Is DisneyLand worth it?

[cjlong88]

Disneyland is completely worth it. I would return again in a heartbeat. You are almost guaranteed amazing weather. Pirates, Space, and Indy are all spectacular. The dark rides in Fantasyland were whimsical and classic. DCA also has some truly wonderful attractions. I absolutely loved Guardians (and ToT is my favorite WDW attraction). We rode it multiple times and were surprised how different each ride was. It has a charm that MK doesn't have that I really enjoyed.

Having visited WDW so many times, going to DL felt like I got to experience the Disney for the first time again. My first time at WDW was so special, and in a sense I had that same feeling with my first visit to DL this year. The anticipation, not knowing what to expect, exploring different nooks and crannies of the park for the very first time. It's all very exciting and surreal.

I say GO!

 

[MillauFr]

Disneyland has better versions of its WDW counterparts in many respects and don't get me wrong, DL is my favorite theme park. However, WDW has rides that I wish DL had, like Flight of Passage. It took my breath away the first time I rode it.

Disneyland has better versions of its WDW counterparts in many respects and don't get me wrong, DL is my favorite theme park. However, WDW has rides that I wish DL had, like Flight of Passage. It took my breath away the first time I rode it.

Plus Florida has the Safari ride which is impossible in California.

 

[robinb]

I’ve been to every park except Shanghai. Disneyland is my favorite park. I love it so much, I had APs there for 2 years and I live in Wisconsin. If you can take your kids out of school without it being a problem, I would go ahead with it. It is Walt’s park after all.

 

[RedVines2001]

Honestly you should go for the simple fact that you scored a VGC room with non-VGC points. I consider that winning the DVC lottery.

Everyone else covered the differences pretty well. I’ve only been to WDW twice and I know I’ve only barely scratched the surface. I’ve been going to DL multiple times a year for the last five years.

This is the best metaphor I can use to explain the difference between the two places. Let’s just say Disney is Taylor Swift and you’re a huge fan. WDW is seeing her in Las Vegas in a stadium on stage with pyrotechnics and outfit changes and back up dancers and the whole get up. DL is seeing her at your local bar where she’s doing a private acoustic set for 100 people. Same person same music but very different feeling. Hope that makes sense. Have a great trip.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

As you say, the Pirates in California is far superior. Other rides in California that are far superior include Radiator Springs vs. Test Track, Indiana Jones vs. Dinosaur, Buzz Light Year, Grizzly River Run vs. Kali, Autotopia vs. Speedway, and Space Mountain. Other rides in California that are slightly better include Tiki Room and Small World. Also California has Alice which isn't even in Florida.

The one thing in Florida you will never be able to fix is the horrible weather there 6 months out of the year. I think Florida gets more rain on a typical August day than Anaheim gets in an entire year.

I think I'm in the minority but I muuuuuuuch prefer the Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain. Those single-file rockets add a sense of speed that you don't get in Disneyland.

Regarding the weather, it's true that rain is rare at Disneyland, but if it does rain, watch out. My last Disneyland trip rained about 50% of the time, and the park infrastructure isn't set up to absorb it (pun intended). Drainage was a huge problem, and there were puddles everywhere even in light rain. There are also outdoor queues that you don't have at Walt Disney World, so it's not like you can quickly run inside an attraction to take cover.

 

[mdmost]

I've noticed in our 2 trips to WDW with kids versus our 3 to DLR with kids that I'm so much less stressed at Disneyland. I think since WDW is such an undertaking with the advanced prep work, booking restaurants at the crack of dawn, and having such limited time in a temperature that saps your energy fairly quickly, that Disneyland just suits me better. Smaller parks but still with so much to do and a rich history. We had never gone to Disneyland till after we took a trip to WDW in 2015. We then wanted to see how the parks differed and get a taste of Walt's original vision. We were so thankful we did that as it kept us from returning to WDW till this year. After returning to WDW and feeling that stress again, I'm good with not returning for a while.

I love that you can stay right across the street in a reasonably priced hotel. It's such a different feeling than WDW. It's not a massive undertaking to get anywhere like it feels at WDW with needing a shuttle or a monorail or a boat to get you to your destination. It's not the "vacation" that WDW is but we love the short trips we take to Disneyland. We go at a much slower pace as it's not a huge investment both in time and money to get back to Disneyland like it is with WDW. Multiple airports you can fly in and out of. We usually spend half a day in parks for our final day when we're flying back late. We also can take a quick trip to the beach if we want.

After school lets out at the end of May, we're going to fly into San Diego for some beach and adventuring around Southern California before we spend 4 days at Disneyland. We probably don't need 4 park days but we're going to have one day of doing all the rides we want at each park, followed by two days of just slowing down, riding favorites, and taking in the small things that make Disneyland great. I don't ever feel like I can do that at WDW with 4 parks.

I also think the crowds are better at DLR than WDW. Maybe that's a pre-pandemic thought and people have gotten worse but I never got the mad rush feeling outside of the times it would get crowded in the afternoon in areas like Adventureland where it bottles up. It just feels like people at DLR are fine with taking things easy whereas WDW always feels like you are around people who are ready to blow at any moment. Also, you can't beat the weather at DLR. Those cool mornings and evenings. I never feel like my flesh is melting off like in Orlando.

I also love the rides that you can't get at WDW like the classic dark rides, Canal boat, Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, and the fun differences in rides like Pirates, Haunted Mansion (Hat Box Ghost) and Space Mountain. Queues are better at WDW given they have a lot more room to work with like on Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion. I love New Orleans Square way more than Liberty Square. It feels like a better connected area and will definitely work with the new Tiana makeover of Splash Mountain. We also make it a point to get Mickey Beignets every time we go. And churros, don't forget the churros.

