Would you spend more $ to go to DisneyLand?

[ancestry]

I do like Disneyland and if you haven't done it before I do think it is worth the trip.

However, I find that it isn't as much of a "destination" as WDW is, at least in my opinion. I can't make an entire 10 vacation a DL vacation like I can a WDW vacation. Again in my opinion WDW has a much greater variety of activities in addition to the parks than DL does. Those additional activities are of a value to us and help to make a trip a vacation.

 

[bethy]

I love both WDW and DL but do prefer DL if I had to choose. I would never, ever go in the summer or during any Holiday break. I do include weekends in my trips during the offseason because there are more entertainment options like fireworks and shows during those times. I always follow the tried and true patterns of arriving at rope drop, doing all the rides and collecting fast passes in the morning - take a long mid-day break by the pool and then enjoying a stress free evening perusing the parks.

I HEART Disneyland (and Southern CA for that matter.) Attraction-wise, it only has 10% fewer attractions than WDW (not counting things like golf and parasailing, of course).

The weather beats Florida's hands down at any time of the year. That's one of the biggest advantages it has over WDW. That, and it's more magical to me and the fact that everything is RIGHT there - no busses and travelling from park to park. It's esp wonderful if you stay at the GCH.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I DLR ~ prefer it over WDW *the only thing DLR is missing IMO is Epcot's World Showcase ~ S CA is beautiful. I wouldn't say to avoid the summer or holidays *we visited over the 4th of July weekend this year and it was fantastic ~ we're also visiting over Thanksgiving weekend! You should check out the DLR DIS board *it's my favorite ~ http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=26
Also check out this thread *and from there HydroGuy's tips *they're wonderful ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072276

And why I say you might not want to avoid the summer or holiday weekends ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2365983

 

[hambirg]

Yes. I think if you've never been it is worth it.

DL park, in my opinion, is much better than MK. Visit the DL boards here. We always stay across the street on Harbor Blvd. You can really easily walk everywhere from there. I like to plan 4 days to be able to see everything and hit our favorites again. The dining options aren't that great, but we get along fine with CS and off site options. The nice thing about DLR is that you're in southern California! I would plan some time to head over to LA (Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Universal, etc.) It's a lot of fun.

 

[pixiewings71]

When my husband and I flew to Australia last summer, we planned an extra couple of days to go to Disneyland first. We bought a 2-day park hopper and stayed at the Grand Californian. We got there, checked in (rude employees - we were very shocked) and started with the park that has the castle (can't think of the name of it this morning!), not California Adventure. It was so crowded, so small and lines so ridiculously long, we only spent a couple of hours there. We looked at California's Adventure park on the way out and saw the swarms of people walking in and said forget it! We actually went back to the front desk and got a refund on our ticket since we did not hop and turned it into a one day ticket only. We spent the next day just walking around the area and shops. I could not imagine taking my three kids there in those crowds (it was not the weekend, but school was out for the summer. It was just SO crowded that it was not fun at all. We couldn't even walk together in the parks, had to be one behind the other!

ummm that park would be Disneyland..... I'm sorry you had rude CM's at GCH, we stayed there once and never had a problem with the staff, in fact it's our favorite hotel in the area and many times we will wander in there and just sit in the lobby, listen to the piano or go to storytime in the fireplace area. We've done that at least 10 times and we only stayed at the GCH once, the CM's have always treated us with respect whether we are resort guests or not. I think perhaps you went without reading the tips and tricks on the Disneyland part of this board, DL is very different from WDW and many locals (and non-locals) have APs. We've been to DLR/DCA many times and we never wait more then 20 min. for a ride (unless it's TSMM because DCA does not have FP for that one, our standard wait time for that ride is 30-40 min), you just have to use FP's when it's busy. If you decide to go back come see us on the DLR board and perhaps we can make your visit more enjoyable.

Having been to both, I would say "Yes" (even though I live much closer to WDW). Here's my reasoning:

• The Disneyland Resort, as a whole, is much smaller -- hence, a more "intimate" experience - especially if you have little ones with you.
  
• DLP has many classic attractions that have "come and gone" at WDW
  
• "Park Hopping" at DLR consists of a 50-yard walk between the gates of DLP and Disney California Adventure. No buses!
  
• OP is right -- it's where it all began -- Walt Disney, himself planned and supervised the building of this park from the ground up. WDW wouldn't even begin construction until after Walt Disney passed-away in 1966.

