Before I
post more about the rest of my trip across the country, I really want to
compare Disneyland to Disney World, because I think this is something that
people are genuinely curious about.
For me, a California native, I have a pretty good perspective on Disneyland and California Adventure. I have visited the park fairly consistently once a year or more during my life, I bought my first season pass a few years ago, and will be buying my next one sometime soon. Just this past Tuesday I went to Mickey's Halloween Party in Disneyland, and having both parks fresh in my mind (I went to Disney World for the first time about a month ago and attended their Halloween Party), I wanted to compare the different parks/rides and which ones I preferred.
I will compare the major differences between Mickey's Halloween Party (Disneyland) and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (Magic Kingdom) in a later blog post.
There are some things I did not get to experience in Disney World, such as the Swiss Family Treehouse (in Disneyland it's Tarzan's Treehouse) or Tom Sawyer Island (in Disneyland this is Pirate's Lair). I really like these features in Disneyland, and I have visited the originals (Swiss Family Treehouse and Tom Sawyer Island) while they were unchanged in Disneyland, so my guess would be these areas are fairly similar in experience. I also did not go on Splash Mountain at Disney World, so I can't compare it to Disneyland's Splash Mountain.
I also did not stand in line to meet with any characters except Pluto, so I won't be comparing the different characters you can meet in the various parks. I will say this: it's pretty cool that you can meet characters in their "native" lands in EPCOT, such as Mary Poppins in England, Mulan in China, etc.
Disney World
I am
going to start with the park that is by far the biggest. With 4 different
theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and EPCOT) and 2
water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon), Disney World has a lot to
offer guests. I did not visit either of the water parks, and as
Disneyland really has nothing to compare to those places, they aren't too
relevant to this discussion.
Now an outline of what each parks main attraction(s) are; these are generally considered "E-Ticket" experiences, or the rides that most people make a fastpass reservation for:
Magic Kingdom
Seven
Dwarfs Mine Train
Space
Mountain
Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad
Splash
Mountain
Main
Street Electrical Parade (might be leaving for Disneyland soon)
Various
Firework Shows
Animal Kingdom
Expedition
Everest
Kilimanjaro
Safaris
Kali
River Rapids
DINOSAUR
Festival
of the Lion King
Finding
Nemo - The Musical
Hollywood Studios
Rock ‘n’
Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Star
Tours
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Toy Story Midway Mania!
The
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Fantasmic!
Lights,
Motor, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
Indiana
Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!
EPCOT
Test
Track
Soarin'
Mission:
SPACE
IllumiNations:
Reflections of Earth
Disneyland
The
original park has several rides and experiences unique to this park, such as
meeting Thor or Captain America in Innoventions, and rides like Alice in
Wonderland, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, Finding Nemo
Submarine Voyage, and Mickey's Toon Town.
Now an outline of what each parks main attraction(s) are; these are generally considered "E-Ticket" experiences, or the rides that most people make a fastpass reservation for:
Disneyland
Space
Mountain
Splash
Mountain
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad
Indiana
Jones Adventure
Pirates
of the Caribbean
Various
Firework Shows
Fantasmic!
Disney's California Adventure
California
Screamin'
Grizzly
River Run
Radiator
Springs Racers
Soarin'
Over California
Toy Story
Midway Mania!
The
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
World of
Color
Ride Comparison
Now let's
compare the different rides that the parks share in common. I will also
give my impressions on some of the rides/shows that only Disneyland has, and
some of the rides that only Disney World has. To differentiate with ride
goes with which park, I will use acronyms to show which ride belongs where.
DLR: Disneyland Resort
DCA:
Disney California Adventure
MK: Magic
Kingdom
EPCOT:
EPCOT
HS:
Hollywood Studios
AK:
Animal Kingdom
NOTE:
If any sections are in quotes (“ ”) it was taken directly from the theme parks
ride description.
