We have not checked in with this question for a while, so let's do that now. Disney fans have two options for where to visit the parks in the United States: the original Disneyland Resort in California, and the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Disneyland offers two theme parks to Walt Disney World's four, but you can find just as many attractions in California as in Florida. The difference is that they're all within easy walking distance at Disneyland, instead of requiring bus or monorail or boat trips to navigate between the parks, as is the case at Walt Disney World.
Each resort has its unique attractions, but Walt Disney World has way more hotel rooms and resort options than Disneyland, which has just three on-site hotels. But dozens of other hotels stand within walking distance of the Disneyland theme parks, making California a more affordable option for some fans, especially if you want to spend hotel points on a Disney theme park visit.
Ultimately, it probably comes down to transportation for many fans. Walt Disney World is a day's roadtrip for millions of fans living in the eastern half of the United States. Disneyland, on the other hand, is more a locals park for the millions who live and near Southern California.
If you want the specific line-ups at each park, as well as reader rankings and itineraries, please visit the park links on our Plan your Disney Parks vacation page.
I am a Los Angeles native who lives in California, so my choice here is probably obvious - give me the original. But I have family in the Orlando area and used to work at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, so there is zero hate for anyone picking WDW here. Just tell us in the comments why you made your pick.
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When people ask me this question, I always say the same thing. I like WDW better overall than DL, but that the two parks in California are the two best Disney parks in the USA. They both provide different vacation experiences and that’s why I love alternating.
I'm a diehard WDW guy but my Disneyland trip last year won me over majorly to how much fun that it can be with less hassle. It's like choosing a favorite kid in a way, WDW has more flavor and variety yet DL can be great in its own way.
No debate, Florida has "more" space. And while Florida has more landscaping and is "prettier," California seems to have the edge on "quality."
I think it gets a bit more attention because the "bosses" are in California and are always watching (or the perception is they could show up and notice something amiss at anytime).
It's kinda like in my business, the "main" operation gets the attention and "budget dollars," while the outlying posts suffer from the little things. The main office gets new carpet even though the satellite office needs it worse.
The correct answer here is...it depends.
If you're just talking about the parks themselves, California is better. Disneyland is (in my opinion) the single best Disney park in the world, and even though DCA has its flaws, it's a more complete park than any of the extra gates in Florida. Plus, both parks are generally quite easy to spend a day at without an extreme amount of advance planning as is often required to have even an above average day in Florida.
That said, outside the gates of the park, Walt Disney World blows the Disneyland Resort away. The hotels (for the most part) are better, Disney Springs is much better than Downtown Disney, and there's just a lot more to do. It would be difficult to spend more than three days on DLR property without running out of stuff to see, while you could probably spend the better part of two weeks at WDW before feeling the need to venture elsewhere as you've already seen everything. There's a reason I'd generally recommend DLR for 2-3 days as part of a larger California trip while WDW requires a minimum of 3-5 days just for the property in order to be worth going in the first place.
Having visited Disney World 3 times and Disneyland for the first time only this year I can categorically say Disney World offers a much better experience. In fact I'd go as far as to say that we wouldn't not revisit Disneyland. It's too crowded and too small. Spreading the attractions over 4 parks in Disney World gives them space to breathe and makes the parks themselves destinations in a way that neither park at Disneyland felt. I can easily spend two weeks in Disneyworld but after 3 days in Disneyland I was already bored of treading the same paths.
I know Disneyland has unique attractions and all that history but Walt Disney had a second chance to imagine his world and he got far more right the second time around.
WDW.
Disneyland is charming and quaint, but WDW is the only resort that provides the WOW and spectacle most people have come to expect when thinking of a Disney theme park vacation experience.
WDW ... It has EPCOT, DAK (Flight of Passage) and Disney Springs. It also has Typhoon Lagoon (awesome) and a better selection of on-property hotels.
This isn't even close.
Disneyland is my favorite park. WDW is just better. I went to Fort Wilderness campgrounds last night. Every campground was decorated, people were passing out candy, and communal pin boards everywhere. It was better than boo-to-you. I walked for five miles and still didnt get to see everything. Disneyland could never do that.
If you have one day to give to a resort, Disneyland is definitely the better option. The 2 parks have higher attraction densities than the 4 parks at WDW and it’s MUCH easier to park hop. DLR also has a lot more “charm”, has better versions of most of the WDW attractions, and Disneyland Park itself is by far the best Disney park in the US (probably the best park in the US period as well).
That being said, WDW is better than DLR overall. It’s essentially an entire city run by Disney, and that type of experience truly is other worldly. You just can’t beat how large it is and how many offerings it has.
