Is DisneyLand worth it?

[JohnR5101]

Weather in mid Jan could pretty cool. Its difficult to predict based on historical data, especially with the recent changes in weather patterns. This year was very dry as is often the case. I wouldn't worry too much about rain, but bring jackets or hoodies to make it comfortable early morning/evenings. Its probably not going to be shorts weather like you would get in Florida, but warm afternoons (like mid to upper 70's) are likely. Might be OK for swimming, might not.

But be aware that 2 park days is not enough to really see it. You would only hit the highlights. 3 days minimum. 4 to 5 if you want to really soak in everything.

 

[limace]

Totally agree-four or five days is great! Definitely get park hoppers-the parks are about as far apart (maybe closer?) as future world and world showcase.

I love both but DL wins for me every time-in addition to everything said above, we just find WDW to be So. Much. Work. My family hates all the preplanning they had to do there, and some of our crabbiest moments there this May were getting to and form the park-long hot walks to find the car, etc. DL is magical that way.

 

[DLgal]

I'd also recommend 4 days minimum for the parks. There really is a lot to do. 2 days is like a teaser trailer.

 

[goooof1]

Yes, you will want 4 or 5 day hoppers. Also, in the past, the pools were quite warm and of course, the hot tubs are there. But, you will definitely want more park time.

 

[dljenn2021]

We are originally from the East Coast and moved out West several years ago. We love WDW, but there is a special magic to Disneyland and California Adventure. The vibe is much more relaxed and you can easily walk to the parks from your room. Also, as another person posted, we are not too worried about not hitting a ride because of a long line. We can always come back another day, so the urgency that you can feel at WDW does not really exist out here. The weather will be great, the crowds smaller in January- it will be amazing!

 

[TeamRiley]

I would do at least 3 days in the Parks. We always get park hoppers because it is so easy to move back and forth. There were still limits to when you can start hopping when we went in Sep. (1pm I think) So you have to try and decide which park to start your day in. With the hotel being so close, we usually go to the parks early, come back for lunch and some pool time, then go back to the parks in the afternoon.

If you are in a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom, eating in the room is super easy. Especially for breakfast and lunch. A lot of times we cook dinner in the room as well. One of us will run up to the room, throw a frozen lasagna in the oven, then catch back up with everyone else 15 minutes later. After 90 minutes, dinner is served.

The weather should be good, but probably in the low 70s with no rain. The VGC pools are nice, but remember that as DVC members you can go over to the pools at the Disneyland Hotel as well. Those might be more fun for younger kids. If you have never been there, the Disneyland Hotel is worth exploring around the Hotel and grounds.

Be sure to ask what is going on at the Grand that week. They may be showing movies outside again (5th floor) by the time you get there. They also run scavenger hunts and crafts etc. but with covid that is all up in the air still. Our kids are older now so we are not as tuned in to that kind of thing any more.

 

[linfromtexas]

We have a stay at GCV in Jan booked partially with non-GCV points (lucky to get this). 6 children 14 and under. We’ve been to WDW many times but never DL. For those with WDW experience who have been to DL is it worth it? We’ll have to take kids out of school and fly across the country. I’m torn b/c time is blowing by, and I want to do as much fun/travel with the kids before they get older… any advice welcome

I'm 72. My first trip to DL was in 1965 as an adjunct to the NY World's fair. The word of the day was "Supercalifragilisticexpealadoshous (sp). The newest attraction was the Serenade (Tiki Room) with all the new animatronics. When DW opened the quote was " DW is where the grandchild takes the grandfather, DL is where the grandfather takes the grandchild. We love both !

