Thinking of Disneyland-what are your thoughts?

[skippytx]

LOVED DL!
no planning and no stressing out.....
the only thing is i didn't feel like there was a bubble.

Totally agree with this sentiment. We took our first DL trip earlier this year on a whim. We wanted DS who was/is a Cars fanatic to see Cars Land before he's too old for it not to be "magical" for him. We had a great time. We originally thought, oh, Disneyland will be like an every 3-5 year trip to mix things up while we make a point to visit WDW every year or so. We loved it and now want to visit Disneyland more often than we originally though we would.

Biggest thing I can stress is a DL trip is not the same as a WDW trip. We plan our WDW trips a year or more out, there are spreadsheets, ADR's, FP's, and all the planning that goes along with a WDW trip. Living in Texas I wouldn't go to WDW for 3 or 4 days, not enough time to feel like you got enough done.

Disneyland is great for a quick 3 or 4 day trip, we can get inexpensive airfare to LAX pretty easily out of AUS and stay on Harbor for a good price. Our next trip to DL Jan 2018 the tickets are going to cost about the same as airfare and 5 nights hotel combined.

I don't want to make this a which destination is better, they're just different. These are my opinions regarding DL compared to WDW

Pros:
Little to no planning related stress, easy to hop between parks,
Short trip friendly - you can go for 3 days and see most things and have a great time.
Budget friendly (somewhat) - Our next trip for our family of 4 is under 3,000 bucks excluding food. Flights, Hotel and Tickets. Our trips to WDW easily run double this costs, probably closer to triple as we stay 7 or 8 nights and flights to MCO are more expensive. We do stay offsite though at DL, I don't feel staying onsite is a good value, and frankly our budget wouldn't allow it. Being able to do both a DL and WDW trip every year means the DL trip needs to be as inexpensive as possible or it gets cut and we do something else.

Nostalgia, seeing some of the original rides and attractions I'll admit was really cool.
Things are also much closer together. I think I measured on google maps the walk between buzz lightyear and pirates is half the distance at DL than at MK.

Cons:

Forget about the Disney Bubble. I love being in the bubble at WDW, but yeah, I don't feel it at Disneyland. Leaving the park and passing by the buskers and pan handlers isn't something that happens at WDW. I feel like I escape to a different world at WDW, I don't get that feeling at Disneyland.

The transportation was a shock the first time as well if your accustomed to Orlando and DME. No fancy DME area at LAX, it's literally go stand on this tiny island with your luggage and children while 6 lanes of traffic fly by you until the Disneyland resort bus shows up.

Another thing stood out, a lot of the queuing at DL is outside, it didn't bother me as we tend to visit in Jan, but it was just different than WDW. Like the Ariel ride, we're outside almost the entire wait, step through the doors and bam, you're basically on the ride. Similar with TSM. The Orlando queues seem to be more indoor giving you a break from the sun. The queue theming can help seem the wait not seem as long as well. Something to consider during the summer I think. SoCal and Orlando weather are totally different though.

I could probably go on and on all day, but as a huge WDW fan I found I love Disneyland just as much, it's just a different trip.

 

[Haley R]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the maxpass?

 

[cindy17]

Agree with all of the above! Do it! California in general is such a beautiful state ... the climate, scenery, and of course Disneyland! Definitely do it! Personally, we also stayed at Park Vue Inn. Literally steps from main "esplanade" which connects the 2 parks. Definitely not a "resort" but we don't require a lot on vacation. Great being able to just park our rental car outside our room and walk up a flight of stairs to room. We've been to DL 3 times now, and as others said, its def a different vibe. But you will spend far less time transporting from park to park and get so much more done in a day than at WDW. In the height of summer for all 3 trips we were in Anaheim 4 nights max and had plenty of time to see everything, and even threw in a day at Knotts Berry Farm! Book it!!

 

[Mome Rath]

Not sure where to post this-we've been to DW quite a few times. Thinking of maybe Disneyland this summer for a change-I know the differences are the size, no magic band or dining plan. I've done some reading on the DL boards here to get an idea.
I guess my question is, if you are a DW veteran, then went to DL, how did you feel about it? The thing that has me a little concerned, although DL you can walk to the parks and is much more compact, we're use to Bay Lake and the resort feel, DW is spread out, where DL seems to be more "city" like. My husband says the hotel wouldn't bother him (would probably stay off sight where you can still walk to DL), but I don't know, we've stayed at BW and BL and do enjoy the resort feel. On the plus side, walking to the 2 parks and downtown disney is a plus.
I'm sure everyone has different thoughts and opinions on this, just wondering what your impression was of DL after being at the world?
Thanks!!