Choosing between Disneyland and Walt Disney World depends on personal preference. Disneyland offers convenience with close attractions, while Walt Disney World has more parks but requires more transportation between them. I can play
Both have a lot to offer. Both share the same attractions, while at the same time also offer unique attractions. I personally prefer Disneyland. Many of the attractions they share with Disney World are better at Disneyland in my opinion. Such as Pirates, It's A Small World, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Railroad. I always stay at one of the Disneyland hotels, and it's much easier to get to and from the parks. Disneyland and California Adventure are also located next to each other, so it's also easier to park hop.
Disney World is great too. It also has a lot to offer. It has 4 parks, and each park is unique. My favorite park at Disney World is Epcot. I've always enjoyed visiting all the countries. Getting to and from the parks requires a little bit more planning, even while staying at a Disney hotel. It's a bit more involved, but still easy to use.
Disneyland park is the original. Like a movie sequel...nothing beats the original.
Disneyland is a better park experience, Disney World is a better resort experience.
I chose Disneyland. I love that everything is right together in the two parks side by side, and I don't have to waste time waiting for transportation to everything. I wait in endless lines for rides and I do not want to wait for transportation too.
Plus I will take southern California weather over Florida weather any time, especially when in the summer which is the only time I can visit.
From a purely park/attraction point of view, it's difficult to top what the Disneyland Resort offers. Not only do the 2 California Parks offer a similar number of total attractions to the 4 Florida parks, but many of the versions on the west coast are superior (including the recently soft-opened TBA, based on early reviews). In addition to the shear number of attractions across the 2 parks in California, they're spread across a much smaller space, meaning that even if you go to BOTH parks, you're not clocking nearly as many miles walking than you do in Florida. The last time we went to Disneyland resort in 2019, we stayed at a hotel within walking distance of the Toy Story Parking lot, and either walked to the bus bays there or walked directly to the Esplanade averaging 8-10 miles walking over our 3 days spending from rope drop to close in the parks. The last time we took a multi-day visit to WDW in January 2020, we stayed at Pop Century, and used the Skyliner and resort busses to get to and from the parks, and averaged 12-15 miles of walking per day over our 4 days. However, despite having attractions more closely packed, I've never felt that Disneyland was significantly more crowded or congested than similar areas in WDW.
The other issue between the 2 resorts is the overuse of LL on attractions in WDW to the point where guests who choose not to purchase the upcharge are treated like second class citizens with almost every attraction (even C and D ticket level ones) with LL queues. Over in California, there are dozens of smaller attractions where the flow of the standby line is not encumbered by a flood of entitled LL guests. While a lot of the best attractions in California do have LL, there are only a handful in each park, so it's still possible for guests who don't pay for the upcharge can still experience a lot in a single day, whereas in WDW, if you don't buy LL, you're spending so much time in standby lines that it's really hard to see even a majority of the attractions in a single park. In addition to the LL upcharges that are more necessary in Florida, the overall cost of a visit to WDW is more because you need to carve out more days to see the entire resort. Even if you buy LL and park hoppers, you'd probably need at least 3 days to see everything at WDW. Over in California, you could legitimately see most of everything in both parks in 2 days.
The real advantage to WDW is the individual resort hotels, which are generally overpriced compared to off-site and major chain hotels, and stuff outside of the parks like the waterparks, golf/mini-golf courses, and Disney Springs. Also, I do like the overarching themes of EPCOT and DAK, which are not present in either California parks anymore after DCA 2.0. However, despite WDW being within driving distance (or cheap/easy flight) from where we live, it costs almost as much to visit WDW as it does Disneyland for us on the east coast. If the resorts were to switch coasts and everything about them stayed the same, Disneyland would be the runaway winner here, but as it stand, I'd still give Disneyland a very narrow edge.
RM: "...as it stand, I'd still give Disneyland a very narrow edge."
Me: On target. It's like choosing chocolate cake with vanilla or chocolate cake with French vanilla.
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I live in Florida, but I prefer Disneyland because there’s a lot less angry people. I have been personally berated by multiple random strangers while visiting the Magic Kingdom more than any other place I’ve ever been to also. For a single day visitor Disneyland has more things to do within that one park and is incredibly walkable. Also Disneyland just maintains their rides and upgrades them much more frequently and with better quality than Walt Disney World. Space Mountain at WDW seems like trash now that I’ve done the one at DL. I also like the roaming characters, which feel much more organic than staged meet and greets. Lastly, getting into and out of Magic Kingdom is an absolute nightmare.