To Disney World or not for a DL fan

1) flying is what it is. It became a bit more tolerable to me when I started upgrading my legroom. The early boarding and extra couple inches helps me mentally dealing with it all I think (nervous flyer here). In my experience it’s approx $25/hour of flying to upgrade to premium economy type seats though so whether or not I do it depends on my budget for each trip!

2) I’m going to be blunt: you’re screwed if you can’t check this off. You have to book the coolest restaurants 180+10(or however long your trip is) or its entirely possible you won’t get in. Likewise you MUST book FP at 60+ out at 4AM PST or you won’t get anything “great” (Flight of Passage -OMG FREAKING AMAZING!!! take motion sick meds if prone to motion sickness- slinky dog dash, seven dwarfs are the other 2 hard to get FPs). If you don’t book FPs to these you’re gonna have some long waits. Still possible to do them but who wants to spend 3 hours in line for 1 ride? (I’m looking at you FoP!)

3) ok. why are you going to WDW then? This makes no sense to me. Why not put your energy and time and money into a bucket list item instead of something that will make you go “eh”?... Ah, I re-read and you’re chasing nostalgia. I can’t blame you there. I think that’s definitely part of why I love DL so much! Only you can decide if it’s worth giving up a DL trip for. Personally, I’d aim for an overseas trip now (but that is a LOT more plane time!) and go to WDW around the 50th or after so you get: SWL, Tron, New Epcot nightshow, Guardians, Ratatouille- and that’s all the new stuff just off the top of my head coming in the next few years. If you might only go once make it count!

4) you’ll be fine. WDW has a lot of appeal to adults by way of the obscene amount of restaurant selections & alcoholic drinks that are prevalent throughout the parks

5) “imagine” plane tickets cost more than gas. Have you looked? Take imagination out of this equation and get some cold hard numbers to work with.

I love the F&W festival at Epcot so if you do a trip to WDW I’d encourage you to do it during F&W. It’s like CA F&W times 3 booth wise with an international flair/focus because Epcot.
 
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From someone that tried to sleep on a 5 hour non stop flight last night...don’t do it. Unless you get some sleeping pills or a flight with a lay down bed. Lol I’m still miserable. There is no comfortable position. And I had one of the few empty seats next to me on the flight!!

I agree! The only comfortable position I found was putting my head on my tray table. On a 5 hour non stop you'll get maybe 1-2 hours of sleep and even that wont be very restful. The excitement of being at Disney kept me going during the day but I ended up sleeping for like 10 hours that night.
 
The common knock on Walt Disney World reminds me of the late great Yogi Berra, who once said, "No wonder nobody comes here; it's always so crowded!"
 


My husband and I (we don't have kids) went to WDW back in February and though he'd been to EPCOT once as a late teen/early 20s and I'd been to MK and EPCOT as a baby (mid-80s), it was essentially a first trip for us, especially considering how much WDW resort has changed since then/we didn't really remember when we were there.

We really had *the* most fantastic time and I'd recommend it to DLR fans, also. DLR is 4 and a half hours away from where we live by car and has our hearts, but WDW is pretty awesome in and of itself. It's huge, there's plenty to do, and it's just a great experience all around. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and LOVED that resort as well. I liked the pre-planning and most of it held pretty well it being just the two of us.
 
I would definitely go. I live local to DL and go to WDW at least twice a year. Have an AP for both coasts! I just love it. For me WDW is more of a vacation since I live so close to DL (I know - not the case for you). There is also a lot of things I love at WDW that are not at DL. These include:
  • Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot - such a great time of year and some great food booths
  • Food and Wine - I know Disneyland has one, but the Epcot one just seems bigger and very different variety of food. Also great for a couple with no kids.
  • Animal Kingdom - I cannot express how much I love this park. I could ride the safari over and over all day (and have done as many as 5 in 1 day). Flight of Passage is the single most amazing ride I have ever been on.
  • Toy Story Land - really cute and well done. We love Slinky Dog!
  • Restaurants - We love love love Chefs de France (Epcot), Teppan Edo (epcot - man now I am dreaming of the filet mignon and the spinach from the grill), Le Cellier (Epcot), Kona Cafe (Polynesian), and Boma (AKL).
  • Resorts - There is something for everyone, but our favorites include Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge (where else will I ever see a giraffe from my balcony first thing in the morning), Boardwalk, and Polynesian.
There are direct flights from LAX and those are around 4-5 hours typically (depends on wind or something), so I am sure SFO would have direct as well. Kind of feel like that is a connection I have been offered looking online at flights.

In terms of the planning, I do plan park and restaurant each day. I also pre-book the fastpasses, but we frequently change or skip them as we get caught up with something else. Because of the charge at the restaurant, we are cognizant to make our reservations. But you can also book dining reservations and fastpasses day of - you probably will not get all the choices available, but you will be able to get something.
 
I would definitely go. I live local to DL and go to WDW at least twice a year. Have an AP for both coasts! I just love it. For me WDW is more of a vacation since I live so close to DL (I know - not the case for you). There is also a lot of things I love at WDW that are not at DL. These include:
  • Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot - such a great time of year and some great food booths
  • Food and Wine - I know Disneyland has one, but the Epcot one just seems bigger and very different variety of food. Also great for a couple with no kids.
  • Animal Kingdom - I cannot express how much I love this park. I could ride the safari over and over all day (and have done as many as 5 in 1 day). Flight of Passage is the single most amazing ride I have ever been on.
  • Toy Story Land - really cute and well done. We love Slinky Dog!
  • Restaurants - We love love love Chefs de France (Epcot), Teppan Edo (epcot - man now I am dreaming of the filet mignon and the spinach from the grill), Le Cellier (Epcot), Kona Cafe (Polynesian), and Boma (AKL).
  • Resorts - There is something for everyone, but our favorites include Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge (where else will I ever see a giraffe from my balcony first thing in the morning), Boardwalk, and Polynesian.
There are direct flights from LAX and those are around 4-5 hours typically (depends on wind or something), so I am sure SFO would have direct as well. Kind of feel like that is a connection I have been offered looking online at flights.

