One More DL VS WDW First time Visit

[ckmiles]

I know there are lots of these threads but I enjoyed reading them and found them very helpful so maybe someone will get something useful from my post.

First time visitors to DL from the East coast arrived very early Saturday morning Sept 20th. (1am). Stayed at the Tropicana (loved it) had 4 day hoppers.

The Notes:
1. The close proximity of the parks cannot be beat. We park hopped the first day like 4 times (I think we were so jet lagged we were not sure what were we doing and we exhausted ourselves by 6pm).
2. The close proximity of the rides was great too- walk off Snow white, 5 steps over is Pinocchio- amazing
3. Matterhorn- sucked
4. POTC- Bestest ever- So much better than WDW
5. Indiana Jones- Great Ride. I just wish they would slow it down a little. I know there is so much to see but it goes so fast I cant see everything!
6. Haunted Mansion- Loved it- The Halloween redo was Fabulous. I would ride it like this year round. It was amazing.
7. I love Paper fastpasses- enough said
8. I did not find the castle disappointing. I liked it. Size does not matter to me
9. Tower of Terror- WDW is better- more 'ride' to it
10. RSR and the Carsland is some of the best work I've seen definitely a well done area and ride
11. GRR- fun and a great way to cool down on a hot day
12. Waiting outside in line- no so much fun.
13. Even though we had 4 days I did not accomplish everything
14. WOC- great show. Hate the cattle call to see it.

I know most of this has been said by others so I guess my point is everything that the great members of the DIS boards post is true! Not that I had any doubt its just nice to have it reinforced. (and odd these boards are RIGHT on EVERYTHING)- The only part I had difficulty with was the difference between a slow time in WDW and DL. I have been to WDW when its been a ghost town (I have walked on to rides and been the only one on the ride at 2pm on a Monday). DL was forecast to be at low season (and after meeting some locals it was confirmed that it was low season). The lines for the rides were 20 to 30 minutes. Crowds of people in FL and New Orleans Square. I get it WDW absorbs more people (and hides the lines better)- it was an adjustment I had to make in my head.

Overall had an amazing time. If not for the 5 hour plane ride I would totally go back to DL instead of WDW.

I want to thank everyone on the boards - these boards are so helpful. I found my hotel, tickets, time of year to go, places to eat all on here. Thank you.

Oh and one last thing- Do not rent from Dollar at LAX- horrible service.

IF anyone has any questions, Ill be happy to answer.

 

[grnflash]

Yay, another awesome DL trip. So happy for you!

 

[abminer]

We too are WDW vets just back from our first DLR trip (oct 2-6). We stayed at DLH, did MHP and two day hoppers.

I agree with some of your observations, but not others:

1. and 2. Yes, the close proximity of the parks and all attractions was great. We hopped 2-3 times a day. We love AKL so we're used to long bus rides, but proximity spoils you, the walk back to DLH felt long after a couple days - still great though to walk everywhere. And I didn't feel like we were ever "out of the bubble."

3. Matterhorn - we really liked it! It wasn't as rough as we'd been warned, we rode the Fantasyland side. I'm a big wuss about thrill rides so it was a good ride for me.

4., 5., and 6. - totally agreed. Indy is way cooler than the AK's Dinosaur, Potc was much richer (but why is a bayou connected to the Caribbean?), and HM holiday is now my fave ride ever. WDW should do an overlay, too.

8. the castle - I DID find it to be too tiny, cute but lacks WDW's wow factor. I think part of the issue is that DLR's isn't raised up high on a platform. It wasn't really taller than the Main St buildings.

10. RSR and the Carsland - yep, totally worth the hype, but we thought all of DCA was incredible, what a nice park. Paradise Pier is so pretty. I wish DHS was half as nice. I also wish we'd had another half day to spend more time in DCA.

14. WOC is the best nighttime disney show I've ever seen. Even the crowded viewing area and having to line up so early was worth it. Seeing Fantasmic the next night it seemed unimpressive in comparison and I found that viewing area to be more problematic with all the light posts obstructing sweeping views. WOC proves how much could be done to replace illuminations.

Other things we really liked at DLR: New Orleans Sq is lovely and far more charming than Liberty Square. It has better restaurants too. We also found character interaction to be better. They spent more time with us, we ran into them in random spots, and really played their roles as actors. Goofys Kitchen was great in that regard. I'm also a fan of the classic dark rides and Alice is a great example.

Things we weren't crazy about: maybe it was a bad week, but we encountered a lot of ride closures- RSR multiple times, Nemo, Matterhorn, GRR. I've experienced closures at WDW and been trapped on a ride, but in two days at DLR we hit as many closures as I recall in 8 WDW trips. We only interacted with one rude cm, but the others weren't as over the top "magical" as we have met in WDW, which is part of why we love Disney. I also found Mickey and the Magical Map overrated. We liked Aladdin, but rank it equal to Nemo at WDW.