We have a stay at GCV in Jan booked partially with non-GCV points (lucky to get this). 6 children 14 and under. We’ve been to WDW many times but never DL. For those with WDW experience who have been to DL is it worth it? We’ll have to take kids out of school and fly across the country. I’m torn b/c time is blowing by, and I want to do as much fun/travel with the kids before they get older… any advice welcome

We have a stay at GCV in Jan booked partially with non-GCV points (lucky to get this). 6 children 14 and under. We’ve been to WDW many times but never DL. For those with WDW experience who have been to DL is it worth it? We’ll have to take kids out of school and fly across the country. I’m torn b/c time is blowing by, and I want to do as much fun/travel with the kids before they get older… any advice welcome

We have a stay at GCV in Jan booked partially with non-GCV points (lucky to get this). 6 children 14 and under. We’ve been to WDW many times but never DL. For those with WDW experience who have been to DL is it worth it? We’ll have to take kids out of school and fly across the country. I’m torn b/c time is blowing by, and I want to do as much fun/travel with the kids before they get older… any advice welcome

 

[Proud Cheapskate]

Count me as another East coaster who prefers Disneyland by far. The best part about about DL might be the fact that it 3000 miles away from Florida.

 

[Malcon10t]

I'm another that prefers DL. For me, WDW is a once every 5 years, whereas DL is as often as I can get there. The one advantage for me of WDW over DL is Animal Kingdom.

To me, the 2 are comparing apples and oranges. Two completely different parks. I just prefer this side. WDW is a lot of work. DL is easier for me.

 

[skyp4WDW]

Simply put, Disneyworld is a vacation destination and Disneyland is a Day Park. If you're expecting the west coast version of Disneyworld, you'll probably be disappointed. (Apples and Oranges)

 

[wildekatza]

We have a stay at GCV in Jan booked partially with non-GCV points (lucky to get this). 6 children 14 and under. We’ve been to WDW many times but never DL. For those with WDW experience who have been to DL is it worth it? We’ll have to take kids out of school and fly across the country. I’m torn b/c time is blowing by, and I want to do as much fun/travel with the kids before they get older… any advice welcome

As the person in our house who has been DW since she was 17 (now in my 50s), I have ALWAYS been pro DW without ever having set foot in the park. My DH went to DL when he was about 13 and only got to spend 4 or 5 hours there. He had pushed for YEARS while the kids were little to try DL at least and I refused. NOW, I prefer it to DW. Imagine this: being able to do the entire parks on your vacation, very little stress, evenings are not spent "shutting down the parks" and you are rested and relaxed to WALK INTO THE PARK the next morning from your hotel. Yeah. It is amazing. Now, he has to drag me to DW. I used to do DW 3 or 4 times/year, now maybe every other year and DL was 2xs a year until Covid hit. Now I have been back once. The rides that are the same as WDW are longer, better theming and I can finally ride Space Mountain again. I had injured my back on the WDW version about 12 years ago and it has never been the same and I haven't been on it since. Snacks and QS is better along with the little "freebies" that DL does that you can't get anymore at WDW. The littles in your group will be so much happier because they can enjoy the parks and not be worn out from walking. It truly is such a much more relaxing vacation compared to the rush rush rush of WDW. CM's are much more pleasant and the crowds are not stressed out, hateful and hot like they are in WDW. I could go on and on. I hope you get the picture. I think you will agree, too. Not as much to do, not as many thrill rides, but so much more relaxing and enjoyable. Lots of little hidden things to do with the littles and the teens.

 

[Sue M]

People always say that but I'm not sure I agree.

Disneyland has MORE rides, but I wouldn't say they're better, aside from Pirates.

IMO, Pirates, Small World, Space Mtn, autopia, are all better than WDW version.

 

[nlenguyen]

I agree with what has been said. Disneyland is better in many ways. I love that you can just walk around the resort, easy park hopping and many great entertainment options that fans love. I think that the rides in DL are the better counterparts.
For me, I just like how you could fit the amount of two WDW parks into one park at DL. DCL is an exception, but with Avengers Campus and Car's land, there is a lot to do

 

[disneyseniors]

OMGosh, you all have made me want to go to DL! I have never been. We are taking a trip to the Southwest and planning on a trip to California. We will definitely go to DL while there. Is 2 days enough? I would stay for 4, but we are going to be with other family and I don't know what they would want.
All of these posts are making me even more determined to visit Walt's park

We are planning on a trip in March or April. Are those good times to visit DL? I know nothing about Cal. weather. We might even go the end of Feb.
thanks so much!

