Size of parks compared to WDW?

[bcinohio]

DH and I are taking a trip to DL/DCA in May. We are WDW vets. Just wondering size wise how do the two parks in CA compare to the parks in WDW? Is DL about the same size as MK at WDW? What park does DCA compare to at WDW?

Thanks

 

[figment_jii]

Are you asking in terms of acreage or number of attractions? The parks in California are smaller than the parks in Florida (acreage), but they have a lot of attractions in that space. Personally, I think DCA reminds me the most of DHS (in terms of the visual look and feel), but it has a sprinkling of attractions you can find in all four parks at WDW. For example, DCA has Tough to be a Bug (AK), Tower of Terror (DHS), Ariel's Undersea Adventure (MK), and Soarin' (MK).

I recommend checking out HydroGuy's A DLR Guide for WDW Vets to help get a sense of the similarities and differences between the two resorts.

 

[bcinohio]

I was wondering walking wise. Like Epcot is much bigger(more walking) than MK.

 

[figment_jii]

Ah, okay...in that case, both parks in DLR are smaller than the parks in WDW. DL is smaller than MK (85 acres versus 107 acres) and DCA is smaller than DL (72 acres versus 85 acres).
http://allears.net/dlr/tp/dl/dlmk.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_California_Adventure

 

[ErinTwinmom]

And for park hopping purposes both parks and downtown are all super close. Like dca and DL are as close as mk entrance to the ferry landing and downtown Disney is like just a bit further, say walking to the end bus from mk

 

[figment_jii]

I hadn't thought of it that...I usually use Epcot as the description. Think of DL like Epcot's FW, DCA as Epcot's WS, the Esplanade is the bridge that connects the two and DTD would be just outside of International Gateway. DL and DCA are only about 110 yards apart (less than the distance from the flag pole to the Partner's Statue in either DL or MK); you can see into one park from inside the other.

 

[Chrisfilm]

Wow, I never knew Magic Kingdom was bigger acreage wise than Disneyland. I would've thought the opposite. Interesting.

 

[sheetz]

Wow, I never knew Magic Kingdom was bigger acreage wise than Disneyland. I would've thought the opposite. Interesting.

Is it because DL has so many more attractions? The WDW parks all have lots of dead, underutilized space in comparison to the Anaheim parks.

 

[brianerickson]

there's no way around it: Disneyland is positively tiny compared to Walt Disney World, but they make up for it by making sure the theming is on point and that there's absolutely no wasted space.

Seriously, it's gorgeous

 

[Jerryp49]

Here are two views each in scale of 2cm= 500 feet

 

[jnfr2424]

DL and DCA are small I'll admit I was taken aback by the size as I am a WDW vet as well. I called it tight and was scolded by a west coast person( sorry if I offended) It's really easy to go back and forth to each parks as you only go through security from an entrance or from downtown Disney. I was able to see the first show of World of Color leave DCA and head to DL to watch Paint the Night.

 

[mom2rtk]

DL and DCA are small I'll admit I was taken aback by the size as I am a WDW vet as well. I called it tight and was scolded by a west coast person( sorry if I offended) It's really easy to go back and forth to each parks as you only go through security from an entrance or from downtown Disney. I was able to see the first show of World of Color leave DCA and head to DL to watch Paint the Night.

I actually see the smaller size as a great advantage of DLR over WDW. It has almost as many attractions packed into that space as there are spread out between 4 parks at WDW. Any minute I can be in the parks experiencing attractions instead of traveling between parks in a more spread out resort is a win in my book.

I will say though that the addition of SW land into the smaller footprint of DL does make me a bit nervous. I'm not thrilled with shortening up the Rivers of America to accomplish that.

