoyed comparing DLR to the Magic Kingdom.

I’d say depending on the time of year you are going, you most definitely are going to want to have your fastpasses scheduled for the most popular rides. I expected NYE at Magic Kingdom to be a nightmare, but it really wasn’t bad since we’re used to how crowded DLR can get. We had fastpasses for the most popular rides, and then after using our initial three were actually able to grab several more fastpasses including space mountain which had a 330 minute wait in the standby line.

Oh, and yes, I love following Casey’s Disneyland Daily FB page!

I’d say definitely try it at least once! We’re already planning our next big trip for 2021

 

[bumbershoot]

Like are you just SOL if you don’t get a fastpass to a ride you really want to expirence?

I’ve never understood this idea.

Standby lines exist. I know this because I’ve stood in them. At DL. We waited nearly 2 hours for hyperapace when FPs we’re gone for the day. We had fun, chatted, met neat people.

Given that my dad, brother, and I waited for plain old Space Mtn for MORE than 2 hours on my first trip as a kid, and my dad made nothing fun, waiting for hyperspace was a blast.

At Wdw standby lines exist just like at dl. If you don’t get a FP, get in line. Make it fun. The “heads up” game app is super fun.

 

[baozi]

The strategy for fastpass+ is very different, I guess you probably enjoys WDW if you figure out the strategy that works best for you.
For instance, you probably will get just 3 fast passes if you manage to grab a fast pass for Flight of Passage 5-6pm. Getting just 3 is not ideal, but would you discard it in hopes of getting one earlier on the day and adjusting your plan... There are many factors at play.
At DL, there is minimum strategy required for fast passes, and it is fair to everyone -- grabbing fast passes from the pool on their park day.

 

[HydroGuy]

Anyone else follow Casey at Disneyland daily? She in WDW and seems to be having an awesome time.

I love Disneyland. I loved maxpass and staying across the streets and being able to get all the dinning options I wanted.

Would I hate WDW and the whole fastpass plus and booking rides months in advance? Like are you just SOL if you don’t get a fastpass to a ride you really want to expirence?

I thought I’d ask here on the Disneyland board to see if there are other Disneyland lovers who also enjoy WDW or maybe don’t.

Some folks love DLR. Some folks love WDW. Some folks love Disney.

Some folks love Newport Beach. Some folks love Huntington Beach. Some folks love beaches.

Do you love Disneyland? Or do you love the underlying magic behind Disneyland? The spirit of Disneyland?

WDW is full of Disney magic just like DLR. More in some ways. Less in others. Similar in many ways. Different in others.

Because DLR is my home resort and I remember going there since I was 3 years old, and where I took my kids when they were 3 years old, I am always slightly more excited about visiting DLR. But WDW is almost equally exciting for me and there are things I really forward to at WDW that I cannot do at DLR. And vice versa.

The one key thing a DLR vet or WDW vet making their first visit to the opposite resort needs to try hard to do is to embrace the differences - and try hard to not make negative judgments as if their home resort is inherently superior.

A few years ago there was a post on this forum from a WDW vet who said she visited DLR and it had "no Disney magic". WDW had it. Disneyland did not. I had to ask what "Disney magic" was to her if the only theme park in the world personally overseen by Walt Disney himself did not have Disney magic?

Someone who thinks that WDW is the only place that has Disney magic or that Newport Beach is the only good beach in the world is very narrow and frankly, I do not think such a person gets Disney magic or beaches at all. They are fixed to a particular kind of experience they can only have at one location. They define Disney Magic as being equal to WDW and they define a good beach as being exactly like Newport. Sad but true. Very limiting and I think not in touch with the true spirit of the experience that they claim to love.

WDW is a blast for those who love Disney magic. But it is not DLR.

 

[biochemgirl]

If you love Disney and family magic then either place will be amazing. Every park has something to offer. The planning is different CA vs FL and that is somewhat fun for an OCD type person like me

Imagine following other bloggers like Casey - fun! Check out Tom Bricker disneytouristblog.com and also use the disboards.

 

[katyringo]

Thanks! O I love Disney Magic. I think I would love WDW in the aspect. It’s more the other things like the fast pass system, etc that worry me.

 

[22Tink]

We've been to WDW twice with a third trip coming up in March and while I enjoy WDW, I don't love it like I love DL. I can't really explain it but it just doesn't have the same 'feel' as DL to me. I really appreciate how much easier it is to plan a trip to DL. No ADRs 6 months out, and I absolutely love MaxPass! I much prefer to book my FP once we get to the park and not have to worry about refreshing the app to find a FP I wasn't able to secure 60+ days out. I know there are SB lines but I much prefer to have a FP! I know there are tons of people who love WDW the way I love DL, and that's great, too! OP, I think you should definitely give WDW a try, just keep in mind that they are very different parks and utilize these boards. The DIS has been so valuable in helping me with my WDW trips!

 

[wdwfan22]

What HydroGuy said.

