to my fellow DLR fan. WDW is too complicated. The weather, the transportation, it is just not easy like DLR is. I am so glad we are going in September. 
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I think it has a lot to do with where you went first or as a child. I’m a newly FL transplant smack in the middle of Gen X. I love, love, love WDW and can’t pick a favorite park! But if I was forced to it would be AK. Cindy’s castle is swoon worthy (although I hate the new paint job during the day) Epcot has my favorite ride ever!
BUT DLR is home 
And always will be no matter where I live. Some rides are just superior, POC, Indy, Space Mt and IASW, I mean, what were they thinking cramming that inside a building?! 
plus there is nothing in all of WDW that tastes as good as a Monte Cristo, and don’t even get me started on churros?!!
But isn’t it great that there is a Disney park somewhere for everyone 
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1000% without any nostalgia for being a kid at DLR it was harder to fall in love
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This is so true. I listen to several Disney podcasts mostly during my commute. One is Unlocking the Magic. I had to turn it off one day because they kept saying they didn’t think you could become a Disney fan by going to Disneyland - you needed to go to WDW first and become a fan in order to appreciate it. I thought, millions of people have become Disney fans going to Disneyland first or only! (Spoiler - I did go back and finish listening to the episode. 
)
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But you had been to WDW as a kid? I think that’s the whole point. the place you fall in love with Disney is “home” whether it’s WDW or DLR.
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Yes, several times. And what youre saying is exactly what i meant
I went to WDW for the first time in 2012. I was … older, you know. 
Loved it! Two of my coworkers who are big Disneyland fans went to WDW a year or two later and they both hated it. So it definitely goes both ways. I told them they were doing it wrong. First of all, they mostly went to MK and didn’t even see all four parks! But I am an equal opportunity Disney Park enjoyer.
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We are going to have the best time ever!!
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I could see why DL > MK alone if the castle isnt a big pull. I loved new orleans square
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Same!
Yes! So well done!!
Me too
Not sure. DLR was my first park when I was 7. WDW when I was 10. I think it’s more about proximity.
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I totally get why you say what you do. My thoughts have kind of migrated over the past few years as I’ve gotten more experience at both parks.
Disneyland has been my home since I first went in the early 90s. I have been at least once a year since then. It is the park that Walt built. It has so much charm and nostalgia built in from all of that.
But the CMs are generally not as friendly as they used to be, the park is too crowded, and some of the attractions need some serious TLC. Add in the Covid protocols, some of which are either still in place or have left a lasting legacy (and not a good one) and I can see why some of the magic would be lost on a new visitor.
Also, now that I’ve been a billion times, it’s losing its novelty.
WDW is vast enough and varied enough that it will retain its freshness for a long while yet. So I think my family will be doing more WDW for the foreseeable future (hence why we purchased DVC). But we will always find time for DLR since it’s so close.
And I 100% agree that AK takes WDW to the next level. DLR could use an AK of its own, if they could find the real estate.
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I feel this way about MK, too. I could skip it and be happy with a WDW trip.
P.S. I am an older-ish millennial, probably about the same as @FOMOm_VA.
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I HAVE skipped it and been happy w a wdw trip. I will say the after hours i did at mk last year really renewed my love for that park. Great parades and shows, smaller mobs, no lines.
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I forgot to mention this. Holy cow. It aint as hot as tx here but weve had heat indexes (indices?) Over 100 for about a month now and im OVER.IT. the humidity… good lord.
That socal perfect weather in july was un.real. i cant wait to go back to CA.
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I KNEW you came of age in the raunch culture of the early aughts… american pie, road trip, xtina, van wilder. You dont get to expert TWSS level on andy griffith and leave it to beaver
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YOU DO NOT DISAPPOINT, SiR
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I grew up going to WDW. We only went to DL once, and both my brother and I remember very little about it. We liked Knotts Berry Farm better. 
We started going to DLR in 2009 when the kids were 6&8. Over the years it has become my favorite of the 2 coasts. I love WDW, but am in love with DLR if that makes sense. Now don’t make that weird, friends!
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We definitely noticed this about the DLR CMs…just a generally less…friendly? tolerant? happy to help? not quite sure how to describe it…vibe over there. But to be fair, we’ve felt that same way more than usual at WDW lately.
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I somewhat grew up going to DL. My parents couldn’t afford much when we were little so just the once as a young kid (with some fuzzy, some distinct memories). We did go a handful of times when I was a teen & I went once as part of a school trip in 11th grade. It was enough visits that I fell head over heels in love with it & have never stopped loving it.
My first glimpse of WDW was adding a day to just MK at the end of a Universal (Harry Potter World) trip with just the hubby & I when baby #1 (now 11) was 10 months old & stayed home with grandma & grandpa. We had a great time but I felt very much walking in that “This isn’t right” or “This shouldn’t be here” and “Why is everything on Main Street so giant-sized?” It really felt like walking into a separate multiverse of DL.
My first time returning to DLR with the hubby & kids was just over a year after that Universal+ MK day and it was my husband’s turn to spend the whole entry down Main Street remarking “THAT’S the castle? It’s so SMALL! Why is it so TINY?” So I get the small castle shock. I do. But we fell in love with it as a family & just couldn’t quit returning. After 3 trips in 14 months & wanting to do a 4th just a few weeks after coming home from the 3rd we took the trip, came home passholders & haven’t had a year yet where we could say “Yeah, we’re done with going so much to DL that it make sense not to buy a pass”
And because we loved all things DL we did do a trip to WDW to do the full thing properly, all parks with our then just 2 small kids in 2016 & we fell in love. Absolute love with WDW too & were sad to leave. There really isn’t anything like AK or EPCOT in the world.
We had always planned to go back every couple of years but so far had have to reschedule: August 2018; May 2020; April 2021;Oct 2021 and now currently have booked for March 2023 & maybe we’ll get that to stick? 
My older kids have almost no memory of their WDW trip & want to go back to see/remember/appreciate it for its differences & my DS5 is insanely excited about Toy Story Land, MK’s Tomorrowland with Carousel of Progress at this magical places he knows exists thanks to all the specials on Disney+. And in the meantime we get our Disney fix all from DL.
Ultimately, it really is about the memories & experiences you have. For us, the majority of ours are where the magic was born, where Walt’s vision was first attempted that paved the way for WDW to be the glorious full-realization of his dream, and we can feel the intimacy that it holds as the only park Walt did walk in (and of course due to its coziness from the limitations on real estate).
But looking forward to adding those same kinds of memories to the already awesome start we have for WDW.
And all this coming from another millennial. I don’t think I can officially claim geriatric millennial but I’m right there just after it. I do identify more with gen x & the newer subcategory of geriatric millennials than w/ millennials as a whole, but I always felt a little old for my age, since like kindergarten.
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