 

[nlenguyen]

OMGosh, you all have made me want to go to DL! I have never been. We are taking a trip to the Southwest and planning on a trip to California. We will definitely go to DL while there. Is 2 days enough? I would stay for 4, but we are going to be with other family and I don't know what they would want.
All of these posts are making me even more determined to visit Walt's park

We are planning on a trip in March or April. Are those good times to visit DL? I know nothing about Cal. weather. We might even go the end of Feb.
thanks so much!

I typically do just 2 days. I tend to ride everything I want to do in a day, sometimes if I just have a select amount, I ride them multiple times a day

 

[gelatoni fan]

OMGosh, you all have made me want to go to DL! I have never been. We are taking a trip to the Southwest and planning on a trip to California. We will definitely go to DL while there. Is 2 days enough? I would stay for 4, but we are going to be with other family and I don't know what they would want.
All of these posts are making me even more determined to visit Walt's park

We are planning on a trip in March or April. Are those good times to visit DL? I know nothing about Cal. weather. We might even go the end of Feb.
thanks so much!

If people in your group aren't used to walking a lot, 2 days is probably good with the first day being Disneyland and the second day being California Adventure if you don't get park hoppers. By three days, most people will want to sleep in or sit during the day due to tired legs. With two days, you'll be able to experience most of the attractions but probably skip a few that not everybody is interested in.

Late February may be better crowd-wise because spring break for some schools happen in March and April. Easter weekend can also be a bit busier because some schools will have that time off and the parks occasionally have some special decorations, food and merchandise for that time.

 

[mdmost]

Agree with the person before on 4 days as a minimum for us. Though we've done some long weekends where we did 3 days and stayed on the 4th day till about 1pm before our 5pm flight back home. If you're a Star Wars fan, you could spend half a day or longer just in Galaxy's Edge now. We usually start at DL and do all the favorites and must rides. Then we go to CA on day 2 and do the same. Day 3 is usually where we slow down and do some of those out of the norm things like riding the train, Mark Twain boat, heading over to Tom Sawyer Island, taking in some of the entertainment we might normally skip or miss out on in a rush to get to the rides. We'll still hit the favorites of each person but rides are not the priority.

One thing I would highly recommend is checking out the Flag Retreat at 5pm. That was one of the highlights from our last trip.

 

[Chickinvic]

OMGosh, you all have made me want to go to DL! I have never been. We are taking a trip to the Southwest and planning on a trip to California. We will definitely go to DL while there. Is 2 days enough? I would stay for 4, but we are going to be with other family and I don't know what they would want.
All of these posts are making me even more determined to visit Walt's park

We are planning on a trip in March or April. Are those good times to visit DL? I know nothing about Cal. weather. We might even go the end of Feb.
thanks so much!

I recommend at least 4 days for the parks. Given your username includes the word "seniors", I'm thinking you might prefer the better pace that would give you. Even for me (and I run 10K most days), it is very full days. Sometimes I just like to take a more relaxed pace. There is so much to do there.

So, 2 days is better than none, 3 is better than 2, and 4 is better than 3, etc. I have had as much as 8 day parkhoppers on one trip - and never felt bored. We did other stuff too (one day at Knotts, one day at Universal, one day at Sea World, one day at San Diego Zoo, etc), but having those hoppers where we could pop in for an evening after doing something else was great. I think we did about 5 or 6 full park days and just used the other days of the hoppers to pop in for a few hours.

 

[MonocularVision]

Asking “Is Disneyland worth a visit?” or “Which is better: Disneyland or Disney World?” in a Disneyland forum is generally going to get you the same answers. Lol

 

[DLgal]

IMO, Pirates, Small World, Space Mtn, autopia, are all better than WDW version.

Agree.

I prefer DL Jungle Cruise as well over WDWs. Also, Big Thunder is WAY better at DL. And this sounds dumb, but the Mad Tea Party is so much more beautiful at DL. Puts WDWs version to shame.