Plus I will add that you cannot try to match them up. They are two very different parks. And even more so these days with the different fp systems. You just have to experience DW for what it is. While I do not like fp+ at all, it is what it is and you just have to make the most of the system. Make your fp+ reservations early in the day so you can get more afterwards. Enjoy all the nighttime entertainment DW has. Spend a lot of time exploring the countries in Epcot where you don't use fp's. If you love Disney, you will enjoy DW.

 

[Chelsea B]

We're planning our first trip to DLR, but we love the magic at WDW! Like someone else said, the planning was a lot of fun for me! For ADRs I actually really liked already knowing where we were eating, and could use that to plan the rest of the day around it. I only made ADRs for a couple days though, so we weren't committed everyday. Agree with the post that said to do your fastpasses early in the day, because then you can get more! I'm a little lost without needing all the planning at DLR to be honest. LOL. Have fun!!

 

[smartlabelprint]

I went to Disneyland when I was 4. I have very vague memories. But I’ve always remembered a swinging gondola type ride. So sad it’s not there. My dad hated it and we never returned.

Over a decade ago when I had moved out, so probably 23, we met in DW. Two different families that were older friends of mine *i later learned hate theme parks* heard of our trip (I have no idea why we were in FL BTW) and said we had to go to Epcot. So I convinced my fam based on no research when my mom wanted sea world. It was ok. I loved the night show. But it was meh.

But, that’s traveling with my fam. They don’t plan. Which wastes money. So they only travel like every 4 years. When I got married we went to Disneyland for 2 days for our honeymoon and elsewhere for a football game. That was the start of my appreciation of Disney. So we started going every year. One year my fam joined. They called from the airport saying they were coming—can you book us a hotel?

Universal HW is a bust to me. Im not into the screen type rides. I don’t like Harry Potter.

I’ll quite possibly never get to wdw. We are the farthest we could possibly be from FL. It would take like 18+ hours travel time. Now I have special needs kids that can handle no more than 5 hours a day in the parks. I don’t know if the travel time alone is worth it. Plus the huge time change.

 

[chickapin parterre]

So I am going to put my big toe into the shark infested deep end of the pool....and say that you have high probability of hating WDW then liking WDW.

An excellent post by Hydroguy, always very solid information and makes this internet site function with good advice and confidence, but I beg to differ that cookie cutter folks are non-functional.

There are no other beach as good as an Oregon Beach. There is no other seafood as good as Dungeness crab. There is no other Bagel as the ones I had in 1983 in my New York office brought in by a fellow employee. Unfortunately for me, the bar has been set and my cookie cutter view is set in stone.

In the 1960s Disney was the only magic I knew, my peers knew ( parents had no magic then like they do now) . His Sunday night show focused families around the TV. His films brought the world to children sitting in their school cafeteria primitive auditoriums . Disneyland was the world for poor folk on the west coast. It was magical!!! So in 1983 I invited a fellow employee to travel with me to visit Disneyland in Orlando. I shared with him that the Matterhorn would loom as we pull into the parking lot. That the whistle of the train would make our heart beat fast. That music would enter our adult ears that would cause the kid in us to skip down to the castle. That Disney magic would squeeze us tight and take away our breath.

I remember nothing of that 1983 WDW trip, other than it rained. A few months ago I came across my journalism notes about that trip, page after page about WDW, but I remember nothing nor have a pictorial image. Epcot? the layout and the day is still very vivid, the kid behind me hitting my ear trying to catch those wonderful butterflies, the garden, the microscope, the japanese cooking, taking the photo below the dragon...but zero memory of WDW, even with notes.
My brain went into shock....this is not Disneyland, this is not going to bring joy to my fellow visitor or me. Cookie cutter monster betrayed me, again!!!

I write folks here with your similar inquiry, be it visiting WDW or Disneyland, that Disneyland is the John Denver song of Grandma's feather bed, that I would trade them all, even the many kisses I have had of the gal down the road, for one more trip to Disneyland than any other Disney resort.

With that said, I do have Disney magic, I have cabinets of photos and albums and curios from Disneyland that I have purchased from estates to record the magic. At collectable shows as a vendor , if you are wearing a disney shirt , I will engage you, when ringing the salvation army bell and you walk by me with a Disneyland shirt, I will engage you. Why once at work, i saw a parking sticker on the dash of a fellow employee, it had been seven days since they returned to Oregon. i went back to my vehicle , and wrote a note, put it under their wiper. " I love your magic, I feel your pain". I remember doing that over a year ago, the color of the truck , that marvelous parking receipt, what section of the parking lot it was sadly parked.....but I remember nothing of WDW..

Sure, I would take the opportunity to visit WDW....but it would be painful.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

It’s different, but given the amount of research you did into your DL trip, WDW wouldn’t be out of your depth at all.

As a “once a week” DL type, I had fun planning a brief WDW trip. We enjoyed the Disney magic in a different atmosphere. I don’t care for the “long bus ride to get anywhere” component and the extreme nature of the pre-planning, so I think I prefer DL even if it wasn’t in my backyard, but we’ll totally go back to WDW sometime. And we’ll have a blast because I think attitudes and expectations matter waaaay more than things like which ADRs you book and what the crowd levels are.

