We've never been because each time I've started "planning" a WDW trip I get overwhelmed with all the advance planning required, the sheer size of the whole resort, some of the differences that I've read about or seen pictured that I think might really bother me (like Fantasyland pictures look so cheesy to me, like a carnival somewhere!), and with my kids ages we'd only be able to go in summer because I would want two weeks in Florida since we are on the west coast and it would likely be a once (maybe twice) trip. Disneyland is easy for us and we love it--we have it down pat. I am a self-professed Disney snob, we've been to Legoland and Seaworld once and the whole time I wished I was back at Disneyland, so we've never ventured to Universal or Knotts because of that. It's hard for me to embrace the differences, I find myself comparing everything to Disneyland and think maybe I'd do the same at WDW.
My daughter just says, "nope, I don't want to go, I think we'd hate it.") And part of me thinks she might be right. I mean we could go to Europe for nearly the same cost. Wondering who here felt the same way and either finally bit the bullet and went and hated it and hasn't gone back or who was pleasantly surprised and loved it.
I'm pretty sure you're my sister from another mister! We are total Disney snobs too. Except, we really wanted to go to WDW though and thought it'd be awesome. Well, it was kinda awesome at some points, but I nearly sent my husband home alone on an airplane 2 days in. No matter how much I read and planned, we really didn't get what we were in for until we were there. Like someone else said, it's like Disneyland, but it's not. And when it's not, it really IS NOT. And it feels like a cruel practical joke!
First of all, we're from Phoenix. We went in December. It was RECORD BREAKING HEAT the week we were there. The humidity is no joke. Suddenly, we understood the "but it's a dry heat" mantra in Phoenix.
The walking, dear Lord, the walking. Everything is huge and far apart. Parkhopping is an illusion for unsuspecting guests to give Disney more money....and we were staying at the boardwalk! You seriously need a day of rest between each park day, or you better train like you're gonna run a marathon.
Forget spontaneity, because you need to decide what park you want to go to SIX MONTHS IN ADVANCE. If you change your mind, good luck finding a place to eat because those ADRs are all booked up and your fastpasses have been a done deal for 2 months!!
And though we knew things were different, we longed for "home." And though I tried to explain, DH and the kids still wanted to go on certain things and were sorely disappointed...There's no New Orleans Square, so POTC is just wrong, and sadly short. IASW looks like another indoor dark ride, missing it's larger than life facade. Fantasmic is just sad! There's no NBC overlay for HM. We were also disappointed at the lack of Christmas decorations in general, and the requirement to pay for a separate party to see the christmas parade and fireworks. WDW doesn't hold a candle to DLR when it comes to christmas!
There was no way for us to see everything in 6 park days, which was hard for me. We assumed it would be our only trip. I nearly killed my family trying to see everything. At DLR, we've seen it all a million times, so we are far more relaxed.
We DID like the Disney bubble feeling. At that point, we had never stayed onsite at DLR so the bubble was everything we dreamed it would be. We loved all the non-ride shows (though parades were strangely lacking!). And eating is one of our favorite things to do at DLR, so all the new themed restaurant choices were fun at WDW, though we noticed all the buffet food was the same at each.
We came home and swore we'd never go again (well, I swore I'd never go with my husband again! He was miserable and bitter most of the time). And funny enough, a couple years later, he started bugging me to go back. He'd forgotten all the things he hated the first time! So we decided to go back, 2 weeks this time. We planned 11 park days, but only made it 10 because again, we were just so tired. We nearly saw everything. We went the first 2 weeks of November and paid for the halloween and christmas parties. And again, it was crazy record-breaking heat the 2 weeks we were there. DH took 2 showers a day.
The second trip was better because we had better expectations. We're glad we experienced it and would like to go back to see the new stuff (in January, never summer!). But our heart is definitely in DLR and we miss it when we're not there. And to this day, we strangely get turned around in Disneyland occasionally, thinking something is going to be in a spot, when actually it's there in Magic Kingdom!