02/09/2022
🏰Research trip: Which park to choose? 🏰
I know this was the hot🔥 question. I wasn’t sure how I would feel after a week at Disneyland when my ❤️ belongs to WDW.
So, grab your coffee ☕️ ( because I am still on CA 🕰) and start reading. It might not end like you think.
🏰 These two Disney locations are completely different. Yes, they have similar things, but I would encourage anyone to think Disneyland as bonus location to experience the Disney ✨. It took me a few days to see it as just that, but once I switched my mindset I was hooked.
‼️Things to remember. WDW is 4 parks. Four pretty big maps which the themes are pretty clear. Park hopping takes about an hour at WDW. It’s very spread out. Disneyland has 2 parks. Disneyland which WDW would compare to Magic. California Adventure which is similar to Hollywood with a few Epcot pieces. However, there is some Epcot pieces in Disneyland. These two parks share a walkway. It’s about 5-8 minutes (walk) to park hop. Making the park hopper a must because it’s so easy.
🏰 Walt Disney World has instant magic when you walk in. Might be because that’s my home park and my heart is there. The landscape allows bigger walk ways, space between rides and an easier foot print to navigate. Yes, Cinderella’s castle is way bigger. That’s the focus of Magic a kingdom. On the flip side, Disneyland was the only park that Walt,himself, walked in. It’s a more personal experience. This park has history, memories from the beginning and is the original Disney park. Because of location there isn’t the room to spread out. Things are very close. The rides are next to each other making it easy to exit and get on next ride. However, I was confused with layout. I still wasn’t 100% map free in Disneyland on last day.
California Adventure is newish park. The layout is very very easy. It’s similar to Epcot. One main road with some offshoots. Very easy. I didn’t need a map after walking around for about an hour. Hollywood is harder to navigate for comparison. They have some big rides. Two of my favorite rides are on this park. The Radiator Springs Racers was super cute. Think the same animatronic style as Rise but with Cars story line. Super cute. The Web Slinger: A Spider Man adventure was so fun. You sit in a moving car and use your hands to sling webs. Think Toy Story Mania style. It’s a contest that I failed at. 😏 Incredicoaster was super cute, fast and fun! It’s a big kid ride. 
🏰Disney Genie +
Both locations have this system. I will be completely honest you do need it for both. However, the one at Disneyland works. I am sold on that system now that I see how it’s supposed to work.
Big difference is there a ton availability in Disneyland/ Disneys California Adventure. All day you are able to grab even the most popular rides including the ILL.
WDW you are allowed to grab a pass at 7am. Disneyland/ Disneys California Adventure parks allows you to grab a pass once you check in to park. You have to scan your ticket (physically - no magic bands) then can grab your pass.
Some of the rides with smaller footprint will not have a LL option because there is just no room. Peter Pan, Snow White (ride), Alice and Wonderland didn’t have a LL, so we had to wait about 30 minutes. Rope dropping these rides would be best plan.
🏰 Hotels and Resorts
Fun fact is that WDW has over 28,000 rooms for guest to stay on property. It’s critical to stay on sight . Disneyland has a little over 3,000 rooms. So, Disney has teamed up with a ton of other hotels that are close to house guest. I’ll post my reviews on those since we walked through several. Disneyland is very family of 5 friendly. Most hotels around them offer larger rooms as well. Disneyland offers extra magic hours just like WDW. However, it’s a small crowd because it’s only open for on property guest. It’s not the rush you see at WDW at 7:30am. I loved that each morning.
🏰Park Days needed
WDW I always recommend a week because it takes a whole day sometimes two to get everything done at each park. You have to have a day mid week to rest. Disneyland/Disneys California Adventure is a 3 -4 day park hopper kind of park. Each location ( FL vs CA) does things different. WDW uses magic bands to enter parks , room key, credit card, photos and LL pass. Disneyland uses paper tickets, phone room key, QR code on phone for pictures and more. You have to keep your phone charged even more than WDW. I used my phone a ton. I’ll post a picture of how you slide your phone in for your LL passes. Disneyland is slower at front gates because they are scanning paper tickets and many guest seemed lost to process.
🏰Rides🏰
You will see some of the same rides at both locations. However, I actually liked the Disneyland ones better than the WDW. That floored me. Pirates has an outside section. Indiana Jones is a ride like Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom. Jungle Cruise and all the Mountains are different. It’s A small world is different - and no they don’t sing a different song. It’s way longer and the dolls are different. Many Disney Characters are hidden in the ride. I loved the Snow White ride which is now called something different. They changed it recently to not be so scary.
Overall, loved the rides.
🏰✨Final notes ✨🏰
You can’t really compare because they are built for two different reasons. They both have magic and it’s always how you view your trip. If you love WDW, like I do, then I would highly recommend getting with me to start thinking a CA trip. It’s honestly the next step. See the original park. See the history and old time Disney. You can do this is a long weekend and not miss a ton of work. You would naturally have rest times in day, because how much you can get done in one day. I know cost is a factor, but only needing 3 park days will really help budget. Plus, we have hotel options that are in every budget.
See this link for my favorite rides from this week. There are a few that WDW doesn’t have.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiAjC5wMdyj/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