 

[Frozen2014]

Are you asking in terms of acreage or number of attractions? The parks in California are smaller than the parks in Florida (acreage), but they have a lot of attractions in that space. Personally, I think DCA reminds me the most of DHS (in terms of the visual look and feel), but it has a sprinkling of attractions you can find in all four parks at WDW. For example, DCA has Tough to be a Bug (AK), Tower of Terror (DHS), Ariel's Undersea Adventure (MK), and Soarin' (MK).

I recommend checking out HydroGuy's A DLR Guide for WDW Vets to help get a sense of the similarities and differences between the two resorts.

I know that Disneyland (containing 2 side by side parks) is physically much smaller than Disney World (containing 4 spread out parks + 2 water parks + Downtown). And i've heard that Disneyland has many of the attractions together...and that many rides are the same, and there are even a few at Disneyland that are not at Disney World.

But realistically, does Disneyland have say 50% of Disney World attractions (just counting the 4 parks)? There are only so many attractions that can be put into a smaller area of land.

 

[figment_jii]

But realistically, does Disneyland have say 50% of Disney World attractions (just counting the 4 parks)? There are only so many attractions that can be put into a smaller area of land.

I went to Disneyland.com and WaltDisneyWorld.com and looked at the attraction lists. DLR has 81 things listed and WDW has 112 things listed. Now both of those lists include some things that are are stretch to consider an "attraction" (e.g., Chip 'n Dale Treehouse at DLR and the American Heritage Gallery at WDW), but it'll give you a sense of what DLR and WDW consider attractions. So in that way, DLR has about 72% of the number of attractions that WDW has, but with only two parks.

 

[Frozen2014]

I went to Disneyland.com and WaltDisneyWorld.com and looked at the attraction lists. DLR has 81 things listed and WDW has 112 things listed. Now both of those lists include some things that are are stretch to consider an "attraction" (e.g., Chip 'n Dale Treehouse at DLR and the American Heritage Gallery at WDW), but it'll give you a sense of what DLR and WDW consider attractions. So in that way, DLR has about 72% of the number of attractions that WDW has, but with only two parks.

Thanks. Never thought of doing that...duh.

Funny enough, when I check it has 87 attractions at Disneyland and 139 at Disney World which is closer to 62%. (but of course quantity doesn't equal quality)

We've been to Disney World...and in a few years will either go back or give Disneyland a try. So am interested in comparing the two.

 

[figment_jii]

I pared the DLR list down because it lists things like Haunted Mansion and Haunted Mansion Holiday as two separate attractions. Likewise, I consolidated the Train into a single attraction for both resorts (the list lists each station separately). I also filtered out the attractions for the water parks from the WDW list.

 

[jhaig]

It looks like EP is bigger than DL and DCA combined?

 

[riostoker]

I felt like MK and DL were pretty comparable in terms of rides, fun, theming, etc.

I loved DCA though... like a mash-up of all the awesome rides at Epcot, AK, and DHS all in ONE location! So many rides, so much less walking and transportation time!!

Test Track (Epcot) -> Radiator Springs Racers
Soarin (Epcot) -> Soarin
Toy Story (DHS) -> Toy Story
Rockin' Roller Coaster (DHS) -> Cali Screamin'
Tower of Terror (DHS) -> Tower of Terror
Kali River Rapids (AK) -> Grizzly River Run

No buses, no boats, no long waits for buses or boats. Good stuff!

 

[Winnowill]

There's also the issue that, other than MK, the WDW rides are so spread out that it's a little onerous to get to them. DHS only has, what, five open rides right now (RNRC, ToT, TSMM, GMR, Star Tours... am I forgetting anything?) plus a couple of shows. AK has...seven? Whereas DL and DCA have ALL of their rides within a fairly easy walk.

 

[Frozen2014]

But one thing...many people go to Disney World in what, 10 days or so and still find it's not enough time.
But you always hear of people saying you can go through Disneyland in 2-3 days. To me, that would seem like you would get bored as not as much. I've only been to Disney World so can only comment on that where we did 3 parks in 5 days...but we definitely could have done a few more days (even with still skipping AK)