Disneyland and DCA cost the same? | State of DCA 12/19/2024

[@michaelmadsen1222]

Thank you Disney for making the parks not so busy! I know FreshBaked likes it busy but everyone else likes it like this.

[@dreamur94]

I know I'm like "this is great!" Even waiting 20 minutes is too much sometimes 😂😂😂. Helpful too for those that needed the disability pass that no longer qualify

[@muteki99]

Disney: "you know you are right. That is why we are increasing the cost of a DL ticket"

[@griffingiboney891]

LMAOOO too real

[@Kingdho]

Such an interesting point yet lacks any context. Lightning Lane is cheap compared to Universal Express which has an average price of $145/day. Disney tix for 2 parks and more attractions is about $50/day higher than Univ, but that still means DL tix w LL is a better value than Univ Exp.

[@douglasmartin10]

I see the park hopper tool as the real price for DCA. I can’t imagine anyone buying admission to DCA alone. Like others have said, it is a half-day park. As Magic Key holders we always go for several days and start at DCA one of those days. With park hopper active at 11am, it’s perfect. Thanks for the videos, David - always enjoyable, informative & thought provoking. Back In February to see traditional Haunted Mansion!!!!

[@KyleGuinn]

Was really nice to meet you on Monday! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and my sister outside of Toy Story. The park was dead but even still your videos were super helpful, we were able to ride a bunch of things twice

[@AndrewPA808]

He truly is a great guy. Had a brief convo with him once. Engaged and happy to have a convo with me. Changed how I felt about Disneyland vloggers.

[@gregmoore3420]

I think both parks are fine. DCA needs to bring back a main show like Frozen or Aladdin.

[@Daniel2131-z4h]

The Lion King Shall do ! It's Better than Frozen hands down!

[@SuperKazmierski]

I've found myself enjoying DCA more than Disneyland lately. I think the people who go to DCA are in better moods than Disneyland. I never see people with the "most expensive day ever" shirts. It doesn't have the history, but the attractions and food are as good or better.

[@listertheblister]

when it's just me and my wife, we enjoy DCA more than Disneyland. But when we have the kids we like Disneyland more than DCA

[@bryantjensen2763]

It’s because nobody actually pays to go to DCA. It’s that you pay to go to Disneyland or you pay for a hopper or a magic key.

[@greenmonk]

I think when people say "Disneyland" is too expensive, they really just mean both parks simultaneously. DCA is fun but definitely not on par with Disneyland, except maybe an argument could be made that Cars land might be better on pure merit than anything in Disneyland.

[@suzymercado587]

The breading on the Tamal is called masa 😊

[@immafaint673]

I think monsters Inc. queue length is because it’s one of the few attractions families can do with their little ones in DCA

[@erinchavez1545]

100%! My kids LOVE that ride and we went on it and Ariel on repeat when we were there.

[@scottrenshaw5792]

Absolutely that. The loss of Bug's Land might have been necessary for Avengers Campus, but it took away half of the kid-friendly attractions in the park.

[@2010LACES]

Little mermaid is as well. But I think it is because monsters is one of the first rides when walking the Hollywood land route

[@brandycalvet5868]

I would never pay for a single day at DCA, I only go if I had park hoppers. I do love DCA but not enough to spend the same amount for Disneyland.

[@RyderWiessWatches]

wooohooo made it into the background of a fresh baked video. great getting to meet you in the park!

[@baubmercurio4519]

It really does need to be adjusted. DCA should be significantly cheaper. thank for the video, David.

[@charlotte68]

I notice you mostly go in the morning or early afternoon. I’ve found the crowds in both Disneyland and DCA usually very heavy at night. I think that because of the reservation system, passholders are coming more at night because they either could not find a weekend reservation or they made a reservation and forgot to cancel it.

[@dreamur94]

Also as pass holders, then can go after work without having to request time off & as often as they want/can

[@bredtoplease]

They need to either reduce the price of DCA to help curb Disneyland crowds by incentivizing it as an alternative, or else re-theme and rename the park away from their disastrous "California in California" concept.

[@Blade.s15]

I’ll also throw in that the Hyperion shows are like DCA’s Fantasmic, keeping crowds locked in for 45 minutes away from queues, walkways and Disneyland proper.

[@david40k]

Or… make DCA good?

