We are Walt Disney World Passholders. We love heading to Central Florida as often as we can to experience the magic of Disney. It really is a special place for our family and we have enjoyed going there through the years. We were recently able to head to Disneyland for the first time as a family (Justin went a couple of times as a kid) and we were blown away by the differences. Some of them were surprising and most of them were really great. It made for a unique experience for us.

When we got back home the main thing that people wanted to ask us about were those differences. Was it worth going across the country for a theme park? Isn’t it just the same thing only smaller? Well, it definitely was worth a visit and no they are not the same. We loved experiencing the differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland! If you are a Disney Parks fan it is well worth it to head out west to the original Disney Park.

Below are nine differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland that make both unique parks worth visiting.

*** For the sake of this post when we say Disneyland we referring to the whole Disneyland Resort (Parks, Downtown Disney, Resorts). When we are talking specifically about the park we will refer to it as Disneyland Park. We are by no means Disneyland pros, so if this is bad etiquette to our west coast friends let us know!

Size

There is a reason why one is The World and one is The Land. Disney World is massive compared to Disneyland. Disney World is almost 40 square miles – roughly the size of San Francisco. On the other hand, The whole Disneyland Resort is about 510 acres. To put that in perspective Animal Kingdom at Disney World is 580 acres.

For the most part, everything at Disney World is bigger. There are more parks (WDW – 4, DL – 2), more resorts (WDW – 30+, DL 3), and Disney World’s shopping area – Disney Springs – is significantly larger than Downtown Disney in Disneyland. What do you expect, Disney World pretty much has their own town and highway system.

This does not in any way make Disneyland an inferior park – it actually is one of the things we really like about it. Everything is in walking distance and you can get there relatively quickly. In The World you can end up waiting for transportation for 30 minutes before you even start your journey to another park. In The Land, you could have walked between the two parks 50 times – the entrances are directly facing each other.

The Crowd

One of the biggest differences that we experienced between The World and The Land were the crowds. There were two main reasons for this. The first is the size of the crowds and the second is the type of person in the crowd.

The Size of the Crowd

We went to Disneyland on July 4th week so we were expecting long lines, and crowded walkways. When we got there we were pleasantly surprised. We felt like we were in a ghost town compared to The World. There are a couple of spots that got congested at Disneyland, but those were mainly because of the width of the walkways (and YouTube has told us those have been widened). We actually went with our cousins who are Passholders there and they told us they had never seen it that crowded at the parks. We were blown away – we had never seen Disney World that empty. The longest line we saw that week was about 90 minutes. Most were under 30 minutes.

The People in the Crowd

When we say the people in the crowd we are referring to the Passholder. The World is full of (mainly) people who are there on vacation and might never be back. The Land is full of (mainly) locals who are pass holders and veterans of going to the parks. This made for a much more relaxed feel.

There weren’t groups who were lost standing in the middle of the walkways, not too many people were going against the traffic flow. It seemed like most people knew where to go and how the parks operate. One way we saw that played out is we didn’t see any major blowups. In The World we see at least 4 or 5 meltdowns a day (kids and adults). You see this a lot because people put so much time, money, and energy into planning their perfect vacation. If it doesn’t work out, fireworks (and not the ones over the castle). We didn’t see one in the three days we were at Disneyland. This actually made for a much more pleasant experience. Of course, some of that could have to do with the weather.

Weather

When you think of California you think of sunny skies for days. That is what we experienced when we were there – three days of nothing but sun. That sun doesn’t always translate into heat though. We went in the beginning of July and there were a couple of days where Megan was walking around in long pants. That is not happening in Disney World. Disney World is awesome but the heat and humidity is what gets to you. You have 95 degree days with 98% humidity and it feels like you are swimming from attraction to attraction. People don’t realize how hot it can get! Heat rashes are common and people passing out because of the heat happens everyday.

Not only is it more comfortable temperature-wise in Disneyland, you don’t have the rain that you get at Disney World. I am not sure if I have ever been to Disney World on a summer day and not experienced rain. I am not talking about a little sprinkle, I am talking about a torrential downpour where after five minutes there is standing water. Florida weather is weird, so even if there is no rain in forecast, pack an umbrella.

Rides

This is one of the great debates between these two resorts. It is a debate because there really are a ton of differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland in what rides the two resorts have to offer. You might think that because The World has twice as many parks as The Land that there would be twice as many rides. That is not true. At the time of writing Disneyland actually has a couple more rides than Disney World. Weird, right?

What is interesting though is that most rides at each park have a sister ride. For example, at EPCOT in Florida you have Test Track. At California Adventure in California you have Radiator Springs Racers. These rides have kind of the same ride system, but they are totally different (for our money Radiator Springs is FAR SUPERIOR). That was one of the fun things about our trip, we were able to compare different rides to see which park had the best – we have a post coming up about that! Even the rides that both resorts have are not entirely the same – I’m looking at you Pirates, Space Mountain, and Small World!

