Disney World or Disneyland?

[WaltDavisWorld]

My family has two weeks in June available for vacation. We have been to Disney World with our kids three times, my husband and I once, and me on a girls trip once over the past five years. Part of me wants to make a trip to Disneyland to experience it, but we also love Disney World and there will be a few new things there that we haven’t done yet. We would plan to fly with either option. My kids will be 13,12 & 8. I know Disneyland is much smaller so I’d hate to be disappointed with not as much to do. But I’m also a huge Disney fan and would enjoy getting to go where it all started. Anyone been to both? How do they compare? Thanks for any input!

 

[Brett Wyman]

WDW is a resort destination. You really cant compare the two. You can stay for two weeks at WDW and have more to do. We were done in 3 1/2 days a Disneyland. This isn't a knock on DL at all. You just need to know what type of vacation you want. We flew to LA, did 3 nights at DL and 4 nights at the beach. Where as we always stay 7-8 nights at WDW and never leave property. With two weeks you'd want to take advantage of all of the other SoCal area attractions.

For me as a long time WDW fan I enjoyed DL for the nostalgia factor, but theme park wise its kind of a wash with MK. HOWEVER, Cars Land at DCA made the trip well worth it for us. Everyone should do DCA at least once for Carsland.

 

[fly girl]

I say make a trip to the West Coast! Granted, you definitely will not need all of your vacation time at DLR, I would suggest 3 to 4 days.

DLR and DCA are great. We love how laid back the feel is there. No FP+ to stress over, no 180 ADR's. Ahhh . . . it is refreshing!

If it were me, as you have been to WDW many times, go to DLR. Last time we made it a longer vacation we went to San Diego for 4 days, then drove up to DLR and dropped the rental car off at Alamo in Downtown Disney. We stayed onsite and were in the Disney bubble for 3 days before we headed back by Uber to LAX.

I don't think you will be disappointed by DLR. The castle is a little underwhelming, but the feel and chill vibe make up for all of it. And WOC is hands down my favorite show of all Disney Parks.

 

[ryanpells]

We are WDW veterans, but used a CA trip to try DL. My son and I decided that out of the 6 Disney parks, our favorite was in Disneyland (California adventure). Disneyland itself we were really disappointed with. It felt like everything was half size that of WDW (and I guess it was). All 3 of us, including Mom who does not do many rides, felt like it was missing that WDW feel. It felt at times like a nice amusment park.

We would go again, just to do California adventure. However, as someone earlier said it is more like a 3-4 day trip. We mixed in Hollywood studios, and if we were to have spent a week there we would have driven up to San Diego and done sea world and the zoo.

 

[GoofysGal67]

My family and I loved it, but it's a totally different place than WDW. And if you're used to the dramatic drive into WDW - with the arches - it can be a little weird just turning a street corner and suddenly be there. I had a friend put it to me this way - Disneyland feels like you can wrap your arms around it. I kind of like that though - it's really fitting. It's definitely contained, and easy to move from park to park and go to Downtown Disney District, especially if you stay on site. (or even off site, there's lots of hotels in walking distance all around it.)

I agree with fly girl - it's soooooooo much less stressful than WDW. (and yes, the castle is underwhelming)

I enjoyed experiencing all the differences - DL Fantasyland feels very retro as compared to WDW - we enjoyed that, riding the old school dark rides like Mr. Toad and Snow White. And we always loved going to see Mickey's house in WDW, so we really enjoyed Toon Town. And comparing the rides is also fun. DCA is awesome too. We were only in DLR for two days and I left feeling as though I could have used more! 3-4 days would be perfect. I don't think you'll be disappointed!!

 

[skippytx]

They're 2 totally different trips for us.

WDW is a 7 day or longer destination trip, where you live in the WDW bubble. We start planning our trips 13 months out. Small countries have been invaded with less planning that what we put into a WDW "vacation". I've spent probably 40 days at WDW now and still have not seen and done everything there is to do.

DLR is a 3 to 4 day trip where you can easily stay offsite. You show up, experience the parks, and have a blast. No real planning required. I pop for MaxPass personally. We went 5 full days one time and that was too many for us.

