Top 5 Reasons East Coasters Should Visit Disneyland

And the #1 reason for West Coasters to visit WDW!

As a travel agent specializing in all things Disney, clients often ask what the differences are between the Disney parks, and which is best for their family. As a New York-based agent many of my clients are from the East Coast, and are not as familiar with Disneyland. I hope this can convince some of them to make the trip to California! (And a few West coasters to come to Orlando!)

For Disney fans, this is the original
Disneyland is where it all started. This is the only park where you can walk where Walt did. Fifteen of the opening day attractions are still there, and many of them are exclusive to Disneyland Park. Want to experience Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride? Then you better get to Disneyland for the only theme park ride that takes you to hell and back! (Seriously.) And while Disneyland may seem small to anyone familiar with the Magic Kingdom, they somehow managed to fit MORE attractions into LESS space. This means less walking between attractions! Not only are the attractions closer together in Anaheim, but the two parks themselves are also much closer – you can walk between Disneyland Park and California Adventure in less than a minute!

California Weather
There is just something magical about the weather in California, which makes any time of year a great time to visit Southern California. While you may want to avoid the oppressive heat of Orlando in August, even the hottest days in Disneyland don’t ever seem as hot. Anaheim averages 280 days of sun a year; the desert climate means that it rarely rains at Disneyland, in fact it only averages 35 days with any precipitation at all. But be sure to pack with layers in mind, you could be in for some cool mornings and evenings, the rest of the time is just amazing California sunshine.

Marvel
One of the growing reasons to visit California Adventure is the increasing influence of Marvel. Because of some licensing issues with Universal Orlando Resort, Disney cannot use Marvel characters in it’s parks in Orlando while these characters still appear in Universal Orlando.* This restriction does not exist in California, so you can ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout in California Adventure, as well as meet Black Panther, Captain America, Spider Man, Groot and Captain Marvel. Bonus: Look out for the Stark Expo coming to California Adventure soon!

MAXpass
If you are interested in a trip to Disneyland Resort one of the biggest differences you may notice is the planning process. For WDW veterans, it is routine to booking dining six months in advance and book FastPasses 30-60 days in advance. In Disneyland and California Adventure that is not the case. So for anyone who likes to be a little spontaneous – this could be the Disney vacation for you! FastPasses at Disneyland can only booked once you have scanned your ticket into the park for the day. You can either go to an attraction and pull a paper return time ticket for later in the day, or now you can utilize the MAXpass system on your phone. MAXpass is a game changer because this allows you to book your FastPasses on your phone without walking to the attraction. This means you could be on line for Peter Pan in Disneyland Park and be booking your next ride on the Incredicoaster in California Adventure. You can book fastpasses all day this way, and many times you can obtain more than 10 in a single day.

So much to see in California at large
If you are going to visit Disneyland Resort, you would be remiss if you didn’t spend some extra time in Southern California. The Disneyland Resort is much smaller than Walt Disney World, so in 3 days you could cover every square inch of both parks. Take the rest of your week long vacation and maybe drive down the coast to San Diego for some beach time, or check out Los Angeles – there is so much to do with kids; tour an operating movie/tv studio, hike to the Hollywood sign in Griffith Park, or spend a day strolling through Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier.

AND….The #1 reason for West Coasters to visit WDW is…“The Disney Bubble”

A vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando can be a fully immersive and all-inclusive vacation. From the moment you land at the airport you can board Disney’s Magical Express to your Disney resort and easily spend a week experiencing the 4 Disney World Theme Parks and relaxing by the pool at your resort. If you have never been, the customer service experience at Disney World may make you never want to leave! While many clients have said to me “This is our one and done trip” or “We are just doing this for the kids, once is enough for us” they have all come home saying they want to plan another. Disney magic is real, and nothing beats being inside the magic, even if it’s only for a few days!

by Meghan Orban – Director of Social Media Marketing at ET Family Travel