 

[eMoneyBug]

Soak in the history as well. The original creation! Lots of nuggets on Main street

 

[TeamRiley]

We go primarily to DL and stay at VGC, but have been to WDW multiple times. They are both different experiences, and both are awesome, but the ease of maneuvering using VGC as your base cannot be equaled anywhere in the universe.
Having had that luxury for so long, the transportation logistics at WDW have now become something of a pain (first world problems...). If you have a bunch of kids that just got soaked on Grizzly River Rapids, you can run up to the room, change, and be back in the park in 10 minutes. Stress level in general is much much lower for us in Disneyland.

 

[Chickinvic]

Plus Florida has the Safari ride which is impossible in California.

Just go to San Diego Zoo. Fabulous zoo, and you can do the tram tour (or whatever it is called) there.

 

[DLgal]

Just go to San Diego Zoo. Fabulous zoo, and you can do the tram tour (or whatever it is called) there.

The Wild Animal Park is more on par with Animal Kingdom. The zoo is meh, IMO.

 

[Chickinvic]

I think I'm in the minority but I muuuuuuuch prefer the Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain. Those single-file rockets add a sense of speed that you don't get in Disneyland.

You're definitely in the minority there lol. I don't find that at all, and the fact that you can see inside there is much worse to me. DL's version is darker (which makes it feel faster to me since you can't see the structure), plus I love the soundtrack.

As for the rain at DL, sadly I've never experienced it in any of my trips. I DREAM of getting a rainy day since the crowds are extremely light on those days (apparently).

 

[Chickinvic]

The Wild Animal Park is more on par with Animal Kingdom. The zoo is meh, IMO.

I love the San Diego Zoo, and always have. I don't think I've ever heard anyone call it "meh" (unless they are someone who just hates zoos out of principal). It is the best zoo I've ever been to for sure.

 

[DLgal]

I love the San Diego Zoo, and always have. I don't think I've ever heard anyone call it "meh" (unless they are someone who just hates zoos out of principal). It is the best zoo I've ever been to for sure.

Yeah, I kind of hate zoos on principle. I do agree that, of the zoos I've been to, it's probably the best. I just can't stand to see animals kept in small enclosures. San Diego zoo might be "the best", but I went once and never had the desire to go again.

 

[brightlined]

I think I'm in the minority but I muuuuuuuch prefer the Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain. Those single-file rockets add a sense of speed that you don't get in Disneyland.

I can vouch that you're in the minority there.

If WDW's Space Mountain were outdoors, it would be one of the old coasters over in a corner at Magic Mountain (or Knott's) that never has a line.

It's really rough now compared to how it used to be - it's definitely exceeded its lifespan, which happens to metal coasters. I keep hoping that when Tron opens, they'll close SM and rebuild it (like Universal Orlando did with The Hulk - it was rebuilt from scratch a few years ago). But I feel like that's just wishful thinking.

 

[Chickinvic]

I can vouch that you're in the minority there.

If WDW's Space Mountain were outdoors, it would be one of the old coasters over in a corner at Magic Mountain (or Knott's) that never has a line.

It's really rough now compared to how it used to be - it's definitely exceeded its lifespan, which happens to metal coasters. I keep hoping that when Tron opens, they'll close SM and rebuild it (like Universal Orlando did with The Hulk - it was rebuilt from scratch a few years ago). But I feel like that's just wishful thinking.

DL closed theirs for a couple years and completely rebuilt it (opening again in 2005). I love DL's version.

 

[DLgal]

DL closed theirs for a couple years and completely rebuilt it (opening again in 2005). I love DL's version.

This was totally worth the 2 year closure.

 

[Chickinvic]

This was totally worth the 2 year closure.

Yes, although I was heartbroken at the time in October 2003 when I took my daughter and nephew for their first ever DL trip (DD was 10 and nephew was 13) and we raced towards Space Mountain to see it was closed for the next 2 years. Also, unfortunately there had just been a fatality on Big Thunder so that was (understandably) closed. I think even Splash was closed. We really only had Matterhorn open as a mountain that trip. I promised the 2 of them I would bring them back again in 2005 - and I did bring them early December 2005 and we had a wonderful trip. Everything was open, and the park was great during that era. Run around like mad early in the day collecting our fast passes to use later (no late return times were enforced). Ahh, the good old days! Also, early December was a really uncrowded time to go back then and the parks were all done up for Christmas. I miss those days when more "down" times actually existed.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I can vouch that you're in the minority there.

If WDW's Space Mountain were outdoors, it would be one of the old coasters over in a corner at Magic Mountain (or Knott's) that never has a line.

It's really rough now compared to how it used to be - it's definitely exceeded its lifespan, which happens to metal coasters. I keep hoping that when Tron opens, they'll close SM and rebuild it (like Universal Orlando did with The Hulk - it was rebuilt from scratch a few years ago). But I feel like that's just wishful thinking.

My take is not "WDW's Space Mountain is the greatest thing ever," it's more "Disneyland's Space Mountain is boring, and the vehicles are borderline painful."

A smoother track is not a plus to the experience they're trying to create.

 

[SCDVC2000]

These are awesome recommendations. I think we’ll go. How about the weather in mid January? We’ll be at VGC and hoping to have 2 park days and 3 resort days (every other)—is it going to be swimming weather? Thanks!

 

[DLgal]

These are awesome recommendations. I think we’ll go. How about the weather in mid January? We’ll be at VGC and hoping to have 2 park days and 3 resort days (every other)—is it going to be swimming weather? Thanks!

The weather is highly variable in January. It *might* be warm enough for swimming but likely not. January is usually pretty cool and often rainy. I'd be prepared for anything honestly. You won't know until about a week out.