As for the local area -- of course, there is Universal Studios Hollywood, LegoLand, Knotts Berry Farm, and if you head towards San Diego, there is the San Diego Zoo and Sea World.

ITA with this post. OP you should visit DL if you have the chance to. For us this question is the opposite, it's much more $$$ for us to go to WDW but we know we want to someday. We DL/DCA and there are ways to save on the budget end of it. Please come see us on the DL section of the board, you'll find all kinds of info there and we love to answer questions.

 

[hipchickie]

We went to DL a few years ago at the end of jan/ beginning of february, and loved it. Yes, it is different, but not in a bad way. I would totally, totally say go for it if you can.

It is much smaller, but it is set up so lovely, you find a surprise around each corner. My DH prefers DL to MK. The CM's there and WDW have a bit of a rivalry, but nothing mean spirited - they are VERY proud of the fact that Walt had such a hand in the park, that you can point out a tree that walt planted himself. I also love DTD at DL, but generally skip it at WDW or only spend a couple hours. DTD there is more a "part" of the park area (DTD, CA, and DL are all open onto the same plaza, and you easily walk to the entrance of one to another.
At that time of year, on a weekday, we pretty much walked onto every ride. Weekend was busier, but not crazy

I second the citipass, DL will take you ~at the most~ 3 days, plan to go to LA and/or SD as well.

Weather can be cold - our first day in LA it was freezing (literally - DH looked out and said "I think the parking lot has ice in it!" I just laughed at him, but he was right!!) but it also can be very cold in WDW that month, so I think that is a tossup

Perks - small and not so tiring, different rides.
Cons- May never see fireworks, we had them cancelled every single night due to wind blowing the wrong direction. never saw phantasmic either.

One other note, there is a ton of hotel options off site, and in short walking distance. Stay offsite to save some money - we stayed at the Candy Cane, and I would highly recommend it. Also a lot easier to eat out of the park to save some money....

 

[MinnieForMe]

Thank you everyone! I will pitch it to my husband tonight and will check out the Disneyland board.

As we own RCI property has anyone stayed in a timeshare near Disneyland? I'd love to hear an RCI recommendation.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

I have been going to Disney World since I was very little. Then two years ago, we went to Disneyland and we didn't like it at all. The cast members are not at all like the cast members at Disney World. We just didn't feel the magic that you feel at Disney World. It was very crowded since there are only 2 parks and the California park closes earlier than Disneyland so everyone just heads over there at the same time. At this point, we just left because it was too small for such insanity. I think that we are spoiled with the size of Disney World compared to Disneyland. We were only there one day and that was plenty. If we were to ever go back, it would be just for a day visit and not for an entire vacation. The one thing we did like was the Wine Country Trattoria restaurant at the California park. It was very nice and relaxing. I would love to see them build something like this at Disney World. But I definately would not spend more money to go to Disneyland. It just is not worth it. And when we went to DL it was May. I wasn't planning to go to WDW that summer but after the huge let down of DL, I found myself at WDW in July lol. I just needed to get my proper Disney fix and DL didn't cut it.

 

[J. Galt]

I am a WDW veteran who has gone to DL for the past two years. I had NO interest in going to DL initially, but my DH really wanted to go (it is the park of his youth) so I reluctantly agreed. I really thought the place was going to be a dump. Long story short... I LOVED it! We live in the middle of the country and found the grand total of the trip wasn't that much different from our grand total for a WDW trip. Our flights cost more and we had to rent a car for DL, but our hotel was WAY less (it isn't such a big deal to stay "onsite" like at WDW) and our dining was way less too (soooo easy to leave the park and dine at one of the offsite restaurants or just grab something back in your room). The costs were just shifted around a bit, that was all.

We are going back to WDW this year and and I am really going to miss DL.... can't wait to get back there!

 

[pixiewings71]

Thank you everyone! I will pitch it to my husband tonight and will check out the Disneyland board.

As we own RCI property has anyone stayed in a timeshare near Disneyland? I'd love to hear an RCI recommendation.

We own with Shell, we stay at the Peacock Suites sometimes when we go to DL but RCI (we also own with RCI but we just recently got that one so we haven't used any points yet) will have a lot more choices, pretty sure that RCI will let you exchange at the Villas at the Grand Californian, which are at the GCH so you would be "on-site" if you could get that. You might be able to stay at the DLH & PPH as well doing an exchange but again, we just got our RCI points so I don't know about that. I do know that there is a Wyndham that's pretty much brand new that's very close (right next to the Anaheim Garden Walk that has a ton of yummy places to eat, AGW is an outdoor mall) and I would consider that walkable. I wouldn't say that the Peacock is tho, when we stayed there we always drove to the parks unless it was just DBF and I, then we walked in the morning and took a taxi back at night. Seriously tho, come on down to the DLR boards and ask this question there.

