Disney World Magic Kingdom

This was the park you can't help but compare to Disneyland, especially when you grew up living nearer to the west coast and have vacationed there semi-regularly. Some differences I liked, some not so much.

For starters, just getting there was a little different. The parking lot isn't near the park itself. We parked and then had the choice of crossing the lake to get the park by boat or monorail. We took the boat. I kind of liked the set-up. It kinda made for a nice transition between reality and fantasy. Main street is nearly the same. It was decked out for Halloween in true Disney style. And instead of Sleeping Beauty's castle, Cinderella's castle presides majestically over the park, but once inside Fantasyland, I started to notice a few of the differences.

It took me awhile to realize I was missing the Matterhorn. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, then it finally occurred to me I was missing the giant white mountain sitting in the middle of the park. (Of course they don't need the Matterhorn, they have Expedition Everest over in Animal Kingdom) And then there were other things. It almost felt like Fantasyland was in transition. Like they were "still open during remodeling" or something. - Which I think was the case. I googled around a bit, and they are nearly doubling the size of the park, but I'd also like to see current rides get a face lift as well. But that's just me. (Who knows when or if I'll ever get back there, so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.)

And then there was the "It's a small world ride." I know that people either love it, or hate it, and the song can get in your brain and drive you crazy, but you can't say that the ride's exterior facade in Disneyland isn't a sight to behold with it's clock tower, and garden sculptures, and the little dancing dolls that come out at the top of the hour or every 15 minutes or whatever it is.

And then at Disney World you have this-Seriously. It's like they didn't even try.

Oh well.

Other comparisons- in Disney World we liked Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain railroad, Tom Sawyer's Island, and the Haunted Mansion better, but liked Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean and the Tiki room best. (You'd think they'd be the same, but we'd get off some rides thinking "I swear that was longer/shorter/faster/scarier" and we'd all be thinking the same thing.) Everything else was about equal.
Oh, and we all really liked Disney's Philharmagic. It's a 3-D type of movie (or is it called 4-D when they incorporate other elements like smell, and water spraying you, etc?) That was really cute. And right outside we just happened to run into Mary Poppins and be first in line to meet her.
But in the end, I think all that mattered to John was that he got his Dole pineapple whip.