You’ll have a great time at DL. Remember though that while there may only be 2 parks, there are actually more attractions than at WDW’s 4 parks. So you’ll need to be selective on what you see and do with only 2 days. Plus with 1 park per day tickets, you’ll really only scratch the surface at DL in one day. The 2 parks are within a few hundred feet of each other so hopping is much much easier but that’s up to you.
So at
Disneyland, rides that I like better than the versions at WDW are:
Space Mountain, Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, Disneyland Railroad, Haunted Mansion. All these are in DL
Similar but different rides I prefer at DL
Indiana Jones (better version of Dinosaur)
At DCA
Radiator Springs Racers (much better version of Test Track), Grizzly River Run (better version of Kali)
Unique rides at DL
Mt Toads Wild Ride, Matterhorn (similarish to Everest), Storybook Land Canal Boats, Alice in Wonderland, Smow White, Casey Jr Circus Train. There are others.
Unique rides at DCA.
Incredicoaster, Guardians of the Galaxy (reskinned Tower of Terror), Web Slingers (and the whole Marvel Land, never visited it myself), Pixar Pal-around (Ferris wheel), Emotional Whirlwind (simple hub and spoke ride) and Jessies Critter Carousel. There will be some items I missed above but I’ll let others fill in the gaps and/or disagree.
As far as dining goes, I found quick service and dining generally better at DL than WDW. I also thing wandering around the Anaheim Parks is much nicer, less expanses on concrete and more attractions per square foot so it seems like more is going on. Plus the history and atmosphere in DL can’t be beat.
To be perfectly honest, I’d get parkhoppers. Or try to at least add a day to your tickets so you can have 2 days at DL and 1 at DCA. Preferably, I’d suggest 3 day parkhoppers.
Hope that helps, have a great visit.
