Which Park is Best?

Which park is better is the golden ticket, meaning of life, $64,000 question and I have the definitive answer for you. The answer is....



Yes. 
All of the Disney Parks are best. All of them. They're all wonderful in their own way. They all have their downsides too. But they're all wonderful. 



Disneyland (DLR) and Disney California Adventure (DCA)Parks in Anaheim California:
-I love Disneyland. It opened in 1955 and you can practically still feel Walt walking through the park with you.

-It's small. Both parks combined are something like 1 square mile (Florida is 47 square miles). Yes, you can see the Matterhorn from anywhere in DLR, you can see Thunder Mountain from Pirates of the Caribbean. It's ok. Really it is.

-You can stay off property and walk to the parks. The resort hotels in CA are ridiculously expensive. Like a cheap room is $350. No thanks. Stay literally across the street for $160 and get free waffles out of the deal. I was a WDW snob and I didn't believe the hotels were that close. They are that close. We once stayed on the "wrong" side, it was opposite Main Gate, and if we didn't want to wait for the hotel shuttle, it was still a 15 minute-ish walk.

-There is a McDonald's across the street and a Mimi's a couple of doors down (at least they were both there in 2015). Leave the park for a bit, get a cheap coke and some nuggets and save a ton of money. I know of people who leave WDW to eat, but I think that is a ridiculous waste of a vacation day.

-Because of the three previous reasons, DLR is not as immersive as WDW. This is ok for me. It is probably ok for you too. In fact, some people really hate the WDW utter immersion because they feel trapped. I get it. Some people love the immersion and can't get past the lack of it to enjoy DLR. I get that too. Neither is right or wrong. They're just different.

Side note: apparently, WDW exists because Walt didn't like the masses intruding on his Happiest Place on Earth. Cool. I heart WDW too. Thanks, Walt.

-Cars. Land. Cars Land. I love Cars Land. It's like walking through Radiator Springs. Radiator Springs Racers may be my favorite attraction at any park. (I also loved Bugs Land. RIP.)

-Because it's two parks and not four, and you can get off property to eat cheaper and stay cheaper, DLR can be less expensive than WDW. Two days at DLR will be far more satisfying than two days at WDW. Of course. "cheaper" is relative. Don't get your hopes up. We've never rented a car, but I'm sure you could get even cheaper food and bed, but don't forget to include parking in your financial considerations.

-I've been to DLR in October and January and the weather is lovely. In January we needed light jackets, and I don't remember either trip being particularly hot. (Any Californians want to correct me on my weather memory). WDW is stupid hot all the time. (That is not true, but it feels true.)



Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort is massive. Mass. Ive. Four parks, two water parks, two mini golf courses, Disney Springs, golf courses, and I don't even know how many resorts. 30?  It's insane. They have their own power plants and wastewater and water treatment and fire department. 

-WDW is the name of the whole shebang (did I use that word correctly?). WDW is made up the Magic Kingdom (MK), what people generally think they're describing when they call it disneyworld, Epcot (EP), Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS), which many of us still call MGM 30 years later, and Animal Kingdom (AK). 

-There is nothing like trekking into MK and seeing the castle for the first time. Sleeping Beauty Castle in CA is something like 55 feet tall. Cinderella Castle in MK is 189 feet tall, and designed to look taller. It's beautiful. Main Street is designed to make you feel happy and awed. It smells good, it's pretty, it's perfect (and crowded). If you don't see someone propose in front of the castle, does your trip even count?)

-It is completely, utterly, immersive. People talk about the Disney Bubble, and that is so very true. You can get off an airplane, walk directly to the Disney Magical Express (DME), and never see anything but Disney until you get in the security line to come home. (Sure, you could look out the window and see Orlando zooming by, but you'd miss the ads, err, entertainment on the bus tvs.) When you are in Liberty Square in MK, you are in Colonial America. When you go to Asia in AK, you are in Asia. Every thing you hear, see, smell, and do is designed to make you feel like you are in that place. It is very cool. And as I said earlier, it can be very suffocating. 

-The food at WDW is better than the other parks/resorts. I've never eaten anywhere that something on the menu wasn't outstanding. You can get pizza and burgers, but you can also get pods (a burger in steamed bao) or corn bisque or anything at a festival kiosk or Trader Sams (haven't actually gone there yet). I've had some really mediocre meals, but I've also had some outstanding meals that I've tried to replicate at home. 

