disneyland california

We were so excited to go to Disneyland in California! After flying into LAX, we took an Uber to Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. We did splurge on our hotel this trip for a couple of reasons. We wanted to be close and spend as little time going back and forth between parks and hotel as possible.

But most importantly, this was the ONLY way to experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. For the Star Wars nerds I live with, nothing else would matter without getting into the newest area in the park. It had just opened a few weeks before we arrived and the only way to get an entrance pass was to stay in 1 of 3 Disney resort hotels. Given another timeframe, the Disney “good neighbor” hotels seem just as close and much less expensive.

My Florida kids had only seen The Mouse at Walt Disney World, so we did have a certain level of expectations. And honestly, we had the BEST time! But, don’t compare the parks or you may find yourself disappointed.

DISNEYLAND VS DISNEY WORLD

There really is no comparison. They are very different parks and if you go to either one expecting the other, you’ll be disappointed. Although there are a few attractions that appear at both and you’ll see the same characters, there’s a different atmosphere to appreciate.

  1. Magic Kingdom is magical! Everything about it whisks you away to an enchanted childhood. Disneyland is entertaining, but it was clear to me that there were several improvements made in WDW based on learnings from the original Disneyland. One of which I hadn’t given much thought to before is the size of the fairy tale castles in the center. Cinderella’s castle at the Magic Kingdom towers above everything else so you can orient yourself pretty easily, but Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in Anaheim is shorter and other rides

  2. Extra magic hours ARE truly magical in Disneylandl! While both coasts provide extra magic hours for those staying in Disney resorts, etc. the extra hour in Disneyland and Disney Adventure Park really made us feel like we were one of only a few VIPs. We rode almost every major ride before 9 a.m. without any touring plans or FastPasses booked 6 months out. See #4.

  3. Disneyland and Disney Adventure Park are SUPER close. We loved that the entrances are just across a courtyard from each other so we didn’t have to worry about navigating from park to park spread out over many miles.

  4. Disney World requires a lot more planning and prep work—sometimes months in advance. At Disneyland, the FastPass system is different so you can’t book any until you’re in the park that day. You also have to pay an additional fee for this service, but there are not as many restrictions as with the WDW FastPass. I was worried about booking our trip so close to our arrival date because I’m used to the Disney World planning process. Luckily, it was super easy to plan a last-minute weekend at Disneyland. We’d do it again anytime!

  5. Disneyland doesn’t require as much time. You can do both parks in 2 days at a relaxed pace and not feel like you’ve missed out on things or that you’re about to drop from exhaustion. We really enjoyed that part!

There’s lots to see and do at Disneyland! I’m happy to say that although I thought I’d seen it all at Disney World, I’ve now been corrected. We do recommend Anaheim for ages 6+ and definitely don’t let a last-minute reservation discourage you from adding a day to your SoCal trip. Go see both!