I will say Cars Land is hands down my favorite land, followed closely by Pandora. Cars Land is amazing, especially at night. It's extremely impressive and worth visiting DLR just to visit.

We like to visit DLR on a 3 or 4 day weekend holiday when the local passholders are blocked out. Fly in early, visit, leave late. It's much less expensive than a WDW trip, and can be done in 3 or 4 days.

If you have 2 weeks of time, I would make DLR part of an overall California vacation. Spend a few days at DLR, and see many of the other sites. Plenty of stuff to do.

 

[lostprincess_danie]

Go to Disneyland if you have never been. If you want to make a full two week vacation out it, do what my friend did last year with her kids. Fly into San Diego, rent a car and do all the attractions between there and Anaheim. Sea World, the zoo, Legoland in Carlsbad, drive part of the PCH, visit the beaches, etc. Then end at Disneyland spending about 3-4 days like everyone else suggests.

 

[Disneypro1]

Disneyland kills MK in every way. It is simply Disney’s best park. Over all. DLR is becoming our favorite Destination. We still love WDW and will continue to go. But DL is getting to be our place. If it only had Epcot Center...

 

[sponica]

If the Marvel expansion is open, I'd vote DL.

I can't quite justify the trip as it's a 3000 mile flight and I'm not doing that until my daughter is older and I have an extended period of time to do other things in CA.

 

[Dracoa Dragoon]

As someone who has been to Disney World every year for 25 years, and only Disneyland (and Paris Disney) once, I'd say make the trip to Disneyland. It is worth it to see the original park.

It may be smaller, but the difference in the rides is noticeable (Pirates/space mountain/they still have submarines!), and California adventure will give you a second park that has stuff that is unique to it and mostly not found at WDW (guardians/incredacoaster/cars).

We only had 4 days there, but we got our fill and loved it a lot. Shame it is such a far travel for us, as thing like the haunted mansion were closed!

 

[DWillowBay]

They are two totally different parks. Don't let the "Disney-" part fool you! It depends on how much time you have and what your priorities are. WDW is remarkable and wonderful, but....Disneyland is where my heart lies. It is smaller, but not so small that it isn't a really full experience. California Adventure is terrific. And there are so many unique rides and attractions that it makes all that discovery really fun. There is much more spontaneous character interaction, far less planning to do, and so very much to do in the Southern California area that you'll have to choose what's important to your particular family. If you've never experienced DLR, I highly recommend it. WDW will still love you at a future date.

 

[Nalshersmom]

I love the parks on both coasts. DLR only sells 5 day tickets, and we have found spending 2 days in each park seems perfect for us. We have always Incorporated other places along with our visits to DLR including Universal Studios Hollywood, Hollywood itself, gameshow tapings, The Tam O'Shanter, Griffith Park, Sand Diego attractions, and drives further away including Sequoia National Park and Yosemite. It is a different experience than WDW but beautiful in its own way. WDW is our main park, but we have been to DLR 3 times and have loved it each time.

 

[BrianL]

Go check out Disneyland. there is plenty to do there - in fact there are almost as many attractions in two parks as WDW has in four. It may feel a bit more cramped and crowded, but wait times should be comparable and the FastPass system is better. There is some unique stuff too, like Carsland and they have a practically identical Star Wars Galaxy's edge, so you'd have some new stuff. I think you;d have fun. You can tie in some other Los Angeles area attractions too since you won't need as much Disney time.

 

[Castlequeen5]

I would totally recommend you try Disneyland! Although we currently have AP’s at WDW, we had them one year at DL. We LOVED our experience there!

On our first trip we were there almost 2 weeks and traveled all around Southern California. We went to San Diego and visited the zoo, USS Midway, and Legoland. Then we went back up to LA checked out several spots including Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Blvd and Universal Studios. Then we finished our trip at DL and it was awesome. We stayed offsite, but walked to the parks each day. Between the 2 parks, they have almost the same amount of rides that all four parks have at WDW...at least before the new additions. We loved Cars Land and the “Paint the Night Parade” is my all time favorite!

