NEW to Disneyland

[Nemo32]

Hi all. I'm not a newcomer and have been to WDW in Orlando 4x. I know a little about Disneyland, but am obsessed w/ WDW and therefore have focused all my time on learning everything about there. However, I have a crazy idea, if I can convince DBF, to go to Disneyland and try there! This is very preliminary planning, but I wanted to know the differences between WDW and Disneyland. Not attractions/rides, but DDP, tickets, photopass, time of year to go, transportation, is it a must to stay at their hotel, EMH, etc. etc.

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[avalon451]

Hi there, take a look at Hydroguy's excellent guide to DL for WDW vets: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

It's on a sticky thread at the top of this forum, Hydroguy's tips compilation. It's well worth reading through the whole thing.

How fun to be planning such a trip! You guys will enjoy Walt's park!

 

[disney-inspired]

Nemo32

I agree with Avalon, look at hydroguy's stickies and you should be in good shape.
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[DLR29]

Well I'll give it a shot. I'll just give an overview, otherwise I could go on forever. If you want a really good guide, check out this link writtend by Hydroguy: www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

DDP- dining is not as good here because you don't get a set amount of food, you get a set amount of money per day to spend on food. You also can't use the vouchers in Downtown Disney restaurants and there aren't that many amazing restaurants in the parks or hotels. You also don't get change when using the vouchers (which could prevent you from saving money), so for example if you buy something that is $4.95 with a $5 voucher, then you would lose 5 cents in change, but if you are all out of $5 vouchers, then you need to pay for it with cash (which destroys the point of a dining plan) or with a $10 voucher which would lose you $5.05 (which can add up fast).

Tickets: The main difference in tickets is that everything 2 days or more is a park hopper (except for certain non-mainstream tickets), so no need to purchase an add-on. Mousesavers always has the best places for ticket discounts, just like for WDW tickets.

Photopass- Same system I believe. They give you the card and you can buy the pictures at home.

Time of year to go- I personally like going during the busy seasons and getting to the parks early because of the long hours and all rides and entertainment running. However, if you like going during low crowded times, you will only have long hours and full entertainment (fireworks/fantasmic) on the weekends. Plus some rides might be down for refurb. Summer weekdays are usually manageable if you can do the heat. I see you have gone to WDW in May and June. Great times to visit DLR too.

Transportation- Unlike WDW there are no buses or boats. There is a monorail, but it's not a recommended source of transportation. Driving is not a problem, unless you stay very far offsite which is not recommended. So the main transportation is your own two feet. Everything is within walking distance, including tons of cheap offsite hotels. It takes about 2 minutes to park hop or reach DTD, which is quite different from WDW.

Where to stay- Offsite is the recommendation on these boards, but I can see that if you are coming from the Boardwalk and Saratoga Springs, you might find some of the offsite hotels "not a full experience". Most of us don't stay onsite (or justify staying onsite) because there aren't as many benefits by staying onsite and there are some offsite hotels that are actually closer to the parks.

EMH- No EMH here, but Magic Mornings are early entry into DL (not DCA) 1 hour early on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Onsite guests can use MMs every day offered during their stay. All tickets 3 days or more come with 1 MM. Check out my MM thread: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

Hope that helps a bit!

 

[Nemo32]

Thanks for all the help! If I did go I'd plan on staying off-site anyway.

Two more questions, sorry:

What are the shows/parades? Are there equivalents to what WDW has?

How many days would it take to do an overview style touring plan, you know, the big rides and some shows/parades?

 

[DLR29]

For shows you've got Fantasmic which many agree is better at DLR. There's also the fireworks show which is incredible, but I haven't seen Wishes to make a comparison. And the Parade of Dreams at DL is amazing and not like MK's at all. At DCA, the Electric Light Parade is fun and has the music that Spectromagic lacks. There's also the Pixar Play Parade which is a step up from the Block Party Bash now playing at DHS. Don't miss the Aladdin musical in DCA either. It's funny, unique, and great for some AC'ed relaxation.

I'd recommend 3-4 days but it depends on what time of year you go and your touring style. For example, I went to DLR in December 06 for 2 days only. But we were at the parks for about 26 hours total and we got a ton done. I know most people don't spend an average of 13 hours a day in the parks and like to take breaks or relax a bit. If you go in the offseason, you'll probably need more days because hours are shorter. It really depends.

 

[JenM]

For shows you've got Fantasmic which many agree is better at DLR. There's also the fireworks show which is incredible, but I haven't seen Wishes to make a comparison. And the Parade of Dreams at DL is amazing and not like MK's at all. At DCA, the Electric Light Parade is fun and has the music that Spectromagic lacks. There's also the Pixar Play Parade which is a step up from the Block Party Bash now playing at DHS. Don't miss the Aladdin musical in DCA either. It's funny, unique, and great for some AC'ed relaxation.

The fireworks at DL are much different than Wishes. Wishes uses music from the Disney films, but DL also uses the themes from the rides themselves. You hear the Haunted Mansion, POTC, you hear Walt's opening day speech, the Disneyland Railroad stops, Roger Rabbit, the Tiki Birds, plus Indiana Jones and Star Tours. During the Star Tours part they play the SW music and there's a laser show--it's very cool.

