This morning we thought about treating the girls to one of Disney's water parks, but after some research we found that the Cast Member passes don't get you access to either of these two parks. Even annual passholders can't get in and the park costs $52 for a one-day entrance pass. No thanks. We just let them swim in the hotel pool for a while instead, and they were perfectly happy with that. Since this was supposed to be our last night in our Orlando hotel, we headed to Target next to stock up on some basic supplies for the second half of our road trip. Afterwards, while looking for a place to have a late lunch, we were surprised to find that this area of Florida has just about every restaurant ever invented. They even had a Sweet Tomatoes, which we haven't seen since California, and a Giordano's pizza like we had in Chicago. Mike is a big fan of pizza, so I decided to take him to Giordano's. It was really good (though maybe not quite as good as Chicago's) and we drove to Disney World quite stuffed and groggy.
The Book had told us it was a good idea to leave your car at the park where you would end the day rather than moving your car from parking lot to parking lot and riding trams to and from your car, so we parked our car at Disney World today. I had a feeling that they probably flip-flopped the parking lots visitors used, so I wasnt' too surprised when we showed up and found the Heroes lot full, leading us to park in the Villians lot. This time we actually were really close to the front gate of the Ticket & Transportation Center, so we just walked there. We had asked the girls this morning what one thing they wanted to do today as our last day. A chose the Expedition Everest and Primeval Whirl in Animal Kingdom, C wanted to do Splash Mountain again, and K wanted to catch lizards. Our plan was to take the bus to Animal Kingdom, ride the rides, come back, and then finish the day in the Magic Kingdom. The bus came right away and wasn't crowded, so we rode over to Animal Kingdom to get started.
I made sure to take pictures in this park today as we walked around and rode the two rides A chose, as well as the safari ride again.
Expedition Everest w/parts of Asia area visible in front
Expedition Everest ride with a car visible on the left
Carnival game near Primeval Whirl. Each attempt to win will cost you $4!
carnival area near Primeval Whirl
safari vehicles
crocodiles on the safari ride
wildebeest
in the Africa area, they had this guy who was making woodcarved animals and selling them
I even picked out a new hat to replace my lost one from Omaha!
Once we had had our fill of Animal Kingdom for the day, we headed out to catch the bus back to Disney World. Just for fun I decided to time the ride to give you all an idea of how far apart these parks really are. I timed it from entrance gate to entrance gate, and keep in mind that we got right on the first bus after only waiting for a few minutes and walked right on the monorail at DW. From gate to gate the trip took 48 minutes. Crazy, right? It could have easily taken 2 or 3 times as long if the park was crowded that day. We overheard some girls on the ferry last night talking about how they waited for hours for the buses last year when they came.
Bus station depot to other parks and the Disney resort hotels. This was half of one of the two rows of bus stations outside Animal Kingdom.
Back in Disney World around 6:30pm, we had just enough time to do the few things we wanted before the day ended. Of course we stopped by to pick up some more game cards, and while we were there we asked if there was an end to the game. They said there were 9 villains and we had defeated 7 of them. After you defeat all 9, you can start the game over or bump your key card up to medium difficulty, which means you'd actually have to think about the types of attacks you use and shield yourself against the villains' attacks. We decided to go ahead and finish the game out today, just for fun.
Coincidentally, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain broke down at the exact same time, about 1.5 hours before the park closed while we were in line for one and holding fast passes for the other. We spent a long time waiting around and killing time because C really wanted to ride them. Our persistence paid off, and we did get to ride them just before the park closed, but then we found ourselves trapped back there at the back end of Frontierland because even though the rides were all closed, the path was roped off for the 11pm Electrical Parade. I once again wondered who thought it was a good idea to block all the paths to exit the park right when all the rides closed for the day.
We did finally make it out of the park, and that's about it for our Disney adventure. Below I've listed some more information for anyone who's curious about more differences between the two parks.
Disneyland vs. Disney World (besides the rides)
Special Note: I have grown up going to Disneyland and have been there more than 30 times, so it's impossible to visit another Disney park and not compare the two. I've already told you about most of the rides in the park and how they differ, but here's some more information I didn't share elsewhere.
