It’s easy to just visit Walt Disney World year after year. You know it well, so you never feel poorly surprised. It’s safe and fun — the baseline of any good vacation. You know you’ll have a good time, and that alone is a decent reason to spend a lot of money to go somewhere.
But, at some point, you might decide that you need to branch out. Maybe your kids get older and don’t quite feel the same drive to go to Disney. Maybe you are sick and tired of the same rides and attractions and food. Maybe you just want to try something else.
If you love Walt Disney World, but you still want to branch out, you’re lucky — there are a lot of things present at Disney that are also present in some of America’s great cities.
Most places in the world are worth visiting at least once, but if you’re trying to narrow it down to places you think you’ll enjoy, here are a few cities that bear a surprising resemblance to Walt Disney World.
If you love history … Boston
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One of the great charms of Walt Disney World is how deeply American it is down to its bones. Walt Disney was, himself, a deeply patriotic American, and he made sure his parks reflected the best aspects of the country in which they were founded. Walt Disney World, in particular, owes a lot to the federal architecture found in great abundance in Boston, Massachusetts.
Boston is, itself, essentially just a massive version of the American Adventure Pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase — a celebration of the country’s history and origin story. Everywhere you look, there are icons from the dawn of this nation — from the Old North Church to Faneuil Hall. There are museums, libraries, and historical walks that can keep a history buff busy for days.
If you’re someone who loves Liberty Square’s architecture or the American Adventure’s deep exploration of the history of our country through its pre-show museum, Boston is a must do.
If you love good food … Philadelphia
Image: Éamonn Ó Muirí, Flickr (license)
One key component of a visit to Walt Disney World is a celebration of the culinary arts. With restaurants like Jiko, Narcoosee’s, and California Grill, guests looking for delicious food will find it en masse on Central Florida.
True foodies know that Disney is a great destination, but if your palate has been whetted by Disney’s offerings, it might be time to expand your horizons. And, believe it or not, Philadelphia is burgeoning culinary destination that is well worth your time to explore.
Yes, other cities like New York and Chicago boast strong food pedigrees, but they can often be overwhelming in variety. Philadelphia has the same gastronomic highs of those cities without a lot of the chaff. Everything is on offer, from incredible Italian cuisine, barbecue, seafood, and of course cheesesteaks, to delectable Israeli food, astonishing Chinese food, and forward-thinking fusions of all of the above.
Philly is in the midst of a booming food revolution, and if you like Disney’s great variety of incredible dishes, Philly is a fantastic next step on your journey.
If you love art and culture … San Francisco
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If you had to choose one American city that quite literally looks the most like a Walt Disney World creation, you’d probably land on San Francisco. With a wide-variety of modern, eclectic architectural styles, vast green space, a handful of well-cared-for tourist areas, and high-walkability, the Bay Area truly is an art and culture lover’s paradise.
There’s a ton of history, from the counterculture 1960s era to the modern Silicon Valley renaissance, and there are museums galore to showcase that history. There are important stops around the city as well, showcasing a Disney-like eye for flair and whimsy — from the famously-curvy Lombard Street to the utterly-iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
Walt Disney World is beloved, in part, because it creates well-lived-in spaces that visitors connect with on a deeply human level. Adventureland works because it’s easy to believe it’s a real place. Harambe is so amazing to walk through because you can convince yourself that everyone working there truly lives in this real village.
San Francisco has this same sense of place, but in an escapist way that almost feels like the inverse: It’s a real place that feels fantastic, rather than a fictional place that feels real. For Disney fans looking to experience city life on par with Disney, San Francisco is a great destination.
If you like movie sets … Los Angeles
Image: Antrell Williams, Flickr (license)
Part of the appeal of a trip to Walt Disney World is the feeling that, no matter where you’re walking, you’re inside a creative movie-like vision. Main Street USA isn’t a real street, it feels like the movie version of one. Even Disney’s Hollywood Studios — a park, very specifically, designed to evoke Los Angeles — feels more like the movie version of Hollywood than the real thing.
And, if you visit Los Angeles, you can have that same experience. Quite literally, yes, you can tour the major movie studios — from Disney and Universal to Warner Bros. and others. But, even more than that, so much of Los Angeles has been recreated or represented on film that it’s hard to walk a few feet without being taken by how eerily familiar everything is.
One of Disney’s great feats is that it makes itself feel like somewhere you’ve been before, even if it’s your first time visiting. Los Angeles captures that as well, both with familiar iconic sites like the Chinese Theater or the Santa Monica Pier and more under-the-radar iconic areas, like Griffith Park.
Plus, if all else fails, you can spend a day or two at Disneyland. That’s about as close to a weening off Walt Disney World as you can get.
If you love everything … New York City
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At the risk of sounding insufferable, New York City offers everything above and more. Yes, I live here, and yes, every New Yorker likes to act as though their city is superior to everything else. That isn’t what I mean, though.
New York’s great asset isn’t necessarily that it’s better at everything, but rather, that it offers everything. If you want great history, New York has it — from the Brooklyn Bridge to Wall Street. If you want great food, New York has that, from high-cuisine to cheap eats. If you want art, culture, iconic sights, and so on, New York has all of that and more to spare.
Above all else, New York is like Walt Disney World in that its greatest strength is its variety. At Walt Disney World, you’re never bored because there’s always something to do. You decide what you want to do, and then you go and do it. New York is the same way, and whether you’re here for one day or an entire month, you’ll always do something new — you cannot possibly see it all.
