The Disney bubble?

[Susie63]

Soooo... I have been reading in another thread about the difference between DL and WDW and being immersed in the magic. I stayed at the DLH for 8 days in 2010....never saw a vehicle(other than a golf cart) and I felt like I was in a Disney bubble. However,other people have said that WDW is much better for that feeling.
I am wondering what the difference is?

 

[Davids-Coco]

For me, the difference is size and amount... but at the same time, spending an hour on what is a glorified city bus takes away from it. Disneyland does it better for me personally because I don't have to do the vehicle thing and am more immersed in it every minute.

 

[skiingfast]

At WDW I don't feel like I'm in a bubble or as separate from the outside world as much as other people say.

What I like about WDW is everything is taken care of for me when I arrive.
Get on DME and get dropped off at my resort. The bags show up at my room that I checked at my home airport. Check in is easy.
Buses or boats take me everywhere, no driving or parking lots.
Just hand over the card for food using the dining plan.

 

[DSNY4ever]

The reason we go to WDW is for the bubble! My husband loves that Disney will pick us up from the airport and we don't see "the real world" until the end of the trip. He doesn't have to drive anywhere, we can afford to stay on property, there is sooo much to do and see...we can stay in the bubble for weeks and never get bored

I love the DLR, but there is no bubble there for us. We have to stay off property, and even downtown disney pops the bubble. It is much more of a locals hang out than the one in WDW (which sometimes makes the DLR DTD a little cooler though).

For us the DLR is an awesome getaway that fills me up with warm fuzzies, but WDW is a vacation...pool time, dining out, relaxing, fancy desserts...vacation

 

[EvoldicA]

I'd say WDW should feel like more of a bubble. The underground tunnels... The expansive resorts and theme parks connected by Monorail and other Disney transportation. I stayed in the resort for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was definitely a bit different experience.. I only spent one day, and was in a value. I'm sure it would be even more immersive if I stayed at the contemporary or one of the higher end resorts. I will do it again probably.. but not alone.

~Bill

 

[Susie63]

I guess if you don't stay on the property it would be different,but can you compare if you stay on property,especially the DLH and the GCH.

 

[dismom73]

I've been to both parks many times and am one of the few people that can say I don't have "favorite". Staying onsite at the DLR puts you in a small bubble. You don't have interact with the "real world" if you don't want to. However, at DLR you can still "see" the real world, whether it's from your room or the top of a ride, you can see outside of the bubble. At WDW once you pass through the BIG SIGN that welcomes you to Walt Disney World you are in a GIANT bubble. WDW has their own freeway system with cheerful purple freeway signs instead of the normal green. They have their own transportation system of Disney busses. When you stay at one of their resorts (they are not hotels, they are resorts) you are surrounded by Disney. Like a pp mentioned from the pick up at the airport to the time you go back to the airport you are immersed in Disney and the real world is nowhere in sight. DLR does a very good job creating that bubble with what they have to work with, after all it is placed smack dab in the middle of a city, completely surrounded by "life". WDW just has an advantage as far as size and space to expand that bubble. That being said, I do enjoy the fact that you can finish watching fireworks on Main Street at the end of a long day and be back in your hotel room in 10-15 minutes, that is not an option at WDW because everything is so spread out.

 

[HydroGuy]

Since WDW vets are so accustomed to the larger size of WDW, it does not seem to bother them very much how far apart everything is at WDW. Yes, you are in a Disney bubble. But it is a very big bubble and you feel (well, at least I feel) very far from the parks when I am at a WDW hotel or DTD. This does not even speak to the off-site hotels which are even farther away.

At DLR the bubble is smaller and you can see the city so the bubble is not as immersive. BUT, you have many hotel choices that are right there across the street from the parks. Or, better yet, the GCH which is connected to DCA. So you feel closer to the parks because you are closer to the parks.

It is my observation that WDW vets value the overall resort experience more, and that DLR vets value the inside the parks experience more.