I already told you many of the things I liked about Disney World like the ferry ride, the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card game, and the improvements to the queue area, with the fun activities they added to pass the time. They have a few really cool rides that Disneyland doesn't have like Expedition Everest, the Kiliminjaro safaris, and the Test Track, so it was fun to experience those, but with the sprawled out park areas, lack of attractions in each park, and some of the other things below, Mike and I both mentioned that had we saved up for years to come to these parks, we would have been really disappointed. If you get the chance to visit for free, like we did, by all means, come and check it out for yourself. But if you are thinking (like I was) that Disney World is somehow like a super-Disneyland, it's not. If you can only afford to go to one park, my advice would be to go to Disneyland, hands down. I know you think I'm partial (which I probably am), so here are some facts to back up my opinion.
Park Staff (Cast Members) -
- Diversity: Disney World has a noticeably diverse workforce, with cast members from just about every country in the world, literally. They must have some sort of work program they offer to people in other countries to bring them to the parks. It just can't be a coincidence. It does make for some interesting conversations and probably allows them to communicate with tourists from any country, but the one downside is that many of these people have a hard time understanding what you're saying and/or are very hard to understand when they speak. I had to repeat much of what they said to my kids because they couldn't understand them sometimes. They also have many disabled workers, both physically and mentally handicapped. I don't have an opinion one way or the other about this one, but it was noticeably different to see a cast member with a cane, a major speech impediment, or a facial deformity at the park,
- Lack of training/tenure: A great deal of the cast members didn't know the specifics of the park. They didn't know where stores were, when parades ran or where, what items were sold in which stores, what ingredients were in the food, or sometimes even how to run the machines they were supposed to be using (like the poor guy from Scotland who couldn't figure out how to dispense ice cream). This stands in stark contrast compared to Disneyland, where many employees have been there for decades and they all seem to know everything about the park.
- Lack of passion: many of the cast members in the Disney World area seemed genuinely miserable in their jobs, with frowning faces and slumped demeanors. These were most often the cleaning crew, which can't be a pleasant job, but still, you'd never see a sour face at Disneyland. We met a young man who was actually California andn was not happy to be out here in Orlando. He didn't say it, but I got the idea that it's tough to work at DL but pretty much anyone can work out here, which was why he was out here in what he called 'the work program'. And I was absolutely floored when one employee told me that he hated the Electrical Parade. Seriously?! That would have been his last minute working at Disneyland had anyone heard that.
- Lack of consideration: This happened several times at the park, where a cast member would actually expect me to move out of the way or look upset that I waited for them to step aside so I could walk through a narrow opening. One lady in the bathroom set the enormous garbage can she was emptying right in front of the exit door and left it there as she retrieved liners and grabbed the other can while I was clearly standing there waiting to leave the restroom.
- Lack of professionalism: I can't tell you how many times I saw cast members gathered together in small groups complaining about management or guests. Their presence alone was very much unlike DL, as they did shift changes walking through the park among the guests, used the same restrooms as the guests and even carried their personal belongings (like huge purses or wearing headphones) through the park as they left work, still in full costume. That is a HUGE no-no and something you will never see at DL. You would think with all this extra space out here that they would have built a 'backstage' area for their cast members like they have at Disneyland.
Atmosphere/Ambiance
- Cleanliness: Disneyland is obsessively clean, moreso than any other park anywhere, so it was obvious to me right away when I saw scraps of trash on the ground at the park during the day. Granted, it was probably still cleaner than most amusement parks and wasn't trashy by any means, but it was a noticeable difference from DL.