Fantasmic is also much different, but there's no seating like in WDW. It's at the Rivers of America by Tom Sawyer's Island, and if you get there early enough you can sit on the ground. There's also a dessert package that will get you priority seating, but it's around $60. We got there an hour before on a crowded Saturday and still found a decent spot to stand near New Orleans Square, so it's not terribly difficult to find a good place to stand.

I think I actually liked the Parade of Dreams better at WDW, but the night I saw it at DL it stopped dead for about 15 minutes and I don't know what happened to make it stop...so we went on a bad night.

Space Mountain is a million times better at DL. They also have the submarines and Mr Toad's Wild Ride, which are no longer at WDW. They also have the Matterhorn and Indiana Jones, which were never at WDW. POTC is much better at DL, and if you go during Halloween, I hear that the makeover at Haunted Mansion is amazing.

I liked Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror better at WDW, but they're both still lots of fun. California Screamin' is awesome. Soarin' is there too (actually it was there first!).

I stayed onsite (Paradise Pier), but you don't have to. Everything is so close. And if you're a WDW vet, it's staggering how close everything is. It's much smaller, but it's great...it's a got a certain charm to it, being the original park.

 

[dalstitch45]

I have been to WDW many, many times. Last year was my first visit to DL. I loved it! There are things I liked more at DL as opposed to WDW, and vice versa. I won't repeat them because most of them were covered by the previous posts in this thread. I am going to make sure I read Hydroguy's sticky. I will be going to DL again in a few weeks, and want to make sure I don't miss a thing.

I can't wait to see the Aladdin Show. I am looking forward to seeing the Pixar Play parade, since I wasn't too crazy about the Block Party Bash. Loved the Toy Story Mania ride, and I am sure I will love it at DL.

Although WDW is my first love, I am truly loving DL.

 

[Nemo32]

Thanks for such great responses! I hope I can go b/c DLR sounds like it'd be an interesting new experience.

 

[stopher1]

Thanks for such great responses! I hope I can go b/c DLR sounds like it'd be an interesting new experience.

Keep that perspective in mind when you get there - and hopefully you won't be disappointed!

WDW is immense - DLR is small. Both parks are small, DTD is small, and the resort hotels are small in comparison to WDW. DL as a park is quaint and charming... MK is large and intimidating - though very enjoyable.

Be prepared for the differences in castle size, the length and height of Main Street and its' building facades (smaller scales in use at DL vs. MK; the size of the walkways; the number of attractions and shows at DL is far greater than at MK; and many other things. You'll find many WDW favorites that originated at DL - many of which are longer and better at DL than at WDW.

Keep in mind that DL is the original, and the MK was opened 16 years later - many of the things you take for granted in the MK were designed as "improvements" to DL (size of walkways, etc) - but that doesn't necessarily make either one "right". Also, DL was "Walt's park" - and therefore has many more real Walt touches. While he did walk the Florida property, he never set foot in the MK - but he slept inside of DL! The heritage and history is rich throughout DL. There are a great number of unique experiences to be found at DL - be sure to ride the Matterhorn - the world's first tubular, iron coaster, and don't forget to tumble down the rabbit hole with Alice (both in Fantasyland)...and you've got to experience being swallowed up by Monstro in the Storybookland Boats.

DCA is a hodge-podge of thematic elements supposed to celebrate California. You'll find part of it to be like DHS at WDW, and other parts like a county fair - but it's got good qualities to it. Soarin' originated in DCA - the raft ride is simliar to Kali River Rapids in AK, and ToT is there too.

I hope you have a great time.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

The two parades are vastly different. About the only similarity they share is the word "dream" appearing in both parade titles. Where all floats on WDW's parades tend to look alike with a few minor decor differences from float to float, the floats for Disneyland's Parade of Dreams are all very detailed and themed to either a Disneyland icon, or the movie(s) in which they appear. It also marks the first time that Tinker Bell appears as a face character in any Disney park when she's not flying over the castle.

To fully experience the DLR you really need 3 days, 2 for Disneyland, half a day for the highlights of DCA and another half day to revisit highlights from both parks. Note that the 2 days for Disneyland includes viewing the parade, fireworks, and Fantasmic, though I would base seeing Fantasmic on whether or not the differences between the two shows are important enough to you to camp out a long time just to see the show.

 

[Nemo32]

Thanks for all the extensive answers!

 

[Angie_Ohio]

My family and I just completed our first trip to California. We have been to WDW many times. We loved DL just as much. I liked how small (cozy) it was. We didn't mind the size of the castle. My boys said it was a baby castle. We tried to do everything that was different at least once. We had 4 day hoppers. The first two days Thur and Fri the crowds were very light until about 11:30am. Mon and Tues it was wall to wall people at around 9:30am. Make sure to load up on fast passes early in the day since they are accepted anytime after the first time noted. We used several in the evenings when the parks seemed to be quite full. Got to experience TSM during soft opening the Fri before the Grand Opening. I thought I was going to just say I'd been to DL but I truly enjoyed both parks.