Disneyland VS Walt Disney World

So this is a VERY OPINIONATED pros and cons list for the two parks. They are the two most similar Disney parks (in America, I can't speak for the international parks) so obviously they get compared a lot. Many people say that the first park you visit is your favorite, but apparently I'm the odd one out for that! I first visited Disneyland in 3rd grade, and Disney World in 8th grade, and even though I LOVE both parks, I'm partial to Disney World. Of course I also lived there for a semester so that might have a little something to do with it ;) So the following comparisons list is based solely off MY EXPERIENCES. Other people will have completely different opinions, and that's okay, but I'm going to go ahead and write down my own comparisons and opinions. I've been to Disneyland three times, at ages 9 (I think?), 19, and 20. I visited Disney World at ages 13, 16, 18, and 19/20. For those of you who might think "wow, this girl is spoiled, she's been a million times", I paid for 2/3 of those trips by myself :) Ok so here goes. If I don't mention something, it's because I either haven't done it, or the two are too similar between the two parks (such as Big Thunder Mountain and the Haunted Mansion).

Attractions:

Disneyland:

• Indiana Jones
• Splash Mountain > WDW
• Pirates of the Caribbean > WDW
• Some might say the Matterhorn, but I'm not a fan of that ride, it HURTS!
• Tomorrowland attractions as a whole are better (DLR includes Star Tours!)

Disney World:

• Space Mountain > DLR
• More shows, Mickey's Filharmagic is one of my favorites!
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

Food:

Disneyland:

• Larger variety of foods
• More quick-service restaurants serving full-service style meals
• Churros are everywhere
• Blue Bayou restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean

Disney World: 

• Be Our Guest restaurant
• Disney nuggets are everywhere <3
• More frozen drink options
• More food in general, easy to find food everyone likes!

Shows:

Disneyland:

• Paint the Night is FAR superior to the Mainstreet Electrical Parade
• Jedi Training Academy

Disney World:

• Festival of Fantasy Parade
• I'm sorry but Wishes will forever be the best fireworks show
• Celebrate the Magic
• Having Celebrate the Magic and Wishes separate was better than combining the two like they do in Disneyland Forever Fireworks (I think that's what it's called?)

Overall Park Layout:

Disneyland:

• Everything is compact which makes it easier to find things
• It's the original! Even though the castle is smaller...it's the ORIGINAL!
• Better landscaping around the castle

Disney World:

• The castle is more castle-y, it's MUCH larger!
• Everything is more spread out which makes it SEEM less crowded
• There are fewer and larger lands, Disneyland can be pretty overwhelming

My overall opinion is that Disney World is better designed, and that's why it Walt wasn't satisfied with Disneyland. Disneyland is small and surrounded by cheap hotels and fast food joints, Disney World is it's own little city which truly makes it seem like your transported to a magical and CLEAN place :) Disney World just feels like home. And the last thing that really put Disney World over the edge for me is the cast members. Disneyland cast members are great, but Disney World cast members are memorable and outstanding. I'm pretty sure this is because Disney World hires many Disney College Program and International cast members, people who really want to be there and make the magic. Those in California were almost ALL from California, and we didn't experience a single magical moment while we were there. 

Obviously I'm slightly biased ;) But I prefer Disney World. I do think, however, that if you're a Disney fan you should absolutely visit BOTH parks. They are similar yet unique, and both will add a little more magic to your Disney experiences :) 

West Coast Road Trip: Disneyland Resort

Disneyland was incredibly fun. I was SO excited to see another Disney castle! When we walked around the corner and saw Main Street U.S.A. and the castle for the first time I was super happy but also thought "huh, I remember the castle being a lot bigger than that" haha. In  case you've never been to Disneyland...the castle is like half the size of the castle in Magic Kingdom (but no less magical! Still gorgeous of course). We kept getting lost because it's so similar to Magic Kingdom, but set up slightly differently so we kept ending up in the wrong lands! So strange hahaha. They really fit as much as possible into the Disneyland property. There has to be at least 3 times more attractions than California Adventure!

I got to meet up with one of my coworkers from Studio Catering Co. in Hollywood Studios, Lizzie, who is doing the Summer Alumni Program in Disneyland at the dole whip stand by the Enchanted Tiki Room. So that was awesome :) We got to do SO many cool things! We rode Space Mountain, Star Tours, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, and  Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It really wasn't that busy which was pretty surprising for a July day! And the weather was mid 70's which is perfect. I think our longest wait time was maybe 45 minutes for Space Mountain.