[@sideeswipe]

The problem with DCA isn’t the concept because after the overhaul the park felt cohesive but ever since then they’ve been throwing random ip where it doesn’t belong so now it’s this mess of a hybrid California snd Disney ip park

[@robertjones1729]

There is no way DCA is worth the same price as Disneyland...just on ride count alone..much less..DL is the icon..No one would come to DCA as a stand alone park..it would go broke

[@alena4212]

For sure, we did 1 day in DCA a couple weeks ago on our trip to Disneyland and we did I think 14 rides in one day, a couple rides twice with no lightening lane (except Radiator springs) with 3 adult and 2 toddlers. It was way more slow paced than Disneyland. Although we did love DCA and had a blast there and are great food 😋

[@DannyHG33]

I would go to DCA over Disneyland if DCA costs $60 a "day ticket" and not "multi-tickets," I'm not trying to go 3 times to DCA....

[@toshibavoodoo]

1:06:00 my favorite part of DCA, So relaxing...

[@toshibavoodoo]

MINNIES FLY GIRLS!! New to me, thanks for sharing...

[@dapper-Dan]

Festival of the Holidays is the only time of year DCA feels as good as Disneyland. So much live entertainment that is missing the rest of the year.

[@charlotte68]

I love the live entertainment during the Festival of Holidays. Definitely a value adder.

[@AlexRodriguez-yz7iv]

It would be nice if annual passholder would get one lightning lane per visit.😅

[@seanpatrick616]

I've never seen the Minnie Fly Girls Show. That was really great. Thank You. 😀

[@CoryFiscus]

I think when people say "Disneyland is too expensive", I'm pretty sure they mean the entire Disneyland Resort, not just the Disneyland park. DCA is clearly a worse value than Disneyland at the same price.

[@gypsyfae83]

I very much agree that music can/will change the whole vibe and experience of the space, and I think that is something Disney does get right. Even places like Toontown where you would think it would be overwhelming, the music still feels barely more than ambient. Whereas, during a recent trip to Universal, the music and general theme noise was so overwhelming and over-powering that we decided to cut the day short and will reconsider going back for awhile.

[@melinafiol]

33:24 I feel like they keep the DCA cost high is to make park hoppers appear better value

[@capcaveman86]

Don't think I didn't notice the timestamps fresh baked!! Much appreciated!!

[@victorchavez6186]

It’s not the same, Disneyland is way better than DCA. If they priced DCA how it should be, $80s. Not $104 or more

[@jeanh9321]

$80 is too much! Maybe $40.

[@leonardoa4820]

@@jeanh9321ok we can’t let everyone in now

[@danieladelgado1962]

Happy holiday Freshed baked

[@mouthytim]

Friday the 13th was insanely busy at DCA, probably the only busy day of the month and we happened to get it.

[@noelbaca3028]

We arrived early and were able to get on several rides with wait times of less than 20 minutes. But as the day wore on, more people were in the park.

[@DrewLonmyPillow]

31:00 DCA is overpriced. The problem is parkhopper being an add-on rather than a separate ticket that you'd pay the difference to upgrade.

[@RionGreenhouseKit]

DCA is not anywhere close to the same value, which means that we only average 1 day at DCA for every 8-10 at DL. They really need to step it up and add shows back and more rides.

[@dothacker10]

Your rant about silly symphonies made me laugh so hard and I don't even know why but it made my day 😂

[@ItsameBS]

Maybe Disney should allow Magic Key Holders into DCA only with no blackouts. Of course not sure how they stop them from entering Disneyland later in the day.

[@nandoginkaku7610]

By deactivating the park hopper feature of the pass. Simple as that

[@vicdog4440]

They are gradually reducing the amount of valid days every year for each AP while the prices at the door are $200 per park right now. So those low crowds are the result.

[@michaelredd6784]

It’s definitely not worth the same price as Disneyland. Disneyland is one of the best parks in the world due to the fact that it has so many attractions in it. Being that it was original everything had to be in the park. DCA is still a half a day park. And that’s even with all the attractions working. There’s only two dark rides in the entire park. Little mermaid and monsters Inc. While Disneyland Park has five dog rides just fantasy land alone (Alice in Wonderland, Mr. toads Snow, White Pinocchio Peter Pan) then you have the two greatest in frontier land (Pirates of the Caribbean haunted mansion) as well as Winnie the Pooh. And if they would ever fix tomorrowland correctly, bring back the people over instead of having that week lunch bay, if possible, re-create an updated version of adventure through inner space! Or even an updated version of mission to Mars! But the other dark rides, it’s a small world, Mickey, and Minnie’s Roger rabbit spin these are all considered dark rides! DCA doesn’t stand up

[@LauriCarlson-ld9gq]

Both parks are good in there own way one of them is the oldest is Disneyland

[@WindowtotheMagic]

Are you saying that Disneyland is older than DCA? Are you sure?

