The Disney Report Pt I

While in Orlando, my girlfriend and I spent sometime roving two of Disney World's parks, Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom. Although I sometimes eschew the way The Rat insists on exacting control of everything they involve themselves in, not to mention the way Disney typically likes to whitewash these things, I have to hand it to them when it comes to Animal Kingdom. Living only a short distance from Disneyland and recently being at that park, however, has made me realize just how SUPERIOR DisneyLAND is to DisneyWORLD .

Yep, you read it right. Despite all the stupid promotion the Orlando Magic Kingdom gets, it's older brother in Anaheim still kicks its ass! And I'll tell you why. But first there’s an important clarification to get out of the way. People commonly refer to Disneyland and Disneyworld as “essentially the same thing”, only one is in California and the other is in Florida. It’s a common misconception and without going to both parks, I suppose one hat’s easy to make. Which is why it’s important to point out that Walt Disney World is more than just the Magic Kingdom (the park which has the famous storybook castle and classic Disney rides such as Space Mountain, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Splash Mountain, etc.) In fact, WDW is comprised of SIX parks, all of which require separate admission, plus Pleasure Island (part of Downtown Disney) and Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, which also require purchase of separate admission.

Disneyland is just the Magic Kingdom. Several years ago, Disney Imagineers constructed Disney’s California Adventure across the street from Disneyland. California Adventure is a separate theme park from Disneyland. So, it could be said that Disney has only two park attractions in Anaheim, Ca, while Walt Disney World in Orlando consists of six (or four if WDW’s two water parks are left out since DL doesn’t offer any comparable type of park.)

For anyone planning a Disney-themed vacation it sounds like a no-brainer to make Orlando your destination of choice, right? Well, that’s why its important to research anything before you commit. Let’s cut directly to the tangible differences between DL and WDW, shall we?

DL/CA:
2 Theme Parks
3 Resorts
Downtown Disney

WDW:
4 Theme Parks
2 Water Parks
23 Resorts
Downtown Disney (including Pleasure Island and Disney Quest)
Wide World of Sports Complex

Still looks like you get a lot more entertainment options in Florida, right? It can’t be denied that there’s far more to keep guests of the Mouse staying and spending in Orlando, but the savvy vacationer has to look inward and decide what it is they want most from their Disney experience. And more importantly how much are you willing to spend to get it. Consider that the base price of admission to any of the four major WDW parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and Epcot) start at $60/pp. And the base ticket permits admission to only ONE park PER DAY. If you want the ability to jump between parks, that’ll be an extra one-time charge of $35. But if you want that to include the water parks, the Pleasure Island night clubs, and the indoor interactive theme park Disney Quest, please add $45 (called “Magic Plus”) to that $60 base ticket, which brings you to a grand total of $105!

Disney calls this new pricing structure “Magic Your Way” and ingeniously encourages guests to hop from place to place whenever and wherever they want to during their stay. But for a family of four who wants to spend a day at each park (which can be pushing it to get everything in for most people), be prepared to spend $846 for two adults and 2 kids (ages 3-9) just for park admission.

The trick with WDW is to purchase tickets for more than one day. Even buying just the 4-day base ticket will reduce your per day cost to $46. The water parks cost $34 each per day, so this would enable a guest to allot one day for all four major parks as well as a day at one water park for less than buying four days at the “Magic Plus” price.

Disneyland base admission is comparable at $53 ($43 for ages 3-9). Adding the park-hopping option is only $20 more, but unless you plan on splitting your day between two large theme parks, I advise taking the two-day hopper pass for $105, which saves you a big old single BUCK. Still, the two-day hopper pass at WDW weighs in at $154 for an adult. Yes, most Disneyphiles claim that California Adventure doesn’t pack the punch of prolonged excitement that WDW’s Animal Kingdom or Epcot and MGM might, but one really has to decide whether they’re looking for more rides (CA) or interesting and Disneyfied educational locales (Epcot and MGM).

Tune in tomorrow for part II where I compare the WDW Magic Kingdom to the DL Magic Kingdom and show you why DISNEYLAND OWNS Walt Disney World.