Why Disneyland is Better than Disney World
Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure opened in downtown Anaheim, California, in 1955 and 2001, respectively. The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, opened its flagship park, the Magic Kingdom, in 1965, and went on to open three additional parks within a few miles of each other in 1982, 1989 and 1998. For as long as these two resorts have existed in parallel, there have been natural comparisons between the East and West coast properties...particularly Disneyland proper and the Magic Kingdom, which are strikingly similar and offer many of the same rides and attractions. That being said, it would be a mistake to characterize either property - or any of the rides therein - as a xerox or a clone of the other. If you’ve made it this far, then you already know which of the properties we prefer. Disneyland will officially reopen to California residents this week after more than a year of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the longest closure in the park’s history. Today, I’m going to break down why we believe that Disneyland is better than Disney World and worth a visit in the post-COVID world. And - while there will definitely be some subjectivity to our reasoning - stick with me, and I’ll make a believer of you yet.
Image Credit: Gela Del Rosario
Weather
It’s true what they say - everybody talks about the weather! Tragically enough, Walt Disney didn’t live to see the opening of the Magic Kingdom, but he did live long enough to see construction formally begun on Walt Disney World. Walt was famously heckled by prospective investors when building the park, even after successfully opening Disneyland under the similar pretenses. Why? Because the land he chose for development was a literal swamp, and nobody believed that a profitable theme park could be erected there. Walt and his eventual successors did eventually prove these naysayers wrong, as Walt Disney World continues to thrive year over year - 2020 being an obvious exception - but you can’t entirely take the swamp out of the swamp. In central Florida, where the Magic Kingdom and its three neighboring parks now stand, approximately a third of the year is hurricane season. Average temperatures range from 54 degrees to 90 degrees, and the humidity is often so thick that you can cut it with a knife.
Not so on the West Coast, where Disneyland stands. Summer temperatures in Anaheim range from 40 degrees in the winter to 80 in the summer, with a year-round average of about 62 degrees. Humidity is practically non-existent, and there’s no such thing as a hurricane. Now, California does occasionally have a small tremor here and there, but such events are rarely felt in Anaheim and generally very mild, if even noticeable. If money were no object and we had to choose one place in the continental US to spend the rest of our days, it would most assuredly be California on the basis of weather alone; Disneyland or no Disneyland.
Image Credit: Miles Cristosomo
Atmosphere
In addition to having an amazing meteorological atmosphere, it is the position of this parkgoer that the Disneyland Resort also offers a more relaxed, more magical and more sentimental atmosphere than the Walt Disney World Resort. During Disneyland’s extended closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen many different analyst opinions, statistics and metrics released regarding the park’s operation, revenue and attendance levels. One of the most interesting pieces of trivia pertained to the park’s local attendance - those who live in or near Anaheim and the surrounding areas of Southern California. It has been estimated that approximately 50% of the annual attendance at Disneyland is comprised of these locals, for whom Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure hold a special and sentimental place in the heart. Walt Disney World attendance, by contrast, is comprised almost entirely of out-of-state traffic. At the latter park(s), people arrive at the front gates of the Magic Kingdom having spent thousands of dollars a head to experience the height of immersion, knockout culinary masterpieces and top-of-the-industry engineering.
At the former park(s), people have come to rekindle their inner child, meet characters, live, laugh and love alongside their neighbors and close friends. Nobody would dare say that Disneyland is the more expansive property of the two domestic kingdoms, but it’s because of just that - the fact that it’s smaller, quainter and more nostalgic for so many - that Disneyland is so much more magical.
Image Credit: Disneyland Resort
Resorts
Granted, when it comes to Resort properties, Disneyland’s smaller footprint puts it at a bit of a competitive disadvantage. The rooms available for stays at the Disneyland resort hotels are few and far between as the resort currently offers only three (3) resort properties total (compared to Walt Disney World’s twenty-eight (28) resort properties) and these properties are often booked solid months in advance. Additionally, members of the Disney Vacation Club will have a hard time using points to book at the resort’s singular DVC property due to the extremely limited quantity of rooms under that heading. However, even though it’s difficult to book a reservation at Disneyland’s resorts, a stay in any of the three properties is beyond compare. Disneyland’s resorts are not ‘tiered’ as WDW’s are, but the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pier Hotel are comparable to ‘Moderate’ resorts at Walt Disney World. The Grand Californian Hotel is comparable to a ‘Deluxe’ resort at Walt Disney World. All three resort properties feature a stunning pool area, immersive theming and expansive rooms that will give you vibes of WDW’s Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge Resort(s), but unlike WDW, these resorts are built practically on top of the rides and attractions of Disneyland, Downtown Disney and Disney’s California Adventure.
Guests who stay at the Disneyland Hotel can walk directly into Downtown Disney, and guests who stay at the Grand Californian can actually walk right into the Disney’s California Adventure park! This convenience alone would make it well worth the visit to any of the Disneyland resort hotels, but the rooms are also top notch and feature all the amenities of the moderate and/or deluxe Walt Disney World resorts with the added benefit of some extra space to move about!
Image Credit: Orange County Register
Rides
At last we come to the clearest and most definitive difference between Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort(s), and, in our humble opinion, the difference that makes Disneyland resort the clear victor between the two domestic properties in the USA. Disneyland is often compared to the Magic Kingdom, and we know many a WDW fan that believes Disneyland is a ‘clone’ of the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Though there are striking similarities between the two, this statement could not be more false - in fact, the Magic Kingdom is a clone of Disneyland in Anaheim; and, to be honest, a sort of shoddy one!
The Magic Kingdom takes two trophies for having the superior version(s) of Splash Mountain (pre-retheme) and arguably of The Haunted Mansion, but literally every other ride variant is better at Disneyland. Winnie the Pooh is more vibrant and immersive with more advanced projection technology. Pirates of the Caribbean is longer, more thrilling and with more dark ride scenes and characters from the later movies in the POTC film franchise embedded. Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain, both regarded as ‘classic' attractions at the Magic Kingdom are smoother and better tended at Disneyland, with the added benefit of being mitigated for the limited space with more comfortable ride vehicles and more advanced special effects. This is to say nothing of the attractions that are specific to Disneyland proper, such as the Indiana Jones Adventure (ride technology similar to that of Animal Kingdom’s DINOSAUR) and the Matterhorn Bobsleds, both of which are incredibly fun and immersive rides that blow their any close competition out of the water.
The fact that all of these rides are staggered underground, above ground and in some cases interconnected with other rides in order to conserve space makes the entire experience that much more magical. It truly is a small world at Disneyland, but it’s a pocket universe of amazing rides and attractions that just can’t be adequately replicated at the Magic Kingdom or any other Disney park.
As Disneyland reopens later this week, we look forward to a future return to our ‘home park’ and making new memories at what is truly the most magical place in the country - if not on earth. As we’ve said, the decision as to whether or not the California parks or the Orlando parks are the superior property(s) is subjective, and may depend wholly on your own experiences in each park. But frequent adult visitors to all of the Disney parks within the United States, we challenge the Magic Kingdom to outperform Disneyland on any platform outside of capacity. What makes Disneyland so magical is the fact that is able to achieve so much, innovate so much and inspire so much within its guests for being as small and as whimsical as it is. If that isn’t the Disney magic that Walt himself once envisioned, we don’t know what is!