Space
Mountain
|
|
DLR:
A high-speed turbulent ride through outer space.
|
MK:
A high-speed turbulent ride through outer space.
|
Winner:
DLR
The MK version of
Space Mountain is very similar to DLR’s Matterhorn. There are two cars
connected together and each car seats three, like (X | X | X) – (X | X | X);
so you ride alone. What makes DLR better is that the track is WAY
smoother than MK, it takes your picture in a better place (the end of the
ride rather than the beginning at MK), and felt faster overall.
|
|
Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad
|
|
DLR:
The wildest ride in the wilderness, a mine train ride that rips through tight
curves and climbs up steep mine shafts.
|
MK: “Dash in and out of desert caverns
and rumble through a haunted mine aboard a speeding train.”
|
Winner:
DLR
Before the renovation
of this ride in DLR, MK actually had a slight edge over the DLR version due
to what I consider a slightly better track design. However, the new
effects and incredibly smooth track make the DLR ride experience the clear
winner.
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|
Indiana
Jones/Dinosaur
|
|
DLR:
Take an adventure on a bumpy jeep ride and help Indiana Jones along the way.
|
AK: Travel back in
time to save a dinosaur from extinction.
|
Winner:
DLR/Indiana Jones
The overall
storyline of this ride is much better presented than the slightly cheesy
Dinosaur ride.
|
|
The
Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure/Under the Sea ~ Journey of the
Little Mermaid
|
|
DCA:
“Pack your dinglehoppers, tune up your
snarfblatts and journey under the sea to be part of Ariel's world.”
|
MK: “Descend
below the waves for a splashy musical adventure featuring famous scenes from
this cherished animated classic.”
|
Winner:
Tie
These rides are
virtually identical in every single way except the outside set up in the
ride. MK has a better ride queue with more details and a better
nautical/cave theme.
|
|
Disney’s
Railroad (this circles the park)
|
|
DLR: “Celebrate
Americana—and all things red, white and blue—as you steam away on a vintage
train for a full circle tour of Disneyland Park.”
|
MK: “Celebrate
classic Americana as you steam away on a vintage train for a full circle tour
of Magic Kingdom park.”
|
Winner:
DLR
Both train rides
are fun, but DLR has some great scenes of animals, dinosaurs, and inside
Splash Mountain that make it an overall better ride experience.
|
|
Enchanted
Tiki Room
|
|
DLR:
Four colorful parrots narrate a singing journey with flowers, birds of the
jungle, and tikis.
|
MK:
Four colorful parrots narrate a singing journey with flowers, birds of the
jungle, and tikis.
|
Winner:
DLR
I was so sad when I
went to the Enchanted Tiki Room in MK; they completely cut out one of the
songs! I believe it was “Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies” that was cut,
and thus no guest sing-a-long. For that reason alone, DLR wins.
However, I do love the volcanic window scenes that MK has over DLR’s bamboo
shades and fake rain.
|
|
Peter
Pan’s Flight
|
|
DLR:
Explore Neverland with Peter Pan and the Darling children.
|
MK:
Explore Neverland with Peter Pan and the Darling children.
|
Winner:
MK
By a narrow margin,
MK edges out this classic ride at DLR. I liked the different track
layout at MK and some of the slightly different scenes compared to the DLR
scenes. These two rides are also very similar, so either experience
will be enjoyable.
|
|
Soarin’
(over California)
|
|
DCA: “Feel
the wind race across your face during a breezy airborne adventure above
California’s natural and manmade wonders.“
|
EPCOT: “Take
flight and feel the wind through your hair as you fly above breathtaking
vistas of California.“
|
Winner:
Tie
These rides are
identical in every way, except for the name, which is just “Soarin’” in
EPCOT. The only way DCA might edge EPCOT out is the inside décor of the
queue is more interesting to see and read than in EPCOT.
|
|
Autopia/Tomorrowland
Speedway
|
|
DLR: “Put
the pedal to the metal in your very own car and cruise along a scenic
miniature motorway.”
|
MK: “Put
the pedal to the metal in your very own hotrod and cruise along a scenic
miniature motorway.”
|
Winner:
DLR
This is mostly
personal preference, as the rides are very similar. Autopia offers a
better themed roadway, with plenty of natural features such as trees, tunnels
and an off-roading section versus the Speedway’s racetrack
design.
|
|
Pirates
of the Caribbean
|
|
DLR: Set
sail on a swashbuckling voyage to a long-forgotten time and place when
pirates wrought havoc on the high seas.
|
MK: Set
sail on a swashbuckling voyage to a long-forgotten time and place when
pirates wrought havoc on the high seas.
|
Winner:
DLR
The ride at DLR
felt slightly longer in experience, but both rides are incredibly
similar. What edged DLR to the front is the fact that this track has 2
drops in it, which make the ride more of a thrill ride than a sit-and-watch
ride. However as far as overall theme goes, MK has a much more pirate-y
outside décor.
