Disneyland for newbie

[dancingirl21]

We have been to WDW a couple of times and have enjoyed it very much. We’ve never stayed onsite. We were planning to go back and stay at Poly the week after Thanksgiving, but recently canceled due to high crowds and not being sure about Genie+ yet.

We are thinking about rebooking for next year, but then started thinking about Disneyland. Is it comparable? I know it’s a lot smaller and not as many rides, parks, hotels, etc. If you’ve been, did you enjoy it? Nintendo World opens at Universal Hollywood in early 2023 and we would likely do that as well. How many days would you recommend at Disneyland?

[nsl]

The thing about Disneyland is that while there aren’t as many parks, the density of rides is much higher in comparison to WDW. Some rides are clones (all of Star Wars Land), some are similar but have differences an experienced park-goer will notice (Space Mountain and Pirates are good examples), and some are totally unique to each park. We can skip the clones easily and stand in longer lines for the unique rides unless the clones are particular favorites. I don't think there’s a huge charm factor difference between the parks, but neither is lacking in ambiance by any stretch. Travel times between parks, shopping, and hotels is much less in Disneyland, which makes a big difference to me these days.

We do WDW every 2-3 years, and comfortably spend 4-5 days there with significant downtime every day for pools and naps. At Disneyland we’ve had a great time over 3-4 days, with extra days for other parks or LA-area touristing. We’ve never explored Orlando outside of Disney during our trips there. Disney is overwhelming enough by itself, but I’m sure we’ve missed great local events and attractions by not looking for them.

Since Disneyland is drivable for us these days, it’s easier to plan a trip there and add on a day or two for other CA sights or a stop in Vegas than it is to fly to Orlando. Given the choice I’d go for novelty over the tried and true, but my kids are also tween/teens, and it’s easier to change things up for that reason.

[dearprudence]

I lived in Florida for part of my childhood, which started my family's yearly Disneyworld trips. And then in high school we moved to California, got Disneyland passes and I haven't been back to WDW since.

There are definitely things I miss about Disneyworld (Epcot was always my favorite, and there's so much more Walt could do with the space in Orlando to make it the magic he wanted), but Disneyland is just so... easy. On rainy days, when we knew it'd be especially quiet, my friends and I would leave school, head to Disneyland, and be able to ride everything and be back before afterschool activities started. Since having kids, it's been very easy to navigate the two parks, that share a central area for entrances, instead of running around to multiple parks. You don't need to worry as much about dining reservations, fast passes/genie+/lightning lane so there's much less planning necessary.

We're close enough now that we usually go for a little less than 2 days (drive up, hit California Adventure, spend the night, do Disneyland, spend the night, drive home). But if we weren't able to go so often I'd want a full day in each park. But you probably don't need more than that. (For reference, when we do Universal Studios we drive up the night before to get a full day in, spend the night, then drive home)

Disneyland is definitely "Disney-lite" but there's a real charm about that when you're wrangling smaller children.

[dcrunnergirl52]

I'm going to post a full trip report hopefully this week but we just got back from Disneyland (plus a few days in LA for DH's work) today. We've been to Disney World four times and have done four Disney cruises, including this past March, so like you, we're Disney vets.

We did four days at Disneyland, and thought it was perfect. We really, really, really loved it. We did two days at each park, alternating parks between the days. I love how small it was but still had almost all of our favorites from Disney World, and some new things. The only things I really missed from DW was Avatar and the Safari ride in AK. At DW, our favorites are MK and HS, which basically are the equivalent parks at DL, so it was perfect. You could definitely do both parks in just two days, but we wanted to do some rides multiple times and not feel rushed, so it was just the right amount of time. Also, we have four kids, which slowed us down at times, so if you're traveling in a smaller group, you may be able to knock things out faster.

I will say that in some ways, because it was smaller, it did feel more congested then DW. Fantasyland in DW already can get pretty crowded around Peter Pan, and it's in an even smaller area at DL, so it felt really packed in by mid-afternoon. But, it wasn't unmanageable.

Definitely spend the money for Genie+. We barely waited in any lines by using it. And, watch the Disneyland Park fireworks from in front of Small World. It's not as crowded and they do the projections right on the front, and it was 100% magical and way less crowded than standing in front of the castle.

We stayed at the Residence Inn Anaheim/Convention Center. It's definitely walking distance to the parks--about 10 minutes--but we ended up Ubering a few times to save our feet b/c it was only $11. If we didn't need so much space for all 6 of us, I would 100% splurge to stay at the Grand Californian b/c the location is so amazing. Or, I'd stay at the Courtyard across the street.