 

[sherilaine]

I have wondered the same thing - especially since it's also even further from the western part of Canada - however, your average Canadian doesn't even know DLR exists - anytime you tell them you are going to Disneyland they just assume it's Walt Disney World - - sort of came along first folks!

It's all about what you are used to though - and that is for almost anything in life. Most people have a physical reaction to change - whether it's an update to a website, a renovation or going to one Disney park rather than another but change doesn't often take long to adjust to - I am sure some day we will likely try that side of the continent but for now especially if Star Wars lands turns DLR into something that is simply beyond manageable.

 

[Malcon10t]

We just did our first trip to WDW. I am used to going to DL for Christmas -> New Years every year. This year, we opted to take a family and friends trip to WDW. We did have a good time. It was fun being with friends and family there. That said, it was not as easy as DLR for me. To me, I will view them as separate theme parks and not compare. I will say I liked Magic bands a lot more than I expected. I didn't like FP+. I didn't like having to plan food so far in advance. Would I go again? Probably, but it is a few years off.

 

[katyringo]

Thanks all. I just loved Disneyland so much. Like literally cried multiple times haha. It’s so much money that I would hate to not love something as much. Know what I mean? We live in Iowa so both take planning and saving to achieve.

We are actually headed to universal Orlando in 2018, but I’m a totally Harry Potter nerd and I’ve been there before and know what to expect there.

 

[GoldeneyezCA]

My family of 4 lives in OC, and we rack up at least 30 visits per year to DLR. We took our first family trip (11 people from 3 families!) to WDW Aug 2017 and loved it overall, but still prefer DLR for the nostalgia, ease of park-hopping, and number of attractions per park.

What we loved:
- WDW's amazing variety of cuisines and themes of dining. I really wish DLR would step it up with dining options!
- MagicBands - so convenient!
- AK: Animal Kingdom (especially Pandora) - This was the park we all chose to return to for the 5th day of our Park Hopper. (My DD8's jaw just dropped when she saw the Tree of Life!) We loved the theming, the animals, the rides (Flight of Passage, the Safari, and Expedition Everest especially) and the restaurants, especially Tusker House and Satuli Canteen. AK felt truly unique and immersive to us and is lovely at night (though Rivers of Light was disappointingly dull since we're used to WOC).
- MK: I'm a huge Beauty and the Beast fan, so dinner at Be Our Guest and watching my kids participate in Enchanted Storytime with Belle was worth the whole trip. We splurged big time and also ate lunch in the castle at Cinderella's Royal Table (lovely and decent food) and did the Plaza Garden Fireworks Dessert party, and the current fireworks show is the best we have ever seen at a Disney park!
- HS: Felt like a less-cohesive version of DCA, but the 50's Prime Time Diner was fun. We are Star Wars fans, so we did the Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party, and that was amazing.
- Typhoon Lagoon - We spent a morning there and the late afternoon/evening in HS. We have great memories of floating down the lazy river together. Very fun day.
- (And for the record, if you are a Harry Potter fan...we went in 2014, and Orlando's set-up wins, hands down! Diagon Alley is incredible!

What we didn't love:
- The heat. Aug was only time that worked for everyone, but it was very draining. We managed with early morning starts, table-service lunches in A/C, cooling towels, and some midday breaks, but I would recommend going in reasonable weather.
- Epcot: I wanted to love it like I did when I was a kid, but it just felt really huge (endless walking) and outdated. The kids loved Mission Space (Green), though.
- Park-hopping was a PAIN due to the distances between the parks (some are a 20-25 min drive apart), so we skipped the buses/trams and just Uber'd. Saved a lot of time.
- Epcot and MK just felt needlessly enormous (walking and walking and walking...) and MK felt a little sterile in some areas.

A Thought about Planning:
- It takes A LOT of planning, but after spending hours on Disboards and other websites, I can honestly say that I planned the heck out of that trip, and it really paid off. We got to to everything we wanted to do and had a wonderful time.
- Read about throw-away campsites on the Strategies board -> We stayed onsite but only had 30-day advance FP access, so the campsite helped us get the FP's we wanted.

If you focus on the unique experiences, it's easy to love WDW, too!

 

[disneylover102]

Let me start off by saying that I think MaxPass/Fastpass is SSSOOOO much better than FP+ in almost every possible way. I’m always there from park opening to closing, collecting a FP at every possible time. We went to Disney World with FP+ in August of 2016 and LOVED it still! We always plan our trips in advance anyway so reserving FP+ ahead of time wasn’t a problem. On every day except HS day we were able to get a 4th FP+ for a popular ride (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Test Track, Kali River Rapids though Expedition Everest was available). We understood that we were getting a lot less FP at WDW but still had an amazing time! Rope drop basically worked just as well (it is a little harder because you can’t just walk to the parks from a cheap hotel, but have to use the parking lots and the Monorail for Magic Kingdom). If you love Disneyland, you will not hate Disney World. As long as you are at least there at park opening and closing and get your FP+ early in the day, you’ll have a great time.

 

[BayouQueen]

We've been going to DL forever.....
WDW is a blast. We've been in the spring and in the humid fall. No summer -- not acclimated to that. It's a great adventure!