What if Hipster Ariel and I were wrong? What if Disneyland is actually better than Walt Disney World? What if intimate castles do trump really big ones? What if Obama and Romney are the same person?
Without further ado, Disneyland, that grande dame of theme parks, ascends to its rightful place on the throne. Eat it Florida!
5. Compactitude
Being small does have its advantages. At Walt Disney World, park hopping can take up to an hour. A Magic Kingdom guest who wants to go to Disney’s Animal Kingdom has to hop the monorail or a ferry to the Transportation & Ticket Center, and then wait for a bus to the other park, which is on the other side of Walt Disney World - all told it can take as long as an hour. At Disneyland, park hopping is an all but trivial exercise - Disneyland and Disney California Adventure face each other, with just a small plaza separating them (the Esplanade, as it is so pretentiously labeled). Ah, the perks of building your second gate on the first one’s parking lot.
Oddly enough, if Epcot was built on the Magic Kingdom's parking lot, you'd STILL have to take a monorail or a ferry to get to it.
Disneyland’s small size also allows for creative hotel placement. The Grand Californian is situated half-within Disney California Adventure, and boasts a private entrance to the park! There are no in-park resorts at Walt Disney World. Eat it Florida!
In addition, Disneyland’s Downtown Disney provides a convenient money-making connector to the Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel, which are situated the furthest from the parks (still only a short walk or monorail ride away). At Walt Disney World, everything is SO spread out that if you’re not careful you can lose a lot of time just getting around.
4. Unique Lands
To be sure, some of Disney’s most spectacular and lovingly detailed themed environments can be found at the Disneyland Resort. In Disneyland proper, New Orleans Square is my favorite example of a unique land not found anywhere else. There’s so much atmosphere in so little space - the winding streets, noisy neighbors upstairs, the world’s best Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and Club 33 lurking behind closed doors - New Orleans Square is an unbeatable escape. Plus, it vastly improves on the real New Orleans, where violent crime and topless women are de rigeur. I’ll take robot pirates and virgin mint juleps instead, thank you.
Over at Disney California Adventure, two new lands have made a big splash: Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. Cars Land is the first time Disney has slavishly recreated a film’s environment in a dedicated land, a la the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. It’s a doozy - stunning, sweeping vistas of incredible rockwork, a knockout E-Ticket anchor attraction, unique shopping and dining - all around phenomenal. Buena Vista Street is this park’s New Orleans Square; an instant transport to another time in a fabled place with ambiance in spades.
Honestly, there’s not a single land in any of Walt Disney World’s theme parks with an immersion level comparable to these three at Disneyland. If anything, Asia and Africa in Disney’s Animal Kingdom might come close, but until the New Fantasyland additions open with Belle’s Village and Prince Eric’s Castle, Florida is really slacking here.
3. Nighttime Spectaculars
When night falls, Disneyland cleans it’s baby sister’s clock. There’s so much going on in Disneyland’s two parks after dark that you can’t see everything in two nights. At Disneyland, you’ve got the heavyweight champion: at 20 years old it’s still the biggest, baddest nighttime spectacular at any of Disney’s parks - Fantasmic! knocks ‘em dead, night after night.
But it wouldn’t be Disneyland without fireworks, and Imagineering mastermind Steve Davison has created a repertoire of shows that rotate throughout the year (unlike Florida, where Wishes has been running all but uninterrupted since 2003). In the summer, Magical lights the skies with dynamite vocals from Broadway belter Eden Espinosa, and both Dumbo and Tinker Bell take turns soaring around Sleeping Beauty Castle. During Mickey’s Halloween Party, Jack Skellington hosts a villains party complete with flying Zero in Halloween Screams. In the spring and fall, Remember...Dreams Come True pays tribute to Disneyland’s first 50 years with a killer soundtrack and some surround effects that provoke unending ooohs and aaahs. And finally, at Christmas my all-time favorite - Believe...In Holiday Magic - which brings grown men to tears with a glorious musical score and a wondrous snowfall finale.
