First of all, allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is James King & I am a huge fan of many different things, two of which happens to be Walt Disney & the Walt Disney Company. Growing up in New York I went to Walt Disney World (WDW) in Orlando, FL four times before moving to Arizona a few years ago. The family agreed that with us moving to Arizona, that we would do a trip to the original Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA being it is only a six hour car ride away.

Having been to Disneyland three times since and WDW two more times after that, I thought I would share with all of you my thoughts and opinions comparing these two very different resorts. If you have been to WDW and never been to Disneyland let me first state that the entire Disneyland Resort property could fit in the Magic Kingdom Park in WDW. That's not to say, however, that Disneyland is by far inferior to Disney World, in fact I feel that actually works in it's favor as you'll see.

One thing experienced WDW guest will see right when they get past the bag check area, on one side you have the entrance for Disney's California Adventure park and on the other (maybe a hundred foot walk) is Disneyland park. While WDW says you can “park hop” (go from one park to another all day) when you see how easy it is in Disneyland, you might have to laugh at WDW at how much easier it is to to it a Disneyland then busing from park to hotel then to another park in WDW. Upon entering Disneyland Park you'll see an entrance very similar to that of the Magic Kingdom park in WDW, however once you enter Main Street USA, you will see two major differences. For one, you can see the mountain for The Matterhorn Bobsled ride towering in the distance on the right; and two, you don't have a towering castle at the end of Main Street.

Lets go into the “meat and potatoes” of why I feel Disneyland is better then WDW. For one, the Indiana Jones attraction is one of the most breath taking rides ever. The ride system is the same one used in WDW's Dinosaur attraction in Animal Kingdom, however you are totally immersed in your own Indiana Jones movie like experience. The queue line for this is very long as it goes about a half mile when you enter the building so while the sign might say “The line is approximately 15 minutes from this point” keep in mind you will be walking to the loading station for most of it.

Mickey's Toontown Fair in WDW is about to go the way of the dodo with the announcement of WDW's Fantasyland expansion, however after seeing Disneyland's Toontown I say “good riddance.” You first dip under the railroad tracks and you then enter into an amazing area that has a ride that any kid born in the 80s will love ... Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin. Picture the tea cups from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party on a Fantasyland dark ride and you got the main point of the ride, but that's not even half the story. Just like Indiana Jones, this line is very long and very in depth. Fans of the Roger Rabbit movie will easily take about 20 pictures each time of the queue itself. They have tons of props from the movie including the Gorilla being the bouncer at the door to the “Ink & Paint Club,” Baby Herman in his dressing room reading the paper, having a cigar and thinking out loud. You also see the door to Jessica's dressing room where you can peep in from the key hole in the lock and a “Dip Factory” where you see where and how the Weasels & Judge Doom make dip.

Now, all that I just mentioned is not even in the ride, it's all part of the queue line. The ride itself is great as you ride in a car shaped like Benny the Cab from the movie and vary on he gets dipped letting you able to spin the car all you want the rest of the ride. I don't want to spoil much more, but the ride is awesome and I HIGHLY recommend this ride for anyone (even if you've never seen the movie). The rest of Toontown is great for kids and the kids at heart like myself as 90% of the objects are able to be touched or pulled and with react when you do.

One ride often overlooked by many people is WDW's “Tomorrowland Indy Speedway,” however don't overlook Disneyland's Autopia thinking its the same thing. This ride is really done well and is not by any means the same as in WDW. This one has more turns, twists, elevation changes, even goes off road at one point and is much longer. Now over in the area you have one of the greatest re-doings of a ride I have ever seen.

We all are familiar with the legendary Space Mountain. WDW is currently getting updated, but I'm sure anyone who was on it in the past remember how rough and bumpy it was. I seriously hope that the update in WDW is similar to Disneyland's. In Disneyland, they removed all the original parts and rebuilt it from the ground up to create an absolutely amazing ride which brings me to this. While Rock n Roller Coaster and Expedition Everest are really good roller coasters in WDW, Disneyland's Space Mountain and California Screamin' in California Adventure are WAY a head of them.

Now, while the rides are great, there are other reasons why Disneyland is better then WDW. For one, the dining options are very, very good. If you are going there, I highly suggest the Blue Bayou Restaurant in New Orleans Square. While it is pricy, the food is well worth it. I also suggest going there for lunch (which ends around 3:30pm) as you get all of the same options as you would for dinner plus the Monte Crisco which is my brother's favorite dish there and can feed two people easily.

Disney's California Adventure park is often overlooked because it has a bad rap from Disney Fanatics, but I feel that the design of the park is awesome and the location of Soarin' Over California (or just Soarin' in WDW) is just awesome as the whole area is themed to aviation and the line for Soarin' Over California has posters of famous aviators. Another place I highly suggest going to is Paradise Pier. This place is themed as 1920's Boardwalk theme park with California Screamin', Mickey's Fun Wheel (if you've seen or heard of Dino's Wonder Wheel in Coney Island this is the same thing), carnival type games and Toy Story Midway Mania.

While this might sound corny, anyone who has been to both Disneyland and WDW will tell you that there is a certain presence in Disneyland park that you can't get in any other Disney park and that is the spiritual presence of Walt Disney. Disneyland is the only Disney Park that Walt ever walked in as he passed away when WDW was in its early planning stages. If you go into the tunnel under the train station on the left when you enter Disneyland park, look at the Fire House. In the window above the door you will see a lamp that is turned on. Walt has an apartment on that level and when ever the lamp was turned on it was that Walt was physically in the park. When he died, everyone knew he would always be there in spirit so that lamp is always on. If you've never been to Disneyland park, you will feel a calming, welcoming presence you don't get at any other park and that is Walt welcoming you to his (and your) home.

One other thing to keep in mind, Disneyland not being so big has shorter lines. It's been said that a ride in WDW that is an hour wait, is thirty minutes in Disneyland. While I don't know if it's completely true, you can get a lot done in a short amount of time.

Another HUGE win for Disneyland is in my opinion the greatest ride ever designed by Walt and the Disney Company in general, Pirates of the Caribbean. Now I know that WDW has one, but after going on Disneyland's, the one in WDW seems way to short which it is because it's only half as long as Disneyland's. Each of the show scenes pulls you into the story of the ride so much better, you feel more like your apart of the story and not just some one watching the story as you do in WDW. There is a whole opening of the ride that inspired a scene in the second Pirates movie (Dead Man's Chest) and the whole scene of the story is better presented in Disneyland. To put it simply, WDW is the rated version of Pirates of the Caribbean while Disneyland is the extended director's cut edition of it.

Don't think though that Disneyland wins every battle against WDW. One battle is a bit of a toss up, but the recent additions to the Haunted Mansion in WDW gives the edge slightly to it over Disneyland's, but you can't go wrong with either. Splash Mountain might get you completely soaked in Disneyland, but the actual ride experience is better and longer in WDW.

With the size of WDW you also have the advantage of having much more variants when it comes to food selection and hotel theme options. Also, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is much better in WDW's as theirs is the only version of the ride that goes forward into the “drop shaft” while Disneyland's goes backwards into the shaft once the ride begins.

Also, WDW's size also allows for a much larger amount of rides and some rides like Mission: Space, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest, The Great Movie Ride that would be great in Disneyland, but simply is kind of trapped being Disneyland is in a major city.

I could go on and on about why each is so great, but I feel that this really gets the major points. I also hope this makes experienced WDW's think about making the voyage out to Anaheim to see the really magical places. I hope you enjoyed this virtual trip and feel free to leave comments or e-mail me with questions at ecwfan4lf@aol.com.