My friend Danielle recently went to Disneyland after multiple visits to Walt Disney World. She posted her observations of how Disneyland compared to Disney World. It is very interesting and she has some great points!
Observation #1. I’m a huge fan of being able to walk from hotel to both parks within seconds here at Disneyland. Disneyland wins!
Observation #2. So far Disney World service is way better. Disney World wins!
Observation #3: Carsland is awesome. Themed amazingly! Disneyland wins!
Observation #4: You can bring strollers in most restaurants! Disneyland wins!
Observation #5: Disney World costumer service is still MUCH better! Disney World Wins!
Observation #6 – strollers for rent better in Disneyland are Baby Joggers but they don’t have any doubles and no clue on cost. We bring our own Baby Jogger double but nice option! Disneyland wins!
Observation #7 – only took 3 requests and 24 hours to finally get a crib sheet. Grand Californian fail! Disneyland service still lacking (Cast Member asked “what would you like me to do?” When I asked for a crib sheet and mentioned I had asked numerous times… I definitely said “Maybe give me a crib sheet?!?”) Disney World win!
Observation #8 – Radiator Springs Car ride is where it’s at!! Disneyland win!
Observation #9 – Stroller parking is a disaster at Disneyland! No one (CM or guests) care and it’s super annoying! Disney World for the win!
Observation #10 – Lines are terrible! Not the length but the Queue (ie Pirates wraps around park when it’s 15 minutes) Annoying and weird! And too many people cut in line without anyone saying anything. Disney World for the win!
Observation#11- when you’re on East Coast time, it’s hard to adjust! Early Magic Hours have been great, any nighttime activity is shot b/c they’re done! Disney World wins (although this one is very biased)!
Observation #12 – World of Color is AWESOME! I wouldn’t say it’s better or worse than any Disney World show as I think Disney does a great job with night time shows in general! It’s a must! Disney World and Disneyland win!
Observation #13 – Had great service at CA Adventure yesterday! Including helping us meet Olaf (with no wait) after they changed the system from the day before. Disneyland wins!
Observation #14 – They only sell up to a 5 day pass, unlike Disney World which has 10 days. This is annoying to me because I could totally use a 7 day pass but I’m not starting over and paying the extra! (Maybe you just upgrade to annual passes?). Disney World wins!
Observation #15 – The character interactions are way more fun and old school here at Disneyland. Characters just pop out randomly (often without attendants) and interact and walk around the park! I LOVE this! We watched Hook sneak up on Peter Pan. Super fun! This being said, no guarantee who you will run into and a LOT less photopass options but.. so fun!! Disneyland wins!
Observation #16 – based on #15, I now see why Photopass + is half the price here! Disneyland wins!
Observation #17 – Character meals, although fewer options (I think 5?), offer much better characters and interactions! We saw 10!?! characters at breakfast and they roamed through many times! Disneyland wins!
Observation #18 – rides generally don’t shoot you out into stores. Win for the wallet! Disneyland wins!
Observation #19 – no chance Disneyland will beat Disney World in customer service. We’ve had some weird hotel issues and the “Leads” seemed to not care. BUT we’ve had some great moments too! Disney World wins!
Observation #20 – Fantasmic is great, executed well! Not worth the 1.5-2 hrs of standing to get good spot (even with Fastpasses). Disney World wins because they have seating!
Observation #21 – Fireworks at Magic Kingdom in Disney World are MUCH better, can’t even compare. Can’t decide if I like Fantasmic rolling right into fireworks? Nice but 5 million people trying to leave at once! Disney World wins!
Observation #22 – Disney’s Magical Express is where it’s at! We paid a pretty penny for transportation to and from Disneyland, as Disney doesn’t offer any kind of service. Want to rent a car? Pay $17/day to park at your hotel. YIKES! Disney World wins!
Observation #22 – Disneyland is behind the times with tickets/room keys all being separate. I can understand no Magicband (kind of), but to have to carry around a ticket and room key is annoying when I know the technology available. Disney World wins!
Observation #23 – Disneyland uses pictures instead of finger scans. This is kind of cool, but they need separate lines for people getting pics taken, as it holds you up! Disney World wins!
So.. The #1 question I know you all want to know “which is better? Disneyland or Disney World?” Many cast members even asked us at Disneyland. I don’t think that is a fair question at all! Both are GREAT! I love BOTH, but for different reasons.
Disney World is our “home away from home.” I know it in and out and just love it. I love the variety and the options. And the service, oh the service. Disneyland has so many great points too though. History, proximity, true park hopping (entrances face each other and about 100 yards away from the other), and great great character experiences. The weather was pretty awesome too!
So will we go back? Absolutely! As often as Disney World? Probably not. But not because we like it less, simply because of prices, flights, etc. My recommendation is go to Disney, it doesn’t matter which one! Take your kids, no matter what age and make memories! Because that’s what we’re supposed to do… make memories! And it’s where dreams come true!
Stormy says
Thank you for writing this. I am trying to plan a solo trip with my 6 year old, we’re the only two in our house that get the magic of Disney. I’ve e taken him to WDW twice and I’ve been more than that. Disneyland was on my radar because we haven’t been and I’d like him to experience Cars Land. But, I know WDW like the back of my hand and DisneyLand is a bit intimidating with the hotels and transportation. Im not sure I want to do it alone with a 6 year old boy. Besides, I could stay at a moderate hotel at WDW and have dining for the price of an on property hotel. I think your post will send me back to WDW and to Disney Land when he’s a bit older. Thank You!
Elizabeth says
I love Disneyland for shorter getaways and World for longer ones! I live in Mountain Time so my bias on time zone goes both ways. Also, for Disneyland we have never stayed on property. Other area hotels are super close, have great shuttle service, and will even sell you your park tickets before you head out. So, if you want better service at your hotel, consider going off property. *Ducking to avoid the thrown shoes of the true Disneyphiles who disagree!*
Vickie says
Lived in Anaheim all my life. I love Walt Disney World and Disneyland both, but in different ways. Walt Disney World is awesome because it’s so huge, but Disneyland wins hands down! It’s the only Park that Walt actually walked in and planned himself. How can you argue with that!!!
candi b says
Strollers are $15 a day, iirc. (Last time we rented, we still got half off with our Disney Visa.)
Second, you can blame ALL of the ticket sharers/scalpers for Disneyland only having a 5 day hopper available. Aussies can still get up to 14 through their travel agent.
You would have people use 3 of the 7 days and then Craig’slist them, even though they are non transferrable. Then ticket rental places popped up. Lots of fraud and scams going on.
We don’t want Magic bands in California thankyouverymuch. Too many locals with APs who drop by after work for dinner, etc.
Third, consider off property. Many of the hotels are closer than many of the Disney rooms for a third of the cost.
Darlene says
I wanted to make a comment on number 22. We went to Disneyland last May and flew into SNA and they had the magical express that took us to our Disney resort hotel. It was great.
Kathleen says
I agree mostly :-) I’ve never found that sliding a room key in with my debit card to be too complicated or heavy so that’s a bit silly…as is the east coast/west coast time difference. BUT the que at Pirates would never actually wind all the way out into New Orleans square with just a fifteen minute wait. There had to be some kind of weird issue if that was in fact the case.
I do agree that parking at Disney hotels is crazy and the one time we stayed one property it simply wasn’t worth the price. There are much much nicer local hotels, but the being able to walk out of the Grand Californian and straight into DCA is very nice.
We are premier passholders so I can’t really speak to individual tickets. We are headed to Disney World next month so I can’t wait to compare from Disneyland perspective. :-)