The Disneyland Resort and The Walt Disney World Resort are both beautiful and magical places to visit and go to on vacation. It can be hard to decide which one is right for you, but you can’t go wrong with either. These are the major differences between Disneyland and Disney World.
Location
Disneyland and Walt Disney World are on complete opposite ends of the United States. Disneyland in located in Anaheim, California and Disney World is located in Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Florida.
Number of Theme Parks
Walt Disney World is made up of four theme parks. They are Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. Disneyland has two theme parks which are Disneyland and California Adventure. Disneyland and Magic Kingdom have a lot of similarities with rides and other things, but they are not completely the same.
Water Parks
The Disneyland Resort does not have any water parks, while the Walt Disney World Resort has two water parks. The names of their water parks are Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.
Property Size
Disney World is much, much larger than Disneyland. It has more theme parks, more hotels, golf courses, and so much more. Disneyland is about 100 acres big and Disney World is about 27,000 acres.
Castle Size
The Disneyland Castle is the original Disney castle and means so much to Disneyland goers. It is much smaller and shorter than the castle in Magic Kingdom in Disney World though. The Disneyland castle is 77 feet tall and the Disney World castle is 189 feet tall. See how tall all of the Disney castles in the world are here.
Disney Transportation
Since The Disneyland Resort is relatively small, you can get around the theme parks, hotels, and Downtown Disney pretty easily by walking around. Disney World is harder to get around since it’s so much bigger and everything is more spread out. Thankfully they have transportation that will take you around and in between everything. They have buses, the Skyliner, the monorail, and boats.
Disney Hotels
Disneyland and Disney World both have on-property hotels that you can stay at, dine at, and explore. The biggest difference here is the number of hotels each has. Disneyland has three hotels, which are Pixar Place Hotel, The Disneyland Hotel, and The Grand Californian. Disney World has over 25 Disney resorts to choose from. All of the Disneyland hotels are pretty pricey while Disney World offers a wider variety of prices.
Rides
Disney World has more rides than Disneyland just because it has more parks to put rides in. Both coasts have unique rides that are so fun though. Some of the rides you can only find at Disneyland are Radiator Springs Racers, Matterhorn, and Snow White’s Enchanted Wish. Some of them you can only find in Disney World are Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, and Cosmic Rewind.
Different Lands
Disneyland and Disney World have some of the same lands like Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, but they also have unique lands too. Disneyland has Cars Land, Mickey’s Toontown, Avengers Campus, and Pixar Pier. Disney World has Toy Story Land, World Showcase, and Pandora – The World of Avatar.
Dining
Disneyland tends to have more quick-service dining options. Disney World has more table-service restaurants and also a lot more character dining options. Disneyland has three options for character dining and Disney World has more than 10 restaurants that do character dining.