Welcome to Theme Park Insider! Join the community or log in
Theme Park Insider
Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Is it worth visiting both Disneyland and Disney World in the same trip?

Travelling to the US in January.

From Kylie Bee
Posted July 19, 2010 at 7:13 PM
Hi

I am travelling from Australia to the US in January next year and am wondering if it is worth going to both Disneyland and Disney World in the same trip? We will be over there for about 23 days and plan to Disneyland on arrival and Disney World last...I have been to Disneyland before and absolutely loved it. I just wondered if going to both will be a bit repetitive or if they are different enough that it will still be exciting?

Thanks!


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Jay Finch
Posted July 20, 2010 at 1:42 AM
It depends on how much you are willing to spend... I have been to every disney world park a few times, and the disneyland resort countless times. While california adventure has quite a few rides that cant be found anywhere else, most of the disneyland rides can be found in florida with a few excepetions ( matterhorn, roger rabbit, alice, mr. toad, etc.), but I found that riding the rides at one park and seeing the differences in the queue's and the rides themselves was a lot of fun. Each ride is at least slightly different.

From Rob P
Posted July 20, 2010 at 3:17 AM
They are different in so much as they have individual feels to them .But if I had 23 days and had never visited Orlando then I would dedicate all of my time to Florida. Both areas have so much to see and do inside and outside of the Parks that you don't want to spread yourself too thin. Go to either one and have a great time but not both.
I base my opinion on always having 3 weeks holiday in the US and alternating visits between California ( and nearby States ) and Florida. There never seems to be enough time even doing it that way so I wouldn't recommend trying to do both coasts in one trip.

From Kylie Bee
Posted July 20, 2010 at 3:34 AM
Thanks for the responses! We are planning on doing 3 days at Disneyland and then 4 days at Disney World. My friend has been to neither and I have only been to Disneyland. Keeping in mind that we will probably not be returning to the US for many years, do you still think it's not worth it?

From Rob P
Posted July 20, 2010 at 6:02 AM
If you are only visiting Disneyland in Anaheim then you have to bear in mind that Magic Kingdom replicates most of what is there. Although fantastic rides like Indiana Jones, Davy Crockett's Canoes and Matterhorn are unique to DL.

I would also guess that the majority view is that Pirates is better there than in Orlando.I agree but maybe not so much so that it would warrant a special visit
But , yes, going there is worth it as it's a very special place with history and a more compact feel to it. Also if you can do both then why not ? Particularly if you aren't planning on re-visiting the US again in the forseeable future.
Go for it and enjoy it all but 4 days may not be enough to do all of WDW justice.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted July 20, 2010 at 10:45 AM
If you want to spend the money, I don't see why not!

However, I would not miss the other things that CA has to offer. Disneyland is a historic place, but so is pretty much every park in the LA area. USH is an ACTUAL studios not to mention the Walk of Fame, Chinese Theater, and countless other attractions.

In FL its..........Pretty much just WDW.

If going to USH, I would skip USO.

From Jorge Arnoldson
Posted July 27, 2010 at 8:37 AM
Only if you visit Disneyland first.

From Scott B
Posted July 27, 2010 at 9:55 AM
Okay, I may get attacked for this since it is a themepark site, but I feel like you are fine doing one or the other but not both. I just say that because there is a lot to see in the US. I think a combo themepark trip / site seeing trip would be best. I am afraid you may get all themeparked out otherwise. Haha.

Are you flying from California to Florida? Or are you going to drive cross country? Because that would be quite an experience if you were driving.

From Victoria Jurkowski
Posted July 27, 2010 at 11:27 AM
if you do both, i wouldnt go to magic kingdom in disneyworld since it is very similar to disneyland. i would stop at epcot though, and animal kingdom and/or hollywood studios if they appeal to you

From Joshua Counsil
Posted July 27, 2010 at 1:14 PM
I agree with Scott. Doing both resorts in one trip is unnecessary and a bit redundant. Yes, they both offer the occasional unique attraction, but the overall experiences are largely the same. I experienced Disney World and Disneyland over a one-year interval and still found the experience a bit redundant.

You've seen Disneyland and loved it. You can go back to Disneyland in a few years when the California Adventure expansion is complete. Go try Disney World (as well as Orlando's other offerings). A lot of cool, unique attractions have opened in Orlando over the past few years. If you must make the drive from California to Florida, there's plenty of great excursions outside of the parks.

From Mike Saperstein
Posted July 28, 2010 at 6:25 PM
I would suggest Florida-only, particularly if you're staying on-site. There's enough there to keep you busy for 7 days (parks, waterparks, sports, and more, not even counting Universal, etc.), and the hotels and other offerings keep you "in the magic".

Disneyland does feel a little bit different, and has a few good unique rides, but IMO it has way less attractions and options than WDW overall and what it does have is much the same as in WDW.

From Nick Markham
Posted July 28, 2010 at 7:56 PM
I hate to disagree Mike, but Disneyland actually has a very close amount of attractions compared to WDW surprisingly enough, and will be even closer once 2012 arrives. Both have 6 coasters, 2 water rides, and average 13 dark rides (DL 12, WDW 14). Both have Fantasmic!, firework shows every night at each of their castles, and Worlds of Color is competition for IllumiNations.

When you break it down, DL has made up a lot for its small size!

From Sylvain Comeau
Posted July 29, 2010 at 11:30 AM
WDW has a lot of attractions not available at DLR, so I do think it's worth it. Disney World also has better versions of several rides, like Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, etc.
If you're going to Orlando for the first time, I would also highly recommend a couple days at Universal. Two excellent theme parks, including two of the best rides in the world: SpiderMan and Harry Potter.

From Arnold Tang
Posted August 19, 2010 at 11:55 PM
It can be cool to visit both Disney parks in one trip because you can ride the same rides at both parks on the same day. I've done it a few times to various park pairs--Orlando in the morning and Anaheim just the evening, Paris in the morning then Orlando WDW EMH, but the best one was Tokyo then Anaheim on two of my birthdays.

Doing WDW, then flying to LA and going to Disneyland doesn't give you a lot of time because the plane roughly flies at the same rate you are making up time going west; Disneyland has to be open until midnight to catch them still open.

Tokyo Disneyland then Disneyland gives you more time because you leave Tokyo in the early evening and get into Anaheim early the same morning despite the long flight (which provides time to catch up on sleep and watch a half dozen movies anyway). I was able to have two birthday parties literally at the same time!

Oh, wait a minute, did you mean visiting both parks on one vacation trip? When I started to write this I thought you meant *on the same day*. Sorry.

On business, frighteningly, I have also been to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, then that in Buena Park later that day, and also the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France in the morning and that in Paris, Las Vegas late the evening of the same calendar day...

From Nick Markham
Posted August 22, 2010 at 7:45 AM
This could work very well, but only if you go from Walt Disney World TO Disneyland (unless you have a travel day in between the to visits, then I would recommend going in the other order).

But if no travel day, think of it this way: You take a plane to Anaheim from Orlando leaving at for example 6:00 Eastern time. Now, the plane would arrive at 10:00 Eastern Time, but Pacific Time, it would actually be 7:00 as if you had only a 1 hour flight! This would give you time to drive from LAX to your Disneyland hotel, get something to eat maybe at Downtown Disney, and then possibly catch a showing of World of Color at DCA!

This discussion has been archived, and is not accepting additional responses.