10 Reasons to visit Disneyland instead of Walt Disney World

10 Reasons to visit Disneyland instead of Walt’s Disney World   

I’ll be honest, I book a larger percentage of trips for clients to Walt Disney World, but my heart is at Disneyland.  I grew up and currently live on the West Coast, so the logistics of travel is just easier for us, but the reasons we go there more often run much deeper. My first trip to Walt Disney World was when I was 13, and I have a huge love for the parks on the East Coast too, but my first Disney love is Disneyland. I tend to be a very nostalgic person, which you will read in some of the 10 reasons below.

1. Walk In Walt's Footsteps.... literally!  Disneyland is the original park - the only one Walt ever set foot in.  There are details there still today that Walt played a hand in directly.  There is also an official Tour you can participate at Disneyland - called 'Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps.'  I was thrilled to participate in this tour this past October.   A Tour Guide Cast Member will walk with you in the park, accompanied by a headset that will play snippets of Walt's speech on opening day of Disneyland, and more!  Even if you don't take this Tour while at Disneyland, you can revel in the fact that you are visiting a very special place, knowing Walt used to walk down that main street, and stand in front of the fire station, looking up at the light that sits in the window of Walt's apartment.

2. Cars Land - taking a step across the promenade, you can visit California Adventure, home to Buena Vista Street, Pixar Pier, and Cars Land (along with some other great experiences as well!)  You can take a step into the movies at Radiator Springs and visit Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, meet your favorite Car's characters, eat at Flo's diner, and race one of the race cars at Radiator Springs' Racers!  If you have kids that love Cars like mine do, Cars Land is magical - it's like stepping right into the movie.  Don't forget to be in Cars Land as the sun goes down to see the Neon Lights turned on - it's so special!

3.  Park Hopping done right!  One thing that is great about Walt Disney World is how much room they have to continue growing and building on their parks.  The downside to that, is that means the parks are further apart and in order to park hop, it takes lots of precious time to travel from one park to the other.  This cuts severely into your Park time!  Over at Disneyland and California Adventure - Park hopping is easy peasy.  You can see the entrance to both parks from the same spot.  Another Bonus - you only have to go through security once!  Once you have entered the security check points, you can roam free throughout Downtown Disney, Disneyland and California Adventure (once they've scanned your park tickets at the gates).  Families with small kids love the ability to park hop with ease and not lose a ton of time each day.

4.  Say goodbye to needing a bus to everywhere you go!  All of the Disneyland on-site hotels are within WALKING distance to the parks.  You don't have to build in tons of travel time on the buses, waiting for a bus to pick you up, or walk from the bus stops to the park entrances.  If you are staying at a Good Neighbor hotel, many of them are within walking distance as well.  Don't worry, if the hotel you pick isn't within walking distance, there is the Anaheim Resort Transit buses that will pick you up from most of the others and drop you off near the park entrances.  Those buses typically run every 30 minutes, and they are very reliable. 

5.  Super Heroes!  If you have any Marvel fans in your family, California Adventure has some great meet and greets for your favorite Marvel super heroes!  California Adventure is also home to Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT.  This ride used to be the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but with a brand new overlay it is now the Collector's Fortress, and Rocket needs your help breaking out his friends!  There is also a Marvel Land coming to California Adventure in the near future.  This land will be right near the Guardian's Ride, and when I was there in October it looked like Stark Enterprises was hard at work!

6.  Galaxy's Edge - Star Wars Land.  Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World will be home to Galaxy's Edge - but, did you know that the land will open in Disneyland before the one over in Florida?  Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge is scheduled to open in summer of 2019, and over at Walt Disney World, it is scheduled for late Fall.  If you want to see the land FIRST, let's get your Disneyland 2019 on the books!

7.  Time!  Over at Walt Disney World, in order to do and see most of it, you typically need at least 4 or 5 days dedicated to being in the parks.  If you want to be able to do everything, you need even more time.  Add in travel days, and you're looking at a minimum of a week.  Over at Disneyland, if you spent three full days in the parks, unless you a traveling on the absolute busiest days of the year, you should be able to check almost everything off your list.  If you add in travel days, that's only 5 days - you could make it a long weekend trip!  If you have a full week to spend, you don't have to worry about being bored - did you know you can also add on other Southern California experiences to your Disneyland package?  You could add a night at Legoland, or a night in San Diego and visit their world famous Zoo or SeaWorld!

8.  Holidays at Disneyland.  While both Walt Disney World and Disneyland host the annual Halloween parties, and Walt Disney World has a Christmas party, Disneyland goes the extra mile during the holidays.  If you are a fan of the Nightmare before Christmas, you'll be excited to know the Jack Skellington and his friends take over the Haunted Mansion with a fantastic overlay that lasts from September through the end of December.  The It's a Small World Ride gets a full Holiday overlay too - it's a beautiful addition to the ride, and the lights on the outside are spectacular!  Cars Land in California Adventure gets a full overlay for Halloween and at Christmas time as well.  This year, Oogie Boogie kicked off the Halloween festivities each night inside California Adventure for an extra treat!

9.  Easier planning and more laid back nature.  If you have traveled to Walt Disney World in the last 5 years or so, you'll know how much of an emphasis there is on advanced planning.  Dining reservations open up 180 days in advance, FastPasses open up at 60 days for onsite guests, etc.  You will know 6 months in advance what you are eating for dinner and which park you'll be in!  At Disneyland, it's much easier to plan a last minute trip without the added stress of advanced planning.  For Disneyland, dining reservations open up 60 days in advance, and most of them do not fill up all in the beginning.  You can usually get some great Character dining reservations within a week or two of arriving, sometimes even within a few days!

10. MaxPass.  Adding on to the laid back nature of Disneyland, MaxPass has been a game changer in terms of FastPass.  As you may know, over at Walt Disney World many of the most popular rides fully book up their FastPass spots shortly after opening up 60 days in advance.  If you aren't staying on site, you may not have the opportunity to get a FastPass for Flight of Passage, or Slinky Dog Dash.  Over at Disneyland, FastPasses are not scheduled until the day you are there.  If you opt to add the MaxPass to your tickets (currently $10 per person, per day) you can schedule your first FastPass through the app, the moment after you enter the park gates.  You aren't limited to the number of fastpasses you can get each day - it all depends on how busy the park is and how quick you are with your FastPass scheduling!  Once you've scheduled a FastPass with the MaxPass, it will tell you when you can sign up for your next one.  You could be in line for your next ride and scheduling the next FastPass!  Under the older, manual system you would be running across the park just to pull FastPass tickets for the perfect time.  Or in my case, sending my husband across the park while I waited with the kids and snacked on a churro.