- Guest comfort: Besides the excessively loud pre-shows I mentioned earlier, several things about the park screamed with inconsiderateness (is that a word?) for their guests. One example is that one of the nights the Electrical Parade ran, the last float broke down. They brought a tow vehicle out and hooked it up, but they never moved the float. I got the feeling that DL would have had that float moving in less than a minute, but for more than 20 minutes they just left the float in the middle of the road, blasting its parade music and blocking the path. I know it was the last parade of the day and most of the people were leaving, but seriously? Also, after the parade they ran huge gas-powered vaccuums up and down Main Street as we were trying to exit. They are SO loud (think your neighbor's leaf-blower x 10) and the exhaust smells awful. It doesn't seem like it'd be a big deal to wait until after the guests have left for the day to do that. And speaking of smells, after the Fantasmic show many of the guests in the theater were hacking and coughing from the foul-smelling smoke coming off the pyrotechnics and blowing straight at us. It was really bad! One more example was when Splash Mountain broke down. As they were doing the test runs and trying to bring it back online, some girl was speaking on a loudspeaker which projected like a megaphone in the entire area. She was giving commands and test results and I was wondering why in the world they don't just invest in some walkie-talkies for these guys. It was really tacky.
- Lack of Supplies: Imagine you are in Disney World for the day and you run out of diapers, your kid loses their pacifier, you need feminine products, or your kid needs a change of clothes. What are you going to do? You'd think they would take into consideration the fact that most people (even in Disney hotels) are an hour from their hotels, and would stock some basic necessities in the park at reasonable prices. I can't imagine they really need to make that much money off diapers or tampons. Seriously, guys? And they don't even sell girls undergarments in the park when one of the girls realized her pair wasn't fitting her well. Sigh.
- Food and Drink: I've already talked about this a little bit, but I did find it odd that all of the Disney parks (besides DW itself) sold alcholic drinks, and I'm not just talking about a glass of wine. They sell rum/fruit slushies even, and margaritas everywhere. I was not expecting that. Also, I mentioned the reservations at the Disney World restaurants, but I didn't mention that if you want to pay $35 for a buffet, you often have to make the reservation up to 6 months in advance. Some don't fill up quite that early, but several require you to log on to their website exactly 6 months to the day before you want to eat there at 6am EST and hope you aren't delayed a few milliseconds by your internet router, seriously.
Pay to Play
- Disney World has a very 'entitled' feel to it. Every park has the option to pay to experience it in more depth, but Disney World has taken this to new heights. For example, Epcot park alone has 18 experiences you can pay extra for including behind the scenes tours and unique activities. These special activities can cost hundreds of dollars extras and abound everywhere you look. Several things feel 'off-limits' and inaccessible at these parks out here, a feeling I have never really gotten at DL.
Cost Comparison -
- Disney World: 3-Day admission to all 4 parks for 2 adults and 3 children with Park Hopper option - $1,612.42 (they charge taxes on admission, and the resort tax is huge here - near 15%)
(adding the water parks would be an extra $57 per person)
Not eligible for early-morning entry unless you stay at a Disney hotel
- Disneyland: 3-Day admission to both parks for 2 adults and 3 children with Park Hopper option - $1,205
Includes early-morning entry
Crowd Comparison - According to The Book, Disneyland had about 16 million visitors in 2012. The Magic Kingdom had about 17 million. The other parks in Orlando and California Adventure fell way below those.
- Disney World: 23 rides, 7 sit-down shows
- Disneyland: 34 rides, 11 sit-down shows
And if you're thinking that the other four parks make up for the difference in lack of rides, consider this comparison
- Other four Orlando parks: 22 rides, 21 shows
- California Adventure: 21 rides, 9 shows
Total: California - 55 rides, 20 shows Orlando: 45 rides, 28 shows
I didn't include shows like parades, fireworks or Fantasmic, and I also didn't include character greeting points, which are much more informal at Disneyland. All of the shows at Disney World are in controlled buildings with a timed line to wait in before you are granted entry. Several of the shows at DL are outside, where you can come and go freely if you want. I also didn't include playgrounds which Disney World has a few of but DL has much bigger ones like the trail in California Adventure and pretty much all of Toontown. And finally, you should also consider the fact that Disneyland has the option of losing some crowds to California Adventure and Downtown Disney, which are just a few minutes walk away. Disney World has no such luxury, with all the visitors stuck in the park all day. With too much distance to easily make it to another park, most people just don't.
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