As far as comparisons for attractions go...the Disney World Space Mountain is better, but the Disneyland Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean is better. The other rides are pretty much the same in both parks. And if you've only been to one of the parks, Indiana Jones is basically the same as Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom but with different theming (obviously). And I must admit I prefer Cinderella's castle in Magic Kingdom even though Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland is also beautiful (and the original).

We were PUMPED for the food at Disneyland but unfortunately all the stuff I had picked out (through the Disney Food Blog) were at sit down restaurants... :( So I got a cheesy garlic bagel twist for lunch, Starbucks for breakfast, and Blue Bayou for dinner where we both got filet mignon. Blue Bayou is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The bread they bring out is AMAZING and our steaks were also really good. Our waiter was alright, but we had higher expectations since this is indeed Disney.

We were surprisingly disappointed by the Disneyland cast members. We didn't get to witness any magical moments or any cast member go out of their way to do something special for a guest. Seriously the only two cast members that even mentioned our pins or asked us questions were previous CPs! Also like every cast member there is from California which is boring. So Disney World definitely impressed us more with cast member interaction and guest satisfaction. Not saying Disneyland was bad, but it also wasn't any better than any other place I've been to (besides Disney World).

The Paint the Night parade was SO much better than the Main Street Electrical Parade in Magic Kingdom! The ONLY complaint I have is that in their transition phases between floats they play THE BLASTED MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE MUSIC! Which gets stuck in your head and never leaves. Ever. But besides that is was perfect ;)

The fireworks were amazing of course, but I prefer Wishes. Wishes tells a story with Jiminy Cricket whereas Disneyland Forever Fireworks was more of a movie montage. Still beautiful but not very emotional. They did something similar to Celebrate the Magic but DURING the fireworks show and used Main Street as a canvas for a light show. I wish the two would have been separate because I was constantly turning back and forth to see both elements, but it was still a really cool use of technology :)

Oh, and did I mention we got to see Kanye West and the Kardashians? Yeah they got the Carousel all to themselves and we saw them ride it and get off because we were right across from them in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! The only two times I've seen famous people were both at Disneyland! Last spring break was Ashley Benson from Pretty Little Liars and this week was Kanye and the Kardashians. So that's definitely something Disneyland has on Disney World, way more celebrities!

Anyhoo here's my video from the trip :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Hvdqs6OH8

West Coast Road Trip: Disney California Adventure

I HAD THE MOST AMAZING TRIP PEOPLE. My roommate from the DCP, Lindsey, and I made the lovely 20+ hour road trip from Anacortes, WA (up north between Seattle and Canada) to Murietta, CA. We stayed with one of our roommates from the DCP, Ashley. The road trip was long but surprisingly fun! We stopped at Voodoo Doughnuts in Oregon and blasted our Disney playlist the whole way to California :) By the way California is currently an extremely dry and brown wasteland (no offense to you Californians).

So we stayed in Ashland, OR on the first night and drove into LA the second night. We stopped at Downtown Disney for Earl of Sandwich, churros, and fireworks. If you've never been to Disneyland, Disneyland and Downtown Disney and California Adventure are all in the same area. So it's like a 30 second walk from Disneyland to California Adventure (we're calling these DLR and DCA). It was SO nice to see Disney fireworks <3 <3 <3 We finally got to Murietta where Ashley lives (about 1.5 hours from Disneyland).

We left around 8:30am for California Adventure and had SO much fun :) Ashley, Lindsey, Ashley's boyfriend Zach, and I all went to the park and it was perfect! The weather was surprisingly cool which was awesome. I still got burnt. Haha :) We FINALLY got our Disney chicken nuggets (trust me, there's none better!) and we ate our first Disney corndog which they're apparently famous for. We were so excited for the food...we got also got to see World of Color which made me cry (they play the Celebrate the Magic music from Disney World), and the Aladdin show which is always HYSTERICAL.

We rode California Screamin', the Little Mermaid ride, the Golden Zephyr (aka flying boat things), the Silly Symphony Swings ride, Soarin' Over California (twice), Radiator Springs Racers (imagine a Cars themed Test Track), Mickey's Fun Wheel - the swinging ones obviously, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, and Monster's Inc. Mike & Sully to the Rescue. Neither of us are big fans of Tower of Terror, so we decided to skip that one. My favorites were definitely California Screamin', the Little Mermaid, and Soarin'. A thrill ride, a classic, and one that reminds me of Disney World <3

California Adventure was super fun, but of course Disneyland was what we were REALLY looking forward to! Once I can get my photos to upload I'll post those! Here's our video from the trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=17&v=I6U53nWRaO4