Differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland
Having visited Walt Disney World in Florida 10 plus times, I love their set up and am very used to way the things are done there. Since I now live in Alberta and the flight to California is much shorter from here than the one to Orlando, I thought I would give Disneyland in California a try. It was time to see what the original Disney Park was about.
Here are some of the biggest differences I found between the two destinations:
1. Disney’s Magical Express vs. Disneyland Resort Express: When you book a vacation package or hotel room at any Walt Disney World Resort Hotel, you receive a complimentary airport transfer service called the Magical Express. This bus picks you up at the airport and takes you to your Disney hotel and then returns you to the airport when it’s time to leave. They also collect your luggage for you and delivery it to your hotel room so you don’t have to worry about collecting your bags at the airport. The buses are scheduled so that you never have a long wait once you land. Your bus drops off at 3-4 resort hotels. Depending on where you are on the drop off schedule, you’re generally at your hotel within 45 minutes.
Unfortunately, at Disneyland, it’s not as easy a process. Disneyland’s airport transfer system is called the Disneyland Resort Express, but they don’t own it; it’s actually run by Coach USA. If you are Canadian, you can’t book it as part of your Disneyland vacation package (this change just occurred in early 2018) as they no longer wish to send your transfer documents in the mail. If you wish to use this for your transportation to and from your resort hotel, you must either book directly with Coach USA or if you are working with a travel agent, like myself, they can book it through a third party supplier. The biggest down fall with the Disneyland Resort Express is that the buses run on a set schedule, they are not scheduled based on customer demand and arrival times. The bus departs every hour from Los Angeles International Airport on a set schedule that can be found on their website. Depending on when your plane lands, you either have good timing in making the bus or if you just miss it, you have to wait an hour for the next one. The schedule is the same for your return transfer to the airport but the buses don’t start pick up until 7:50am (time subject to change and resort hotel location). Meaning that if you have an early morning flight, you most likely can’t use this service. You also have to take your own luggage, another difference from the Magical Express.
When we visited Disneyland, our flights didn’t match up at all with the Disneyland Resort Express schedule, so we ended up booking a Karmel Shuttle for our transfers. It was a shared shuttle service and worked great. We only had to wait 15 minutes for our van to arrive to pick us up from the airport and when returning, they got us to the airport in plenty of time for our flights.
2. Size: There is a huge size difference between the two Disney properties. Disneyland has 2 theme parks, Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, and one shopping area named Downtown Disney. They have three resort hotels: Paradise Pier, Disneyland Hotel, and the Grand Californian. You really only 2-3 days to take in all Disneyland has to offer but can stretch it out further is you wish.
Walt Disney World is an entirely different story. It consists of 4 theme parks, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios, plus two shopping, dining, and entertainment areas: Disney Springs and Disney’s Boardwalk. They also have two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, and 25 resort hotels. With the sheer size of Walt Disney World and all the different rides, dining, and experiences it has to offer, you could spend anywhere from one week to 10 days here.
3. Dining Plan: At Walt Disney World, they offer three different types of pre-paid dining plans that you can purchase with your vacation package. Your dining credits are loaded onto your magic band and all you have to do is scan your band to redeem your credits. I love the dining plan. It’s one less cost to worry about while on vacation and it’s very convenient. Disneyland doesn’t offer this service. You can pre-purchase character dining meal vouchers but that is the closest option they have.
4. Resort Hotels: Bottom line, resort hotels at Walt Disney World are bigger. Each resort hotel property is more expansive, has multiple pools, restaurants, and different room buildings. Resort hotels at Disneyland are just as nice, but much smaller. They have more of a “hotel” feel instead of the “resort” feel that you get at Walt Disney World. I would think it has to do with property size. Everything at Disneyland is smaller because of the space they have to work with. The hotels at either location are all very nice and offer amenities to suite even the pickiest of people. Who’s to say which is better? It all comes down to personal preference.
5. Mobile Apps: The mobile Apps and online planning tools offered are also very different. When you book a trip at Walt Disney World, you gain access to the planning tools of My Disney Experience. Here, you link your hotel reservation and tickets. You set up your fast passes and dining reservations. You pick the colors for your magic bands, do online check in, and submit your room requests. You also link your Memory Maker so that you can download all the pictures of you taken on rides and by Disney Photo Pass photographers. It allows you to do all the planning before your vacation starts so there is less to worry about when you arrive.
Disneyland doesn’t allow you access to such a platform. The only thing you can book before you arrive are your dining reservations, which you can book one month before your trip. Once there, you link your tickets in the app and then you can purchase the Disney Max Pass each day you are in the parks, and select your Fast Passes one at a time. By purchasing the Max Pass, you also gain access to all the pictures taken of you on rides and by Disney Photo Pass photographers. The cost of the Max Pass is $10 per person, per day. The same platform that lets you pick your Fast Passes for free at Walt Disney World, you have to pay for it at Disneyland if you want to pick them in the App. If you don’t want to pay, you get pick up the traditional paper Fast Passes one at a time in each park.
Both locations have their own app, which essentially function the same. They let you know the ride wait times, make dining reservations, and see what’s going on in the parks.
6. Ride Differences: One of the most exciting and unexpected aspects for me of visiting Disneyland was riding some of my favorite rides from Walt Disney World and seeing how they differ. The core ride aspects of Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise, for example, are the same, but they each have their own unique attributes that distinguish them from their counter parts at Walt Disney World. Even the show Fantasmic has a different scene that the one at Walt Disney World does not. I loved it!
When it comes down to it, there are some big differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland. For someone like me, who is used to pre- planning everything about my vacation at Walt Disney World, leaving everything until I arrived at Disneyland was a little nerve wracking but it all worked out well in the end. Visiting Disneyland was a nice change of pace. Disney trips can be busy, no matter if you’re visiting the parks in Orlando or Anaheim, but they are always guaranteed to be fun!
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