Size of parks compared to WDW?

[sheetz]

A lot of time is wasted at WDW because everything is so far apart. From the time spent traveling from the hotels to the parks to the time within the parks themselves. Until you've been to both DLR and WDW I think it's hard to appreciate this.

 

[MillauFr]

A lot of time is wasted at WDW because everything is so far apart. From the time spent traveling from the hotels to the parks to the time within the parks themselves. Until you've been to both DLR and WDW I think it's hard to appreciate this.

Yes its hard to beat the 10 minute walk from your offsite hotel room to the front gate at Disneyland. I took far longer to get from my onsite room at the Poly to Magic Kingdom.

 

[goooof1]

AND.....frankly, 2-3 days is NOT nearly enough time for DLR if you want to relax some and "smell the roses".

 

[ArchOwl]

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)

A few things to say here. The first is that you would be hard pressed to fit everything into 2-3 days at the DLR, especially if you include hotel and DTD activities. When people say they do DL in 2-3 days they either were on turbo mode or they skipped lots of things. And that is ok, but it does confuse some people. I don't know how someone could see all the entertainment options in both parks in 2 nights, it would be very difficult. Not to mention would severely hamper your ability to ride any attractions during the evening. I think 3 nights is minimum and you won't really see everything, but you can get a lot done.

Secondly, it is my understanding that it takes a lot of time to travel between parks and resorts at WDW. I read reports where it can take 30-45 minutes to go from a resort to a park. This problem does not exist at the DLR. Everything is within walking distance and will take 10 or so minutes. So subtract travel time from your DLR itinerary.

Thirdly, there are way fewer resorts and restaurants at DLR. There are no waterparks and our DTD has fewer entertainment and eating options. So while the DLR is pretty favorable in the attractions department, it does not have nearly the same number of other forms of entertainment that allow people to spend 10 days at a crack.

Hope this helps explain things. I recommend three days at the bare minimum to all my friends. They can't always swing it, but once I start laying out all the entertainment and such, they start to get the picture. There is a lot to do.

 

[mom2rtk]

A few things to say here. The first is that you would be hard pressed to fit everything into 2-3 days at the DLR, especially if you include hotel and DTD activities. When people say they do DL in 2-3 days they either were on turbo mode or they skipped lots of things. And that is ok, but it does confuse some people. I don't know how someone could see all the entertainment options in both parks in 2 nights, it would be very difficult. Not to mention would severely hamper your ability to ride any attractions during the evening. I think 3 nights is minimum and you won't really see everything, but you can get a lot done.

Secondly, it is my understanding that it takes a lot of time to travel between parks and resorts at WDW. I read reports where it can take 30-45 minutes to go from a resort to a park. This problem does not exist at the DLR. Everything is within walking distance and will take 10 or so minutes. So subtract travel time from your DLR itinerary.

Thirdly, there are way fewer resorts and restaurants at DLR. There are no waterparks and our DTD has fewer entertainment and eating options. So while the DLR is pretty favorable in the attractions department, it does not have nearly the same number of other forms of entertainment that allow people to spend 10 days at a crack.

Hope this helps explain things. I recommend three days at the bare minimum to all my friends. They can't always swing it, but once I start laying out all the entertainment and such, they start to get the picture. There is a lot to do.

I agree with all of this. (And we have done both WDW and DLR many times each.)

I scratch my head when someone says DLR only takes 2-3 days to experience. Even after our 5 day trip I had a few things I wanted to do and never got to. But we are very park centric, and never do water parks at WDW.

 

[Frozen2014]

A few things to say here. The first is that you would be hard pressed to fit everything into 2-3 days at the DLR, especially if you include hotel and DTD activities. When people say they do DL in 2-3 days they either were on turbo mode or they skipped lots of things. And that is ok, but it does confuse some people. I don't know how someone could see all the entertainment options in both parks in 2 nights, it would be very difficult. Not to mention would severely hamper your ability to ride any attractions during the evening. I think 3 nights is minimum and you won't really see everything, but you can get a lot done.

