Many Say Disneyland is Harder to Plan - Am I Missing Something?????

[Royal Consort]

I'm coming from Australia and decided this year to do a trip that wouldn't take that much effort in planning. Answer was to hit both Disney resorts. Past trips have always been to Europe which involved lots and lots of planning to visit different countries, catch trains, speak German etc.

And then for WDW I learned about recommended parks, and 180 days out, and planning dinner around night time shows, resort locations and cost, transport, and ADR's and I'VE BECOME A CRAZED MONSTER. But now planning for WDW is completely done and sorted and I can sigh with relief.

Now, after leaving from WDW we're heading directly to Disneyland.

I've seen lots of WDW vets say that planning for Disneyland is more challenging. Am I missing something? We've booked our good neighbour hotel, got a touring plan, we know what shows we'd like to see on what nights and we know where we'd like to eat.

Because there doesn't seem to be an EasyWDW type site for Disneyland, I'm wondering if I'm missing something? Compared to WDW, Disneyland seems to plan itself. Is there anything else I don't know or have I got it pretty well sorted?

 

[Pesky]

Probably more a factor of less ability to plan very far out (i.e. no 180 day ADR time frame). Check out Hydroguy's thread on this: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[Susie63]

Aside from reservations for Fantasmic,if you go that route,I think you are set.We have only been once,but we got to do everything we wanted without any planning.

 

[skiingfast]

Have you figured out how to get from the airport to your hotel?

That is a problem for many WDW vets because there is nothing like Magical Express at DLR.

 

[Royal Consort]

Have you figured out how to get from the airport to your hotel?

That is a problem for many WDW vets because there is nothing like Magical Express at DLR.

We thought we'd take the Disneyland Resort Express from LAX.

 

[skiingfast]

We thought we'd take the Disneyland Resort Express from LAX.

With that you've got your planning pretty much done.

 

[DisneytheKid]

We thought we'd take the Disneyland Resort Express from LAX.

Nice. Enjoy the rest of the trip

 

[HydroGuy]

I'm coming from Australia and decided this year to do a trip that wouldn't take that much effort in planning. Answer was to hit both Disney resorts. Past trips have always been to Europe which involved lots and lots of planning to visit different countries, catch trains, speak German etc.

And then for WDW I learned about recommended parks, and 180 days out, and planning dinner around night time shows, resort locations and cost, transport, and ADR's and I'VE BECOME A CRAZED MONSTER. But now planning for WDW is completely done and sorted and I can sigh with relief.

Now, after leaving from WDW we're heading directly to Disneyland.

I've seen lots of WDW vets say that planning for Disneyland is more challenging. Am I missing something? We've booked our good neighbour hotel, got a touring plan, we know what shows we'd like to see on what nights and we know where we'd like to eat.

Because there doesn't seem to be an EasyWDW type site for Disneyland, I'm wondering if I'm missing something? Compared to WDW, Disneyland seems to plan itself. Is there anything else I don't know or have I got it pretty well sorted?

LOL, I have noticed some of these posts lately and can only conclude that some WDW vets learned the ropes long ago and over many years and what to other mere mortals seems a maze of confusion seems to them to as "easy". Anything different like DLR seems "difficult" to them.

One sees this in some threads where WDW vets actually complain that they can't make dining reservations 180 days in advance at DLR.

WDW does make some things easier but overall requires much more planning IMO. No problem there as WDW is a lot larger place with more things to do overall than DLR.

 

[disneyismyheart247]

Yes, I would think Disneyland would be the easiest to plan. There are no shuttles, busses or boats you have to take. You just walk everywhere. The parks are a lot closer together, you rarely need to make an advance dinner reservation at all, let alone 6 months. I can honestly say I've never planned a Disneyland trip; I just go. I can eat when I want, if I want to park hop, I can do that easily. If I want to get a Fastpass for a ride, I can pretty much come back whenever I want. Simplicity.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I'm a WDW veteran and former CM, and for WDW I have a more laid-back vacationing style than most people on these boards are comfortable with. But I stay on property, use Magical Express, make my most important ADRs 180 days out, etc.

I would say, Disneyland is harder to plan if you *try* to plan everything. But it's much, much easier to *not* plan anything and still do just about everything you want. Book a hotel, book a flight, figure out transportation from the airport to the hotel, and that's about it. I'm trying to make sure I know the park layout pretty well ahead of time and know the park hours, show times, etc.; but that's because we're going for only 2.5 days at the height of summer and I'm 7.5 months pregnant (so minimizing walking is a priority).

So in other words, if you *wanted* to try WDW-style commando vacationing at DLR, I think it would be hard to plan. But one of the best things about DLR is that there's no reason to do so.

 

[jlwhitney]

I think planning DL is way harder because you have no idea what will be open or closed, our hours or entertainment schedule far out at alll.

