I’ve been visiting Disneyland California for close to 40 years, and it’s grown to become my ultimate happy place. And now that I’ve been taking my kids there for almost 10 years, I’ve had the pure joy of experiencing Disney all over again from a child’s point of view. 

I’m also a Type A planner, and now that visiting Disney has gotten more complicated (Lightning Lanes, dining reservations, increasing crowds, and all the added challenges of going with kids) and way more expensive (a single day ticket now can cost over $200!), I’ve spent a lot of time researching, plus a lot of trial and error, to ensure each day is maximized!

Recently my family decided to go big and plan a week-long Disney World Florida vacation, since we all love Disneyland so much. I’d been there several times, but never for more than a couple of days at a time, and never with my kids. After all of my extensive research and planning, we had such a magical week that really opened my eyes to the differences between Disney in California and Florida. So, I am excited to share what I learned, in hopes that it helps with your planning!

Top Difference 1: Scale & Immersive Feeling

If you know even a little about the two Disney resorts, you know that Disney World Florida is much, much larger. I’m used to navigating the entire Disneyland California resort on foot, including the surrounding non-Disney hotels. Disney World Florida, however, has 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 20+ Disney hotels, a large shopping mall, and a huge transportation network to take you to all of these places! Although it can feel overwhelming to decide what to experience, when we actually arrived at Disney World and stayed at a Disney hotel I had a nonstop Disney-happy feeling for an entire week, whether we were riding a boat to Magic Kingdom, stopping for ice cream after dinner, or relaxing at the hotel pool. It’s the lovely music, scents, decor, great service, and fun Disney touches everywhere (I had a blast playing Disney trivia in the pool!). You absolutely don’t have to stay at a Disney hotel, but I found such happiness being fully immersed in Disney in a way I haven’t experienced in California. 

Top Difference 2: Weather

I’m used to mild Southern California winters, dry heat in the summers, and a general lack of rain (in fact, rain is so infrequent I would NEVER plan to go to Disney on a rainy day). We visited Disney World Florida in December, and I learned not to pack until the day before! Leading up to the trip the weather had been cold, but we arrived to heat and humidity. (Thankfully I threw in some summer clothes at the last minute.) 60s at night in Southern California can feel chilly (I know those in cold climates are laughing!) but in Florida we were comfortable in shorts and t-shirts. The rain forecasts were also completely off. Out of 7 days there it rained 3, but the day that was supposed to be the rainiest ended up having no rain, and the day with no rain forecast ended up having a pretty big downpour.

Top Difference 3: Rides

Maybe it goes without saying, but a huge part of what brings me back to Disney over and over are the rides. I say this because I’ve also spent a lot of time at other theme parks, and to me, Disney consistently comes out on top as far as ride experience. So I was excited for the many unique rides you can find in Disney World Florida! Here’s what my family thought of the most popular ones:

1. Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom): My entire family was blown away and ranked this 3D motion simulator ride our best of the trip. They do a great job of making the setup to the ride feel very real, so much so that my 9-year-old got scared and wanted to back out at the last minute, but I convinced him to stay on and he was so glad he did!

2. Tron (Magic Kingdom): My husband’s main complaints about many Disney rides are that they are 1) not worth standing in line for, and 2) not thrilling enough. He concluded that Tron was both totally thrilling AND worth the wait! (I held off due to motion sickness fears.)

3. Slinky Dog Dash (Hollywood Studios): More thrilling than expected for a kid roller coaster! The theming was awesome and the whole ride was totally fun.

4. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (EPCOT): Very unique and cool ride! I’d recommend seeing the movie beforehand though for maximum appreciation.

5. Everest (Animal Kingdom): I’ve ridden this roller coaster a few times over the years and it’s one of my favorites! It’s definitely intense; my kids are not ready for this one yet. 

6. Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studios): I’d been on the California version of this ride countless times before it was re-themed to Guardians of the Galaxy, but this was my first time on TOT in Florida. I was surprised at how much more elaborate the Florida ride was, but with the thrills I know and love!

7. 7 Dwarves Mine Train (Magic Kingdom): This ride was super hyped, and while cool, it was a bit of a let down. It’s a mine-themed mini coaster not unlike Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but with a much longer line. We paid extra for Lightning Lane Single Passes, and I would not do that again.

Top Difference 4: Lands

While Disneyland California has some fantastic lands like Carsland and Toontown (in fact, Carsland is so great that they’re planning to build it in Florida too), Disney World Florida also has great, unique lands! World Showcase at EPCOT is an old favorite of mine (I “drank around the world” for my bachelorette party); beyond the partying possibilities it’s so much fun with its landmark replicas, authentic food and drinks, country-specific experiences, unique shopping, and a few great rides. Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios is so cute in a BIG way with everything apparently made from giant toys (like a Tinkertoy bridge) and 3 fun Toy Story rides. And although I haven’t seen the movie Avatar since it was released in theaters 15 years ago, I found Pandora at Animal Kingdom so mystical and immersive. Finally, while not exactly a land, the animal experiences in Animal Kingdom are totally unique to Disney World Florida and added such a fun element for our wildlife-loving family. 

