Last week, we talked about the unique things you’ll find at the Disneyland Resort in California and this week it’s time to talk about features you’ll only find in Walt Disney World in Florida.
There’s a lot of them, so we won’t be listing every attraction individually — but these are some of the highlights you’ll only find in the Florida parks.
1. A Sense of Scale
Cinderella Castle© Disney
When you walk down Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland, you can’t help but think that Sleeping Beauty Castle at the end of it is… well… on the modest side for a castle. Cinderella Castle has no such trouble, at a towering 189 feet tall (compared to the 77 feet tall Sleeping Beauty Castle). Further, Cinderella Castle has an actual interior, complete with a lavish restaurant, while Sleeping Beauty Castle, again, has a very modestly-sized walkthrough showing you scenes from the movie Sleeping Beauty. If we were counting wins and losses here, the Magic Kingdom definitely comes out ahead.
This isn’t the only place where you notice Walt Disney World’s tremendous scale, covering 25,000+ acres to Disneyland’s 500 acres — but it is perhaps where it’s most obvious.
2. A resort packed with resorts
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa© Disney
Larger in-park attractions aren’t the only thing that Disney has done with all of those extra acres: Walt Disney World has 28 hotels on the property that are owned and operated by Disney. This might seem a minor point, but each hotel is heavily themed with its own unique events, restaurants, and entertainment, making them miniature theme parks in and of themselves. By comparison, Disneyland has so little space that its own three hotels are further from the park gates (save the Grand Californian, which overlooks Disney California Adventure) than the Best Westerns and other hotel chains that surround the park on all sides.
This encroachment was precisely why Walt went looking for more land when planning for the Florida park began… and Disney has since made good use of thothe space. Disney World guests can have a rustic campout experience at Fort Wilderness, enjoy a Victorian seaside resort at the Grand Floridian, sleep in an African lodge at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, or stay in New Orleans at Port Orleans… the options are (nearly) endless!
3. Getting you where you need to go
Monorail at Disney’s Contemporary Resort© Disney
Yes, Disneyland had the first daily operating monorail in the whole of the western hemisphere, but the trouble is that it doesn’t really go anywhere. The Disneyland monorail will take you from Downtown Disney to Tomorrowland in Disneyland and back again, but makes no other stops. And, frankly, with the wait time on the monorail, it would be faster to walk than to ride unless you really wanted the monorail experience.
At Walt Disney World, there are three monorail lines that actually take you places you’d like to go in less time than it would take to walk there. Beyond the monorail, there are Disney-run boats and buses to get you around the parks — and thank goodness, since there would be a tremendous amount of walking if Walt Disney World took a Disneyland take on transportation.
4. Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom© Disney
While many attractions within Disney World are found in Disneyland, in whole or part, somewhere, the closest thing Disneyland Resort has to the Animal Kingdom Park is the Jungle Cruise…. which isn’t that similar. Animal Kingdom not only features live animals and safari-style tours, but an entire land themed around dinosaurs which is probably the closest we’ll ever get to a real life Jurassic Park (at least until Disney figures out how to clone dinosaurs). And coming soon is another park element that’s not to be found on the west coast: Pandora, a land themed around James Cameron’s Avatar. Like Cars Land in California, this looks likely to be a load of fun even if you weren’t a fan of the original movie.
5. A better kind of queue
Haunted Mansion Queue© Disney
There’s just no arguing this one: Walt Disney World has better queues, at least in part because it has more space for them. They’re larger, more interesting, and some of them — like Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain — have fun interactive elements and games to play while you wait, which makes waiting a lot less frustrating.
Another thing Walt Disney World has more of is FastPasses (well, FastPass+ slots). While Disneyland does offer FastPasses for many rides, there are some attractions for which they are oddly absent, like Toy Story Midway Mania. Though this ride is just as popular on the west coast as it is on the east, the west coast wait is always a slog… and you have no FastPass option to escape it.
6. A classic Tomorrowland
Carousel of Progress© Disney
Tomorrowland was always meant to be a vision of the future, but as time as passed, it’s become an increasingly retro vision of the future. It’s been updated over the years, of course, and some things have been lost… and two missing in action classic attractions are still right at home in the Magic Kingdom. Yes, of course we’re talking about the PeopleMover and the Carousel of Progress. Neither are thrilling action rides, but the PeopleMover gives you a pleasantly low-key trip around Tomorrowland — and a nice way to take a load off tired feet and people-watch on a hot day. The Carousel of Progress is perhaps the most Tomorrowland of Tomorrowland’s rides, giving you a glimpse at both the past and the past’s vision of the future.
7. A whole New Fantasyland
While Disneyland’s version of Fantasyland is packed with park originals, Disney World has been hard at work adding a new park area called, creatively, New Fantasyland. (Imagineers? You might want to work on that name.) Here, visitors will find Beast’s Castle from Beauty and the Beast, containing the elaborate Be Our Guest restaurant along with the Seven Dwarvfs Mine Train, a new dark ride/roller coaster you won’t find anywhere besides the Magic Kingdom.
8. Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Mickey’s PhilharMagic© Disney
Less new but no less impressive is Fantasyland’s Mickey’s PhilharMagic, a 4D concert featuring Donald Duck as the conductor. Though it’s similar to Muppet*Vision 3D (found in both Disney California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) and It’s Tough to be a Bug (found in both California Adventure and Animal Kingdom), it stands out from both by featuring a classic cast of Disney characters. Since Disney characters are rather why we’re here in the first place, Mickey’s PhilharMagic easily wins out over the rest – and can’t be found at Disneyland.
9. Epcot’s World Showcase
The World Showcase features replicas of 11 different countries, each with local food, drink, and shopping options… and even with locals working in each “country.” This makes it the quickest trip around the world you’re ever likely to take. Though it doesn’t have much in the way of thrill rides, we love the World Showcase for its unique environments and incredible selection of food and goodies from around the world — it’s definitely our favorite Walt Disney World (or Disney in general) shopping spot.
10. The water parks
Walt Disney World boasts two water parks – Disney’s Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Both are heavily-themed affairs featuring a mixture of surprisingly intense thrill slides and tamer family attractions. Disneyland, of course, has no water park – and very little room to add one.
