Disney World or Disneyland?

[lovesfortune]

Well the time has come where my mom has brought up taking the kids (ages almost 4 and 2 1/2) to Disney. We went when we were little and always went to DisneyWorld in FL. My husband's grandma lives in CA and they always went to DisneyLand. We are both too old now to remember the differences.

My mother (who would be paying for the majority of the trip (yes, I am lucky!)) would rather go to Disneyworld because she is kind of familiar with it since we went there. She wants to stay at a resort that is inside DW or right by it.

I am finding SO MUCH info on tickets and hotels and packages I'm confused.

And since it's been a while since any of us have gone on a trip like this - I don't know how many days we should plan. I looked at DW and they have lots of rides for my children's age groups, etc.

But does anyone have any extra info or tips or suggestions? Anyone gone before? We would like to go within the next 4 months.

[jeezitsjacki]

I love both, but I think I prefer disneyworld. There are a couple more parks ..etc animal kindgom, univeral ( I believe thats what it is called), Disneyworld and there is one more I cant think of. Also disneyworld has the boardwalk and many fun things and places to go out to at night if you and your husband want to go to dinner! But since your kids are younger you may not want that many parks, but I loved it. I would recommend a Disney hotel because it makes it easy to shuttle to all the different parks. I love going to Disney, go almost every year and I am 20 years old haha. hopefully that helps

[Bessie13]

Too bad you don't live here in Florida. They are offering to residents a 4-day pass for $100.00. If you want to do the "park hopper" it is only $25 more. That is just 25 dollars per day per person. I think it is a good deal in this economy. Also they are doing that "volunteer a day get a day". That is a neat idea too. I am thinking of doing it with my grand daughter. I have to look into it further. Anyone can do that as long as you live in the US.

Have fun no matter where you go. Wishing you good weather too. :)

[Remali]

When I was about 8 or 9 I went to Disneyland with my family.....it was so fun! But I wonder, seeing as Disneyworld in FL is more new, if it may have more things to do and see?

[lovesfortune]

That is a great deal on tickets if I lived in FL. It's SPENDY!!! I found a great website that talks about all the rides at DW and seperates them by age, etc. it seems like there is a lot of rides the kids could go on, even with their young ages.

Will have to check out the hotels in the area (off to google!).

[AUEquine]

For DisneyWorld, If you have young children going with you the All Start Resort is nice. We stayed there the last time we were there. Food was good, rooms were nice, and the pools were amazing. The whole place is a sports theme, so the younger boys in our family had a blast even if we were just hanging around the hotel. It's made for lots of touch and play... not like other places that are more elegant.

I like DisneyWorld alot, and am dying to go back. Lots of rides for the kids, and the adults can drink there way through all the countries in Epcot. Also look into Universal studios islands of adventure, if you like roller coasters! It's AWSOME! Depending on the time of the year, the water park is great! I haven't been to the animal adventure thing yet, but I hear good things.

[42many]

We've only ever gone to Disney in FL (my friend works there and gets us great deals). Last I went was when my 2 were pretty young (2yo and 4yo? or a bit less) and we ended up staying at a cabin inside Disney - it was AWESOME!! We took a boat ride over to the actual park, and that was (to the kids) as fun as anything - the cabin, boat, and playing at the little playground by the cabin. Very cool and highly recommended!

At the park itself - I'd give it maybe 2-3 days for kids that young... they start to get overwhelmed and after a couple of days mine, at least, would start to turn on the crabby. You can only have so much fun and lack of sleep before things go sour, after all! :D The first night we went out to a nice dinner with them and they did FABULOUS (they were so tired!). The second night, however, they were starting to get just out-of-sorts and we ended up with someone pacing around the outside of the restaurant with them much of the meal. We did have a great time, though!!

[Equine_Woman]

Disneyland for smaller kids. I feel Disney World is too large!! Of course I'm MAJORLY prejudiced and a huge Disneyland nut. . . in fact the only other forum I'm really active on is a Disneyland forum. . . lol. I would live near Disneyland if I could! We always stay across the road from the resort so we can save money! It's a short walk over and it's close enough to go home for naps!

