Disneyland | Is it Better than Magic Kingdom?

I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a Disney nerd, but I have to admit, I do love throwing some Minnie Mouse ears for the day and acting like a kid on the happiest place on earth. Lucky for me, I have friends and family who work for the mouse so I actually know a thing or two about the parks. I have soared through the countries of Epcot, flown the banshee at Animal Kingdom, taken the elevator in the Tower of Terror in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and of course visited Cinderella’s castle at Magic Kingdom countless of times. I love the atmosphere of the parks and the happy energy along with it.

When I planned to go to California I was excited to experience the real “OG” of all Disney parks which is Disneyland. I wanted to see where the magic was first created, so I grabbed my main entrance pass, packed my Minnie Mouse ears, and was thrilled as can be.

Now, it’s hard to compare one park such as Magic Kingdom, to two parks in Disneyland, but in all fairness Magic Kingdom is typically a sum up of all parks into one, so the comparison seemed fair. So, let’s jump into it.

As far as first impressions go for Disneyland, I was a little disappointment on the hospitality and knowledge the cast members had. For example, there was a little bit of miscommunication of the staff when first arriving. You see I work on Disney property back in Orlando, yet I don’t work for the company itself. Before going on the trip I was told I was able to get access to all Walt Disney World parks. However, arriving to the park I was told I was not able to. After two hours of figuring out the true answer of whether I can or can not, it seems I could not. It was disappointing on how unorganized and unsure they were on my access getting inside and the cast members weren’t so friendly about it. They almost refused to at least compensate with fast passes for the time wasted on figuring out a solution for our issue. I was able to get inside the park by using a different method, which worked out for my own benefit, but unfortunately the cast members were not as helpful.  

Nonetheless, arriving into Disneyland I wanted to focus on having fun and taking pictures!

Disneyland had the same set up Main Street as Magic Kingdom does, but doesn’t have the same wow factor as Magic Kingdom’s castle has. Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed when seeing the Disneyland castle for the first time. The Disneyland Castle is supposed to be Sleeping Beauty’s Castle whereas Magic Kingdom’s Castle is supposed to be Cinderella’s. With that being said, the Disneyland’s castle was so small and closed to other monuments in the park, it barely stood out. Unlike Magic Kingdom, the moment you lay eyes on Cinderella’s castle is when it hits you that you are at Disney World. Looking at Disneyland’s castle my first thought was, that’s it?

I would say that each park, California Adventure Park and Disneyland, each have something Magic Kingdom does not. What California Adventure Park has over Magic Kingdom is their replica version of Cars Land. It truly feels like you are walking into the scene of the movie Cars, which is so much fun and picture worthy. Flo’s V8 Café was to my right whereas their star worthy ride, Radiator Springs Racer, was right around the corner. The infamous Mickey Mouse wheel (as seen as the default picture of the article) stole my attention as the main picture taking area. However, it was under construction as well as the roller coaster shown behind it so we couldn’t ride the ride. That was annoying.

I do have to admit that what Disneyland has over Magic Kingdom, hands down, is their Indiana Jones Ride. We were able to grab fast passes to cut through the line and even so still waited a little while before riding it.

I honestly like all parks and love the originality Disneyland holds. I love that they have a lot of the older rides they kept around and the new additions to it. I like that Disneyland still has their old school fast passes and Oswald (old school Mickey Mouse) roaming around the parks. However, I do have to admit that Magic Kingdom hands down is the better park. There is nothing more breathtaking than Cinderella’s castle and the size of the park itself to hold dear to my heart. Disneyland was cool, but Magic Kingdom is better.