-The queues are so much better than the older queues. Disney has learned a lot about attraction queues (that's the fancy Disney snob way of saying "ride lines") since DLR opened. For crying out loud, the original it's a small world from 1964 is one long line outside. It's terrible. WDW queues are part of the attraction. The wait is going to give you part of the story and you'll probably have something to do (trivia games on your phone, playgrounds, drums to hit and buttons to push and stuff to read). In fact, getting the shorter line (for Fast Pass or single rider) completely changes the ride. Expedition Everest is a great example. I've done single rider and had zero wait time and ridden a lovely roller coaster. But with the line I'm learning about expeditions and the yeti and wait, is that a yeti on the loose? The queue makes the ride so much more. Some of the other parks are catching up, and some of the WDW parks need to catch up (I'm looking at you 60 minutes in boring, hot Space Mountain line!), but most of them are pretty dang cool. 

-There are no strangers at Walt Disney World. You will chat with other people around you. You will probably see the same families on your buses to your hotel. If you take a solo trip (you oughta, it's fun), you will not be lonely. 

-The guests at WDW are much more international than at DLR. That makes for some fun conversations in line. 

For the American Parks

-They're all Magical and Happy. Something will make you tear up. You will feel like a child in a good way. You will be amazed. The cast will be kind and helpful. Something will be better than you imagined. 

-They're all expensive and crowded. Some guest may make you want brain bleach. Something will not live up to the hype. 

-If you're coming from the middle of the country, both parks are a pain to get to. Flights are always expensive and time-consuming, drives are always prohibitively long. I haven't found either coast to be easier to fly to, but getting from Orlando (MCO) to WDW, is a bit easier that Anaheim (SNA) to DLR. 

-Both coasts and Paris have a Downtown Disney (although in Florida it's called Disney Springs. Or something, I'm having a hard time with the "new" name.). If you're in town for any reason and don't have time or money for a park, go hang at Downtown Disney. Theoretically, you could spend $0, but it's all basically a mall. A Mickey-infused, happy, magical mall. The shops are great, and not just for Disney stuff (although mostly Disney stuff). For example, there is a Build-A-Bear in California. It has most of the same bears you can build in Kansas City, but you can Mickey Ears for it or put an Elsa dress on your stuffed Wookie. The food is generally good enough. I haven't eaten there much. 

Disneyland Paris or Parc Disneyland (DLP)

-Full disclosure: I've been to DLP once, for one day (not even the whole day, we were tired), on the last day of 14 days in Europe. We just sort of ran through and did most things that were different than WDW. 

-DLP includes DLP and that other park. It has a name. It really does. Rather than looking it up, I'm going to let you understand my meaning by my utter failure to remember the name. It was a perfectly good park, I liked it, but I absolutely cannot remember what attraction was in which park. 

-DLP is great, if you happen to be in Europe, preferably near Paris. It's an easy train ride from Paris, and it really is lovely, but I'm glad I didn't fly all the way to France for it. 

-This is definitely the prettiest castle, my favorite Tomorrowland (it isn't actually called that), and my favorite Haunted Mansion (Phantom Manor). The park is probably the prettiest. I don't remember Adventureland, but I've heard reports that it's the best too. In fact, I might go so far as to say this is visually my favorite of all of them. 

-I loved the Ratatouille ride, Phantom Manor is my favorite haunted, they still have the (lame but nostalgic) movie set ride from 1992, Discoveryland (their Tomorrowland) is all steam punky and had a really cool walk-through 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thing. Characters roam around and take picures (they also have set points too). While we were in the queue for Darth Vader he came around the corner into the queue. I screamed like a little boy and covered my face. It was terrifying and awesome and would never happen in a US park. 

Everything Else

-I've heard Shanghai is good, but you have to know how to queue with thousands of Chinese guests, because they won't wait patiently like we do here. That is everything I know, and I have that as second-hand knowledge.

-My favorite Disney podcast (https://disneydeciphered.com/) should have a trip report for Hong Kong. 

-Tokyo Disneyland has Tokyo Disney Sea and I've heard of some amazing attractions there.

-And that is everything I know about the Asian parks.