 

[PirateFish989]

I'm a Southern California native and have gone to Disneyland dozens of times. Before we were married, my husband and I had DL AP's for a few years. We've been to WDW twice, most recently in June 2018 for our honeymoon. As said before, they're two totally different trips. I'm maxed out at Disneyland after 3 days but for our honeymoon trip, we spent 10 at WDW and I could have stayed longer.

If you haven't been to DLR, its a magical place. Disneyland park has a magic to it that I never felt at Magic Kingdom and DCA is unique. Park hopping is super easy as the two parks are literally separated by a plaza area (maybe 100 yards apart?). A Disneyland trip will NOT take you the full vacation time, but if you want to spend more than 3-5 days in California, spend some extra time in Southern California. San Diego is worth the drive or train ride (I lived there for 8 years and now visit family there regularly and there is so much to do). The beaches in Southern California are wonderful and you could easily expand a 4-5 day Disneyland trip into a 10+ day Southern California trip that includes Disneyland. (Personally, I would skip Hollywood as it is dirty and a bit sketchy, but to each his own).

Have a great trip whatever you decide!

 

[AngiTN]

Disneland trip, no contest or question.
It's time you see it.
All Disney fans should. At least my opinion. I can't fathom being disappointed in walking down a street Walt could actually walk down, riding on the same rides he rode (a few at least). It's magical in a way that Disneyworld can never be. And yes, WDW is my home park but I can recognize DL has something magical about it, from a historical perspective.
And personally, I will not compare the parks. They are both Disney yes, but it is unfair to either to compare them to each other. Let them stand and shine on their own. It is so much better and will avoid all disappointments.

 

[cooperams]

We just went to Disneyland this past August after 4 trips to Disneyworld. It didn’t hit us until midway through the trip (or maybe even after the trip) how much we LOVED DL. We can only vacation in August, and I absolutely loved having sunshine from sun up to sun down...not even a trace of cloud in the sky...with temps in the mid 80s and dry. No ponchos!!

The max pass system is superior to DW fast pass. We rode everything we wanted to ride MULTIPLE times.

California Adventure is a fantastic park. I think the Incredicoaster is the best roller coaster on Disney Preperty.

If you stay at one of the 3 Disney hotels and walk through downtown Disney to get to the parks, you have the bubble feel. We love the Disneyland hotel.

We also combined it with a California road trip, so my kids got to explore a different part of the country, which I thought was fantastic.

 

[Mome Rath]

I think it depends on what you want out of this particular vacation. If you want the Disney bubble for 2 weeks, then do WDW, if you want a different vacation with some Disney thrown in, do DL for 4 days and plan to do other things in Cali.

We are WDW vets and it's our "home park," but we did DL for the first time not long ago and loved it. It's just a different style vacation, though we made it as much like a WDW vacay as we could (by staying at the Grand Californian). It was absolutely fantastic to see Walt's park, and just as a different perspective, yes, it's smaller for sure, but there are a ton of rides packed into that little space. lol Going to DL is less planning, but you still need to familiarize yourself before you go and do plan out somethings.

I feel like WDW is more of a relaxing vacation even with more planning because of the Disney bubble, including Disney transportation. I love EPCOT and Pandora so much at WDW that I missed them when we were at DL, but Carsland was definitely a perk.

 

[Lightsoutx12]

I am an avid for Walt Disney World, I have lived here my entire life and only been to DL twice. Once when I was about 8 and last year in March. I have been itching to go back, something about the different feel and MaxPass/No ADR at 180 makes it very stress free. I will say, if you have two weeks, you may want to visit the local tourist locations as well and not just DL as two parks can easily be done in about 2 days (we did multiple attractions/repeats in those two days) and had two days free (4 days total) to just walk around and repeat more attractions. It is definitely great and we will go back, but maybe even look into WDW and a Disney Cruise! We did our first Disney Cruise this year and fell in love and will be going again this September!

 

[epcotty]

Disneyland. they seem to try more there. we've been there once. only reason we go to wdw more is because we're much more local