We are WDW vets who had never been to DL, and we went this summer and absolutely loved it. To keep my review short, I'll say you don't need as much time to see everything, and that as a WDW vet, I did wind up missing EPCOT, but that paled in comparison to seeing DL. It's worth it if you have the time and money for sure.

 

[maramarrie]

We love DL! We've been about 4 times in recent years and love how compact it is. Cars Land (and most of California Adventure) is our favorite! We feel the food options are a bit fresher and there's (in some ways) more variety than what you can find at WDW...maybe with the exception of Epcot. The parks seem very relaxed and we have always enjoyed walking to/from our hotel to the Disney properties. One difference that struck me the first time I went was the demographic make up of the cast members. In FL, many of the cast members are from "far away" places, but at DL, 90% of the cast members are from CA. In some ways we found that cast members in CA were not quite as inclined to bend over backward for you and make you happy; but that wasn't in most cases....just more often than it would happen in WDW. As mentioned above, Space Mountain is better, Pirates is better, Soarin' queue is more interesting, "Tower" (Guardians) is WAY better, and many lines are shorter. The first couple of times we were there they didn't even have FP for Midway Mania and it always had a 20-30 minute wait as opposed to the 60 minute wait at DHS.

We've stayed at the Fairfield Inn on Harbor each visit and had a great experience each time. It's a short walk (5 minutes). It's a "good neighbor" hotel and you can get standard rooms with Disney artwork or choose a Disney-themed room.

 

[Wendy98]

Loved it! We went for the 60th celebration (about a month after the official date)
There is so much nostalgia at DL it is oozing out of the air. You can truly feel the history. At least I could. If anything, it only increased and fed my Disney bug. I think it did the same for DH.
We are talking about going back next year when Pixar Pier is up and running.
I didn't go to DL to compare it to WDW either. I went out there to experience it for itself. It wasn't a competition, one isn't better or worse. They stand on their own merits, in my mind. I love both in their own ways. I don't believe there needs to be winners or loosers where Disney is concerned. They can exist and thrive together. I advise others to do the same.
We stayed at DLH. It was important to me to stay at a Disney resort. And I wanted the classic one, even though it wasn't originally Disney's. Grand California is too much like WL so we ruled it out. The other, who's name has left my head, is ok. But I loved everything about DLH so we opted for it over off site. Even though they have lots of very good off site choices. We flew out and did not rent a car. We did only Disney, 5 day hopper ticket (max they offer)

This is my EXACT thoughts on DL. We have 3 kids, ages 14,11, and 8. We go to WDW every year, often multiple times--been doing this since they were babies. We went to DL this past summer (did a 2 week trip to California). All of us LOVED DL. We also stayed at the Disneyland Hotel--it was a little pricey, but I regret nothing. I would definitely stay there again--it was the perfect blend of modern amenities and classic Disney. Yes there were times when we said, "that's different than XXX in WDW..." but it was more of an observation than comparison. I was blown away by Carsland--holy cow, did Disney hit it out of the park with that!

I can't wait to go back to DL. It is geographically more difficult for us, so it will be a few years.

 

[Haley R]

This is my EXACT thoughts on DL. We have 3 kids, ages 14,11, and 8. We go to WDW every year, often multiple times--been doing this since they were babies. We went to DL this past summer (did a 2 week trip to California). All of us LOVED DL. We also stayed at the Disneyland Hotel--it was a little pricey, but I regret nothing. I would definitely stay there again--it was the perfect blend of modern amenities and classic Disney. Yes there were times when we said, "that's different than XXX in WDW..." but it was more of an observation than comparison. I was blown away by Carsland--holy cow, did Disney hit it out of the park with that!

I can't wait to go back to DL. It is geographically more difficult for us, so it will be a few years.

It's more difficult for us geographically as well, but we have to get there soon! I keep reading such cool things about DL.