Top Difference 5: Shows

While I’ve seen some awesome shows at Disneyland California like World of Color, Fantasmic! and of course the castle fireworks, I’ll admit that Disney World with its size has the edge as far as quality and quantity of unique shows. We caught a pretty wide variety over the course of our week, and for many of the live performances, we were just awed by the scale, quality, and ability for Disney to put these on daily or multiple times each day! What we saw:

1. Festival of the Lion King (Animal Kingdom) – Even if you don’t love Lion King music (but who doesn’t?), this is still a pretty awesome show that wowed us. If you DO love the music, it’s a must-see!
2. Country Bear Jamboree (Magic Kingdom) – My husband saw the old version of these animatronic singing bears as a child, but this was completely new to me with a really fun, recently updated show. We all loved it!
3. Luminous Fireworks Show (EPCOT) – Now, I’m probably biased because this was the first fireworks show our kids (9 and 5) had ever seen (until Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks 4 days later which blew us all away, but I’m going to leave castle fireworks off the “unique” list), so their reaction was priceless. But it was a very cool show with the lake setting, and awesome to see the World Showcases light up all around.
4. MuppetVision3D (Hollywood Studios) – (Ending likely sometime in 2025) While I saw this 3D (although probably qualifies as “4D” these days) show who knows how many times when it was in California, it closed before my oldest was born so my husband and kids had never seen it. It’s a true classic and I’m glad we got to see it one last time!
5. Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage (Hollywood Studios) – We all enjoyed this fun, live musical performance that’s an abbreviated version of the classic movie with our favorite songs.
6. Feathered Friends in Flight (Animal Kingdom) – This live bird show started off super cool, but unfortunately a sudden heavy downpour meant the birds couldn’t fly. I would definitely try seeing it again though!
7. Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (Magic Kingdom) – A stand-up comedy type show put on by monsters with a lot of audience interaction! It was fun, and our kids thought it was hilarious, but I wouldn’t say it’s a must-do.
8. Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond! (Animal Kingdom) – This one got rave reviews, and seen in a vacuum maybe we would have liked it more, but it felt like a bit of a letdown after so many other cool shows. The Finding Nemo movie is condensed and turned into a musical, and while the costumes and set were cool, we didn’t love the songs and would rather have spent that time seeing more animals.
9. Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (Hollywood Studios) – Our kids were intrigued, but my husband and I thought the show was pretty boring.

Top Difference 6: Specially Ticketed Events

Part of our trip was planned around attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, a Disney World Florida tradition that takes place evenings at Magic Kingdom several times a week throughout November and December. While both Disneyland California and Disney World Florida offer special Halloween events, the Christmas event is unique to Florida. 

This was the first time I’ve ever attended one of these special events at any Disney park, and it was truly a magical, fabulous experience. Because the event gives you park access from 4pm to midnight, it helps if your kids are able to stay up late (ours were troopers and were able to hang til we left at 11:45pm). Disneyland California does offer its own unique holiday events and attractions during regular park hours, but this event was extra special with lower crowds and included cookies and holiday beverages.

Top Difference 7: Park Logistics 

This last major difference isn’t the most exciting, but it’s a necessary evil to ensure your Disney World Florida days run smoothly. It took a bit of research for me to understand how tickets and Lightning Lanes differ at each park. While Disneyland California still requires park reservations each day, if you purchase a multi-day (2 or more days) ticket at Disney World you don’t need to make any park reservations. (Note that there are a few exceptions to this with special types of discounted tickets and annual passes, but this applies to the standard tickets you buy via Disney online or many third parties.) 

Phew, thought me who is still annoyed at the California reservation system, until I realized that the Florida Lightning Lane system is quite different and, if you use it, sort of negates the “no reservation” Disney World benefit. While Disneyland California Lightning Lanes can’t be reserved until you physically enter the park, at Disney World Florida you can reserve three Multipass Lightning Lanes and unlimited Single Pass Lightning Lanes 7 days in advance of your Disney hotel check-in, or 3 days in advance of your park visit if you’re not staying at a Disney hotel. This has the effects of 1. Giving Disney hotel guests first dibs on the best rides, 2. Causing you to have to reserve in advance which parks you’re visiting on which days, and 3. Making it beneficial for you to effectively plan out a rough schedule for each day in advance so that you’re not randomly zig-zagging around the parks to meet your Lightning Lane reservation times. 

This last one really threw me a bit, but being the planner that I am, I met the challenge and mapped out a schedule. A few other differences to note: more rides offer Lightning Lanes in Disney World Florida (almost all) vs. Disneyland California (about half), but Disney World Florida’s product doesn’t come with access to all of your day’s photo downloads (just your ride photos, others must be purchased separately).

Still, I am a user of Lightning Lanes (other than the cost which can seriously add up), and for our family they significantly improve our day both in the time we free up to do more attractions and the frustration minimized by our kids not waiting in long lines. We bought Lightning Lanes for each of our park days and rode nearly everything we wanted to while waiting in very few actual lines.

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After an incredibly fun week, I feel like I have a good feel for the resort and parks (and how they’re different from Disneyland) which should make planning our next trip a breeze!