I'm never taking WDW for granted ever again

[twixieshores]

Are you talking about DLR vs. all of WDW? If so, that isn't really a fair comparison, especially with all the international options at Epcot and the African/Asian foods at DAK. What if you compare DLR to just the MK and DHS? In that case I think Disneyland holds its own just fine, maybe even offering better food.

(If we factor in the hotels the comparison is even trickier because there are many wonderful restaurants at the WDW hotels.)

The simple fact is, fair comparison or not, it's a reality. If I don't like the food options at MK, I can take a quick monorail ride to the Poly for some lunch. For DHS, I can walk/boat ride/skyliner over to Epcot. And I'm not speaking about hypotheticals; I've actually done that on multiple occasions.

 

[starlite_]

Such a bummer. Anyone who is a Disney lover and has had that happen understands and gets how deflating it is. It’s the pits!

Since you have it a B-, I feel after a while you may be up to the challenge of trying again. I think you should! You may not love it as much as WDW, and that’s fine, but it needs a redo. And especially not in October!
Unfortunately, as @DLgal stated, you sadly went during the worst time of the year to go.

Hope you’ll give it another try someday.

Not only the worst time of the year, probably the worst week of the year due to the weather as well.

 

[VandVsmama]

I agree with everybody’s suggestion to go again but at a different time of year. We’ve been to DL twice now in October and oh my Lord, so crowded. So busy. So many pushy guests. Lines really long for everything. Bleh. And this is coming from a mega DL fan.

One of my favorite times of year to go is the week of Memorial Day. Not ON Memorial Day, but like check into your hotel on Memorial Day and then go to the parks Tues-Fri of that week. Here’s why:

- summer park schedule is in place. Longer hours.
- all of the summer entertainment has started. Gives you more options
- weather is great. Not hot but also not cold.
- a lot of CA schools are still in session. So fewer school aged locals. You’ll still get a lot of guests from AZ and UT though because their schools finish the week before Memorial Day.
- usually no special overlays or anything to attract all of the locals to come out in throngs.

That time of year does have grad nights at DCA but we just avoid DCA in the evening on grad nights and it’s just fine.

 

[DizMe]

You tried it and didn't really like it that much. That's fair. Just stick with the park you know and don't worry about trying DLR again. It's small, and there are already so many people who want to come and that, ironically, is part of the problem. The more people who come, the more problems with crowds, ride breakdowns, overworked CMs, etc. It simply can't handle crowds the same way WDW can, and when it's super crowded, a lot of the charm is lost.

I tried MK and didn't really enjoy it much, mainly because it didn't have the same "feel" I was familiar with. I don't think it's better or worse, just different and out of my comfort zone. I don't see a good reason to try and love it when I can just go to the park I really love. And I'll also add that, I, too, went (to MK) at possibly the worst time--August.

 

[DLgal]

The simple fact is, fair comparison or not, it's a reality. If I don't like the food options at MK, I can take a quick monorail ride to the Poly for some lunch. For DHS, I can walk/boat ride/skyliner over to Epcot. And I'm not speaking about hypotheticals; I've actually done that on multiple occasions.

Conversely, if you don't like the food options at Disneyland, you can walk out the gates and choose any of a number of options in Downtown Disney, or DCA, or the hotels. There is PLENTY of good food on DLR property. Actually, the best food is outside the gates at BOTH WDW and DLR. The difference, to me, is its much more convenient at DLR. And the produce is fresh. Try getting a decent salad or fresh fruit inside any WDW park. It's basically impossible.

Disneyland also does WAY better with changing up the menus frequently so it's not the same old same old. They are constantly adding new items everywhere, year round. They are faster to hop on food trends and get them in the park.

 

[BrianL]

Conversely, if you don't like the food options at Disneyland, you can walk out the gates and choose any of a number of options in Downtown Disney, or DCA, or the hotels. There is PLENTY of good food on DLR property. Actually, the best food is outside the gates at BOTH WDW and DLR. The difference, to me, is its much more convenient at DLR. And the produce is fresh. Try getting a decent salad or fresh fruit inside any WDW park. It's basically impossible.

Disneyland also does WAY better with changing up the menus frequently so it's not the same old same old. They are constantly adding new items everywhere, year round. They are faster to hop on food trends and get them in the park.

Almost any fruits and vegetables are better in CA. Like strawberries - I love them when they are good, but they have such a thin window of being good when shipped here. If I am in CA, I know the strawberries will be good!

Also, SoCal has In-N-Out amd well-done fries, so that's a huge win!

 

[Uncle Coaster]

When I went on my one and (so far) only Disneyland trip it was important for me not to try to compare while I was at the parks. I think I picked that up from my coaster enthusiast days. I could compare all day long or just enjoy what I was doing.

