New To Disneyland...pro At Disneyworld

[momsoftwins]

ok ..i need the disneyland people to help me out? been to disneyworld many times but wanted to get some info about disneyland.
#1 for those that have been to both..pros and cons
#2 if we do disneyland...how many days does the average person need?
#3 i am confused about the "disney properties" at the "land"
#4 what airport is the closest and do they have magical express in california?
ok thats anyone for any input
and happy holidays
seeing the disney parade today has gotten me in the MICKEY mood
ps o ya we are planning on goin mid to late may say the 13th thru the 20th

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Welcome to our Disneyland corner of the DIS


#1 for those that have been to both..pros and cons
Look for Hydroguy's posts (Did I put them in the FAQ sticky?) He has written some great threads detailing the differences between the two parks with a WDW eye.

#2 if we do disneyland...how many days does the average person need?
3-5 Two for DL & one for DCA, or mixture of them both, however, if you like to take your time, then more days (there's a 5-day hopper for the price of 3-day hopper going through the 4th week of April (not the last week) if you will be visiting at that time

#3 i am confused about the "disney properties" at the "land"
There are two parks: Disneyland (similar to the Magic Kingdom at WDW, well, it's really the original Magic Kingdom) and California Adventure, which could be compared to MGM Studios, but still, it has a California flavor to it. There are three hotels. The most luxurious, and a cross between Wilderness Lodge & Grand Floridian (though probably not as grand as Grand Floridian) is the Grand Californian - a beautiful hotel. Next is the Disneyland Hotel, older, but the rooms are brighter, with lighter colored furniture - there are three towers at this hotel. The least expensive is the Paradise Pier Hotel with views of either the city or overlooking California Adventure. Go up to the links at the top of the DL board to see pics of the properties. Downtown Disney goes from Disneyland Hotel to the entrance to the two parks (the parks "face" each other & are a 2-3 minute walk from one gate to the next). The Grand Californian has entrances to Downtown Disney and California Adventure.

Having said that, there are several "Good Neighbor" hotels that are within walking distance of the parks' entrances for a lot less money. The closest are moderates (more like nice motels), and a little further away are really nice deluxe hotels.

#4 what airport is the closest and do they have magical express in california?
ok thats anyone for any input
The closest airport is Orange County, then Long Beach, and then LAX in one direction & Ontario Airport in the other (about equal distance). If you can get a good price going to Orange County that is a really good option. Most economical flights fly into LAX. (I only fly into LAX so I am used to it, but if you're not used to a huge & very busy airport it might be too much. There is nothing like Magical Express for the Disneyland Resort. There is a bus/coach called the Disneyland Express, and there's SuperShuttle - probably the two most popular modes of shuttle services, however there are others like PrimeTime that people use.

and happy holidays
seeing the disney parade today has gotten me in the MICKEY mood
ps o ya we are planning on goin mid to late may say the 13th thru the 20th

 

[Leofoenget]

Mid May is a great time to go. We went last year. We arrived on Sunday Monthers day and were there for a few days. Crowds were very easy to handls and the weather was perfect.

good luck

 

[HydroGuy]

#1 for those that have been to both..pros and cons
Look for Hydroguy's posts (Did I put them in the FAQ sticky?) He has written some great threads detailing the differences between the two parks with a WDW eye.

Lot of good feedback from MJ. Yes, MJ, it is a sticky in the "HydroGuy tips" thread. To the OP, the link MJ is referring to is here:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

Read this lengthy thread and it will answer lots of questions plus more you did not know you had. Then you will be in a better position to ask more questions.

 

[jlmarr]

Lot of good feedback from MJ. Yes, MJ, it is a sticky in the "HydroGuy tips" thread. To the OP, the link MJ is referring to is here:

"A DLR Guide for WDW Vets" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

Maybe that thread needs a sticky of its very own.

 

[momsoftwins]

thanks everyone for the feed back....i dont have time this afternoon to look at the posts you typed but i will this evening once the kids (ya the kids that has a mom that is tryin to plan this without them knowing ) are in bed. thanks again and keep any advice coming
thanks kerri

 

[Barbday62]

Ive been to WDW 5 times and Disneyland probably about 30 times now.
One biggest piece of advice is dont expect Disneyland to be WDW. There are many of the same attractions there and to tell you the truth Disneyland does it all better with the exception of Tower of terror, winnie the pooh and a few smaller things I cant think of right now.

Disneyland is all in one little place. You never have to ride a bus (except from and to hotel if you are too far to walk). The two parks and downtown and all three Disney hotels are all walking distnace apart from each other. Grant it a long walk from the edge of Disneyland hotel to the edge of Disneyland park.

When you go to Disneyland let your impression be unique and not expecting the huge resort of WDW. Its Walts original park and you will see vegitation thats grown and mature. The weather is fantastic in California so the landscape and flowers and such are beatuiful and you wont beleive this but no humidity like Florida. I am from Arizona and I think California has some humidity but nothing like Florida.

Most of my disneyland trips are 2 days because I drive over for the weekend. I prefer the trips when I take a couple vacation days. In May we went 4 days and it was perfect to see and do everything I wanted many times. Im the type that likes to stop and see the things around me. I like time to stop and listen to band play on main street if I have time or watch a comedy show outside of Golden Horsehoe on the street. 4 days allows this.

My most notable cons of Disneyland are:

No Epcot. I love world showcase and there isnt anything like it at Disneyland.

Two parks not 4.
Only 3 disney hotels and nothing budget minded like All Stars. we always stay across the street because we can afford to go more that way. The Grand Californian is beautiful and reminds me of Wilderness lodge. The Disneyland hotel sort of reminds me of the Contemporary hotel and paradise pier actually reminds me more of a hotel you find near Down town disney like Grosvner or something like that.

The castle is small compared to WDW.


Most Notable Pros:
Way better small world, pirates, haunted mansion, Space mountain, and toon town, Plus an extra land - New Orleans Square
No buses to go from park to park.
The weather is way better
It's Walts park
I love Story Book canals. The little miniature trees are really old and I love how they made them into scenes.
The Hyperian Theater show Aladain. Its awesome! And the theater is beautiful inside too.

 

[bradk]

it's always a personal thing which one is better.. which is why i wouldn't answer #1 personally.

for example, I prefer TOT at DCA. Many say WDW's is better because of the 5th Dimension. I say it's neat once or twice, but when I ride TOT 4x in a row, I want the TOT action, not the 5th Dimension. WDW's does have the advantage in that it's running on T4 software which DCA's was supposed to get years ago (literally) which I don't think it ever has - still running on T2? but even then, most people aren't going to notice or care. or at least i'm one of those.

on the flip side, DCA's TOT uses the thermal mirror technology which literally makes you disappear. that's pretty neat in my book.

also, not to be too argumentative, but while MK doesn't have NOS, it does have Liberty Square to make up for it (NOS and POTC were deliberately left off the map because they felt Florida was too close to the real thing and the Disney version wouldn't suffice). Granted I love NOS's theming moreso than I do LS.