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|
Jungle
Cruise
|
|
DLR:
“Set sail for high adventure in Asia, Africa and South America during a
guided tour of the world's most remote rivers.”
|
MK: “Set
sail for high adventure on a tour of the most exotic and “dangerous” rivers
in Asia, Africa and South America.”
|
Winner:
MK
While the ride and
jokes are pretty much the same (slightly outdated and corny), the MK ride has
a couple different “rooms” with a better theme, which gives MK the edge in
this experience.
|
|
It’s
a Small World
|
|
DLR:
“Embark on a whimsical boat ride past a jubilant confection of singing
children from around the globe.”
|
MK:
“Embark on a whimsical boat ride past a jubilant confection of singing
children from around the globe.”
|
Winner:
DLR
While the song in
both rides is never-ending, DLR has added a few touches which kick this ride
up a notch: they placed characters in the respective land they are
from. So you’ll see Peter Pan flying in England, Lilo and Stitch in
Hawaii, Mulan in China, etc. I’ve also been told by cast members that
MK does not dress their ride up for Christmas like DLR does, which is one of
the best times to ride this ride.
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Grizzly
River Run/Kali River Rapids
|
|
DCA: A
thrilling whitewater raft adventure that takes you roaring down a California
river in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
|
AK: A
rip-roaring, river raft ride that takes you on a tour through a lush jungle
landscape ravaged by illegal logging.
|
Winner:
DCA
The DCA ride is a
noticeably longer ride with two small drops in it, compared to AK’s one
sort-of-drop-but-more-of-a-slide. I was incredibly disappointed with
this, most particularly because the ride is much shorter than its DCA
counterpart. However, the theme of AK’s ride is definitely well done.
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Haunted
Mansion
|
|
DLR:
Take a haunted journey through a stately mansion in a doom buggy, see ghosts
and perhaps take a hitch-hiker home with you.
|
MK:
Take a haunted journey through a stately mansion in a doom buggy, see ghosts
and perhaps take a hitch-hiker home with you.
|
Winner:
DLR
Again, these rides
are incredibly similar. What gave DLR the lead over MK comes down to
the fact that DLR dresses up their ride for Halloween and Christmas with Jack
Skellington and friends, which makes this ride very fun/cute. I do like
the “attic” room more in MK, though, with footprints walking along stairs and
ceiling above you. The ride itself also feels bigger in MK.
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Test
Track/Radiator Springs Racers
|
|
EPCOT: Design
a virtual concept vehicle and then go for a high-octane spin at this
attraction that’s thrilling and creative.
|
DCA: Start
your engines! Zoom through the desert landscape of Cars Land, inspired by the
Disney•Pixar movie Cars.
|
Winner:
DCA/Radiator Springs Racers
These two rides are
incredibly difficult to compare. The tracks where the cars go fast (aka
the outdoor portion) are very similar, however DCA track has some nifty hills
and practically sideways portion of its track. If it were based solely
on track, EPCOT would win. What edged DCA over EPCOT is the fact that
Cars itself, like Lighting McQueen and Tow Mater, are more fun to see than
randomly testing a cars features that you “designed” yourself. The
speed you feel on Test Track is quite thrilling, though!
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Star
Tours
|
|
DLR:
Take a trip (no one trip is ever (usually) the same) through outer space Star
Wars style, with C3P-O as your guide.
|
HS:
Take a trip (no one trip is ever (usually) the same) through outer space Star
Wars style, with C3P-O as your guide.
|
Winner:
Tie
Both rides are
identical, and even the queue leading into the rides is remarkably similar.
|
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Toy
Story Midway Mania!
|
|
DCA: “Step
right up! No ride is ever the same twice. From expert to beginner, everyone's
a winner!”
|
HS: “Ride
and shoot moving targets at this midway-style, 4D shootin’ game starring your
favorite Toy Story characters.”
|
Winner:
Tie
Both rides are
exactly the same, with the only difference being that most of the HS queue is
indoors and DCA queue is outdoors.