[@LauriCarlson-ld9gq]

Yup opened 1955

[@usmccastro94]

The breading on the tamale is the masa (dough) and the Barbacoa tends to beef or goat meat but I’ve seen it made with pork as well. Birria is very similar main difference is it’s usually served in a stew with flavorful broth

[@suziemyers9855]

I’m leaving Anaheim in the morning after 4 days. DL was dead Monday and Tuesday, DCA was dead Wednesday and the DL crowds were nuts today. Didn’t need LL those three days but I did play around so I could say I held three at once, lol. DCA has so little to offer. I won’t reserve a full day there again.

[@marcuscheng2507]

I bet Disney will be so packed next week!

[@citticat2]

Yep, I agreed to "dig a little deeper" and take my grandgirls over Christmas because they have never been but I probably won't take them again. They have been to Disney several times so this time we are just going to focus on Disneyland.

[@pauloszetarinielli69508]

Red Car Trolley is big part of Buena Vista ambience.

[@superledfrenzy]

We did a 3-day this year, but skipped DCA simply because our kids aren't old enough to go on a lot of the rides. Disneyland is the best park for toddlers - we counted 50+ things to do for kids from rides to meeting characters to other details like snow white's wishing well, the sword in the stone, the white rabbit's house, etc. It's not that DCA is bad, but as a comparison to Disneyland it's really not on the same level

[@Dobi714]

I think they have priced out people from going more often. Also as much as I like DCA, its cost to ride ratio isn't worth it compared to DL at least. Then once inside, everything is overpriced and rarely is something unique and good. I say all this as a passholder and someone who is able to go often, but its getting there for me as well.

[@PublicAnimalNo9]

While DCA has its highlight attractions, it in no way compares to Disneyland and should be much cheaper. It doesn't have anything near the quality of design, quaintness, ambience or overall Disney magic feeling of Disneyland. If we buy a 1 day park ticket, we will ALWAYS go to Disneyland. Back in 2018, we got the 3 day SoCal passes. We did use one of the days on DCA because I had not been there since the first few years it opened and my wife had never been there. So now we're good. We just were at the resort in November and went to Disneyland and plan to go with my daughter and son in-law next year and, you guessed it, going to Disneyland again. The only way DCA has a chance of me visiting again is if it was much cheaper, then i might get a 2 day ticket, otherwise, I may just go to Knott's which I grew up with and love too.

[@toshibavoodoo]

FRESHBAKED is Disneyland!! 210K sub's, David deserves so much more!

[@jeffreyh7951]

Hey Fresh Baked!!

[@TypicalCrazing]

I do DCA in 3-4 hours. Not worth the admission. Yes, I miss Carsland, but not worth it.

[@michaelmadsen1222]

12:00 that's what I've always said about Galaxy's edge

[@janejetsonbot]

what a great fly girls show! thanks for sharing

[@dznyluver_Melynda]

TBH I grew up near and worked at Disneyland many years ago and DL absolutely feels like home. I have always gone home to DL/DCA 2-3 times a year every year (park hopper style) and now we are down to one time a year because it’s just so expensive and hard to justify spending that amount of money more than once a year. We travel from out of state so in order for it to be worth it to us we have always opted for park hopper tickets as DCA is not worth spending an entire day in but we still enjoy it. Unfortunately It’s not just that DL prices have gone up everything has therefore leaving people with no option but to not go because of the cost of living as well.

[@Valerik01]

I would imagine the price can't be lower than the cost of a park hopper or some people would just go DCA ticket with park hopper for a cheaper Disneyland ticket and lose the rope drop window. Maybe they're the guests that know they won't be there that early anyways. I'm just pointing out that there's probably some sort of lower boundry in their mind.

[@jamesl1130]

The loss of the Red Car inside of DCA is a step backward in creating a Disney experience. DCA is not worth Disneyland prices

[@jillbarger2593]

When we were there several months ago the wait time @Monster's Inc was "45 min" which stretched into 1 hr+. The only thing we could see causing the back up was the lightening lane. Tons of people were going through using the lightening lane while standby wait times increased exponentially. This can also be seen at the Little Mermaid ride. Both of these rides are relatively short (abt 4 min.). "Wasting" a Lightening Lane pass on these types of rides doesn't make sense and does nothing but clog up the line, but that is what you are being forced to do.

[@ChristianCarmona-y2b]

Hey fresh bake happy Friday

[@artieo5339]

The crowds dying is a direct correlation of dying magic I feel. I still love going but it just isn’t magical like it used to be.

[@thebear7086]

Maybe it's because, if they made different prices for the parks, they couldn't do park hopper. Everyone would buy for the cheaper park then go over to the more expensive one. But you're right, ideally DCA is far too expensive for the value.

