WDW vs DL advice needed

[gzh6464]

I'm a seasoned WDW veteran but have never been to DL. Planning a trip for Pres Week '12.

How are the parks diffierent?
How many days to cover DL?
What attractions are unique to DL and not found in WDW?
What attractions are duplicated? Is it worth doing them if
already seen in WDW (obviously some I want to do in both parks
but some already seen at WDW I may skip because of limited time)
DIning recs?
Show Recs?

Anything else (have alloted about 3 days only)?
Any touring plans...advice of accomplishing the most in least amount of times.
What has fast pass? Rider swap? (I'm pretty seasoned at this at WDW, no clue at DL)

Thx All

 

[Scribble Kitty]

You're in luck! This tread here was written especially for you and should prove most helpful.

DLR Guide for WDW Vets

 

[mrswh]

Well, first of all, you need to look in the stickies for Hydroguy's DLR for WDW vets thread. It has a ton of great info!

I have been to each several times and while they are both great, the big difference to me is the ease of park hopping at DLR. You can get so much more accomplished at DLR in the same amount of time as at WDW, because the two parks and DTD are all right next door to one another. I mean, literally less than 2 minutes to walk from any entrance to the other. You don't need to take a boat, tram, monorail, bus, etc.

You will also find that, while there are super close offsite hotels, the onsite hotels are MUCH closer to the parks than any of the onsite hotels at WDW. GCH is right IN DCA . . . awesome and so convenient. The way I think of it, the monorail at DLR is a ride, not a form of transportation. If you stay onsite or close by offsite you don't need a single form of transportation your entire stay other than your own two feet.

I will throw in one other thing - POTC at DLR blows away the WDW version. Don't miss it! The Aladdin show is great - I mean, really impressive, and we love Animation Academy, which I don't believe they have at WDW.

The only thing I miss about WDW when I'm at DLR is the take-your-breath-away moment of walking into MK and seeing that castle at the end of Main Street. Sleeping Beauty's castle is nice in its own right (and we love the walkthrough) but it's just not the same, for me anyway.

Happy planning!!

 

[valiamo]

Having been to both WDW and DLR many times over the years, there are the same rides, but they are slightly different. Space Mountain on WDW is not as dark as DLR, Pirates seems to be a little longer at DLR. WDW has the Areosmith Ride, while DLR has the Califorina Sceamer.

3 Days is sufficient to do both parks, as they are so close. Most of the Disney Hotels and Good Neighbour hotels are an easy walking distance to the main gate area.

Have a great time!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Right now, I recommend 3 to 4 days for the entire resort. 2 days for Disneyland, 1 for DCA, and 1 to revisit the highlights. Do not be fooled by Disneyland's smaller footprint when compared to the MK. Disneyland has more attractions and rides than the MK.

The only DLR attractions I would skip if I had to would be Winnie the Pooh (different, but not as good as the MK version), Soarin' (better queue in Anaheim), Tower of Terror (DHS version better), and Toy Story Mania (DHS has a much more interesting queue, but Anaheim's fits the theme better). Others may add Star Tours, but I can never skip that.

Otherwise, I think most of the common attractions are different enough that it's worth checking out. I've heard comments from quite a few WDW veterans about how they were surprised to find that Disneyland had a better version of multiple attractions. I've even heard some MK CMs return from Disneyland comment about how they've seen what the MK is supposed to be. Don't mistake this to mean that I hate the MK. I don't. But if WDW were to close Epcot, I may never go back there again.