Secondly, it is my understanding that it takes a lot of time to travel between parks and resorts at WDW. I read reports where it can take 30-45 minutes to go from a resort to a park. This problem does not exist at the DLR. Everything is within walking distance and will take 10 or so minutes. So subtract travel time from your DLR itinerary.

Thirdly, there are way fewer resorts and restaurants at DLR. There are no waterparks and our DTD has fewer entertainment and eating options. So while the DLR is pretty favorable in the attractions department, it does not have nearly the same number of other forms of entertainment that allow people to spend 10 days at a crack.

Hope this helps explain things. I recommend three days at the bare minimum to all my friends. They can't always swing it, but once I start laying out all the entertainment and such, they start to get the picture. There is a lot to do.

Thanks for explaining. I'm just going by what people have said as you only need "a few days" which really differs from Disney World. But we only did 5 days at DW (with a day of a break inbetween), but if we were to go to Disneyland someday, then I could see us doing about the same. If we're going all that way (we're in Ontario Canada), then I would want to spend more then a couple days.

And yes...travel between parks at Disney World is far...even when staying onsite. We had a car, but just the time to park and get to the park does take time. Some people return to the hotel mid day, but for us, once we were at a park, we stayed there. And we didn't bother with park hopping for the same reason.
As for waterparks, we didn't bother with those at Disney World. The main parks were just so much more appealing. (Having said that, we travelled in Oct as opposed to Aug)

 

[ArchOwl]

I agree with all of this. (And we have done both WDW and DLR many times each.)

I scratch my head when someone says DLR only takes 2-3 days to experience. Even after our 5 day trip I had a few things I wanted to do and never got to. But we are very park centric, and never do water parks at WDW.

Totally agree. I am guessing when people say that they mean you can ride all the attractions? Because that is probably doable. But I don't see how you could see the shows and attractions and experience all the Resort has to offer in 2 days.

I mean I am an AP and there are things that I keep meaning to do that I haven't done yet!

 

[ArchOwl]

Thanks for explaining. I'm just going by what people have said as you only need "a few days" which really differs from Disney World. But we only did 5 days at DW (with a day of a break inbetween), but if we were to go to Disneyland someday, then I could see us doing about the same. If we're going all that way (we're in Ontario Canada), then I would want to spend more then a couple days.

And yes...travel between parks at Disney World is far...even when staying onsite. We had a car, but just the time to park and get to the park does take time. Some people return to the hotel mid day, but for us, once we were at a park, we stayed there. And we didn't bother with park hopping for the same reason.
As for waterparks, we didn't bother with those at Disney World. The main parks were just so much more appealing. (Having said that, we travelled in Oct as opposed to Aug)

I hope that helps! It really is like a mini, super dense WDW. I think if you are coming from Canada, 2 days would not be nearly worth it. There is quite a lot to see, I have spent entire days just seeing the entertainment options and enjoying the restaurants. Plus there is lots to do in Southern California as well.

Transportation is really one of those things that scares me about WDW. Because DL is so easy to navigate, WDW seems so big and foreign. But one of these days...

 

[jnfr2424]

I just visited DL for first time and glad I did. I had stayed 5 days. I'm a AP holder for WDW so I had no idea what to expect at DL. I knew it was small but I didn't think it was so tight. Some stated good use of the property but I see why Disney went to Florida. We stayed at Paradise Pier crossed the street everyday walked through GCH and we were in the parks. These are some of the things I observed at DLR:

Pros: park hopping was a breeze. I saw WoC in DCA and went over to DL to see Paint the Night same evening with no problems. Even staying in an Epcot resort you can't get to Epcot and DHS that fast.
Ride lines are handled better in DL. They put CM at strategic spots in the lines and they tell folks keep the line moving.
Safety of guests -we saw people putting/standing kids on fences, ledges, wherever they should not be and CM were quick to tell them get down and if they didn't listen they would be ejected from the park.
Handling the elderly - my mother walks with a cane and at Storybook land, Toy story and Radiator Springs they took us out the line and put us in the disable area which took more time to load and unload but it was worth it. She felt comfortable and did not feel like she held up the process.
Loved all the rides that WDW does not have: Snow White, Mr. Toad, Matterhorn, Alice, Pinocchio Storybook, Casey, Toontown plus the extras of the rides I know and love Haunted Mansion, Pirates, The train ride and Small World.
Fast passes: I truly miss this in WDW however was surprised it wasn't offered for every ride. The only issue I had was the one for Radiator Springs Racers too far from the ride in fact in another "land".
Cars land is amazing everything you've heard about it is true and then some. That was worth every dime, in fact I would take another trip from New Jersey just for that ride alone.


Cons: I had an issue with shopping in DL. Some items like magnets were hard to find in the big stores like the Emporium. I do feel that the CM need more ethics training. I found them to be rude and were forcing themselves to be nice to certain individuals. I had an issue(think Pretty Woman) where I didn't get waited on trying to buy Pandora charms in a store in New Orleans Square. I got questioned about my name at Blue Bayou and people didn't want to sit next to us in Carthay Restaurant (that I know was a personal issue but it stinks to see racism so blatant even in Disney).
Every year I buy a lot of Holiday ornaments in WDW and per the CM at DL they do not ship the fragile/personalized stuff because they don't want to be responsible for damages. This is where WDW is top notch and ISO would be nice across the board for all the parks. I realized it's more local folks vs tourists at DLR and they cater more to locals. In WDW they cater more to tourists. I'm spoiled rotten by shipping all my packages home.
I wasn't a big fan of the tightness of DL, it was sensory overload. You come out of the castle and bam Peter Pan on your right, Snow White on your left. It's a personal preference but I like space. I need to move around freely. I appreciate the landscape and waterfalls. I loved DCA for the space.
The fact that the park is in the middle of a city. I heard ambulance sirens and fire trucks going by and it threw me off. I like to be stuck in the Disney bubble. I didn't get that in DL.

For those of you that experienced WDW before, relax DL is not that intense for every second planning.
For those that experienced DLR that are afraid of WDW, yes it's big and you do have to preplan but take it with a grain of salt. Don't forget there's much more to do at WDW besides the parks - there's shopping, restaurants 2 water parks, the resorts itself, miniature golf, horseback riding, campfires, carriage rides, boating options, fishing, parasailing etc etc so it truly depends on what you want to do. I hate when people say they are scared of WDW or they have no desire to experience it. I know this is never going to be a happy medium between the both but experiences make you grow in life. As for the transportation in WDW, Some of the best memories I have is because of the transportation. I met people from all over just by sitting next to them and you'd be surprise what you learn.

 

[Frozen2014]

I hope that helps! It really is like a mini, super dense WDW. I think if you are coming from Canada, 2 days would not be nearly worth it. There is quite a lot to see, I have spent entire days just seeing the entertainment options and enjoying the restaurants. Plus there is lots to do in Southern California as well.

Transportation is really one of those things that scares me about WDW. Because DL is so easy to navigate, WDW seems so big and foreign. But one of these days...

Thanks....good to hear that there is just as much to see. I would hate to have a Disney trip and be done in 2 days.

I can see WDW being overwhelming. When we went in October, we rented a car (although you can use their transportation too). We didn't bother with park hopping. And once we were at a park, we stayed there for the day (with the exception of our last day since we went to Epcot in the day, and then were attending the Halloween party which was at Magic Kingdom). We found if you got at MK early, then we got a spot close to the front...so then we could walk to the monorail to get to the front gates (other parks aren't as big so the park is right at the parking lot).

The nice thing about WDW is there are a lot of options for hotels on site. The expensive ones are on the monorail which would make transportation easy. Then there are moderate and value. We stayed at the value resort Art of Animation which is so adorable in its theming.

It seems like if you've experienced one...that it would be great to experience the other if you can. We'll see...what we end up doing when we come again (i.e. WDW again or Disneyland)