[@lukegelineau4635]

I do think a DCA-only ticket at a discount would be a good idea. You obviously couldn't allow that person to add parkhopping, though. Maybe Disney could introduce this ticket when they start shutting down rides and attractions when the construction starts. Maybe have them as an option along with the cheaper kid tickets?

[@hotduelist]

Aunt Cass has been having a line out the door most days lately. Between the milk and cookies cold brew, pumpkin spice bread pudding, and the new cheddar and broccoli bok choy, it's been popping

[@nikolausepp8093]

DCA has its fun, it is though at most an $80.00 park.

[@janicegutshall653]

Technically Christmas last through January 6. The 12 days start on Christmas day.

[@douglomax6673]

When you say 8 attractions are you counting just radiator springs or all of DCA? Because there are more then 8 rides at DCA, my wife and I heard that and immediately paused so we could count 🤣😅 25:25

[@douglomax6673]

30:17 I commented too early, my bad 💀

[@nilo70]

David, The cost to go to Disneyland or DCA is simply too high. Only a fraction of people who would want to go, can go. They have priced themselves out of middle American families grasp. Shame,really.

[@cvaneyken]

I used to be willing to devote a whole day to DCA, during the brief window after Cars Land opened when we still had Tower of Terror, Soarin' Over California, and Aladdin playing at the Hyperion. Now it's more expensive and also, in my opinion, a worse park (Avenger's Campus does nothing for me I'm afraid).

[@jeansvacation1583]

Hi David and fresh baked muffins today I am catching up with your video I been sick for about 3 days

[@gregstillman5197]

Heard there was a multi-million dollar settlement with the cast; wonder how much ticket prices are going to go up to cover it and if any upgrades/construction will be delayed.......

[@listertheblister]

Can we come down for 3 days. We do Disneyland, DCA, Disneyland.. DCA just has a more relaxed vibe and it's almost like a rest day between the two much busier Disneyland days

[@stevensloan9601]

Contact reference, pretty deep cut there! But I definitely went there when you said it. 😂

[@jae2783]

i only go to dca to walk around and enjoy the views and vibes !!! and also toy story and monster inc...& of course cars land ... but thats about it

[@JaneShaw-p5w]

Soarin is worth the price of admission. Best ride in all of both parks!

[@jeanh9321]

The only draw to DCA is the variety of different food options, otherwise too few great rides, not worth the entrance price. Time to rethink DCA again.

[@jasonneverkovec2889]

Hope it's the same way on Jan 3rd when I am there. Lol

[@tor2gaverde460]

Is the breading called masa?

[@plattjo]

DCA is a half day park. If not for like 5 rides and Lamplight lounge, we probably wouldn’t go at all. Adding 3 rides will help. I would love to see them lean further into a world showcase-like experience which they kind of seem to be doing with SanFransokyo and Coco. It’s not too late to do a version of Westcot.

[@patrickk4730]

1 thing I’ll say about DCA, it has a lot of unique rides. I love Disneyland but a lot of those rides can be ridden at other parks (MK) seems like an almost duplicate of Disneyland. I know there are subtle differences between the two coasts, but same for the most part. Soaring, little mermaid and midway mania are the only dupes in DCA ( I guess an argument could be made for guardians and tower of terror) but to me they are different. It’s a very unique park and beats the pants off of Disneyland food wise and drink wise. You can’t really drink in DL. Not sure if that should be priced as premium? DL is better but I don’t think it’s leaps and bounds better.

[@GinaStanyerBooks]

I don't think anyone actually ever buys a single day ticket for DCA, so no one complains because they have no idea how much it costs :)

[@_M_M_3]

Everyone likes Monsters Inc. It's the only no height requirement ride on that side, so it always draws a crowd.

[@jeanh9321]

Really, I find Monsters Inc completely boring. Close it down and put in a better attraction please!

[@veronicavigil4019]

Yeah I bought one day tix for $206 each and did not add DCA in. That park is only worth it as a key holder.

[@joeyhollywoo]

I've never thought of this question before. I just always took it as is that both parks cost the same. I do think DCA offers something that Disneyland doesn't, and visa versa. But is that something different a lesser or smaller experience? I don't think so. But I guess in Orlando the four parks do have different prices based on the day. I don't think at this point they would ever do that in Anaheim though, if they ever were going to do that it would have been years ago. Now with the expansion coming and new rides in DCA promised they will always cost the same. I think both parks need a daily show in both of their respective theaters. Or a daily show on the waterfront at DCA if the Hyperion is going away. DCA definitely has a vibe deficit when it comes to shows.

