Disneyland, Disneyworld, what’s the difference 
OK then, Cape Canaveral.
We just got back from a 3-dayer at Disneyland. My advice?
No more than* two *days! Do the “Magic Morning” the first day! Wear socks with handles, since you’ll be grabbing your ankles frequently!
Seriously, by the second day you are dragging ass. The third day, you don’t even want to ride the shuttle! Legs are tired, feet are sore. You have had enough of standing in line. You feel like punching the guy who is selling a frozen banana for $4.00.
Maybe its just me, however. I had fun, but the utility was maximized early on day 2. From then on, it was just trying to get through.
Wimp. Disneyland is EASY.
But it is a good idea to “train” for any trip that will involve a lot of walking if you aren’t an active person. Disney is one of those trips (so is Europe, Disney is not unique in the whole “THIS is a VACATION?”). The longer you can stay, the less “pressed” you’ll feel to get everything in and the more down time you’ll be willing to allow yourself. Four days, four parks is a recipe for feeling wiped at the end of four days. A ten day vacation, where you can go in and out of the parks at any given time, where you have plenty of time for the pool, where you can relax over a lazy dinner. Where you can get to the parks early most days, but sleep in a few.
And two things make Disney more exhausting - heat and little kids.
The other option is to do a short trip where you just face up to the “we aren’t going to do it all” - do the research to determine what you feel you really need to do in order to feel the trip is successful - and don’t push yourself too far beyond that. For some people that’s simply making sure their kids ride Dumbo and meet Mickey.
This is probably too late, but Disney just raised their park ticket prices on Sunday. Some websites (like undercovertourist) are still selling tix at the old prices until their stocks are depleted. No idea how this affects vacation package pricing.
My wife and I took the kiddos (about the same ages as the OP’s kids) and we spent one day at each park, saving Magic Kingdom for the last day. which I would highly recommend.
We deliberately declined to use any maps, and instead hunted down the various Hidden Mickey’s around each park via iPhone app. It worked out really well as my wife and I needed something fun to do and provided us some direction instead of having the kids drag us all over the park…like so many other parents allow.
We just got back. There is tons of good advice here, but here are two tidbits from our trip.
If you want a relaxed non-park morning or afternoon, Downtown Disney is nice. But remember to bring bathing suits or at least a change of clothes for the kids - by the T-shirt shop, there’s a fountain built into the sidewalk and kids LOVE playing in it. Then take them to the giant toy store and tell them they can spend $15 bucks. This was a lot of fun for us, though it was Indecision City for a while!
We wound up going to Magic Kingdom around 4pm one day. It was so great - tons of people were streaming out of the park as we arrived, and many people are taking time off from rides to eat dinner then as well. We fast passed a couple high-traffic things and went on other great rides with 10-15 minute waits or less in the meantime. Pirates, teacups, Haunted Mansion - we practically walked right on to these.
I’ve been to Disneyland and Epcot, but not Disney World.
I don’t think Disney World has the Indiana Jones ride that Disneyland has, but if it does, and you have anything like a sore back, do not go on it.
Epcot is a huge bore. The only thing I found entertaining, because I like irony, was when we were on the ride inside that big sphere, listening to a spiel about the wonders of science and technology, when the thing broke down. There were things that were utterly disgusting, like the plants with their roots exposed and flooded with nutrient-enriched water. The various villages were miserably dull, and somehow more sanitized than a Disney cartoon. It wasn’t a miserable experience, but one I look back on as a wasted day.
On the other hand, Disneyland is a good time, and I imagine Disney World is about the same. It’s really a pleasant and entertaining place just to walk around, and the rides are enjoyable. Also, whereas the Epcot is disturbingly sterile, Disneyland is pleasantly clean.
If you’ve been to Epcot, then you’ve been to Disney World, it’s one of the theme parks within Disney World.
To quote P.J. O’Rourke on his visit to Epcot:
“Seeing a Mexican marketplace portrayed as clean, quiet, safe and expensive is, somehow, as alarming as seeing a pyramid of human skulls in downtown Kansas City. A clean, quiet, safe and expensive ‘Germany’ is, on the other hand, soporiferously convincing.”
I love that part.
What I mean (obviously, I think) is that I have not been to the part of Disney World that mirrors Disneyland. I doubt that you or anyone else failed to understand this. You’re being unnecessarily pedantic.
I’m curious–what is disgusting about low-water hydroponic gardening research?
I’m old-fashioned. I like my roots in the ground. Of course, I also eat meat, so I’m a complete hypocrite.
I live in Orlando. I go to the parks all the time, and I’ve worked at three of them. If you come, come in October. It’s the best balance of weather and crowds.
Since you made the error, there’s a good chance other people will too. So, for those who are confused:
Disneyland is in California. It’s just one old, cramped park.
Disney World is in Florida. It’s relatively shiny and new, and includes 3 theme parks and a shit ton of other attractions. The Magic Kingdom is essentially a clone of Disneyland. Epcot is pretty cool if you’re an alcoholic or you really want to know what people in 1960 thought things would be like in 1990. Hollywood Studios used to be MGM Studios, and is a bit like Universal Studios (ie., built around actual, in-use TV/film sound stages) and is by far the most charming.
There is also Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and two water parks.
I meant to exclude the water parks, since there’s no particular reason to go to Disney’s, and they’re not theme parks per se. But yeah, total brain fart on Animal Kingdom.
And DisneyQuest, where I’d rather go than any conventional theme park.
Okay, then, when I said Disney World, I was referring to the Magic Kingdom.
And I think Disneyland is quite nice.
I just wanted to come in and let you all know (for what it’s worth), that I’m still lurking around. I haven’t had much to contribute lately, so I’ve been sitting back. I really appreciate all the information.
Actually, Disneyland has more rides etc than The Magic Kingdom, and is overall better. Not to mention you have that great sense of history AND California Adventure just 100 yards away (so it is fast and easy to “park hop”).
I found Epcot to be the nicest of the 4 DW parks (and so did the other members of my party), and Hollywood studio the worst. One who is (like me) a regular DL goer can almost skip tMK. Animal Kingdom is nice, tho.
Obviously you haven’t been to Walt Disney World *after *Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened.