Background: Born and raised in the South, been going to WDW since I was 9 or 10. DVC member and been to WDW too many times to count. I am 28 and know I have crossed the threshold of MK at least 50 times in my life. My oldest two daughters are certifiable Disney nuts. Two years for my oldest we took a last second very magical trip to celebrate high school graduation to WDW for 24 hours of Disney - was able to do the Mine Train the very first day it was officially opened.
Fast forward two years, middle daughter's turn and I up the ante - lets hot the west coast. Same plan - 3 days in the parks staying onsite. I had been to DL for one day 15 years ago and never DCA. Everyone else in the party included my long lost red headed nephew had never been.
Some observations:
- As DVC members, stayed in a 2 bedroom villa (4518) in GCH - loved the this hotel and it totally made the trip. The ability to walk into either park was so convenient. DCA felt like are own little park. GCH has the right blend of WL and GF to me. I really like this resort way too much for it to be that far away.
- The closeness between parks (heard about it but has to be experienced) has us popping between parks at will. Finish riding California Screaming with a lunch reservation at Blue Bayou - no problem. Hopping parks at WDW is a planned chore. I have done 4 parks in 1 day and it took some luck and planning.
- The weather was amazing - not dealing with the Florida heat and humidity was great. At point on Sunday the feel temperature in Orlando was 97 and 70 in Anaheim. Sweatshirts in late May??
- DCA was pleasant surprise - feels like the best of the other three parks of WDW. WE loved Californai Screamin (but its no RnR).
- Grizzy Freezing - our nickname - was fun. We rode three times in a row Friday afternoon in our bathing suits and then were able to jump in the hot tub at the GCH pool. That was truly fun,
- Got to see the new Frozen show opening day and then again Sunday. Very good show but it was a huge time commitment. Think 2 plus hours to see the show. Its good but my wife and I kind like the Sing A Long more. The show just seemed to drag a bit.
- Resort feel - Sorry but DLR lacks the WDW resort feel. Arriving Thursday night after a long flight, we just kind were there. We are so use to seeing the Welcome sign at WDW. DLR tries so hard but it is not a fair fight. GCH could be transplanted tomorrow to WDW and fit right in but even that struggles to feel super resorty.
- Ride comparison time:
- Loved HyperSpace - and super jealous. WDW Space is faster but so much harder to ride.
- Big Thunder - call it a push at best but we liked WDW more. Its a long story but the slick bottoms of the seats at WDW allow me and my daughters to squish each other which is way too fun
- Splash - wow what a absolute travesty at DL. Rode it twice to make sure my opinion was skewed
- Indy Jones - remembered liking it better - had technical difficulties right before we got on. Still tons better than Dinosaur which I actively avoid.
- Pirates - yeah not close - DL
- It was nice that Toy Story Mania was not some super wait but it is the same
- I was kind of underwhelmed by Radiator Springs Racers - I was expecting something more. Kind of missed Test Track
- But Cars Land is the closest to HP World - and weirdly kind of hope it remains unique to DCA as it fits so well
- Tower of Terror - sorry west coast but come see the real one sometime
- Mr Toad - I totally forgotten what a strange story it was. He goes to hell in the end?
- Pinocchio - really won't miss it
- Soarin - there were no Smells both times which made us all mad.
- The Pixar Parade and Paint the Night are amazing. I liked World of Color too but notnearly as much as the two parades.
- Food time:
- Blue Bayou - awesome place and good food. BOG is the closest thing to this at ML but that is not really fair.
- Love the diversity of the food.
- Can we get some churros at WDW - I know they are there but we loved them
- We have been a character breakfast family in the past. Did the one at PCH - food was good but it was so underwhelming. The size of the restaurant and the setting felt so well unmagical. Nothing against the food - but the entire thing fely like I was eating at a dressed up Golden Corral. My wife suggested we are possibly over this experience and she may well be right. But the character breakfast at say Ohanas looking on to the lagoon with the Castle in the background, getting family style food is really been a family favorite.
- We ate dinner the last night Wine Country at DCA. Great setting. The service was well lackluster and the food - although good Italian was on the small size.
- I would say DLR has better food in the parks given the size of the parks compared to WDW but the sheer diversity of WDW might win out. For example, we almost never eat at AK. Just our family.
- I do wish we had the mickey beignets at WDW
- Downtown Disney - I know Disney Springs is still elvolving but Downtown Disney at DLR was a very pleasant surprise. We really liked it and how it worked.
- Cast Members
- This is the strangest one. Why - I never encounter a single CM who was rude or not pleasant. But there was never the same magical feel. Not sure why - they were super helpful especially with my middle daughter being in a wheel chair. But it was plain.
Overall park experience - DL was crowded and at times hard to get around. The narrowness with pushing a wheel chair was overwhelming at times. It felt more crowded than it was because of the narrowness. In MK, there is a couple of places in the park that are traffic jam places. At DL, there were many. Like I said, I love DCA and would trade it for HS (minus RnR and ToT) in 30 seconds.
We did early entry each day and that was a help. Weirdly on Friday, it took forever to enter DCA via GCH and by the time the park opened we had only done one ride. Oh well.
DLR has such a local vibe. So much more than WDW has. WDW is a destination more than DLR in some respects. Also, not sure if ti was just me but Spanish was the dominant language especially at DL on Sunday. not that you don't here foreign languages at WDW but there was point I was wondering if maybe I was in South America
My summary - I think every true hard core WDW vet needs to visit DL, if only to see where Walt walked and at least to me, see the place that you have seen on TV (and Soarin). I will likely be back some time down the road. It was a bucket list item for sure. Like so many said, having grown going to WDW, it is home . MK in Florida is where my heart is at. I respect DL and the legacy. We had a ton of fun with some amazing memories.
Thanks to this board for some many helpful tips. Anyone heading east I am glad to share all of mine.
P.S. One really fun thing we did which is not easy at WDW - Friday night we took an Uber to In-n-Out. Totally a California experience and fun. Not that you can not eat off property at WDW but it would be a tad more expensive.
). The DCA version always seems like the same ride to me.