[outriding01]

Never been to Dineyland, but being a Floridian, I've been going to Disney World at least once a year (if not 3 or 4 times) since I was a kid. I've got plenty of friends who have been out to DL and all agree that DW is better. You could stay for weeks and still not do everything there is, so it's best to try and narrow down what you want to do instead of trying to cram everything in or you'll wipe yourself out. Like Julie said, the All Star Resorts are fun. There are 4 of them all in a row on the same road (All Star Music, All Star Movie, All Star Sports and Pop Century) so a bit of variety but they are all exciting. Fort Wilderness is also a ton of fun. My family used to go for a week and rent a cabin (sleeps about 6) and we would go to the dinner show there and hit the parks during the days. They also have trail riding and a horse pulled hay ride, although I never got to actually do either. We also stayed at Port Orleans Riverside when I was a kid and the Boardwalk Inn and then several others I can't even remember. Honestly, you can't go wrong with a Disney resort, no matter where you choose. I would just take a quick peak at all of them and see which one jumps out at you. It's nice because they group them by price bracket if you're trying to keep some sort of budget. All the resorts give you free parking for any park and free transportation to and from all the parks. The kids usually like the monorails the best because they seem faster than the boats. If you stand up front and let the attendants know it's their first time at Disney, they'll let you ride in the private front cab with the driver if there's room. It's really neat. Also, when you go to Magic Kingdom or Epcot, go to Guest Services (or Town Hall) and let them know and they'll give all the first timers a special pin. Also, if it's anyone's birthday, tell them that as well (or if it's close, just stretch a little ;)) and they'll get a pin for that too. Then cast emebers all over the park will wish them a happy birthday and may even give them special perks (free dessert, cut to the front of the line, etc.)

I've planned several week long trips out there, mosty recently for Spring Break with a friend a few years ago. Best thing about staying at a Disney Resort besides the free transportation is that along with your room keys (known as your Key to the World) you get to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. On certain days, certain parks open either and hour early or stay open 3 hours late only for Resort guests. The lines are almost non-existant at these times, but the atmosphere is still fun and exciting. Their official website has a calendar and its best to kind of plan it out ahead of time to take advantage of them. We generally would either visit 2 smaller parks in a day, or one of the bigger ones all day, going back to our room in the middle for lunch and a nap or pool break. Of course, a lot of it will have to revolve around the kids, depending on their ages and what they can and can't do. The best deal for a non-Floridian is to buy your tickets as a package with the room. It will still be cheaper than trying to find discounted tickets and then book the room seperately. I would decide what the main things you want to do are, how many days they're going to take and then add an extra day if possible, because you will in all likeliness find you'll need it.

Honestly, I could go on and on about everything you could every possibly want to know about Disney. When we went for Spring Break we were in Orlando for 5 days and did Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. If you want, you can PM me and I will tell you anything you want to know. If you tell me the ages of everyone going with, I can highlight some of the things that would be most interesting for them. No matter where you go though, FL or CA, you're going to have a ton of fun!

[Blue]

We go to Disney atleast twice a year. :) We're Disney NUTS. I've been to both Disney Land and Disney World. I much prefer Disney World. Disney Land is pretty much just a smaller version of The Magic Kingdom. :/ Haha. We weren't very impressed. They don't have much that's different there. I can't say much about California Adventures as I never went there when we went.

As for hotels...stay at Pop Century! It's so much fun! They have a giant pool shaped like a flower. ;) Or the All Star Movies (they also have sports and...music? I think, I can't remember, we always stay in Pop Century now). And like Outriding says, if you stay in a Disney Resort you get extra magic hours, which is AWESOME. Sometimes you'll get to get into the park an hour early, or sometimes even stay 2-3 hours after everyone else is long gone! Lines are SHORT! :D

As for deals...we always get tickets through AAA (insurance). Either that or my dad get's them free through Coke...which is always nice (he works for a chain restaurant). Disney is also doing this new Work a Day, Get a Day program where you volunteer at an approved place for a day, they sign off on it and they'll send you a free ticket.

With little ones, I don't think you'd need the Park Hopper option on your tickets. Which'll save you a lot, I think Park Hoppers are an extra $30-40/day per ticket...can't remember...but they're a lot.

[lovesfortune]

wow, thanks for all the extra info Outriding and everyone else. Off to check out the All Star Resorts!

[jeezitsjacki]

we stayed at the all star resorts and they are pretty nice. They are good prices and not extremely fancy like some of the other resorts. I believed we stayed at the sports one. They have a cafeteria area for meals, and many pools of all the different areas.

[All4Grace]

I live 15 mins from Disney Land...

I ADORE it!

While I miss Animal Kingdom and Epcot... California Adventure is pretty darn fun!
I'll be going to Disney World with all the siblings in March, I haven't been to Disney World in 4-5 yrs., Disney Land.. we're there ALL the time. Sometimes she just go to walk around Down Town Disney and hang out.

[Remali]

....I'll never forget that Matterhorn Mountain ride at Disneyland! :eek:

YouTube- Matterhorn Bobsleds - Front Seat! Complete Ride - Disneyland

[Remali]

LOL..... here is another vid of the ride, it shows a bit more of the inside of the mountain..... funny!
I was only about 8 or 9 I think when I went on it.... I'm deathly afraid of heights so I'm sure I screamed my head off.... altho I loved it.... lol.

YouTube- Matterhorn - Disneyland