What I do is just switch hats and expectations when I go from one resort to the other. I know WDW will be more immersive but I will be sitting on buses a lot. I know DLR will be less immersive but I will be able to spend a higher percentage of my day inside the parks - and can have a much more flexible, unplanned experience - since everything is so close.

As soon as someone starts saying that one of these experiences is better than the other, it really gets to how they prefer (or have come to expect, based on experience) the resort level focus vs. park level focus. And often, this has been conditioned from many previous trips and a gut level feeling on how visiting a Disney resort "should" be.

 

[Susie63]

I guess I was in my own bubble because I didn't see anything outside of DLR once I got off the bus at the DLH.We were on a lower floor and I don't recall seeing any surrounding property from any of the rides.

 

[dsny1mom]

Soooo... I have been reading in another thread about the difference between DL and WDW and being immersed in the magic. I stayed at the DLH for 8 days in 2010....never saw a vehicle(other than a golf cart) and I felt like I was in a Disney bubble. However,other people have said that WDW is much better for that feeling.
I am wondering what the difference is?

I see the Disney bubble a bit differenly than others do. I get MUCH more of an emersive feeling at DLR (staying at DLH) than I have at WDW (last stay Contemporary).

There's nothing more bubble bursting to me than a bus or a bus ride. I don't care that it's a Disney owned bus, it's still a big ugly stinky bus. Of course one could forgo the buses and drive their car from their hotel to the parks, but to me that also bursts the bubble. For me being able to walk out of of my hotel and stroll to the available parks, is what makes DLR a MUCH more emersive trip. To not have to drive or even see a car or a bus keeps the bubble intact for me.

As for the locals VS tourists breaking the bubble..... I don't know how anyone can tell the differance between most locals and tourists. If being able to pick out tourists is because they are wearing hidious matching t shirts, crocs and look like they have no clue where they are going is how one can tell, I'll take a park full of locals over tourists any day of the week. However I will say that WDW gets a lot more people from outside the counrty and you can usually tell they are tourists when they speak. Let me tell ya if I never have to put up with the rudness and lack of knowledge of personal space we encountered with foreigners at WDW it will be soo soon. LOL

Another part of the Disney bubble to me is making the most of my vacation time. At DLR the vast majority of my time is devoted to enjoying the parks. At WDW too much of my time is devoted to just getting to the parks. That bubble starts to leak every time it takes more than a few minutes to get anywhere.

Add to the above that I dislike having to plan my days and meals an insane amount of time before my vacation and then be regemented to keeps those plans despite what I'd really like to do on a particular day and that bubble is burst yet again.

I think it's great that WDW has a large fan base and that lots of people feel emersed there. For me DLR is the only American Disney park that I feel totally emersed in.

dsny1mom

 

[sonjaandsue]

Immersion is in the eye of the beholder. My favorite immersion experience at WDW: taking the monorail to/from the Poly to the MK and seeing the GF and Contemporary on the way. My favorite immersion experience at DLR: walking from the GCH pool to GRR as much as we want!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I see the Disney bubble a bit differenly than others do. I get MUCH more of an emersive feeling at DLR (staying at DLH) than I have at WDW (last stay Contemporary).

There's nothing more bubble bursting to me than a bus or a bus ride. I don't care that it's a Disney owned bus, it's still a big ugly stinky bus. Of course one could forgo the buses and drive their car from their hotel to the parks, but to me that also bursts the bubble. For me being able to walk out of of my hotel and stroll to the available parks, is what makes DLR a MUCH more emersive trip. To not have to drive or even see a car or a bus keeps the bubble intact for me.

As for the locals VS tourists breaking the bubble..... I don't know how anyone can tell the differance between most locals and tourists. If being able to pick out tourists is because they are wearing hidious matching t shirts, crocs and look like they have no clue where they are going is how one can tell, I'll take a park full of locals over tourists any day of the week. However I will say that WDW gets a lot more people from outside the counrty and you can usually tell they are tourists when they speak. Let me tell ya if I never have to put up with the rudness and lack of knowledge of personal space we encountered with foreigners at WDW it will be soo soon. LOL

Another part of the Disney bubble to me is making the most of my vacation time. At DLR the vast majority of my time is devoted to enjoying the parks. At WDW too much of my time is devoted to just getting to the parks. That bubble starts to leak every time it takes more than a few minutes to get anywhere......
dsny1mom

Well put, I agree with all of that, although I cut a bit of my quote out. We rarely stay on site when we visit DLR, I will say though for the 1st time last Nov. we didn't stay on site or on Harbor - we stayed at Stovall's BW and walked along Disneyland Drive, cut through the Grand & DTD - I preferred that walk over walking along Harbor, few cars, more resort like.

