The Getaway Expert: 'Mind-blowing fact about Disneyland you might not have known'

Disneyland vs Walt Disney World. This is not comparing apples with apples or even apples and oranges, this is more like grapes and grapefruit (at least when it comes to size).

What's the best way to illustrate this?

Well, put it this way: Disneyland would fit into one car park at Walt Disney World. That's a fact and that's where we'll start. Size.

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SIZE

Disneyland, the theme park you most likely know from TV and movies and possibly visited, is 40 hectares in size. The car park at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World is 50 hectares.

If that's not shocking enough the total size of Walt Disney World is 10,000 hectares and Disneyland, if you throw in the adjoining Disney's California Adventure and Disney hotels is 200 hectares.

So, Walt Disney World is 50 times bigger than Disneyland. That's not suggesting it's 50 times better or 50 times more fun, it's just a very different beast. 

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WHERE & WHEN

Disneyland is, of course, the original and this year is celebrating its 70th birthday. 

And if stats out recently are anything to go by, the OG park has lost none of its appeal.

Travel experiences booking platform Klook is reporting a 41 per cent surge in Aussies looking for Disneyland tickets.

Meanwhile, Walt Disney World was opened in stages from October 1, 1971. Happy 54th!

Disneyland is located very conveniently for Australians in Anaheim south of Los Angeles. WDW, as we'll call it, is very inconveniently located just outside Orlando, Florida.

Inconvenient because after the 14-hour flight to LA, Orlando is another 5-hour leg plus stopover time.

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So that's why many more Australians have been to Disneyland, in addition to the nostalgic pull of Disneyland as a childhood dream destination. 

I've been to both. Disneyland three times and WDW once. I've got to admit your inner child really stirs when you stand in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland for the first time.

WDW doesn't have the same effect but when it comes to an entertainment destination this is a monster - in a good way. Let's break it down.

LAYOUT AND GETTING AROUND

Disneyland is divided into nine different "lands": Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, New Orleans Square, Bayou Country, Mickey's Toontown and the latest land to open in 2019 Star War's Galaxy's Edge.

Disney's California Adventure which celebrates all things California (it's more fun than the name suggests) is a short walk directly opposite Disneyland. Most people these days go to both - it has eight themed lands of its own including Pixar Pier and Avenger Campus. 

WDW is another story. Let's get something straight. You can't "walk around" Walt Disney World. Sure, you can walk within each theme park but not between them.

There are six separate parks that make up WDW: Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon and Disney's Blizzard Beach.

To fully dispel any notion you have of walking between them, Animal Kingdom, for example, is 10 kilometres from Magic Kingdom. You get the idea.

To compensate, Disney has a very elaborate public transport system comprising buses, a monorail, aerial gondola, ferries and water taxis. If you decide to drive yourself you only pay for parking once per day so you can move between parks and park at any park for a one-off charge.  

WHICH ONE'S FOR ME

If Me is a family then both will work for you but let's dig a bit deeper.

First consideration is time. You can do Disneyland in a day but if you add in Disney's California Adventure you should plan for two.

If you go to all the trouble of going all the way to Orlando there's no point rushing your way through Walt Disney World.

You really should set aside a full day for each of the main parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Then maybe another day if you want to cool off at the two waterparks Typhoon and Blizzard.

So, more days are required for WDW and another day of travel each way flying from LA so you are up for pretty much a week-long commitment.

But if we remove time constraints from the equation, which one should I go to?

There are obvious points of difference between them as discussed size, newness etc but there's a new visitor trend that may help you decide.

According to one report, it's estimated that 40-50 per cent of the crowd at WDW is now made up of child-free adults and Disney is making a deliberate play to this market with themed bars, resorts and after-hours parties.

There are also more adult-friendly rides at the WDW parks. More high-tech, more immersive and sophisticated than many of the classic rides at Disneyland.

So, if you're a family with older teens or want a child-free holiday Walt Disney World is the answer. Disneyland would be my pick for a younger family because it can be done in a day compared to the exhaustion for everyone of spending a whole week theme-park hopping. 

For some inside insights into who goes where and why I spoke to Bethany Olson from Mickey World Travel in Phoenix, Arizona who sells a ton of trips to all the Disney parks.

"You can see that Disney is now trying to cater to the Disney adult. I have been booking more and more families with grown children going to the parks. They get to relive the memories they made with them as small children, but now it's a completely different experience," Bethany explains.

"For families with young children I would recommend doing Disneyland in California.  It has a lot of rides that do not have height requirements and is much more condensed than Walt Disney World so there is much less walking for those little legs," says the Disney expert. 

"For families with older children, Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World has more intense rides that may be more of a thrill for them."

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PRICES AND MUST DOS

I'll get to prices in a second but don't skimp. No matter which way you decide to go, go all in. You may never be back here and the kids will always remember the time they went to a Disney park.

But if you do need to go a bit easy on the Mickey merch or the cost of your hotel room DO NOT try and save on the entrance tickets. You must buy a fast pass whether it's Disneyland or WDW. 

These are passes that allow you to skip the normal line which means a 45 minute - 1 hour or more wait for the big ticket rides can be reduced to under 15 minutes. Often less.

At Disneyland it's called a Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and at Walt Disney World it's a Lightning Lane Premium Pass.

So, the prices. Standard entry to Disneyland starts at US104 (approx A$160) for ages 10+ and US$98 for ages 3-9 (approx A$150). On top of that the Lightning Lane Multi Pass is US$32 per person regardless of age. 

Walt Disney World starts at US$119 (approx A$183) per day per park for ages 10+ for the four main theme parks and $US114 for ages 3-9 (approx A$175). Cheaper per day when you buy a multi-day ticket. Lighting Lane Premier Pass is from $US29 per person.

As well as that there are Park-Hopper tickets available at Disneyland and WDW if you want to visit more than one park in a day and look out for Special Offers and deals that you might get on package offerings including flights and accommodation. 

That's kind of it.

It's important to research the parks well yourself so that you come up with the right solution for your family because whatever way you shake it it's not cheap.

There are so many possible combinations and you want to be sure you are maximising your time and money so that when you are there it truly is the Happiest Place on Earth.

John Walsh was Executive Producer of the TV travel series Getaway from 1999-2024. You can follow John on Instagram @thegetawayexpert.

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