Disneyland v. Disney World: 2020 Edition
Walt Disney World v. Disneyland is hardly a new or unique topic. However, now that both coasts have Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Rise of the Resistance is the most popular attraction in both California and Florida, there are two new angles to this: which is better for Star Wars stuff, and does Disneyland Resort suffer from the same common complaints as WDW?
This article was actually inspired by a light-hearted jab I made at the end of our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Disneyland Strategy Guide, which offered the tongue in cheek, half-joking sentiment that California is better. Since so many readers indicated they’d like to know more, I thought it would be worth elaborating with a full post.
Plus, even though our main Walt Disney World v. Disneyland post has been updated several times, it was originally written while we still lived in the Midwest. Having since lived in both California and Florida, vacationed on both coasts, and experienced both versions of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, I think we’re uniquely situated to offer a new 2020 edition of this comparison with as little bias as possible…
For starters, we enjoy vacationing at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Each have their own strengths, and will appeal to different types of visitors, lengths of stays, and varying types of trips. The fan rivalry between the two is a bit silly given that they’re owned by the same company, and our general attitude to that is why not both?
With that said, we think it’s worth emphasizing the specific strengths of Disneyland. For one, this blog’s audience definitely has a Walt Disney World bias. In general, WDW-centric fans often overlook the resort in California with “only” two parks and the “toy castle.” While we think this is a huge mistake, it’s also one we made ourselves until seeing the error of our ways years ago.
To that end, rather than having this post be a rehash of the common comparison with pros & cons of each, we’re going to focus on five advantages Disneyland offers. In so doing, we’ll emphasize Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and also address how Disneyland is the ‘antidote’ to common reader complaints about Walt Disney World…
5. Later Opening Time
Opening later may not seem like a selling point. Yet, for many readers it will be. When it comes to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Walt Disney World, the most common complaint we’re seeing is that Disney’s Hollywood Studios opens too early for families. Park hours being extended to opening times of 7 am (or 6 am during peak seasons) has been the norm thus far.
In order to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios before 6:30 am, which is currently what’s necessary to be inside the park in time for official opening time, most families need to leave their on-site resort room before 6 am. Even earlier if they have to gamble on Walt Disney World bus transportation. The norm right now seems to be around 5:30 am, which means waking up before 5 am.
There’s reason to believe these last-minute extensions will be Walt Disney World’s go-to plan for the foreseeable future. At some point, the ‘average’ opening will probably be moved back to 8 am, but that’s still a wake up call before 6 am, and that doesn’t exactly scream “vacation” for a lot of people.
By contrast, Disneyland typically opens later and stays open later. Guests staying in Anaheim off-site hotels can leave their hotel after 8 am and still walk over to Disneyland well before the normal 9 am weekday opening time. In fact, one day I got dressed at ~8:05 am, walked over from the Best Western Plus Anaheim Inn, entered Disneyland at ~8:25 am, left to get Starbucks in DCA, and was back in my room for the boarding pass dash by 9 am.
If you live east of Nevada, you’ll also have the time change and your body’s natural clock in your favor. For the first several days we were in California, I was waking up naturally by 5 am. Most mornings, I had ample time to get work done for a couple hours, get ready, and then make the leisurely stroll over to Disneyland in plenty of time before park opening.
Beyond the time difference, we found the whole process to be smoother and less stressful at Disneyland (at least on weekdays–as we wrote in our recent trip report, there’s a huge chasm between weekdays and weekends due to the local audience). Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance still hasn’t hit its stride in California like it has in Florida, but even so, the morning boarding pass dash is less stressful and headache-inducing at Disneyland.
4. More Laid Back and Spontaneous
The above illustrates the more laid back approach with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which is fairly reflective of Disneyland as a whole. Given that another common reader complaint here is how there’s too much stress and planning involved with visiting Walt Disney World, the spontaneity Disneyland affords is worth stressing…er, reiterating.
At Disneyland, you’ll interact with free-roaming characters, ride attractions on a whim without reservations made over a month ago, and dine at your leisure. The more free-flowing nature of the California parks makes it easier to slow down and enjoy atmospheric entertainment (there’s a ton of it) and simply appreciate being there.