Happy to answer any other questions since we just got back.

[Deleted]

I haven't been since they added Genie+ and we have a trip in the fall. Do we buy it in advance or add it once we're there?

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2022 9:09:49 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I haven't been since they added Genie+ and we have a trip in the fall. Do we buy it in advance or add it once we're there?

Nevermind. I see that since we have existing tickets we buy it day of. 

[kittycatlove]

Love, love, love Disneyland. Pretty much for all the stuff dcrunnergirl52, mentioned. We've been twice and I can't wait to go back again. We're also DW/Disney Cruise vets, LOL.

There is just something so magical about where it all started. Plus Cars Land. It's absolutely amazing and I would rate Radiator Springs as one of my favorite rides between Disneyland and DisneyWorld.

We stayed at the Park Vue Inn, which is directly across the street from the entrance on Harbor. We've also stayed at the Candy Cane which is about a 10 minute walk. There are only 3 of us, so the smaller motels work for us.

[dcrunnergirl52]

kittycatlove, we loved Radiator Springs! So fun! DS1 LOVED Cars as a toddler (and none of my other kids ever loved it as much), and it made me sad that he wasn't as into it anymore b/c the entire area was so cool.

[freshsqueezed]

Is it worthwhile to stay on property at Disneyland? I am looking to plan a trip for later Summer 2023 and unclear if there are perks or not to staying in one of the 3 hotels.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Jun 21, 2022 13:22:32 GMT -5 freshsqueezed said:

Is it worthwhile to stay on property at Disneyland? I am looking to plan a trip for later Summer 2023 and unclear if there are perks or not to staying in one of the 3 hotels.

I would only stay at the Grand Californian b/c of its proximity to the parks and private park entrances. There really aren't any other perks b/c the other hotels are equidistant from the entrance to regular hotels and are much more expensive, other than its nice to be in the Disney bubble. There aren't any early magic hours or other benefits.

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2022 13:32:28 GMT -5 dcrunnergirl52 said:

Jun 21, 2022 13:22:32 GMT -5 freshsqueezed said:

Is it worthwhile to stay on property at Disneyland? I am looking to plan a trip for later Summer 2023 and unclear if there are perks or not to staying in one of the 3 hotels.

I would only stay at the Grand Californian b/c of its proximity to the parks and private park entrances. There really aren't any other perks b/c the other hotels are equidistant from the entrance to regular hotels and are much more expensive, other than its nice to be in the Disney bubble. There aren't any early magic hours or other benefits.

Yep. This is so true. It's pricey but it is so freaking nice to have that gate directly into California Adventure if you can swing it. 

[calico]

Jun 21, 2022 14:06:02 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

Jun 21, 2022 13:32:28 GMT -5 dcrunnergirl52 said:

I would only stay at the Grand Californian b/c of its proximity to the parks and private park entrances. There really aren't any other perks b/c the other hotels are equidistant from the entrance to regular hotels and are much more expensive, other than its nice to be in the Disney bubble. There aren't any early magic hours or other benefits.

Yep. This is so true. It's pricey but it is so freaking nice to have that gate directly into California Adventure if you can swing it. 

We are planning to go in the fall with my daughters for their first ever Disney experience (but I grew up in CA going to DL so I am biased to it over DW), and I’ve been debating whether to stay at one of their hotels since magic hour is suspended, but just learned they have opened an entrance for the Paradise Pier hotel into CA like GC but just for PPers! So I think we’re doing that with a Costco package. Hopefully the extra hour with come back by then too.

[freshsqueezed]

Jun 21, 2022 14:34:15 GMT -5 calico said:

Jun 21, 2022 14:06:02 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

Yep. This is so true. It's pricey but it is so freaking nice to have that gate directly into California Adventure if you can swing it. 

We are planning to go in the fall with my daughters for their first ever Disney experience (but I grew up in CA going to DL so I am biased to it over DW), and I’ve been debating whether to stay at one of their hotels since magic hour is suspended, but just learned they have opened an entrance for the Paradise Pier hotel into CA like GC but just for PPers! So I think we’re doing that with a Costco package. Hopefully the extra hour with come back by then too.

Interesting as I too was looking at doing a Costco package too.