All that without mentioning Disney California Adventure, where World of Color dazzles thousands nightly on the waters of Paradise Bay. Steve Davison did it again - the seemingly mundane medium of fountains becomes a vibrant dreamscape as projections, light, laser and booming sound create an experience that makes the Bellagio cry for its mama. And for those who just want a place to dance the night away, the decidedly awesome Mad T Party beckons from its corner of Hollywood Land. Inspired by the visuals of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, this adult-oriented dance party combines a fantastic live band, DJ, dance troupe and even a bizarro performance artist so that you’re never without something to watch. Plus, that Mad Long Island Iced Tea Party cocktail is faaaaaabulous.
Sorry Walt Disney World - the tired old Main Street Electrical Parade and your bizarre version of Fantasmic! (I think the white folks shooting the Indians dead really puts it over the top) don’t complement Epcot’s amazing IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth very well. Disneyland wins this one, hands down.
2. More Attractions Per Square Inch
Walt Disney World has four theme parks, Disneyland has two.
So can you explain to me why Disneyland has almost as many attractions in two parks as Walt Disney World does in four? Good Lord, if Florida built out their parks like California you’d never be able to leave!
Disneyland is the most attraction dense Disney theme park in the world - rides and shows are just freakin’ everywhere (some even built on top of each other - much of Alice in Wonderland is actually on top of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride) and the result is a very rich experience. Disney California Adventure, the newest of Disney’s six American theme parks, already has more attractions than Disney’s Animal Kingdom (which is 3 years older), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (12 years older) and Epcot (19 years older). It’s really inexcusable.
The ability of Walt Disney Imagineering to jam pack Disneyland with enough attractions to choke a horse is nothing short of amazing, and its guests are extremely grateful for the bounty. Come on Disney World - step up your capacity game. While Florida prides itself on wide open spaces, that doesn’t mean you should skimp on the rides.
1. It All Started With Walt
The number 1 thing that sets Disneyland apart from all other Disney parks is Walt Disney himself. Disneyland is the only park Walt personally worked on and walked through - it’s the only place to bear his unique stamp. Walt Disney World, though named for him in tribute, represents some serious departures from his design philosophy, and each new Disney resort around the world experiments in new ways (which I’m sure he would have encouraged, minus Hong Kong’s experiment of building less than a whole park. Who thought that would be a good idea?). When Shanghai Disneyland opens in 2016, it won’t even have a Main Street!
Disneyland presents itself as an unfolding adventure. The tight spaces and intimate buildings don’t allow you to see what’s coming in advance, so each turn brings about a new discovery. The result is something that feels fantastical and adventurous while still being accessible. Florida’s Magic Kingdom is so vast and open that there are few surprises as you explore, and while bigger icons like Cinderella Castle and a steroided Space Mountain are impressive, they aren’t inviting in the same way.
The Partners statue, though present in four Disney theme parks around the world, has a tangible meaning at Disneyland. It was Walt’s kingdom, and his fingerprints are everywhere. My favorite tribute is the lamp in the window of his apartment over the Main Street Fire Station - it’s always burning in his memory. The unshakeable ghost of Walt makes Disneyland a very special place....and you know what that means.
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That’s right! Disneyland is WAY better than Walt Disney World. I think after examining the evidence, the jury will find my case airtight and award me a stunning victory in the fight against Floridian upstart siblings, striking fear into the hearts of young, overstepping theme parks throughout Orlando (I’m looking at you SeaWorld).
Now that you’ve heard overwhelmingly correct arguments from both sides of the courtroom, where do your loyalties lie? If you were the judge, in whose favor would you rule?
Check out part 1 of this piece: TOP 5 reasons Walt Disney World is Better than Disneyland.
Drew Hackney is the author of The Small World Ninja Ultimate Guide to Walt Disney World: The #1 Guide to No Stress Epic Disney Vacations, and keeps up with the latest Disney World vacation planning tips at his blog. He resides in the midwest with his beautiful wife and scheming chihuahua, and escapes to Disney as often as possible. In addition to an unhealthy obsession with the Mouse, he loves 30 Rock, Nutella and taxidermy. For a limited time, MouseInfo readers can get a special discount on his book along with a free preview chapter and access to live Disney trip planning Q & A!
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