Over 95% of the time we go to Disneyland, we don’t make any plans whatsoever until we arrive. No clue where we’re going to eat, which rides we’re going to do, or even which park we’ll visit. (That last one is deceptive because the answer is always “both.”)
While it can be a good idea to make dining reservations for some Disneyland restaurants at least a few days in advance, there’s none of that 180 day nonsense. Planning which attractions you’ll do 2 months in advance? Also not a thing. Disneyland uses legacy paper FastPass and digital MaxPass, both of which are day-of only. If you love to plan, there’s still room for that, but it’s still a far less stressful process with far more room for spontaneity.
3. Convenience at Disneyland is Cheaper
One of the most common impediments we hear with regard to visiting Disneyland is that airfare from [insert location in the Midwest] is more expensive to Los Angeles or Orange County than it is to Orlando. We’ll concede that this is mostly true. (By waiting and watching for deals, we seldom pay over $225 RT, which is not too far off from airfare pricing from the Midwest to MCO.)
However, it’s pretty easy to make up that cost difference in other areas of the trip budget, particularly hotels and food. There are about a dozen hotels on Harbor Boulevard are as long of a walk to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as the Contemporary is to Magic Kingdom. Good real world restaurants can be reached in under 15 minutes by foot. So can CVS and Walgreen’s for groceries and other things. Many hotels have very good free breakfast buffets.
At Walt Disney World, you pay a significant premium for convenient locations that make the trip easier. Beyond hotel locations, there are also countless scenarios where you’re buying your way out of inconvenience (Minnie Vans, fireworks dessert parties, hard ticket events). Aside from MaxPass, this ease and convenience is mostly part of the normal cost at Disneyland. In short, it is significantly cheaper to do a convenient trip to Disneyland–even taking into account the more expensive flights.
2. Disneyland > Disney’s Hollywood Studios
This seems like a very odd and unfair comparison to make, but these are the two parks where Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is located. Everyone has their favorite castle park, and a few people might even rank Magic Kingdom ahead of Disneyland. However, I don’t think there’s a rational person on earth who has been to both who would rank DHS above Disneyland.
This is significant because, while you’re waiting around for your Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group to be called, you have to find other things to do. If it’s your first-ever time visiting DHS, this is no problem. If you’ve been once or twice, you might struggle filling a day–let alone a second day if you want to rope drop Rise of the Resistance again. Sure, you could walk over to Epcot, but that can be inconvenient and that park is a construction zone right now.
By contrast, Disneyland has two full days of worthwhile (and repeatable!) attractions, and Disney California Adventure is a literal stone’s throw away. You could do a 4-day trip to Disneyland Resort and attempt to get a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass every single day without feeling that it impedes the rest of your trip. The same is simply not true of rope dropping DHS for that many days during a Walt Disney World trip. It would absolutely negatively impact the rest of your vacation.
Oh, and as for the whole 4 parks v. 2 thing? The argument could be made that Disneyland Resort’s 2-park attraction lineup is superior to, or at least on par with, Walt Disney World’s. It’s not an argument that I’d personally make, but I do think the gap is far more narrow than most WDW diehards would realize. Walt Disney World certainly does not have double the number of compelling attractions.
1. California > Florida
Orlando has Southern California beat in terms of the Space Coast, manatees, and other theme parks, but not much beyond that. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still a great place to visit…but pretty much every top thing to do is not cheap. Which brings us to our final reader complaint about Walt Disney World: its cost compared to various real world vacation destinations.
This is a big reason why a shorter, more efficient trip to Disneyland might be appealing. In California, you can surf and ski in the same day, visiting craggy cliffs, beautiful beaches, majestic mountains, and (dry?) deserts in between. There’s the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, diverse culture (and food!) of Los Angeles, sleepy shoreline of Laguna Beach, plus several U.S. National Parks, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Newport, Pasadena, and more all within driving distance.
Most importantly, you can do many of these things on a dime. California has a wealth of low cost tourist attractions. Spend one day at the Getty and Getty Villa, two of the top free museums in the US, before heading to the picturesque El Matador Beach in Malibu. Drive out to Palm Springs to do a walking tour of America’s best architecture, followed by an afternoon in Joshua Tree National Park, which is also perfect stargazing (and seeing the Milky Way).