WDW is my local park, live 2.5 hours away so other than booking a dining reservation I don't care what is open or not since we go a few times a year.

But with DL, we don't get to go real often so it makes it hard to know when booking a hotel and planning if I will get to see what I want to do.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I'm a WDW veteran and former CM, and for WDW I have a more laid-back vacationing style than most people on these boards are comfortable with. But I stay on property, use Magical Express, make my most important ADRs 180 days out, etc.

I would say, Disneyland is harder to plan if you *try* to plan everything. But it's much, much easier to *not* plan anything and still do just about everything you want. Book a hotel, book a flight, figure out transportation from the airport to the hotel, and that's about it. I'm trying to make sure I know the park layout pretty well ahead of time and know the park hours, show times, etc.; but that's because we're going for only 2.5 days at the height of summer and I'm 7.5 months pregnant (so minimizing walking is a priority).

So in other words, if you *wanted* to try WDW-style commando vacationing at DLR, I think it would be hard to plan. But one of the best things about DLR is that there's no reason to do so.

I agree.

Disneyland, to me, is so much easier. You look at the schedule to see what time the different shows are, decide which ones you want to see, decide the must do attractions, and let everything else fall into place.

For those who know, use the fastpass system, and go early to get on the most popular attractions right away.

I have cousins who come out every couple of years, and they do not do any major planning, they choose their restaurants that day, and they have a great time at the parks.

Even for those who like to plan and set their schedules, I think DLR is much easier than WDW.

 

[cemeb4dk]

As a WDW vet, and going on our first Dl vacation in 14 days, for me its more the unknown. I know WDW like the back of my hand and can pretty much pick out what I want to do when and know approximately how long it will take to do something or go somewhere, and what we want to see and what we can miss.

So for us at Disneyland, honestly I have enjoyed not worrying about the 180 days and not really planning any meals but one (Blue Bayou for anniversary), I have looked at the maps, read Hydroguys thread multiple times, but for me its still hard to imagine in my head. I even purchased ridemax, but honestly having difficult using it because I am not sure what we can get in a day and what we want to do each day as we are complete newbs to DL.

Also the limited thread options on this board and many others is a limiting factor for us, not being mean, just saying if your use to planning wdw trips on here you know there are multiple options to get your info from on this board. Then on DL, there is one section, although it has all the info needed for a wdw vet it just seems there needs to be more. I mean lets be honest the main reason a lot of us are on these boards because we like the most info we can get and have a plan in place.

So for us, while I am so looking forward to this trip, I am a bit apprehensive about the planning as it is all new to me, and I want to make sure we see all and do all, and just the unknown to me. Now I am sure after the first day or 2 I will be in the swing and be able to plan using ridemax and so on once I get a feel for the park and its layout. I am sure I feel like many first time WDW visitors feel, but I have never felt that as I have been going all my life.

14 days til we are there......

 

[zavandor]

Planning for DLR requires as much time as needed to read the excellent Hydroguy's threads. I did it this way and found that I had all the info I needed.
I'm not a veteran of either park, but I found DLR much easier to plan for. I scheduled my visit 3 weeks before and everything went smooth. For WDW I planned it 3 months in advance and I could book less than half of the restaurants I wanted to (it was during free dining).

 

[onelilspark]

I'm another WDW Vet planning my second trip to DLR. I don't think DLR is harder to plan at all. If anything, for my first trip I was a little thrown off by how little planning is needed.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

I'm a WDW veteran and former CM, and for WDW I have a more laid-back vacationing style than most people on these boards are comfortable with. But I stay on property, use Magical Express, make my most important ADRs 180 days out, etc.

I would say, Disneyland is harder to plan if you *try* to plan everything. But it's much, much easier to *not* plan anything and still do just about everything you want. Book a hotel, book a flight, figure out transportation from the airport to the hotel, and that's about it. I'm trying to make sure I know the park layout pretty well ahead of time and know the park hours, show times, etc.; but that's because we're going for only 2.5 days at the height of summer and I'm 7.5 months pregnant (so minimizing walking is a priority).

So in other words, if you *wanted* to try WDW-style commando vacationing at DLR, I think it would be hard to plan. But one of the best things about DLR is that there's no reason to do so.

I have to agree with you!
I grew up going to DL every summer, I have not Been in almost 7 years...
We would just get up and go, no plans no dinning ressies nothing

Due to movie across the USA (and having 2 DD)
In that time I have plan and gone to WDW three times
Now that we finially going back to DL
And any parent knows you plan plan plan... I find it so hard to plan the way i like to! The info I need comes out so late.. Dinning info is bad...
Finding a map of the whole area was impossible

If you are fly by the seat of your pants, or do not have kids
DL is great...
If you like to plan every detail ( like me) WDW is a better way to go...