Helpful Identification Guide

[captain_slinky]

ONCE AGAIN, I am outraged by the amount of "Disneyland Expert" apps and websites that use a picture of the castle at Disney World as their main image. As I said recently over on Facebook, it's like the difference between Chinese and Japanese - YOU may not be able to tell the difference, but if you say we're going out for Chinese Food and you take me to a Sushi Restaurant? I'm gonna have to mock you.

"But Captain Slinky" I hear you asking, "How can I, an average person of minimal Disnowledge, tell the difference between the two castles?"

Here you go.

If you've just entered the park and passed through the tunnels below Main Street Station to find yourself on Main Street USA where you feel like you've been transported to a bustling turn-of-the-century town, and there in the distance, at the other end of the street, you see a man holding hands with... is that a mouse? ANd the man, he seems to be pointing to something... is that... oh my gosh, is that a castle? THAT'S DISNEYLAND.

If you've just entered the park and passed through the tunnels below Main Street Station to find yourself on Main Street USA and go HOLY CRAP THERE'S A GIANT CASTLE AND hey these buildings look kind of old-fashioned that's weird", THAT'S DISNEY WORLD.

Please feel free to print this out and keep it handy for your own personal reference :)

Comments

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Huh... now see, to *me* those pictures are day and night as to which is which - the one on the left, if you look closely, you'll see a line of costumed characters that are miniscule when compared to the castle that they are in front of. In the left side... AAAAARGH I CHOSE THE WRONG IMAGE!!! I had chosen an image that had Walt walking through the gate :( For real-world scale comparison, the archways on these two castles are the same size.

Pictures-wise; Disneyland is flat and grey; Disney World is Tall and White :)

Not only do they put out hundreds of mouse traps, but they also have hundreds of stray and/or wild cats that come out at night to patrol the grounds - you can occasionally find one during the day, but you'll never get to touch it :)

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

THAT description of the castles makes them much easier to identify. Height, color; those things matter.

It is pretty dumb that people can't take the time to make sure they have the right park before posting pics in their work that must have taken a lot of effort to make. Really it takes one minute on Google to double check.

Personally I like Sleeping Beauty's castle from Disneyland Paris better than either of the 2 American ones. From a purely aesthetic point of view which is your favorite of all the Disney park castles?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Design wise, Paris is a beautiful castle - but it suffers from the same gross enlargement problem that the Disney World castle suffers from. Shen you step in to the park all you see is that castle and that's NOT what Walt intended. He wanted landscapers and architects to come together and tell a story in a way that couldn't be done in any other way, which is why the castle at Disney Land is the smallest one - you're not supposed to even notice it till you've let "Scene 1: Main Street USA" sink in. The entire layout of Disneyland tells an interactive story, rather than being just another collection of themed rides and attractions like all the other post-Walt parks. They're beautiful, they're exciting, they're huge - but they're not a story.

Also, according to my nieces, Disneyland Paris sucks. Compared to the American parks it's small, dirty and VERY unfriendly even if you're speaking fluent French :/ Even the most beautiful girl at the dance becomes ugly once you know she's a jerk.

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

I've heard similar things about DL: Paris. :D