 

[ktlm]

I guess if you don't stay on the property it would be different,but can you compare if you stay on property,especially the DLH and the GCH.

WDW vet here. You can create a disney bubble at DLR if you say on property and in my opinion feel every bit as immersed as you do at WDW. We stay at DLH. We drive up and park the car and we do not return to the car until we are leaving DLH for good. We never walk off Disney property or even where you can see the outside world from the ground. We walk to and from the parks through DTD. We have never had a room on a floor high enough that we could see outside disney property. We do lower level pool view. We focus on whatever ride we are riding and the view of the parks, not anything outside. I do remember being a bit startled riding Mickey's fun wheel and being able to see the city right around us- as you kind of forget it is there when you really immerse yourself. While WDW is our "home" we love DLR and we love how tight and close everything is together so that you can walk everywhere in a short amount of time. DLR definitely has its own magic!


Where at DLR you have to create your own bubble, WDW definitely creates that bubble for you. They send you luggage tags at home so that once you turn your luggage over at your home airport, you don't have to see it again until you are in your room at your WDW resort. The minute you get off your plane, you go to what we call the "WDW" section of the airport (magical express) where you board your bus to your resort. Once you are driven through the gates of WDW property, you do not see the outside world until you leave. WDW property is approximately 30,000 acres/ 47 square miles (DLR is approximately 500 acres or under 1 square mile). WDW is not just the parks, it is the golf courses (regular and mini), resorts, and water parks too. WDW bus, monorails, and boats you all over that property anywhere you want to go. Each resort is a world in its own. You can sit on your balcony in your room at AKL resort sipping a drink and watching a live giraffe looking back at you. They do everything they can to keep you ON that property instead of going off around town or visiting their competition!

As for the busses popping the bubble, you have to learn to enjoy the buses! Watch out the windows. Look at the golf courses and the people on them. Spot the deer or wild turkeys or other critters out the window. Have a conversation with the people around you about where they are from, their trip, etc. Listen to the music they are playing on the bus, and wonder why on earth one of the things you always hear is an instrumental song from the Harry Potter movies (Hedwig's theme), when that is their biggest area competitor's biggest draw- listen for who else on the bus figures out the music and starts saying something about it out loud- it almost always happens! I admit at a time when the bus turns out to be extremely crowded, none of this is so easy to do, and you are just wondering how long until you make it to where you are going!

I've heard the statement locals at DLR kind of take away the "bubble" feeling. I don't agree. I don't think the locals take away from the experience at all. Having visited both WDW and DL multiple times, to at least some extent you can tell who the locals are at DLR. Some of the locals have a different attitude and park style... not bad, just different. I can't quite put it into words exactly what it is, but WDW is just a slightly different feel. At WDW, it is kind of a group feeling that most everyone is in the same boat...not many people are just going home every day of their visit. Most everyone is on vacation and it is just a slightly different attitude, I guess is the best way to put it. I can't think of a WDW trip, where we didn't meet some kind of a family of new "friends" somewhere along the trip that the time was significant enough I can specifically remember it, usually someone with a kid DD's age where the kids hit it off and DD wound up playing with them for a significant amount of time, or riding a couple rides with them, etc. DD pin traded for the first time our last WDW trip, and one of her favorite pins is one that her "new friend" gave her before our families went off different directions. Off the top of my head, I can't recall really making any "friends" like that at DLR. In fact, I can recall DD trying to make friends with a local sister and brother around her age in a lengthy line at DLR, and them being mean to her- although that was an isolated occurrence that could have happened anywhere. It isn't a bad attitude at DLR. The locals aren't unfriendly at DLR. You can still strike up a conversation. The locals are obviously happy they are spending the day at DLR just like tourists are happy to be there. I don't even really think the difference it is that noticable, unless you are flat out looking for it so you will have something to complain about !