That said, I know it’s really difficult not to compare the two. And after the fact when people ask me to for an opinion I just say that DL is the nicer park but WDW is the nicer vacation. I don’t think either is any magnitude better or worse than the other.

 

[DLgal]

Almost any fruits and vegetables are better in CA. Like strawberries - I love them when they are good, but they have such a thin window of being good when shipped here. If I am in CA, I know the strawberries will be good!

Also, SoCal has In-N-Out amd well-done fries, so that's a huge win!

I've never felt so starved for fresh produce than when I'm at WDW on vacation. I've lived in CA nearly all my adult life and I just can't get over how terrible the produce is in Florida and the east coast in general. We literally book club level JUST for the access to fresh fruits and veggies at WDW. It's ridiculous to have to do that. Finding a salad made with more than just cheap iceberg and a few shredded carrots is an exercise in itself. And why do they throw cheese on every salad at WDW?

The produce carts at DLR are amazing. I love the fresh pineapple spears and veggie cups and the pickles!

 

[BrianL]

I've never felt so starved for fresh produce than when I'm at WDW on vacation. I've lived in CA nearly all my adult life and I just can't get over how terrible the produce is in Florida and the east coast in general. We literally book club level JUST for the access to fresh fruits and veggies at WDW. It's ridiculous to have to do that. Finding a salad made with more than just cheap iceberg and a few shredded carrots is an exercise in itself. And why do they throw cheese on every salad at WDW?

The produce carts at DLR are amazing. I love the fresh pineapple spears and veggie cups and the pickles!

Florida is pretty much only good for oranges, and CA can grow those too!

 

[Smugpugmug]

I've never felt so starved for fresh produce than when I'm at WDW on vacation. I've lived in CA nearly all my adult life and I just can't get over how terrible the produce is in Florida and the east coast in general. We literally book club level JUST for the access to fresh fruits and veggies at WDW. It's ridiculous to have to do that. Finding a salad made with more than just cheap iceberg and a few shredded carrots is an exercise in itself. And why do they throw cheese on every salad at WDW?

The produce carts at DLR are amazing. I love the fresh pineapple spears and veggie cups and the pickles!

This is my mom's favorite part of Disneyland weirdly enough. She LOVED getting fresh fruit in the parks. She complains all the time about how you can't get good fresh fruit at WDW.

 

[DLgal]

Florida is pretty much only good for oranges, and CA can grow those too!

Does FL even grow those much anymore?

I'm a Cuties mandarins person, myself. CA grown in the San Joaquin valley.

 

[DLgal]

This is my mom's favorite part of Disneyland weirdly enough. She LOVED getting fresh fruit in the parks. She complains all the time about how you can't get good fresh fruit at WDW.

It's SO true.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP you're going to find less understanding about your opinion here on the DL side. Most people here tend to stick with DL which is absolutely fine. It's like people who really just frequent Universal side of the DIS.

We greatly prefer WDW over DL but we did enjoy some things better at DL.

My husband prefers the HM at DL I prefer HM at WDW but really did enjoy the overlay of Nightmare Before Christmas.

We both love Pirates at DL and it's so hard now to go on Pirates at WDW even though we love the ride it just pales in comparison to DL.

When we went in May to WDW we realized just how much we preferred Buzz at DL with the device not being so connected. Honestly hadn't realized how much our two trips in 2019 to DL affected our enjoyment when I used to ride Buzz all the time at WDW, now I could be fine with a ride or two at WDW because the device is just much harder to maneuver.

My husband really enjoyed IncrediCoaster although I'm wondering how he'll feel about Tron when that finally opens (we may be middle-aged before that comes lol).

The railroad was neat going through the scenes and Mark Twain Riverboat path to be more interesting than WDW.

However there's a lot less to do at DL. It's more comparable to Universal Orlando with the ease of going back and forth which was certainly nice to do. We were missing the variety of WDW with having the 4 parks. We love Universal and don't mind at all 2 parks in Universal Orlando but that is more where the comparison lies.

As far as the rain boy I can so relate although I didn't find it as bad off as you did with the rides. On our March 2019 trip it rained all 3 days...A bit of breaks here and there though and I want to say the evenings it stopped later on so we had enjoyment without it then but here's an example oh and the castle was being worked on so we had a scrim and did I mention this was the first trip to DL since I was a toddler?





When we went back in September 2019 the weather was much better although more crowded too. It didn't ruin our March 2019 trip but it did make a damper and our moods were impacted by that. Because CA doesn't get near the same rain at FL it does mean more outside queues, it does mean more things are affected during the rain it gets. We camped out inside for a bit but it does impact things for sure.

