It’s Enormous!

That’s an understatement!  If you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World but have never been – and your only reference is Disneyland in California, you are in for a heady challenge.  You will soon realize that you are overwhelmed as you step foot in WDW and try to figure out where to go, what to do, where to stay and how to get there on time.  That last point is critical if you have dining reservations.

Disneyland is measured in acres; originally 160 to be exact. There have been some additions over the years to include more resorts and parking; now Disneyland and California Adventure sit on that original plot.  Today, the entire Disneyland resort is about 500 acres.

The Walt Disney World resort is measured not in acres, but in square miles.  43 square miles as it currently stands, or about 27,258 acres, just slightly smaller than San Francisco and approximately 54 times larger than the entire Disneyland resort.  Not all of this land is theme parks.  There is still a lot of unused or undisturbed land, along with the roads and highways that run through the property.

Rough comparison of sizes. Black outline – San Francisco. Red outline – Disneyland Resort. (Color maps ©Disney) (Maps/drawing are for illustration purposes and not to scale)

The Disneyland Resort contains 2 theme parks, 3 hotels and a shopping/dining district called Downtown Disney.  The Walt Disney World Resort contains 4 “dry” theme parks, 2 water parks, 30 resort hotels, 1 RV park, and a shopping district called “Disney Springs.”  These numbers don’t count the surrounding hotels and attractions.

While there are many similarities between the two destinations, there are also a lot of differences and those are worth noting.  Dining reservations at a Disneyland restaurant can be made 60 days in advance; in Walt Disney World, they can be made 6 months in advance.  Fast Passes in DL are available only on the day you are in the park; in WDW, you can make them 60 days in advance if you are staying at a WDW resort, otherwise 30 days in advance.

Generally, the weather in southern California is pretty nice.  It can rain during the winter and get hot in the summer.  Most of the lines for the attractions are outside so you are exposed to the elements, good or bad.  Florida is quite a bit different.  Weather there can be good or bad anytime of the year.  Thunderstorms can pop up, so be prepared with rain coats or umbrellas.  Most of the rides at WDW have their queues inside or under a covering, and they have creative elements to distract you from realizing you are in a long line!

The advantage of the Walt Disney World Resort is its size.  It has lots of room to build, grow and expand, in comparison to the Disneyland Resort, which is mostly land-locked.  One obvious difference is the castles.  Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom is more than twice the size of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and therefore its footprint takes up so much more room, which would have eliminated attractions at Disneyland.  In fact, Cinderella’s Castle is so big, it even has a full service restaurant inside called Cinderella’s Royal Table.

The disadvantage to Walt Disney World is its size.  While many will claim that park hopping is feasible, it may not be worth your effort.  The theme parks are not within walking distance of each other like Disneyland and California Adventure.  If you choose to park hop, you will need to take into consideration the time to leave one park, travel, and go through security before entering the next one.  In fact, whenever you make dining reservations, their instructions to you will be to leave your hotel or other park at least 1 1/2 hours before your scheduled reservation, to allow time for travel, security check, entering the park and walking to your destination.  You will need to decide on the park hopping option and it is an extra charge to the ticket price.

To illustrate the size of this place, our first trip to WDW was in May, 2014, where we stayed at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort.  When we left Bonnet Creek, we drove 7 miles to the Magic Kingdom parking lot where we jumped on a tram that took us to the Transportation Center.  From there we rode a large ferry 1 1/2 miles across the Seven Seas Lagoon (or you can take the Monorail) to the security area of the Magic Kingdom.  After our inspection we then entered the front gates of the Magic Kingdom.  All this was within Disney property!  This example is the most extreme of the parks when it comes to travel and entry, but you get the idea.

Anaheim and Orlando parks have similar attractions.  We have to us the term “similar” as there are differences (both major and minor) in the rides.  For example, Pirates of the Caribbean in WDW doesn’t begin adjacent to a restaurant (Blue Bayou), and start with a double drop.  The Florida version has a single drop about half way through the ride, and doesn’t end with a climb up a waterfall.

Soarin’ Around the World has the same movie and ride mechanisms at both locations, but getting to your seat is a different experience.  At the California Adventure version, you enter a hangar which has pictures and stories of California’s aviation history.  The Florida version in EPCOT is more like going through an airline terminal.

You will also find attractions in California that are not in Florida, and vice versa.  California has Cars Land and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride; Florida has Test Track and Kilimanjaro Safari.  Walt Disney World also has some classic attractions that have disappeared from Disneyland, such as the People Mover and Country Bear Jamboree.

Traveling around the Walt Disney Resort can be accomplished many ways if you are staying in one of the resort hotels.  The most prevalent is the Disney Bus.  This will take you from every resort to every park or Disney Springs and back, and is free for Disney hotel guests.  A few of the hotels have other forms of transportation as well, such as ferry boat or monorail, however these don’t go everywhere and may not be available at your hotel.  Of course you can drive if you have a car available, and with this option you come and go on your schedule.  If you are staying at a non-Disney resort, check with them for transportation options.

If you haven’t been to Walt Disney World, but are planning a trip in the near future, we suggest preparing yourself by obtaining a tour guide book, like the one shown in our Amazon store on the right.  Once you have made the decision, we recommend using a travel agency that specializes in Disney vacations such as Magical Partners Travel.  Their services are free to you and they can help navigate the ins and outs of visiting any Disney park and making the most of your time and money.