|
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The
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
|
|
DCA: “Lunge
up and down into the Twilight Zone aboard a haunted "elevator"
ride.”
|
HS: “Hurtle
up and down into the Twilight Zone aboard a haunted "elevator"
ride.”
|
Winner:
HS
The rides are
nearly the same when it comes to the dropping part; what makes HS the better
experience is the tour you get of the hotel before you rise up for the great
view of the park.
|
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Fantasmic!
|
|
DLR: “The
forces of good and evil battle in Mickey’s dream during this extravagant
musical, pyrotechnic spectacular!”
|
HS: “The
power of dreams blazes before you in this breathtaking 30-minute fireworks
and water extravaganza.”
|
Winner:
Tie
While each show was
slightly different, there really is no clear winner in Fantasmic. It
comes down to personal taste. The HS version has stadium seating and
scenes from Pocahontas. The DLR version has causal seating around the
Rivers of America and Peter Pan dueling Hook on the Jolly Roger. Many
other parts of each show are nearly identical, with the only differences
being which scenes they show in the water spray and which villains they
feature.
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California
Screamin’/ Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
|
|
DCA: Tear
through the air aboard this high-speed thrill ride that recalls the great
wooden roller coasters of yesteryear!
|
HS: Blast
off in a super-stretch limousine through the darkened freeways of Los Angeles
to the rockin’ tunes of Aerosmith.
|
Winner:
DCA
The rides overall
are very different experiences, but the smoothness of the tracks and similar
turns/twists/upside-down nature of the two rides begged comparing. That
being said, DCA was a better experience as the ride was longer and the ups
and downs were more intense as this ride was outdoors. Both rides are
really fun, though, and picking a winner out of these two was tough.
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Rides
Unique to Parks:
There are
rides that are unique to each park; I’ve listed them below along with the park
they are in. This is a short list which highlights some of the more
unique and interesting rides that are found in the various parks.
Expedition
Everest (AK)
Rock ‘n’
Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (HS)
Matterhorn
Bobsleds (DLR)
Kilimanjaro
Safaris (AK)
California
Screamin’ (DCA)
Alice in
Wonderland (DLR)
Mr.
Toad’s Wild Ride (DLR)
Pinocchio’s
Daring Journey (DLR)
Finding
Nemo Submarine Voyage (DLR)
The Great
Movie Ride (HS)
Maelstrom
(EPCOT)
Journey
into Imagination with Figment (EPCOT)
Mission:
SPACE
Dinoland
U.S.A. (has some common fair type rides)
Notable
Mentions:
Expedition
Everest – Located in Animal
Kingdom, this is probably the most thrilling and intense roller coaster in any
of the Disney parks found in America. The backwards section of this ride
is particularly intense, with a lot of pressure building up as you zip along in
the dark.
Matterhorn
Bobsleds – A classic ride,
they recently renovated the ride cars so that they are similar to MK Space
Mountain: ( X X X) – (X X X). Each X represents a person sitting in their
own seat, NOT in someone else’s lap! The right track is a little bit
smoother and noticeably faster than the left track. It would be more
accurate to compare Space Mountain MK to this ride, than to Space
Mountain DLR in terms of track roughness and seating arrangements.
Kilimanjaro
Safaris – An incredibly
unique ride which offers you about as authentic an African safari you can get
without leaving America.
Seven
Dwarfs Mine Train – I was highly
disappointed with this ride because of its length. This ride is about 60
seconds long, which is far too short for how long you have to wait to go on
it. It’s a beautiful ride and incredibly smooth, with a few fun
drops. Just wish it was longer!
Shows
Not that
big on seeing shows, but here are a couple that didn’t get mentioned up above
that I really enjoyed:
IllumiNations:
Reflections of Earth (EPCOT) – This show
probably comes the closest in terms of relating to World of Color. It’s a
great fireworks and laser show.
World of
Color (DCA)- This is
probably my all-time favorite show that Disney has ever done. The colors,
the flames, the fireworks, the projections onto screens of water, are just
incredibly well done. Don’t miss any opportunity to see this show!
Food
I am not
a food expert, so I will briefly talk about some of the things I enjoy about
Disneyland and Disney World in terms of food.