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2022 15:00:25 GMT -5 freshsqueezed said:

Jun 21, 2022 14:34:15 GMT -5 calico said:

We are planning to go in the fall with my daughters for their first ever Disney experience (but I grew up in CA going to DL so I am biased to it over DW), and I’ve been debating whether to stay at one of their hotels since magic hour is suspended, but just learned they have opened an entrance for the Paradise Pier hotel into CA like GC but just for PPers! So I think we’re doing that with a Costco package. Hopefully the extra hour with come back by then too.

Interesting as I too was looking at doing a Costco package too.

We have done one Costco package and have another booked for October. They've worked great.

[Doggy Mommy]

We LOVE Disneyland!! While smaller (the castle is almost laughably tiny compared to WDW), it's easy to navigate and there are a ton of rides in those 2 parks. Genie+ works extremely well at DLR and makes everything easier. I love having the Star Wars land and rides in the same park. The biggest difference aside from only 2 parks instead of 4 is that at WDW, the "bubble" seems huge to me - IMO all of the Disney property feels like a vacation bubble. The street signs look like Disney, Disney Springs is huge and beautiful, so much landscaping, trees and beautiful resorts, etc. Disneyland is in a populated area surrounded by roads, traffic, homes, people, stores and businesses, etc. This does not bother us at all - we love California and aren't bothered by the relatively dense population - but I know people who prefer the bubble feel of WDW.

In terms of where to stay, our favorite off property is Hojo. The remodeled rooms are wonderful and the location is awesome. On property, we've stayed at Paradise Pier and the Grand Californian. We would stay at the Grand again or the Disneyland hotel if there was a great deal on rates (when we went in March there was a big sale). We wouldn't spend full retail price. We also wouldn't stay at Paradise Pier again. We're going back in 3 weeks and staying at Hojo this time.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Jun 22, 2022 14:16:01 GMT -5 Doggy Mommy said:

We LOVE Disneyland!! While smaller (the castle is almost laughably tiny compared to WDW), it's easy to navigate and there are a ton of rides in those 2 parks. Genie+ works extremely well at DLR and makes everything easier. I love having the Star Wars land and rides in the same park. The biggest difference aside from only 2 parks instead of 4 is that at WDW, the "bubble" seems huge to me - IMO all of the Disney property feels like a vacation bubble. The street signs look like Disney, Disney Springs is huge and beautiful, so much landscaping, trees and beautiful resorts, etc. Disneyland is in a populated area surrounded by roads, traffic, homes, people, stores and businesses, etc. This does not bother us at all - we love California and aren't bothered by the relatively dense population - but I know people who prefer the bubble feel of WDW.

In terms of where to stay, our favorite off property is Hojo. The remodeled rooms are wonderful and the location is awesome. On property, we've stayed at Paradise Pier and the Grand Californian. We would stay at the Grand again or the Disneyland hotel if there was a great deal on rates (when we went in March there was a big sale). We wouldn't spend full retail price. We also wouldn't stay at Paradise Pier again. We're going back in 3 weeks and staying at Hojo this time.

To the bolded, as we were walking from the Residence Inn to the entrance on the first morning, I was doubtful as to whether it would really feel like Disney since DL is just surrounded by strip malls, restaurants, etc. But, sure enough, once you get inside, it swallows you in and you forget that there's a 7-11 on the other side of the bushes or a main road of traffic just a few blocks away. 

[sonrisa]

Jun 21, 2022 13:22:32 GMT -5 freshsqueezed said:

Is it worthwhile to stay on property at Disneyland? I am looking to plan a trip for later Summer 2023 and unclear if there are perks or not to staying in one of the 3 hotels.

we stay at the ‘majestic gardens’ hotel and a castle bunk bed suite. The hotel has its own bus and a fairytale written on the corridor walls. We did grand Californian once and it was so crowded and overrun with long waits for the restaurants and everything else that I won’t stay on-site at Disneyland again. When I’m out of the park I don’t want to be dealing with that insanity. I want my hotel to be a sanctuary away from the crowds where I can walk into breakfast whenever I want and get a table, not fight through people who aren’t even staying there and wait in ridiculously long check in lines, etc. we do one meal at the hotels to get the ambiance.

[jewel]

Jun 21, 2022 13:22:32 GMT -5 freshsqueezed said:

Is it worthwhile to stay on property at Disneyland? I am looking to plan a trip for later Summer 2023 and unclear if there are perks or not to staying in one of the 3 hotels.

Magic hour is back, effective Aug 8 - only 30 minutes early though. Paradise Pier now has their own dedicated entrance too, which is nice, especially since they are the furthest from the parks.