 

[mdmost]

When I went on my one and (so far) only Disneyland trip it was important for me not to try to compare while I was at the parks. I think I picked that up from my coaster enthusiast days. I could compare all day long or just enjoy what I was doing.

That said, I know it’s really difficult not to compare the two. And after the fact when people ask me to for an opinion I just say that DL is the nicer park but WDW is the nicer vacation. I don’t think either is any magnitude better or worse than the other.

This is how I feel as far as the park comparisons. We loved our initial WDW vacation. Our kids were the prime age to go at 8 and 6. We enjoyed everything about the vacation like the Disney bubble. Getting picked up at the airport on the Magical Express. Staying at themed resort with Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo. Reconnecting with my inner child who last went to WDW in 1991. It was truly magical. Everything lined up right and the only real thing that was a drawback was not enough time in Epcot. Well that and the swamp feeling of being there in August.

We then decided to go to Disneyland the next summer in early June since none of us had every been and we were full-fledged Disney fans after the WDW vacation. We stayed at the HoJo and had a great time there. We did 4 days at DLR and did a beach day since it's something we love to do when we're in California that you can't easily do in Orlando. We walked across Harbor Blvd and went through security. We walked under the archways and glanced down Main Street. Was the castle a giant edifice that put us in awe? No, it was smaller but still impressive. Then we found what made Disneyland our favorite park to visit. It's just so intimate. All the touches that Walt had a hand in. The fact that you can easily walk from one end to the other. If you want to park hop, you walk across an Esplanade. The fact that I didn't have to break DLR into two separate days to get things accomplished. I actually enjoy the CA residents as they felt more chilled than the WDW families all yelling at their kids. The ease of getting around was a plus. If we wanted to go back to the hotel for a swim, it was just taking a walk vs. a 30 minute shuttle experience. It just fit with our family. We didn't think of Disneyland as our vacation. Southern California was our vacation. If we're doing just Disneyland now on a long weekend, it's a trip. And that's fine because sometimes I don't want to trappings of a giant WDW vacation. I want to be able to drive up the PCH and see those beautiful vistas. We've been back to WDW since and it was still great. They just have different meanings to us now.

We went to DLR in early June and used it as an opportunity to check out San Diego on the early part of our vacation. And that was so enjoyable as we've always wanted to go there. And the climate is tremendous compared to Florida. I can stand heat since that's all we face in Texas every summer. But I much prefer those cool California mornings and evenings. It makes the sunny part of the day easier to take.

 

[maverik85]

Thanks for posting your experiences. I will admit that I was a bit disappointed with DL the first time I went after having been at WDW. I have since found the differring charms and like both for different resasons. I will say that DL is the better PARK compared to MK, however WDW is the better overall resort.

I think this is the key here. When people say California has the better park I believe they are referring to Disneyland vs. Magic Kingdom and not the resorts as a whole. WDW has so much more space and stuff to offer that it is really hard to compare the resorts. But looking at the individual parks CA I do feel wins out.

As mentioned, Disneyland has a lot more rides at it, and especially the Fantasyland dark rides. This one thing that disappoints me with MK now is the lack of dark rides in Fantasyland. There is really just Little Mermaid, Pooh, and Peter Pan. DL has all three of these (Pooh and LM in other lands though) along with Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Pinnochio, and Snow White. If comparing this with Toontown (which has Roger Rabbit and soon Runaway Railway) against MK FL and Storybook Circus, then it wins easily to me. I do like the theming in New Fantasyland a lot and MK but as a whole it just doesn't offer as much. The one land I feel MK is better in personally is Tomorrowland, but not by an excessive margin. Adventureland I'd say MK has the better Jungle Cruise with the temple but I still give the nod to DL overall thanks to Indiana Jones.

I do agree with OP about queue lines though. Queues felt so basic at DL when I went awhile ago and most did feel like just a bunch of chain/rope swtichbacks. The main exceptions were Indiana Jones and Roger Rabbit that had fully immersive queues. Love walking through the forts for Pirates at WDW and really builds up the anticipation of the ride, versus courtyard switchbacks at DL. The queues for Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan have been enhanced greatly too.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think this is the key here. When people say California has the better park I believe they are referring to Disneyland vs. Magic Kingdom and not the resorts as a whole. WDW has so much more space and stuff to offer that it is really hard to compare the resorts. But looking at the individual parks CA I do feel wins out.

