WDW or Disneyland?

[tomgreen41]

Hi. I'm wondering if I can get advice from some experts on whether we should go to WDW or Disneyland. Here is our info...

We're a family of 5. Girls aged 6, 6 and 9.

We'll be flying out of Seattle. Flying to Anaheim would be a lot faster and cheaper than flying to Orlando.

We've all been to Disneyland (me and my wife -- many, many times as kids, teens and adults). Kids have been to Disneyland as well. They don't know the difference between Disneyland and WDW. I know there are other resorts at WDW, but the big thing for them would be the rides and characters at the Magic Kingdom.

None of us have ever been to Florida. We'd like to visit Florida at some point, and probably combine our WDW trip with a week or so of visiting Miami and other parts of Florida. This isn't a huge priority on our bucket list, but something we want to eventually do.

I would love your advice on the pros and cons of going to WDW vs Disneyland based on the above. In particular, what is the major draw for a family of 5 to WDW instead of Disneyland?

Thanks everyone.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Hi. I'm wondering if I can get advice from some experts on whether we should go to WDW or Disneyland. Here is our info...

We're a family of 5. Girls aged 6, 6 and 9.

We'll be flying out of Seattle. Flying to Anaheim would be a lot faster and cheaper than flying to Orlando.

We've all been to Disneyland (me and my wife -- many, many times as kids, teens and adults). Kids have been to Disneyland as well. They don't know the difference between Disneyland and WDW. I know there are other resorts at WDW, but the big thing for them would be the rides and characters at the Magic Kingdom.

None of us have ever been to Florida. We'd like to visit Florida at some point, and probably combine our WDW trip with a week or so of visiting Miami and other parts of Florida. This isn't a huge priority on our bucket list, but something we want to eventually do.

I would love your advice on the pros and cons of going to WDW vs Disneyland based on the above. In particular, what is the major draw for a family of 5 to WDW instead of Disneyland?

Thanks everyone.

I got to go to DL for the first time last March and I LOVED it! It was wonderful. I also LOVE WDW too. The biggest difference is the size and distance. MK is not close to the other parks, so you can't walk between the four parks. And the parks in DL are not necessarily in MK, so if, for example, your kids love Star Tours, they'd have to go to Hollywood Studios to ride that. There are tons more Disney hotels to choose from at WDW too. I love staying on property and using the Disney buses, monorails and boats to get around. I don't see any drawbacks, because a trip to either Disney Park on either Coast is a wonderful thing. Good luck with the decision!

 

[cmadara]

Having been to both parks numerous time, I really think it comes down to $.
DL- you don't have to stay on property IMHO- the last time we were there, we stayed right across the street- Park Vue Inn. They were only around $100/night (in August) plus you got breakfast and a small dinner- enough for us to have and then have great snacks in the park in the later evening. This saved us quite a bit of money.
Now when I go to WDW, I would never think of staying off property- too far and too much of a bother. Plus, we LOVE the Poly. Quite a bit more than Park Vue! Plus no "free food" (except if you hit Free Dining)
Since you are flying from the West coast to DL you would save quite a bit of $ in airfare.
If you are coming to WDW, I agree you would probably want to do more than WDW. We are flying in from the East coast to WDW and just do WDW. When we do DL we do other things- usually spend 2 weeks on the West coast.
It's hard to compare the 2 parks because they are so different. Some rides are the same, but it is definately a different vibe between the 2 parks. I love them both!!
Good luck in your decision making. There are certainly a lot of factors involved to make your decision.

 

[cwt580]

go to wdw florida since you have never been. its totally different. like another whole city/state.


You will wanna go back ...trust me.

Ive been to disneyland several times starting in the 60's. its a great park BUT it is sorta a landlocked city amusement park. Its why Walt decided to build in Florida. Room to expand and constantly add.

You could go to wdw several times and still never see/do/eat at everything there is. Besides you could also visit the "darkside"(Universal/Island of Adventure) if harry potter interests anyone....


since you expressed interest in exploring you could stay off-site, save some money, and hit alot of other stuff if enough time. BUT for us we tried the firsttime and fell in love with wdw and is really our only reason to visit florida nowadays. We stay onsite and visit wdw only. There are some ways to save some dollars by proper planning..

Biggest tip for wdw....MAKE ADR's EARLY!!!!!!! and double your expected layout for food but if you go to DL then you know what to expect. if your family can survive on counterservice then you got it made.

 

[niffer5150]

Its worth the extra money and effort to go to wdw. The two places almost aren't even comparable. If you spend 3 days at DL you'd see everything there is to see at least twice. Wdw? I spent 8 days there last time and didn't even come close to seeing everything.

