Disneyland vs Disneyworld

Suprize2017

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
For those of you who have been to both, what do you think the pros and cons are to each park? From where we live, airfare to Orlando is outrageous, it’s much cheaper to fly to Orange County. We’ve been to Disney World twice in the last three years and I went to Disneyland many, many years ago when I was in college. I’m having a hard time mustering up any interest in Disneyland, even though, on paper, it seems more financially friendly. It just seems like it would be a let down after all the parks that make up Disney World. But I know there are people that love D-land more than D-world, so I really want to know why. I know that comparing a pre-family, many years ago, trip to a recent, with family, trip isn’t really a fair comparison.

(If it matters, my kids are my 13 year old daughter and my 12 year old twin boys)

I would imagine there is already a thread discussing this, so if someone can direct me to where it is, that would be great! Otherwise, I would love to hear the opinions from those of you who have been to both parks more recently.
 
DL has more rides in a much smaller geographic area.

The DL versions of rides are generally better than their WDW counterparts.

Park hopping is literally a five minute walk.

Cars Land.

DL’s Fantasmic has better elements.

It’s where Walt walked.

California weather beats Florida weather every time.
 
For those of you who have been to both, what do you think the pros and cons are to each park? From where we live, airfare to Orlando is outrageous, it’s much cheaper to fly to Orange County. We’ve been to Disney World twice in the last three years and I went to Disneyland many, many years ago when I was in college. I’m having a hard time mustering up any interest in Disneyland, even though, on paper, it seems more financially friendly. It just seems like it would be a let down after all the parks that make up Disney World. But I know there are people that love D-land more than D-world, so I really want to know why. I know that comparing a pre-family, many years ago, trip to a recent, with family, trip isn’t really a fair comparison.

(If it matters, my kids are my 13 year old daughter and my 12 year old twin boys)

I would imagine there is already a thread discussing this, so if someone can direct me to where it is, that would be great! Otherwise, I would love to hear the opinions from those of you who have been to both parks more recently.
Just within the last few days...

Difference between WDW & Disneyland - https://www.disboards.com/threads/difference-between-wdw-disneyland.3663416/

Disneyland experts - Do I expect too much? - https://www.disboards.com/threads/disneyland-experts-do-i-expect-too-much.3664646/

1st timer - https://www.disboards.com/threads/1st-timer.3664748/

:wizard:
 


I like Disneyland slightly more.

Disneyland pros:
1. Fastpass system is SO much better. Yes, you can’t book them until the day of, but this makes the availability of FP SO much bigger. (For example, 7DMT at Disney World will for sure be gone days in advance but at Disneyland Radiator Springs Racers won’t be out until maybe 4 hours have passed since the park has opened) At Disneyland you can get one a lot more often (every 90 mins with extra $10 per person per day fee for Maxpass or every 2 hours without a fee. If there all day, you could easily get 10 FPs. At Disney World, it’s hard to even get 4.)
2. You can get more done in one day since everything is just split into 2 parks- there’s more rides in each park (they have a lot of the same rides)
3. You can easily walk there from a nearby hotel, while at Disney World you have to pay for parking unless you stay at a Disney hotel. Also, you can’t park directly at the Magic Kingdom (you take the Monorail, bus, or ferry.)

Disney World pros:
1. WiFi is much better there. They have it throughout all the parks, resorts, etc. Disneyland has it in certain spots throughout their parks.
2. Because it has 4 parks, you have an excuse to stay longer.
 
For those of you who have been to both, what do you think the pros and cons are to each park? From where we live, airfare to Orlando is outrageous, it’s much cheaper to fly to Orange County. We’ve been to Disney World twice in the last three years and I went to Disneyland many, many years ago when I was in college. I’m having a hard time mustering up any interest in Disneyland, even though, on paper, it seems more financially friendly. It just seems like it would be a let down after all the parks that make up Disney World. But I know there are people that love D-land more than D-world, so I really want to know why. I know that comparing a pre-family, many years ago, trip to a recent, with family, trip isn’t really a fair comparison.

(If it matters, my kids are my 13 year old daughter and my 12 year old twin boys)

I would imagine there is already a thread discussing this, so if someone can direct me to where it is, that would be great! Otherwise, I would love to hear the opinions from those of you who have been to both parks more recently.
We have been to WDW several times and went on our first DLR trip in November. As central Texans, we don't live close to either resort. We always fly in, and we always stay onsite.