Both
parks have some incredible food choices, but just by the fact that Disney World
(this being all 4 parks) has so much more square footage of parks means it has
that much more in terms of food to offer. In particular, EPCOT has some
spectacular places to find food. I really enjoyed the Werther’s store in
Germany; their chocolate cookie filled with caramel, rice crispy treats
drizzled with Werther’s caramel and chocolate, pretzel rods dipped in caramel
and chocolate, all were to die for. I even bought an overpriced but
delicious bottle of Werther’s caramel drizzle to take home! The variety
of food in EPCOT is astounding, and each country features food eaten in that
country, from Italian and French gelato to Norwegian pastries, English fish and
chips, Mexican empanadas, Chinese orange chicken...I think you get the
idea. Go to EPCOT with an empty stomach!
Both
Disneyland and Magic Kingdom have Dole Whips, another favorite of mine.
However, Magic Kingdom also offers orange and vanilla as flavors in addition to
the Dole pineapple flavor. I actually prefer the orange/vanilla swirl
flavor. It’s heavenly.
One thing
I noticed, the cream cheese filled pretzels were $5.00 at the Florida parks and
were extremely hard to find. In Disneyland, they were $3.85 and found in
the Coca Cola shop, among various other pretzel stands in the park. These
pretzels are one of my favorite treats in the park.
Magic
Kingdom vs. Disneyland: Who wins?
So, which
park wins? I am biased with my views, as I have been multiple times to
Disneyland and only once to the Magic Kingdom. That being said, in my
opinion the winner is:
DISNEYLAND
Disneyland
is the better park (again, in my opinion) for a variety of reasons. One
thing I really like about this park is that it IS small. You don’t spend
half the day (and ¾ of your energy) walking around the park trying to get from
one ride to the next. With attractions closer together, you are able to
ride things faster and get to them quickly. Secondly, Disneyland has a
sort of wheel-and-spoke approach to organization. While the Magic Kingdom
has a similar setup, personal experience visiting this park last month made me
realize it’s not nearly as convenient as Disneyland’s. Again this relates
to the size of the Magic Kingdom; the different attractions are very far apart
in each land, so visiting things in an orderly fashion is difficult.
For example, in the Magic Kingdom, Space Mountain feels like it’s off all by itself in the middle of nowhere. The new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride sort of blocks off Fantasyland so you have to walk all the way around the ride from the entrance to get to that part of the park. Then there’s that new circus area which is also kind of off by itself. There are so many little paths that seem to go off for you to explore, which is great because it means more stuff to see, but also not so great, as you can get lost easily (at least, those unfamiliar with the park). I do have to say, I really love the Magic Kingdom’s newly expanded Fantasyland: it’s awesome. I wish Disneyland had as much space as the Magic Kingdom so we could get some of the nice features like this!
Everyone
loves to point out how much bigger the castle is in the Magic Kingdom compared
to Disneyland, and it’s true. On Tuesday when I was in Disneyland I was
like, wait, what?! THAT’S the castle!? It looks very puny compared
to the Magic Kingdom’s soaring spires. That being said, I do like that
you can explore Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle interior, and see scenes
from the movie in diorama form. You can’t walk inside Cinderella’s castle
at the Magic Kingdom; the only way to really “get inside” is to dine at
Cinderella’s Royal Table.
Last
thing: the weather. I’m sure Florida is great in the winter or whenever
the humidity is much lower, but it’s not that fun visiting in September or any
other month when the humidity is so high. I had no problem with the
thunderstorms or sudden downpours. Not a big fan of
‘stand-still-and-sweat’ humidity, because you don’t need to move in order for
it to look like sweat is dripping down your body. It seems to just zap
your strength and energy, which is not okay when you are planning on spending
12+ hours in the park. The nice thing about California is that there is
never humidity like that. We get rain (lots of it, sometimes), and
thunderstorms too, but no hurricanes or tropical storms, either.
And hey,
Disneyland tickets are still $3 cheaper! Just one other reason why
Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth, and the best theme park.
I hope
you enjoyed reading my park comparison. I know I left out some things, so
feel free to let me know in the comments section what you think of my review
and any important details you felt I left out. Please remember that this
is my personal opinion! If you think Disneyland is second rate to the
Magic Kingdom, that’s fine by me :-). Just don’t take my opinion as a
personal attack on “your park”. Thanks!
