No, Disneyland Wasn’t Named for “LA” and Walt Disney World Wasn’t Named For “ORLando. They Aren’t The Same Either.

A new viral post has been going around indicating that the “LA” in DisneyLAnd and the “ORL” in Walt Disney WORLd were to indicate where the parks were located.  Another rumor indicates that the parks are very similar.

These rumors aren’t true.

While it’s a fun way to remember which coast each park is located on, it has nothing to do with their names.

For starters, Disneyland is not in Los Angeles; it’s located in Anaheim, California, which is more than an hour and around 30 miles from LA.

Walt Disney named the park Disneyland after the Walt Disney Company or himself. It was meant to be a place where guests could experience a Disney-style theme park, hence the name.

Walt Disney World is actually in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. When Disney bought up land in Orlando, it was not what it is now. Orlando grew significantly after Walt Disney World came onto the scene. It is 20 miles from Orlando, and the Magic Kingdom is further back. This is the park that opened initially.

Again, it’s a fun way to remember the locations, but they were not named after those locations.

No, Disneyland and Walt Disney World Are NOT the same.

There is also a rumor that both parks are pretty much the same thing. This is far from the truth.

Disneyland was the original park and now has Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

While there are some similarities between them and Magic Kindom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it is very different from Walt Disney World.

Disneyland has attractions that aren’t at Walt Disney World like “Snow White’s Enchanted Wish,” “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Storybook Land,” “Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin,” Cars Land, and more.

The parks are much smaller than Walt Disney World that has four theme parks including: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 

Obviously Walt Disney World had many rides that Disneyland does not.

Some of Disneyland’s attractions are very different than their Walt Disney World counterparts. Classic attractions like “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “it’s a small world,” “Space Mountain,” and the “Haunted Mansion” are very different.

In my opinion “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Space Mountain” are superior at Disneyland. “The Haunted Mansion” is better at Walt Disney World.

It’s all about preference but they are completely different experiences. I recommend visiting both at least once.

What do you think? Comment and let us know.