Resorts

This is one where there is a very clear difference. Because Disney World caters so heavily to out-of-towners, they need plenty of space for theses people to stay. This is where the World makes a ton of their money and something they really excel at. At the time of writing Disney World has 31 resorts (with more on the way) and Disneyland has 3. The resorts at Disney World come in all different price ranges. You can get a room for $99 still at certain times of the year. Of course, some of their higher priced rooms can run in the thousands.

At Disneyland you don’t have the same resort options. That shows in the pricing. We stayed at Disney’s Paradise Pier when we went. This was the least expensive of the resorts at Disneyland and it still cost us $800 for two nights. We never spend this much money at Disney World, but because this was a different trip we saved up and did it. It was well worth it though because everything is right outside your door. At Disney World, you are staying pretty far from most of the parks.

There are plenty of non-Disney hotels within walking distance to Disneyland. Disney World does not have this option.

FastPass

The FastPass system at the two parks is totally different. If you are coming from Disney World you need to do your homework so you can maximize your FastPasses at Disneyland. At Disney World, everyone gets to FastPass with each paid admission. It is a part of your ticket price. At Disneyland, if you want to use their FastPass system – which they call the MaxPass – you have to pay $15 extra per ticket per day.

When we went we opted for the MaxPass. We did this for two reasons. First, we wanted to spend as little time as possible in line because we were only there for a couple of days. We feel like this made it worth it, we really did breeze through the lines. What really makes the MaxPass stand out though is you get a free PhotoPass with your purchase. This alone was worth it to us. We got some really great, professional pictures from Disneyland.

Some differences in the MaxPass from the FastPass is the you cannot make a selection at Disneyland until you enter the park that day. This is good and bad. You don’t have to plan months in advance for your day, but you might not get what you wanted to get. Another difference is you only get one at a time. As soon as you use that one up you can grab another. If you get to the park close to opening you can actually MaxPass a bunch of top tier rides. One other thing, not all rides at Disneyland have the MaxPass option, keep that in mind.

Food

We were really excited about the food in the park heading to Disneyland. We had heard that it was the best theme park food in the world. For the most part, we were really pleased. But, there were some places that we felt didn’t meet the hype. Overall, our experience was that the quick service restaurants in the park were better overall at Disneyland but the table service is better with more options at Disney World.

We loved the corn dog at the Little Red Wagon outside of the Plaza Restaurant at Disneyland Park. We so wish that Disney World would get this. They used to have one that was close to it at Sleepy Hollow at Magic Kingdom, but they got rid of it. Now they only have frozen ones at various places. We also loved everything about the Jolly Holiday at Disneyland. The theming was perfect (especially because Meg loves Mary Poppins) and the food was excellent.

One disappointment we had was the Mint Julep and beignets at Disneyland. We heard so much about it but when we got both they were underwhelming. Maybe we just went at a bad time, but we don’t know if we would go back (sorry!).

Character Experiences

At Disney World they keep their characters in roped off areas or buildings away from the crowds. In order to see them you have to watch a parade or wait in a long line. At Disneyland they have characters just walking around. We loved this about the place. They might be in certain areas, but they are way more accessible and open to the public. They still have handlers and there can be small lines, but it really is great to see them walking around and interacting with the park guests.

There is no way that they could do that at Disney World. There are just too many people – there would be a riot over who got to Mickey first. It was nice though to have characters just walk up to us and greet us. Something really cool and different about Disneyland.

Another huge plus about the characters in Disneyland – especially for Silas – is that you can meet Marvel characters there! We loved meeting Cap, Spidey, Black Panther, Black Widow, Dr. Strange, Thor, Loki, and Gamora. It was really cool to see Silas get excited about meeting those super heroes!

Magic Bands

The use of the Magic Band is huge for us. It seems like such a silly thing but once you have been to Disney World and had the convenience of a Magic Band…it is so weird to not have one at a park! At Disney World you can use your Magic Band to enter your resort room, to enter the park, to scan your FastPass and even sync a credit card to buy things. When you are lugging around book bags, strollers, kids…a Magic Band can really be a great convenience. Disneyland still uses a card for all of their scanning stations. Cards are a little harder to find and lose…but it did not make or break our trip! Just something to note if you are used to Magic Bands!

So, Which Is Better?

That was another question that we got asked a lot. If we were going to go strictly from these nine categories, it would seem that Disney World would get four (Entertainment, FastPass, Resorts, and Size) points and Disneyland would get four (Rides, Weather, Crowds, Characters) with one tie (Food). However, you really need to take into account the things that you can’t measure. We love Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. Disneyland doesn’t have those. The World Showcase is one of our favorite places in the entire world. How can you put a scorecard on that. At the same time, Disneyland has tons of unique offerings too, like being the only Disney Park that Walt Disney actually walked in.

It is impossible for us to say which is better, they are both unique and worth your time. We would love to know if we missed any! What are some of the differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland that you noticed? Hope you have fun park hopping from coast to coast and enjoy going the adventure way.

Love everything Disney like we do? Check out our Ultimate List of Disney World Challenges to try on your next trip!

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