Both resorts are wonderful places that have their advantages when compared with each other. Here is my opinion:

WDW Pros:
  • WDW is the better choice for a longer vacation (7+ days) than DLR due to the greater variety of attractions, including an animal-themed park, water parks, minigolf, boating activities, bowling at DS, horseback riding at the campgrounds, carriage rides at certain resorts, etc.
  • WDW has more and better on-property resorts. The resorts are so imaginatively themed, staying there is as much a part of the experience for us as touring the parks. WDW also has some deluxe resorts available at lower price points and with more regular discounts than DLR. It's very expensive to stay onsite at DLR, even at their cheapest (and not particularly appealing) resort.
  • WDW has more and better table service dining restaurants than DLR (even when you adjust this comparison for the size of DLR). Some of WDW's restaurants & dinner shows are high-quality attractions in and of themselves.
  • WDW's spread-out design really contributes to a "you're in a whole other world" feeling, aka the bubble. Even if you stay onsite at DLR and never leave Disney property, there isn't as much of a bubble feeling at DLR.
  • WDW resorts get complimentary Magical Express transportation to & from the airport, which is sorely lacking at DLR resorts.
  • WDW has a better castle.
DLR Pros:
  • DLR is the better choice for a weekend getaway type of vacation when you want to cram in as many rides as possible into a short trip. The DLR parks' compact sizes & close promiximity to one another make getting a lot of rides done in a short time very possible if you're able to take advantage of block-out dates, EMH and RideMax.
  • DLR has a lot more rides per park than WDW, and more very high-quality rides per park than WDW.
  • DLR has more characters in the open areas of Disneyland Park than Magic Kingdom has at WDW.
  • DLR, particularly Disneyland Park, has more little Disney touches here and there. I won't try to list examples. Suffice it to say that those extra little bits of theming and style here and there add up.

Since my WDW list is longer than my DLR list, at first glance WDW might seem better, but I wouldn't say either is definitively better. For us, WDW is better, because an onsite resort and table service dining are big parts of the Disney experience for us.

If you take resorts and dining out of the equation and just focus on park touring, I'd give the edge to DLR for the fact that you can get a lot more rides done in one day, if you can take advantage of crowd-lessening factors like block-out dates, EMH & RideMax.
 
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My thoughts-
DL pro's - cheaper airfare for us and shorter flight too, everything is convenient and close to walk too, park hopping is easy, BEST space mountain, prefer the food and much easier to enjoy the restaurants without booking so far in advance, LOVE DL fast pass system and maxpass was SO awesome for us.
con's - smaller space gets crowded easier than WDW, smaller (comfortably done in 3-4 days yet we feel that time is just skimming the surface at wdw - this is actually a pro for short trips though!)

WDW pros - you are immersed in a disney bubble, so much choice for food options, multiple parks and experiences far more to do than DL, magic band makes it easy to enter and pay for stuff, can rely on disney transport completely, not really Disney but Universal Florida has the best Harry Potter experience and we loved visiting that too.
cons- HATE the fast pass system, everything takes ages to get too not just via the bus transport system but even walking the parks you just can't fit in so many rides in a day than you can at DL, accomodation is pricier (being international and not wanting the hassle of having a car you have to stay on property which is costly compared to California where we can stay across the road close to the parks for a very reasonable price).

For us - we have been doing shorter trips so DL has been our preference and really with the ease of not having to plan ahead with restaurants and fast passes it just edges in ahead for us. For a long trip WDW is enjoyable but we will wait until Star Wars is complete before going back.
 


There are lots of "technical" pros and cons to each park. I love the "feel" of Disneyland over Disneyworld. I love being able to walk back and forth in less than 5 minutes between the two parks.
I went to World once and I'm good with that. I go to DL twice a year and I live in Oklahoma. We're smack in the middle of the country and could go to either without much difference. We choose DL almost every time.
 
We live on the west coast, Pacific NW, so DL is lots cheaper for me. But as you can see I always go to WDW. I just finally went to DL last September! We loved it.

It’s a different vacation, we don’t stay onsite. Discounts for onsite hotels aren’t good enough for us to stay there so we stay offsite at a hotel within walking distance.
At DL we aren’t in “the bubble” and it’s good and bad. The good is that we sometimes eat at offsite options near hotel and there’s a CVS within walking distance to pick up odds & ends. And offsite is more economical.
DL is a shorter vacation, 6 nights vs 14 at wdw.

WDW is more relaxing, we stay onsite at one of the resorts, and it feels like a resort. Beautiful grounds, themed pools, and we stay 2 weeks generally. Touring parks is more relaxing, we go in the morning, we’re rope drop people, then take afternoon breaks at the pool. In the Disney Bubble. The downside is the expense.

I can see us alternating and going to DL in Spring, and WDW for the good Labour Day rates and low crowds. It’s what we’re doing this year, DL in beginning of May and WDW in September.
 

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