If all of that isn’t enough to tip the scales in California’s favor, it’s worth pointing out that the nearest In-N-Out Burger is 980 miles away from Walt Disney World. There are two within 10 minutes of Disneyland. 😉
If you’re planning a Southern California vacation beyond Disneyland and want other ideas, you’re in luck! We give away a free eBook: 101 Things to Do in Southern California on our non-Disney blog, TravelCaffeine. There, we also have a ton of resources dedicated to visiting the state, including a series of blog posts about California points of interest and our Ultimate Guide to Los Angeles.
Overall, you can have a great time at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. While we think the latter offers several of the aforementioned strategic advantages, there’s nothing to say you can’t choose to have a more laid-back and spontaneous trip at Walt Disney World. You can also arrive at DHS later on a weekday and roll the dice with a backup boarding group for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Our aim here is not to proclaim Disneyland as the definitively superior experience and California as the better vacation destination. That’s simply not going to be the case for everyone. Rather, our goal is to convince those of you who may be averse to the idea of visiting Disneyland due to your preconceptions–or who have simply become alienated by Walt Disney World for the reasons identified above–to give the California parks a look. You’ll have a blast.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
Your Thoughts
Have you visited both Disneyland and Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Which do you consider the superior destination for your vacation style? Do you think each have their strengths and weaknesses? Is one or the other definitively better? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
It’s all about walkability. Even including Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland is 98 acres. California Adventure is 72 acres. So both parks combined is 170 acres.
Meanwhile in Florida: Hollywood Studios is 103 acres, Magic Kingdom 105 acres, Epcot is 200 acres, and Animal Kingdom is 300 acres.
Crammed into those 170 acres in Anaheim are 54 rides. Let’s be honest: not all 54 of those rides are actually worth riding. But surely 25 of them are.
And then there’s the incredible convenience of walking from your hotel room to the park entrance in about 12 minutes. I just booked a room at the Fairfield Inn Marriott across the street from DL for $135/night plus $25 for parking for weekend nights in May. Admittedly Grand Floridian and Contemporary have significantly higher quality furnishings, theming, pools, and service than a bland Fairfield Inn. Personally, I can’t justify paying an extra $500 per night to sleep at the Grand Floridian. The Polynesian, on the other hand, might be worth it! 🙂
We’ve been to all of the Disney parks now, except Shanghai, and I will say that WDW is definitely our least favorite of all of them. TDL and TDS are the best done parks in the world, DL is the most quaint and will always be my favorite because Walt built it, Paris has the best castle and has true romantic character, Hong Kong is small, easy to do and has some memorable rides and WDW just does nothing for me at all…horrible southeast weather, more concrete than landscaping and WAY too much planning required to be enjoyable.
the ‘laid-back’ nature at Disneyland Park is a real thing…
during my trip back in Sept for Galaxy’s Edge, I took the time to sit at the foot of Main Street, in front of the Train Station and watched the character interactions…
they were not swamped with people crowding around them…visitors let the characters just wander and do what they do best…
Dale walked up to someone sitting on the bench, next to their bag of stuff, started rummaging though the bag and the visitor just paid him no mind even after Dale “stole” and item and started walking away…
later, Dale walked up to an elderly woman in a wheelchair, kissed her hand, walked away and came back with a freshly plucked flower for her…
One major fact about Disneyland that I haven’t read in comments is that Disneyland is the park that Walt Disney designed, built and frequented. The pictures of him walking the park during construction and for the remainder of his life are inspiring. I’ve been to WDW many times. I love WDW because it is unique to Disneyland, but it lacks the charm and character that can be felt and seen everywhere in Walt Disney’s original park. I like both for many different reasons, but Disneyland definitely has the edge. And I agree with Tom, Disneyland has a much more easy going vibe about it and I can be far more spontaneous. Where’s the MAGIC in a 7 day visit, with every waking hour on a schedule?
The way this coronavirus is spreading – i would recommend staying away from all large crowds for awhile. Even the CDC says their screening test doesnt work now. Stay safe.
I think the statement that DL can be done more cheaply is, while true, not a fair comparison. You can skimp on the costs by staying at a low-rent hotel or eating at off-brand restaurants, but then you can also eat cheese crackers from a backpack in WDW all day and pay practically nothing. Unless your idea of a good time is shopping in CVS, these savings degrade the experience. Comparing Disney against Disney, I have found that WDW comes out cheaper – due to greater F&B discounting, lower costs of airport transfers, and a range of discounted on-site hotels. California Adventure F&W sticks in my mind as having been particularly overpriced. Maxpass is also a rip-off when you remember that it’s free in WDW (and now TDR).