 

[brymolmom]

I have been going to Disney World since I was very little. Then two years ago, we went to Disneyland and we didn't like it at all. The cast members are not at all like the cast members at Disney World. We just didn't feel the magic that you feel at Disney World. It was very crowded since there are only 2 parks and the California park closes earlier than Disneyland so everyone just heads over there at the same time. At this point, we just left because it was too small for such insanity. I think that we are spoiled with the size of Disney World compared to Disneyland. We were only there one day and that was plenty. If we were to ever go back, it would be just for a day visit and not for an entire vacation. The one thing we did like was the Wine Country Trattoria restaurant at the California park. It was very nice and relaxing. I would love to see them build something like this at Disney World. But I definately would not spend more money to go to Disneyland. It just is not worth it. And when we went to DL it was May. I wasn't planning to go to WDW that summer but after the huge let down of DL, I found myself at WDW in July lol. I just needed to get my proper Disney fix and DL didn't cut it.

I have to agree with a lot of this - while I LOVED DLR and will return someday...the CM's and the whole atmosphere is just not the 'MOST' Disney-esque....Like you know how Disney is known all over for being the best at moving thousands of people thru lines in the most efficient way possible...While I do feel that at WDW, I did NOT at DLR. 99% of the nametags were locals - so to them it is more like workign down the street at their local amusement park - instead of those CM's who move across the country or the world to work at WDW...it is just a different feel and devotion from those CM's.

At DL I waited in the Ice Cream shop on Main Street for about 25 - 30 minutes and there were only 8 people in front of me...And at no time during the 45 minutes I was in the shop did any one CM react - get another worker - add more ice cream scoopers (one problem is that 3 people were taking orders and only 1 was making the orders - takes awhile to make the milkshakes and sundaes - thus the bottleneck). Another time at a CS restaurant (back next to Pooh ride) - I waited about 40 minutes for my meal - I don't think i've ever had a wait that long at WDW (and this was NOT prime mealtime either). There aren't as many standby line wait time signs - so we asked seveal CM's at the front of the rides for approx wait times based on how far back the line was - there were not many who really tried to give us an actual answer to this. We had the submarine ride break down (one sub) twice while we were in line on two different days...when the line stopped there was no communication or attempt to let the people in line know that it would be an extended wait - no offers of FP's for it breaking while in line like I've heard can happen on occassion in similar circumstances at WDW.

That said - LOVED staying offsite and walking - LOVED HOJO - loved the fireworks - loved the parks right next to each other. I want to go back!

 

[Taja]

I grew up at and with Disneyland and love it! CA, not quite so much, but I've only been there once. It isn't part of my history.

We spend more to visit WDW, since we're in the western US. As others have noted, DLR/CA is less a vacation destination in itself, but there is a lot to do in southern California! In some ways it requires more planning than WDW does, because you are dealing with a lot of different entities--not everything is Disney!

I would not recommend visiting southern California in February. I lived there for 25+ years, and it tends to be a rather cold and dreary month. It can have some wonderful weather, but over all...

May also tends to be variable. A bit more warmth, but also can be a bit nippy if the jet stream dips down. Typically, 60s and 70s during the day, but can dip down into the 50s or warm up into the 80s pushing 90. Personally, I would prefer May to February, but I'm not one who enjoys bundling up in winter gear. Winter by my standards, at least! *LOL*

Is it worth spending more money? It really depends on you and your family. Your trip would need to encompass more than just DLR/CA to make the travel costs viable, but it could be a wonderful experience!

 

[hipchickie]

As we own RCI property has anyone stayed in a timeshare near Disneyland? I'd love to hear an RCI recommendation.

I have not been there with RCI, but we checked into it, just wanted to let you know I am pretty positive they let you split the time, so you do not have to stay a full week - you can stay a only a couple days anaheim

 

[pearlieq]

I was standing in front of the Haunted Mansion and I could not find The Haunted Mansion.

I, uh, was 3/4 of the way down the queue for the Jungle Cruise at DL before I realized I was actually in line for Indiana Jones!