As mentioned, Disneyland has a lot more rides at it, and especially the Fantasyland dark rides. This one thing that disappoints me with MK now is the lack of dark rides in Fantasyland. There is really just Little Mermaid, Pooh, and Peter Pan. DL has all three of these (Pooh and LM in other lands though) along with Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Pinnochio, and Snow White. If comparing this with Toontown (which has Roger Rabbit and soon Runaway Railway) against MK FL and Storybook Circus, then it wins easily to me. I do like the theming in New Fantasyland a lot and MK but as a whole it just doesn't offer as much. The one land I feel MK is better in personally is Tomorrowland, but not by an excessive margin. Adventureland I'd say MK has the better Jungle Cruise with the temple but I still give the nod to DL overall thanks to Indiana Jones.

I do agree with OP about queue lines though. Queues felt so basic at DL when I went awhile ago and most did feel like just a bunch of chain/rope swtichbacks. The main exceptions were Indiana Jones and Roger Rabbit that had fully immersive queues. Love walking through the forts for Pirates at WDW and really builds up the anticipation of the ride, versus courtyard switchbacks at DL. The queues for Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan have been enhanced greatly too.

I think WDW has shifted to be less scary because they used to have Snow White Scary Adventures and DL renamed theirs recently and Alien was replaced by Stitch in WDW.

Let's be honest Pinocchio at DL is a bit traumatic especially at the end lol but it's the storyline and Mr Toad's is just odd. I think DL keeps them around for pure nostalgic factor but if you're looking at what the masses want those rides aren't it even though the pace of them is something I enjoyed.

I did like Alice in Wonderland at DL it was a different ride with the winding around and stuff but that queue is sorta brutal, it's very tight and can be very long in waits. I do remember the tight queue feeling a lot with PP at DL too. DL was built in a different era and being easily accessible to all sorts of people including mobility devices was not really done the same way back then.

 

[DCLMP]

The simple fact is, fair comparison or not, it's a reality. If I don't like the food options at MK, I can take a quick monorail ride to the Poly for some lunch. For DHS, I can walk/boat ride/skyliner over to Epcot. And I'm not speaking about hypotheticals; I've actually done that on multiple occasions.

Didn't you realize before you went to DL that it was smaller and didn't have all the options that WDW has. I assume that since you are on this forum you were aware of that.

 

[DCLMP]

I think this is the key here. When people say California has the better park I believe they are referring to Disneyland vs. Magic Kingdom and not the resorts as a whole. WDW has so much more space and stuff to offer that it is really hard to compare the resorts. But looking at the individual parks CA I do feel wins out.

As mentioned, Disneyland has a lot more rides at it, and especially the Fantasyland dark rides. This one thing that disappoints me with MK now is the lack of dark rides in Fantasyland. There is really just Little Mermaid, Pooh, and Peter Pan. DL has all three of these (Pooh and LM in other lands though) along with Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Pinnochio, and Snow White. If comparing this with Toontown (which has Roger Rabbit and soon Runaway Railway) against MK FL and Storybook Circus, then it wins easily to me. I do like the theming in New Fantasyland a lot and MK but as a whole it just doesn't offer as much. The one land I feel MK is better in personally is Tomorrowland, but not by an excessive margin. Adventureland I'd say MK has the better Jungle Cruise with the temple but I still give the nod to DL overall thanks to Indiana Jones.

I do agree with OP about queue lines though. Queues felt so basic at DL when I went awhile ago and most did feel like just a bunch of chain/rope swtichbacks. The main exceptions were Indiana Jones and Roger Rabbit that had fully immersive queues. Love walking through the forts for Pirates at WDW and really builds up the anticipation of the ride, versus courtyard switchbacks at DL. The queues for Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan have been enhanced greatly too.

The queues are outside at DL because the weather is nice. At WDW they are indoors because of the weather.

 

[StormyCA]

DL will always own my heart, but our trips to WDW just seem to, IDK, run more 'smoothly' and that's what keeps us going back as opposed to DLR.

Maybe it's been the advance FP+ on our 1st two trips or the lower crowds/no FP on our last trip. We'll see how it goes next Fall with G+. But even pre-covid it seemed less crowded I think because there's just more room to spread out at WDW due to the wider walkways, the 4 parks. Maybe if DL had the same space to 'stretch out' as MK has it wouldn't seem so hectic.

Maybe it's that WDW is geared more to tourists and so they provide more for their guests and are more interested in keeping things going. At DL it seems as if a lot of things are geared to people being able to 'come back another day'. Ride breakdowns? "Come back another day". Can't get a park ressie? "Come back another day". No ADRs for your favorite eateries? "Come back another day".

But I will take DL's weather over WDW's, any day!!!

 

[IsleofDisney]

Florida is pretty much only good for oranges, and CA can grow those too!

CA oranges are superior than FL ones, IMO. We live close to ground zero of the Naval orange origin, best oranges are from Gless Ranch!