[@JackDaloots]

I thought I was the only one that remembered Minnie's Fly Girls. Also, am I crazy, or way back in the early days of California Adventure, didn't we have a Rocketeer Meet N' Greet?

[@veronicavigil4019]

That was the best show!!!! Miss all the entertainment of the past 😢

[@CarolCap131]

That was a really an interesting discussion. I unfortunately just had to do a very last minute cancellation of a short Disneyland ,cross country trip to catch nightmare before Christmas and Tianna’s because of back spasms. My daughter and her husband and kids are planning a June trip and I was wondering about input of 70th anniversary and whether they will possibly offer a summer sale ticket again. Now you have me wondering if there is any chance they will ever offer dCA at a discount like they try to do with animal kingdom at disneyworld?

[@donbullock-techihound]

Interesting question regarding the price for DCA and Disneyland being the same. Obviously Disneyland is a better value for single day tickets because, as you mentioned, it offers a lot more of just about everything. My wife and I are Magic Key holders and are now to the point where we rarely select DCA to start our day. For us it’s just not as good as Disneyland. Even when the new Avengers rides are ready that won’t change. Maybe, if we live long enough for the other “announced” rides, the future of DCA might be different for us. Now, if they’d bring things like the Minnie’s Fly Girls back and shows in the theater we’d go to DCA much more often. The decline of live entertainment has really become a problem at both parks, but especially DCA.

[@darrenkwalsh]

Disneyland was at its best around 2013 - 2019 for me. It’s still fun, but has diminished for me. If I were to reduce it to one thing, it would be the loss of live entertainment within the Park.

[@ainsleyperry5192]

FreshBaked. David, DCA looks and feels like it used to be a year after it first opened. Not a lot happening. Was Liz a "Fly Girl" before you stole her heart away? Cheers, Chris Perry.

[@jeffhale2982]

"No waiting here." No wonder - tamales cost $9.25 each!

[@kellydooling]

the cost of disneyland, meaning disneyland resort as a whole, is way too high. the price for each park is the same likely because they want people to pay even more for park hoppers. and yep, they’ll add all those things to dca and up the price based on that. i love dl, but it’s a racket for sure.

[@Blade.s15]

I will say the base price (without LL) is up to par with daily tickets to popular music festivals and I find the parks give equal value. But I’m not a shill for Disney either and I know they’re not giving us the best product right now, even compared to the value they gave us pre pandemic (more entertainment, more ride maintenance, general upkeep, convoluted queue strategies and cast member morale). I guess what I’m saying is when Disney is performing at its best, the daily ticket price is acceptable, but definitely not right now.

[@kellydooling]

@@Blade.s15agreed!!

[@alextirrellRI]

A 'dead' park is like a dream to me. That said, Disneyland really puts DCA to shame over how much bang you can get for your buck. It even has more than Magic Kingdom does in Florida.

[@leonardoa4820]

I always think of this, DCA there’s so little to do compared to Disneyland

[@erinchavez1545]

I am not done with the video but DCA is a $99 a day park. Maybe $125 during peak days. $150 on holidays. It never should surpass or be on par with DLR.

[@lookthroughmycamera]

Disney stock has been stagnant. It was moving good a couple months ago but now it’s just been either stuck or down. I’ll keep it on watch for now but I’ve moved on. There is much better stocks to buy options on.

[@keithwatts2753]

It’s masa (breading part)

[@nandoginkaku7610]

With epic universe opening in a few months. People would rather save up for a whole brand new park than a tiny park such as dca.

[@cecemeyers6028]

Real depressing hearing that Disneyland is “dead”. How about say ‘the crowds are light’ and it is most enjoyable because the crowds aren’t too thick!

[@Ms421twilightgirl]

It is called “masa” the delicious corn dough. ❤

[@lindamemo5224]

Same way in Florida there is 10 rides at animal kingdom and 50 at magic kingdom. It’s a different experience. Same with DCA. But yes they need more good rides at DCA because there are too many spinning rides nobody goes on.

[@SteveNomura]

Less rides, but better rides for older kids. Prices are too high for both!

[@oldmomj5088]

One thing you might want to factor into your figures is when schools have vacation.

[@jabbathebum]

I meant to see some spyrius robots and m tron sets!

[@ilovegodzilla]

Christmas time at DCA isn’t the same as Christmas time at Disneyland. Let alone fewer rides. So why pay for it?

[@disney78baq41]

Hi David, I wonder if they sell the hats in the redwood Creek is because Santa is there and people don't realize that and need something christmasy for a photo.. wonder if it will go away after Christmas??

[@roberttseng]

Good, I hate the crowd especially with a toddler cannot stand waiting in long lines.