My “home” park is Disneyland. I grew up going there and took my kids many, many times.
I’d been to Disney World as a child but didn’t have much memory of it. Two years ago, we took our family to Disney World and really experienced it for the first time; and it is VASTLY different. Here’s everything that surprised me on the differences between the two parks.
Size
Bottom line, Disneyland as a whole is walkable. Walt Disney World is not. You can walk from offsite hotels, and onsite hotels to get to the main entrance of Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure. You can easily and quickly walk from Disneyland, to California Adventure as the two share a main entry plaza.
At Disneyland, you can walk from one entrance to the other. The two park entrances share a main court yard.
Park hopping is easy and there is no need for transportation to take you from one park to the other.
There are 3 hotels on property at Disneyland, and they are all walkable or have their own entrance into the parks. Many of the surrounding good neighbor hotels are walkable too, as well as many parking areas.
At Walt Disney World, transportation from hotel to park entrance is a MUST at nearly every single location. Park to park transportation is also a must.
Disneyland is about 500 total acres whereas Walt Disney world is closer to 25,000 acres.
Personally, I could do nearly everything I wanted to do in a day hopping from Disneyland to Disney’s California Adventure. At WDW, I found the process to get from hotel to park tiring and long, so we didn’t enjoy going back to the hotel for an afternoon break or park hopping.
Transportation
Disneyland offers a Resort Tram from parking garages or a short monorail ride that takes you from Downtown Disney to Disneyland.
WDW offers boats, the Disney Skyliner, bus, or monorail to get to and from the parks and hotels. This was definitely fun, and the Disney Skyliner is pretty cool. On our first trip, we were confused as to which went where, but Cast Members were super helpful. I think the biggest struggle was remembering which mode of transportation took you where you needed to go.
As I was planning our WDW trip, I was so confused on how to get from our hotel to a character breakfast that was at a different resort. We ended up having to take 2 modes of transportation, and it was a little confusing.
Also, note with strollers, sometimes you have to fold everything up, and sometimes you can leave your stroller or double stroller open, like on the Skyliner.
There are additional options at Disney World like Minnie Vans, Ubers, and more that can get you where you need to go within the Disney bubble.
Food
This was a big one for me. Hot take: Disneyland food is better. I said what I said.
Beyond that, the prix-fixe menu prices really got me. It’s my fault for not reading a little bit more carefully, but that definitely surprised me. I have zero memory of Disneyland having any type of prix-fixe menu except for some specialty things like the Fantasmic Dining package – which was expected.
Disney World, however, had several. We had some dining reservations planned out, and I was a little shocked at the cost.
Be Our Guest is a great example. I was super excited for this dining experience, which was super cool. My food was delicious. My kids loved dessert, but the rest of the meal was not great.
A kids’ meal was $42 each. They got to pick an appetizer, an entree with 2 sides, a drink, and dessert. So basically, for $42 my kids ate fruit and chicken strips that they picked out.
This isn’t on Disney; it’s definitely on me for not reading clearly and knowing the details that were a huge difference for someone who is used to Disneyland. I talk about the Be Our Guest restaurant experience over on my Instagram if you want a peek!
Castle
Alright, I’m a Disneyland girl at heart, but Walt Disney World has a leg up in the castle department. Cinderella’s castle is huge, and beautiful, and I definitely have castle envy! Cinderella’s Castle at WDW is more than double the size of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. While both are beautiful, you are in for quite a shock when you are used to one park and go to the other.
But….which is better?
Well, isn’t that the question? Both are fantastic but are wildly different experiences in my opinion! If you don’t have to worry about flying, I find Disneyland more walkable, less expensive, and with the potential to be a short trip. I love the food, the vibe, and the weather is idyllic nearly all year. Walt Disney World has so much to offer when staying in the Disney bubble! The resorts are beautiful, and the different transportation options are fun. The different parks are super cool and an experience everyone should have!
If you need help figuring out which is best for your family, I’d love to assist!
If you are thinking about your next trip, I’m here to help!
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The Traveling Moms Collective 
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