Disneyland, Disney World or BOTH? for Emily Rose (write-off)
Written: Oct 15 '01 (Updated Oct 15 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: the happiest place on earth!
Cons: can get quite expensive!
The Bottom Line: Everyone should experience either Disneyland or Walt Disney World for themselves at least once. You won't regret it!
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| gaelkm's Full Review: Disneyland |
This is not actually a "Land" vs. "World" of Disney review, but more of a compare and contrast review. For some people, it's difficult or impractical to travel to Orlando, Florida's DISNEY WORLD, and for others, the traveling distance to get out to Anaheim, California's, DISNEYLAND, would be more difficult.
The point is, that both places are the happiest places on earth, right? RIGHT! I am one of the fortunate people who has been to both Disneyland and Disney World!
DISNEYLAND
In 1968, my parents took all of us on the vacation of our young lives...to Disneyland! This was no easy feat because we lived in Ohio! My Dad had a map plotted out each day of how many miles he had planned to cover driving. We had a station wagon and stayed in a lot of Holiday Inns along the way. Our grandmother came along too, which made a grand total of 7 of us driving across country. {Now that I think about it, it sounds a lot like the movie classic, "Vacation" with Chevy Chase!} Well, our reality was a bit different. For us, the entire vacation was groovy, & a real "blast", but the grand finale was, of course, Disneyland! Honestly, I don't remember a lot of details of being in Disneyland so long ago, but I do remember it being a kid's dream come true! My favorites were the "Pirates of the Caribbean", "the Haunted House", “The Matterhorn Bobsleds”, the Submarine Cruise, the "Jungle Ride", “the Great Moments with President Abraham Lincoln Speech” (there was no “Hall of Presidents” yet at that time) and the little autos you could really drive yourself (fun for any teen under the legal driving age)! These were all thrilling to me at the time and still pretty much are to this day actually!
My family moved to the East Coast, and in 1973, approximately one year after it opened, we drove down Interstate 95 to Orlando to go to the brand new DISNEY WORLD. I remember that my first impressions were of how different the set-up between Disneyland and Disney World were. Disneyland, is smack dab in the middle of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Freeway system. It is surrounded on all sides by numerous hotels, motels and restaurants galore...all competing with each other for your business, imagine that! A strange sight is actually to see the "snow-covered Matterhorn" (the real Matterhorn Mountain is in Switzerland, in case you forgot your geography) peaking up in clear view from the 57 freeway! Disney World, on the other hand, was way out, all by itself, seemingly in the middle of nowhere! It seemed like it took us forever to drive there, through miles and miles of green land and when we finally got within eye-shot, it looked enormous and much more spread out to me, whereas Disneyland, although large in itself, is squeezed into a smaller space.
I didn't get to Disneyland go again until I actually moved out to California in 1979. I was very excited to go again and was not disappointed! I'm never disappointed! There is so much to see and so much to do in both places. I've been to Disneyland probably about 10 times now. I still highly recommend the well-known attractions such as: the Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion, as the best for older adolescents. For younger children, there are the ever popular, Mark Twain's Island, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, It’s a Small World, Jolly Trolley and Peter Pan Adventure. There really is something for everyone!
One thing that I would seriously recommend NOT doing for the parents of very young children is: do not be tempted to take your children to Disneyland when the children are too young to enjoy Disneyland or Disney World. It’s something you’ll want to do for your children, but believe me (and I speak from experience), taking your children before the age of 4 is a waste of time! I took my son for his 3rd birthday and he was afraid of the costumed figures, and fell asleep in the afternoon long before we had planned on our day being over. There is so much to see and for very young children and it can definitely be overwhelming! Perhaps taking the afternoon off (you can get your hand stamped for re-entry to the Park later in the same day) for a siesta would have been a better way to go, but we did not plan for that at the time!
DISNEY WORLD
We had the opportunity to take our (now) teenage boys to Disney World about two years ago. It was a wonderful 4 days! Disney World still seemed a long way out to me. (We stayed in nearby Kissimmee.) The first time I went to Disney World, in 1973, there were many exhibits and rides that were still under construction. Many areas were roped off or blocked off completely. Epcot Center did not yet exist. By the time I finally went again, in 1999, Disney World was a well-oiled machine, was very organized, and well laid out for dealing with the huge crowds of people it accommodates every day making it an overall enjoyable experience and the happiest place on earth!
Each morning we took a shuttle from our hotel, which was a roomy air-conditioned bus. The ride only took about 15 minutes. The miles surrounding (and owned by) Walt Disney World were lush and unspoiled. (By the way, I should mention that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to try to walk to Disney World. We thought we might be able to because of the way many hotels were advertised in the AAA book as being…”just minutes from the Magic Kingdom”…yes, minutes by vehicle, but not minutes by foot!)
Once your shuttle arrives in the central parking lot, you disembark and select which Theme Park you want to see for the day. What we did, which really worked out well, was pay for a 4-day pass. It is much less expensive paying for the package this way.
Disney World is divided into 4 theme parks, each of which takes an entire day in itself. The four parks are: Epcot, MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Please do not try to do more than one theme park in one day; there is simply too much to see and do! It is a wonderful place for children of most (above the age of 4) ages as well as adults.
Luckily, I was able to choose a season that was not quite as hot or crowded as summer would be. This was definitely in our favor! We went in mid November when the temperatures in Orlando were only about 80 degrees, definitely more comfortable than the humid summertime. Although it was quite crowded, I’m sure what we dealt with was nothing like the summertime crowds!
Epcot is, I believe, geared more for older children and adults, although it is appealing to younger children as well. It is simply an international arena with many countries represented. The United States of America show was spectacular and really made me feel proud and patriotic! It is interesting to learn about so many different lands and cultures. Our sons enjoyed this park very much. We ate lunch in Mexico! It was a tough choice since we could have eaten in just about any country!
MGM Studios is terrific for those interested in movies and animation! If you have ever been curious about how cartoons are created or films produced, this is the place! My sons are teens and they really enjoyed MGM Studios! You get to visit many different television sitcom sets and movie sets. We were able to see how “101 Dalmatians” was made, for example. You see some of the methods they use behind the scenes!
Magic Kingdom was the most familiar of all to me because it is the most like Disneyland (Magic Kingdom). One difference I noticed was that there was no Matterhorn Bobsled ride in the Magic Kingdom of Disney World! My sons really like Space Mountain and went on that particular ride 3 times! (A new “feature” in many theme parks is a sort of express line, which cuts down on your waiting time in long lines if you wish to get on the same attraction a second or third time.) The “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” was also a big hit with my two sons (and husband!). This is a fun Haunted Hotel ride/attraction.
For the first time ever, I got to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. I loved the lights and the music! Made me feel like a kid again! Great! The place was packed with wall to wall people; that was incredible in itself, because we were there on a weeknight in the middle of November! It would be hard to imagine the people there on a Saturday night would have been like in July, for example! That was one of the drawbacks in my opinion, but when is Disney World NOT crowded?
The live shows, Main Street, the tempting souvenir shops are all well worth experiencing!
(We actually skipped the Disney World Animal Kingdom, because we had been to Wild Animal Safari in San Diego the summer prior.)
Whichever Disney Theme Park you choose, east coast or west coast, you won’t be disappointed.
Thanks for reading!
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This review is part of a write-off to help a very brave little girl who has cancer and is trying so hard to get well! God Bless, Emily Rose and her family! Thank you to the hosts of this important write-off - Lisa_J and Opalman!
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Recommended:
Yes
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