What's the difference between Disneyland and Disney world?

[cleomummy]

My dsis lives in SF and we are thinking of going to visit next summer. We wanted to go for three weeks and do a few things but thinking Disney world Florida and another flight to SF might be too much. Dcs 5 and 7 when we go.

So now we are thinking of going to Disney land, what's the difference? Is it worth it? Better to do Disney world and then SF or save Disney world for another time? But if we do Disneyland is there much point doing Disney world at a later date?

DL is much smaller - just the magic kingdom I think. It would be a one or two day visit. There is also a Universal Studios Hollywood, but DL is in Anaheim so they’re about an hour apart,

WDW is four parks plus two water parks and can take over a week to do, plus you’re in the same place as other theme parks so can easily fill 2 weeks and not do everything.

They are very different holiday propositions.

There are two Disney parks in California. Disneyland and Disney California adventure they are good fun and your kids will love them but they do not compare to visiting the Florida parks. They are much smaller but I’d say for you and your DC you’d still very much enjoy them. Take a look at the maps they have online and see what you think.

As the PP said they also have the universal park but it is very small and most of the rides are 3D and it’s not as geared up for younger children as Disney is, but they would still enjoy it such as the minion ride and if they’re into Harry Potter there is a smaller back scale version of what they have in Florida.

I’d say as your on the east coast you may as well do the parks on that side but definitely don’t discount Florida in the future if you have a good time as it’s in a league of its own in Orlando.

I definitely meant west coast not east! Apologies

@Rozzie18 I think she means Disney Land Paris?

There's a massive difference - Disney World is the most magical place on Earth whereas Disney land is an outdated, rainy place filled with really moody staff.

Go to DW.

Oh I see you’re probably right @Blackprism. Hermione threw me by mentioning Anaheim.

Disneyland Paris is good for young kids but nothing on the scale of Florida to answer your actual question OP 😂

No don't mean Disney land Paris,

DisneyWorld in Florida is far superior to DisneyLand in California imo. It’s much bigger and just has a very different feel to it.

We did Disney land California, kids were 3,8 and 9. They enjoyed it, it was magical and as they had never been to Florida they had nothing to compare it to.
To be fair though they preferred Alcatraz and Yosemite more ( or was that us??).
We travelled from SF to LA over a 3 week period, stayed with friends in SF.
I have also been to Florida ( single) , enjoyed California much more. Disney at your kids ages DL will be fine, they have a mini Epcot/ science centre, princesses etc.
We went for one day only , unfortunately it landed with the 24 hour annual event where grad students go. We still got our moneys worth.

Flew into SA and out of LA.

As others have said, if you don’t want to fly over the country during holiday, fly to SF, make your way down (over a few days) and fly home from LA.

Disneyland has all the classic rides, you can still definately have a great couple of days in there. Smaller, yes, but still 2 maybe 3 days to do it all in good time and enjoy fireworks
California Adventure is also def worth a day, so if you go for Disneyland I would say allow 3 whole days to cover both parks adequately - we stayed in a hotel within walking distance just offsight, plenty of cheaper hotels very close.
You could then stay in a hotel by universal studios and spend a day or 2 in there. Also really good including for children - The Simpson’s ride, other movies they will know- but it’s an hour away from Disney so worth staying nearer!

Disneyworld is def better but Disneyland is not by any means bad- it’s the original park so it’s older and the castle is dinky in comparison! All the good rides are there!

Disneyworld will require a couple of weeks really. Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Disney Studios plus 2 Water parks. All the park will need a couple of days each to cover everything really as they are huge and you don’t want to miss anything! Likewise Universal Orlando is 2 huge theme parks, Seaworld is also very close! It would be worth considering a villa in Orlando if you go for this as it’s cheaper and you can have your own pool. Also good for some outlet shopping. I love the place so much!

I have done both, quite a few times over the past 25 years. Florida is huge, many parks, many Brits and South Americans, and is a full on 2 week holiday often in high humidity. It's not all bad as I said I've been plenty of times with DC from 18 months to 21 years.

Disneyland California is the original park and has recently had some good new attractions added. It is much more compact and somewhat calmer with many Californians visiting regularly. You can even walk from 1 park to the other. 3 days is a perfect mini break in Anaheim.

As you are on the West Coast I would hop down to LA and leave Florida for when the DC are older.

and to add MUCH MUCH better that Paris, which is by far the worst version out of the 5 I have visited. Just Shanghai to go now.