As for my personal preference, it’s WDW by a long way – but as others say, it’s an apples-to-orange comparison (which means it must be taken AS SERIOUSLY AS POSSIBLE 😛 )
Disneyland is one of the 5 best theme parks I have ever been to, having been to over 150 now. Magic Kingdom is my LEAST favorite park to visit of any in Orlando. And it basically comes down to convenience and price. When you visit Disneyland you can stay in a wonderful hotel in walking distance, the park is small but absolutely packed with attractions (that are fun for adults!) and entertainment, the locals behave in predictable ways making the planning very easy, and if you want a gigantic + to your visit you can buy Maxpass to get fastpasses ridiculously easy (and cheaply!) AND get photopass.
When you visit Magic Kingdom you face a tons of hassles and high prices, expensive Hotels, very limited Fastpass+ and massive standby queues, expensive PhotoPass, 6 month ADRs, Transportation into the park, the absolute mess that is MK Fireworks with no nighttime parade…just so many frustrations. And on an objective nature, it is the busiest park on earth, yet has 10 fewer rides than Disneyland. Frustrating! And Pirates, which is one of the few adult-pleasers, is such a downer after you have been on the DLR, TDL, DLP, or Shanghai version. And Carousel of Progress, Peoplemover, Hall of Presidents and Country Bears dont even belong in the same sentence as Indiana Jones, 3 Star Wars attractions, Alice in Wonderland, Casey Jr, Mr. Toad’s, Snow White, Pinocchio, Roger Rabbit, Matterhorn, Nemo Subs, and Great Moments.
I don’t know who these people are that prefer the insane planning of WDW. You can do the same thing at Disneyland if you really really want to. In fact, everything is even more predictable about said planning. Disneyland is a better value for what it offers.
1000% agree. I grew up on the West coast and DLR is my home park. We wanted to do WDW for our honeymoon and I was shocked that’s no hotel served free breakfast anywhere and the off site hotels were SOOO far away. However, we loved EPCOT and all the dining options at WDW. We asked for Disney gift cards for wedding gifts and we had sit down meals every day.
We were planning on going to WDW this spring to celebrate both my husband and I finishing our Master’s degrees, but for a week trip we were looking at spending $5K just on hotels, even trying to factor in a split stay between POP and OKW 1 bedroom. And hearing reports of how bad transportation is at OKW, we were hesitant to book. All of that wasn’t factoring in flights, or park tickets.
Looked up flights and hotel to Disneyland, booked Hyatt House right above the walgreens, within walking distance to Disneyland, free breakfast, kitchen in room, and lots of dining options within walking distance, and all for under $2K, it was a no brainer. And not to mention later closings for Disneyland.
I can confirm that bus service at OKW is poor in my experience. Stayed there at the beginning of October during the “golden age” when HS was opening at 6 am. Waits of 45-60 minutes for a bus to arrive were common to all the parks. Never got to rope drop any of them because of the bus service issues. That said, the super-early park openings during that time made rope dropping less critical because standby waits weren’t that awful. Of course, early Oct has a lower crowd generally.
This trip was a split stay, and I never thought I’d say this, but bus service at Pop was far better, despite generally having to wait for the second or third bus due to how many people were waiting in the bus queue. Only disadvantage was Pop buses were more crowded, but as an obviously senior citizen I often got offered a seat. I really appreciated this as I was recovering from 2 broken legs and one broken arm/collar bone (auto accident).
I believe its apples vs oranges but I chose WDW over DLR by a large margin while MK vs DL is a toss up. I prefer WDW because of Epcot, AK, abundance of dining options, lack of real world intrusions, and exploring the resorts. I would rather spend a whole week in the WDW bubble rather than mix DL and Southern California trip (I am not much of beach person or I dont like visiting urban environments on vacation). I give a slight edge to MK over DL because MK version of Splash Mountain is my favorite attraction of all time plus DL doesnt have Country Bears, Carousel of Progress, PeopleMover or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I do love DLR but I am fine with going biennial whereas I love to go to WDW 2-3 times a year.