We love both places!

 

[DLtorgo]

Another part of the Disney bubble to me is making the most of my vacation time. At DLR the vast majority of my time is devoted to enjoying the parks. At WDW too much of my time is devoted to just getting to the parks. That bubble starts to leak every time it takes more than a few minutes to get anywhere.

This nails it for me. I just had my first trip to WDW and I loved so much of the parks, especially Animal Kingdom. I HATED the time it took to get anywhere. I love the flexibility of going back to your room for a bit then returning. I think it comes down to your personality and also where that Disney nostalgia is for you. Disneyland is the park I grew up with and I have gotten used to that experience.

 

[bumbershoot]

Soooo... I have been reading in another thread about the difference between DL and WDW and being immersed in the magic. I stayed at the DLH for 8 days in 2010....never saw a vehicle(other than a golf cart) and I felt like I was in a Disney bubble. However,other people have said that WDW is much better for that feeling.
I am wondering what the difference is?

The difference is in the person's perception, IMO.


WDW is built with higher-speed highways connecting parks and resorts with intricate cloverleaf exits and onramps. There goes MY bubble! Even if we've chosen to take the bus (leaving our rental car at the resort) I'm nervous about the driver and the other drivers around us, etc etc.

At DLR, I can walk places. Bubble! Even if I'm on Harbor or Katella. I'm surrounded by happy excited adults and kids, and even CMs, and it's generally very smiley.



But...eye of the beholder. When I'm on Soarin' and it gets too real for me and I get a little nervous that I really AM on a hang glider...I look up to see dangling feet, or to the side to see fellow guests. I like knowing that it's just a ride. And I often like looking at the area around Disneyland, knowing that it's just a place. And I like to wonder what it's like to live in the neighborhoods surrounding Disneyland. Sure I could move, but it wouldn't be the same as growing up there. Just like I wonder what it's like to grow up in Hawaii... I like to wonder a lot.

 

[elaw]

WDW vet here. You can create a disney bubble at DLR if you say on property and in my opinion feel every bit as immersed as you do at WDW. ... We love both places!

Even WDW doesnt give you the ability to almost literally stay "in the park" like DL does ... CR and BLT are close but not quite like the GCH
These are some photos of our last trip on new years eve/day of the GCH, "park view" .... talk about immersion! I will admit though, I consider WDW a true vacation, and for me the very defintion of immersion/disney bubble.

 

[ktlm]

These are some photos of our last trip on new years eve/day of the GCH, "park view" .... talk about immersion!

WOW!!! What a fantastic view! Thanks for sharing! We've always stayed at DLH, as I've never been able to justify paying the higher prices for GCH because it has always seemed like a scaled down version of WDW's WL (which we love) at a higher price, but your pictures are certainly making me rethink that. The park access has almost gotten me there before, but I've never done it as we enjoy the walk from DLH to the parks through DTD, and it certainly isn't a long walk by WDW standards. You might be bad for my wallet!

 

[HydroGuy]

WOW!!! What a fantastic view! Thanks for sharing! We've always stayed at DLH, as I've never been able to justify paying the higher prices for GCH because it has always seemed like a scaled down version of WDW's WL (which we love) at a higher price, but your pictures are certainly making me rethink that. The park access has almost gotten me there before, but I've never done it as we enjoy the walk from DLH to the parks through DTD, and it certainly isn't a long walk by WDW standards. You might be bad for my wallet!

How about this view we had in July 2010?

View From Our Room 5438 at the GCH

 

[Susie63]

My husband said we can go to DL as often as I want(as long as I can come up with the money)but we HAVE to stay on site.That means less trips,but I will be in the bubbleI can't wait to stay in a Villa for 10 nights.

 

[Susie63]

LOVE that view Hydroguy! Thanks