I'm so glad we took the leap and finally saw the original. We had a lot of fun and wish we'd been at DLR longer, but WDW is still our home park. I think nostalgia is a huge part of it and I grew up going to Orlando, it's also half the distance away so that's where we'll head next. But, I'd love to pick up DCA and move it to my coast until we can make it back to DLR someday.

 

[GatorChris]

2. The close proximity of the rides was great too- walk off Snow white, 5 steps over is Pinocchio- amazing
3. Matterhorn- sucked
7. I love Paper fastpasses- enough said
9. Tower of Terror- WDW is better- more 'ride' to it
14. WOC- great show. Hate the cattle call to see it.

It seems WDW vets have the some of the same feelings.
#2- Yes, a lot less walking. A LOT!
#3- Couldn't believe how lousy Matterhorn was. Even my 6yo and 8yo didn't like it. Hard to compare to ExEv.
#7- One of the main reasons we switch to DL for last years trip, and the next two years is to avoid FP+.
#9-For sure. I wish DL would get the random sequence. It's just the same thing, and it doesn't compare any ride I've ever had at WDW.
#14- Yip. WOC makes boarding SouthWest Airlines seem like a holiday. Why can't they fix this?

Unlike you, I have to travel 6+ air hours to get to WDW, so DL is my home resort for now. I miss WDW, but DLR is still really great and doesn't cost me a fortune to get there ($100 in gas).

 

[amyren]

Great thread! We're veteran WDW park goers and we're thinking about (finally) visiting Disneyland next September! . Any suggestions on length of stay? DD is off of school Sept 21 - 25 we're thinking about 5 nights?!?!

 

[abminer]

I think it depends how much you want to do. Will you be visiting sites away from DLR? For just DLR I think 5 nights is plenty. You could do a ton with 4 day hoppers- take things easy, repeat favorites... We did 3 days in the parks but skipped some of the attractions that are also in WDW.

 

[Networth]

I grew up on WDW and it will always be my favorite for that reason alone + I enjoy the huge amount of stuff to do outsides the parks.

Anyway I want to visit DL at some point just to see it but have zero again zero interest in the west coast would you say DL is worth the cross country plane flight from Florida? When I have no intent to leave DLR.

 

[Blue32]

I grew up on WDW and it will always be my favorite for that reason alone + I enjoy the huge amount of stuff to do outsides the parks.

Anyway I want to visit DL at some point just to see it but have zero again zero interest in the west coast would you say DL is worth the cross country plane flight from Florida? When I have no intent to leave DLR.

 

[whistlinmickey]

I grew up on WDW and it will always be my favorite for that reason alone + I enjoy the huge amount of stuff to do outsides the parks. Anyway I want to visit DL at some point just to see it but have zero again zero interest in the west coast would you say DL is worth the cross country plane flight from Florida? When I have no intent to leave DLR.

I too have minimal interest in other areas of Southern California. But I often find myself there on business trips. The proximity to Disneyland is usually the only incentive I have to accept assignments in the area.
I never end up working in Orange County. But if I'm anywhere within a two-hour drive of DLR after my shift, I'll usually visit DLR just for dinner. It's a crazy amount of driving and often puts me back at my hotel well after midnight. But, sleep-deprived or not, the allure of DLR will usually draw me back the next night. I guess it's an addiction. But not one that I'm likely to give up any time soon.

 

[wdwrich]

8. the castle - I DID find it to be too tiny, cute but lacks WDW's wow factor. I think part of the issue is that DLR's isn't raised up high on a platform. It wasn't really taller than the Main St buildings.

At least part of the reason for the size of the castle is supposedly to keep the proper scale between the size of the castle and the adjacent Matterhorn. It would look odd for the castle to be as high as the mountain next to it.

 

[hakepb]

I grew up on WDW and it will always be my favorite for that reason alone + I enjoy the huge amount of stuff to do outsides the parks.

Anyway I want to visit DL at some point just to see it but have zero again zero interest in the west coast would you say DL is worth the cross country plane flight from Florida? When I have no intent to leave DLR.

I visited DL in '92 it was nice, DL (still) has a better Fantasy than WDW, but I had no big desire to return...because WDW was so much more.

After Cars Land opened, we knew we had to make a trip for DS... I now love DL for a lot more than Cars land.

If you are a Disney fan, and are astute enough to appreciate the small differences in rides, DL is amazing! (After all, it's the small touches that make Disney better than other theme parks, and DL has many more of those small touches). You can see that DL has been concentrating on the Atteactions while WDW has been concentrating on their physical and virtual queues. Plus it's amazing when you realize everything is within walking distance. Space Mountain, Soarin, ToT, It's Tough to be a Bug and Downtown Disney...all within walking distance!

 

[hakepb]

At least part of the reason for the size of the castle is supposedly to keep the scale between the size of the castle and the adjacent Matterhorn. It would look odd for the castle to be as high as the mountain next to it.

Disneyland opened in 1955
The Matterhorn was not conceived and built until several years later, opening in 1959.