 

[DisneylandDad]

Hi there,

We are west coasters too (San Francisco) and we took our two children last year at this time to WDW for their first trip. They were 5 & 7 at the time and had been to Disneyland before. They really want to go back to WDW! We had an amazing time. You mention the MK, but there are characters in the other parks too. My kids loved Epcot. My daughter met Marie, Jasmine and Mulan there. WDW has all of the experiences that Disneyland has, but just more of them. My children loved eating in the castle, seeing Mickey in AK--things you just can't do at Disneyland. I would recommend going if you can!

 

[1GR8DISNEYFAN]

I grew up going to DL, our family has had APs for years so my kids have grown up with DL, but once we went to WDW we were hooked. There is no comparison. Now when I go to DL I am always a little disappointed, everything seems so small, especially the castle. When you are at WDW you don't ever have to leave the magic. Even the highways between the parks and resorts feel like a grown up version of autopoia. My kids are 22, 22 and 17 and sitll want to travel with mom and dad to WDW. I would say if it is in your budget, choose WDW and stay on site. If you can get free dinning that is another new adventure. My family loved getting to try a new restaurant everyday, which is something we would have never done without free dinning.

 

[loveshak22]

I've never been to DL but would love to. However, I remember one of the facts I heard once about DL is that it could fit into the WDW MK parking lot.

I think it depends on how much time and money you have. If you have the time and money to go to WDW then that would be my vote. You have all 4 parks at WDW and depending on the time of year you also have the water parks - definitely a lot more to do!

Then as someone else posted you could explore Universal, Discovery Cove, Sea World, etc.

 

[1GR8DISNEYFAN]

I just reread the ages of your children and I see they are still young ,for some reason I thought you had teenagers, so in that case DL might be a better choice. Especially if you are going to spend most of your time at MK. There is a lot less walking to do. MK and DL basically seem the same, DL is just on a smaller scale, California Adventure is just a short walk out of DL and they have the new Radiator Springs, and The Little Mermaid Ride. At WDW it is at least 20 -30 minutes to get from one park to another, or resort to park, possibly even longer. If you stay at the DL Hotel, you can just walk to the monorail to enter the park or take a short walk through DTD to enter the park. Maybe save WDW for when the kids are a little older and you would be more interested in visiting the other parks at WDW.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

I've been to both and WDW wins hands down, IMO.

I have not been since DCA opened, though, and Cars Land tugs at me.

When pricing out the vacations, for us living in the middle of the country airfare is about the same and I don't see any great savings as far as being in the parks in DL vs. WDW. Actually, I think I get more for my vacation dollars at WDW. (This is subjective to each person's vacation goals, though.)

Sometimes I think it's simply that I prefer Florida over California.

 

[Pakey]

I live a few hours from DLR but I am flying to WDW 3 times this year! All of my children and grandchildren prefer WDW to DLR.

I think DLR's MK park is better than WDWs (excluding the castle). I may change my mind after the Fantasyland expansion is done. So if my vacation was going to focus on MK, I would put off the expense and hassle of flying across the country until the children are older. For an overall Disney vacation, WDW is a much bigger experience.

 

[flyergrad09]

I think your kids are at good ages for their first visit to WDW. Yes, everything is bigger, so there's more walking, but if you plan it out well, you can make it so that your kids won't be exhausted by mid-afternoon. Or, make it so that they are tired, but go back to the hotel for a short rest.

One of the big advantages to WDW is that if you stay on property, you can use Disney's Magical Express for free to and from the airport, while I believe that the bus service for the Disneyland area hotels charges a fee (and isn't run by Disney). Of course, if you want to do Universal and Sea World, you'd need a car, but for getting around the Disney property you never have to drive if you don't want to.

If you're on a budget, the family suites at the value resorts are fantastic and basically designed for your family's size and ages. I know your pain on finding places to stay because my family growing up was a family of 5 and someone always wound up sleeping on an air mattress on vacations! Here's more info on good places for families of 5: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/planning-guides/in-depth-advice/groups/

Another thing to consider is how long of a vacation you're willing to take. WDW requires at least 5 days to see everything, and that's if you're not taking nap/swim breaks. Disneyland is more of a 3-day weekend place (if you don't do anything else in SoCal).

I don't know how soon your oldest daughter turns 10, but if she'll still be 9 for awhile, and you're planning on using the Dining Plan, I'd try to get your trip in while she can still get the child price.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[MMS1125]

Port Orleans Riverside would be the cheapest option for 5. If you could go during free dining it wouldn't be that horrible of an expense over DL. The ages of your girls I think is perfect. They are still considered Disney kids and such a great age to absorb the magic.

 

[Lynne M]

Since your primary interest seems to be the theme parks of WDW, I'm going to move this over to the Theme Parks board.