In terms of the planning, I do plan park and restaurant each day. I also pre-book the fastpasses, but we frequently change or skip them as we get caught up with something else. Because of the charge at the restaurant, we are cognizant to make our reservations. But you can also book dining reservations and fastpasses day of - you probably will not get all the choices available, but you will be able to get something.

Wow, I almost could have written this myself word for word. DLR is our home park, and we’ve been APs ever since moving to SoCal years ago. The initial planning for our first WDW trip was overwhelming, but it was so worth it! We actually love to park hop and typically hit 3 parks/day (especially when we’re staying at Beach Club which is an easy walk to Epcot and a walk/boat ride to Hollywood Studios).

We’ve done trips with the entire family, just a couples trip, and even just bringing one kid. There are couples all over the place, and my favorite is seeing all the “older” couples vacationing together. :lovestruc

As mentioned above, Animal Kingdom is fantastic (and a fastpass for FoP is a must! Although the standby queue is amazing...)!

We love Flower & Garden at Epcot and prefer it way better than Food & Wine.

I’m ultra picky, so we don’t make a ton of ADRs. My must-dos each time are Skipper’s Canteen at Magic Kingdom and the Sunday Brunch at the Top at California Grill (located at the Contemporary, and is a huge splurge). We’ve found that one can easily grab the hardest ADRs the day before after others have cancelled.

I’m fireworks obsessed and love that at WDW I can see them every night. I’d highly recommend doing the Happily Ever After plaza garden dessert party if you’re a fireworks fan. DH and I love this one and made sure to book it for our couples trip.

All this to say that yes! a trip to WDW is truly a different experience but so worth it! The WDW toilet paper is horrific and the bathrooms are nasty, but I seriously doubt you’d regret a trip. :-)
 


I’m a WDW vet, we go every year. WDW can be amazing.......if done right. A great WDW trip requires planning, there’s no way around it especially if you’re looking to avoid waiting. Unlike DLR, at WDW its far more difficult to experience the best of the best without a good touring plan, advanced dining reservations, and early fastpass booking- all 3 of those things are dependent on each other as well. For example, want to ride Flights of Passage? You’d better book a fastpass the second your fastpass booking window opens or you’re in for a long wait in the parks.

Sounds rough, huh? I always look at it as part of the fun, the planning gets us excited and helps the time between trips pass a lot faster.

If you decide to go, let me know, I’ll give you my touring plans and you can adjust them to fit your priorities.

The basic plan of attack is:

1. Pick the days you’ll be in what parks.
2. Do a touring plan for that day.
3. Book dining that fits your touring plan and park. (180 days before trip)
4. Book fast passes that fit the touring plan and dining. (60 days before trip, if staying on site. 30 if off site)
5. If needed, Adjust touring plans and dining to fit Fastpasses. This step is usually needed for hard to get fastpasses like Flights of Passage.
 
Hey! Just returned from my first wdw trip and I too am local to dlr and it wasn’t what I dreamed it to be... it was OK but of 4 parks only 2 were good... I wanted to really love it but wasn’t able to. I’d say stick with dlr... there seems to be a quality here that’s absent at wdw for me. It was very nice and all don’t get me wrong, but what wdw’s blessing of size means very Spread out magic, or sparse if you will...
 
Hey! Just returned from my first wdw trip and I too am local to dlr and it wasn’t what I dreamed it to be... it was OK but of 4 parks only 2 were good... I wanted to really love it but wasn’t able to. I’d say stick with dlr... there seems to be a quality here that’s absent at wdw for me. It was very nice and all don’t get me wrong, but what wdw’s blessing of size means very Spread out magic, or sparse if you will...

Out of curiosity, which parks did you like and of the two you didn't, why?

I was pleasantly surprised by HS and a little let down by World Showcase in EPCOT (please don't throw tomatoes). We loved WDW, but that's an occasional trip for us, DLR is pretty much yearly and DLR will always be our fave.
 
I grew up in San Diego so we always had DL passes when I was a kid. I now live in Oklahoma, where the mileage difference between WDW and DL is only 25 miles one way or the other so I'm right in the middle. But DL is home. We get DL AP's most years since we go to see family in CA twice a year and it works out better.
We did a trip to WDW in 2016 and a second trip in Feb 2019. It's definitely worth doing, but I don't find that I miss it as much as I do when I come home from a DL trip.
 
I’ve had this same issue bouncing around in my head as the op lately, and for me, I ended up making the decision that I’m perfectly fine with moving a WDW trip down a couple pegs until it’s more important to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against WDW, it just doesn’t offer me personally much more than I already get from DL. There are a couple rides that are newer than my last trip (seven dwarves mine train and expedition Everest are the ones that stick out the most for me), some rides that have differences I’d like to see (HM, JC) and some attractions that aren’t at DL anymore (TTA, country bears, carousel of progress) but is that enough for me? Right now, it isn’t, and that’s ok.

I guess I’d say that’s the question the OP needs to figure out. Is it what you want to do, or is it just a curiosity? If it’s the latter, hold off for a while till it’s higher on the list.

I say visit one of the other parks first. DL Paris was outstanding and one I’d love to visit again. I’m hoping to get a trip to Tokyo DL in the next year or two.

As long as you’re happy with your trip, it’s a good choice.
 

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