It was my first trip to Disney World, and I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical before we left about how it would stand up to Disneyland—the place I so dearly love and make my yearly pilgrimages to. Even after reading all 800 pages of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, I wasn't sure what I would think about this place that Walt started and never saw completed. I was excited of course, but I still wasn't sure what I would make of this whole other world—Walt's world. Before we had even settled in for the long flight to Orlando, I'd made up my mind that Disney World wouldn't hold a candle to MY Disney Mecca. After all, Walt never even walked through Disney World, which meant it just couldn't be as wonderful as Disneyland, right?

Wrong.

I'll admit that when we first arrived all I could do was compare Disney World to Disneyland, even though the bus driver that drove us to our hotel the first night warned us against doing just that. "Our Small World façade is way better," I would say. Or, "Our Buzz Lightyear is a lot easier to score at." Even, "Disneyland has way more photographers." But after my boyfriend and I got over our initial kick of comparing the two parks we were able to see just how great and different Disney World really was.

For one thing, Disney World is HUGE! Even if you had several weeks to explore all of its parts, you still probably wouldn't be able to see everything. Whereas at Disneyland and California Adventures you could probably see most of the attractions in two or three days, Disney World is made up of four theme parks, two water parks, and several dozen hotels. Even after spending over a week at the World, with a day off in the middle to rest, there were several attractions we missed seeing, and quite a few hotels that went unvisited. Even Downtown Disney was too big for us to see everything it had to offer!

Another great thing about Disney World that Disneyland just doesn't have the space for is the amazing live shows. Between Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo-The Musical (which we sadly missed) at Animal Kingdom, and Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney-MGM Studios, Disney World is brimming with live entertainment for all ages and interests.

By the end of our visit I was so busy thinking about all the wonderful rides and attractions I would miss when we left that I forgot to compare Disney World to Disneyland at all. I finally realized that the important thing was that both places were imagined into life by Walt Disney himself. Whether he walked through its gates or only dreamed about doing so, the idea, the dream, the hope and the wonder were his, and even if you think you could never love a place so much as Disneyland, it's at least worth a visit to the World to find out what Walt had up his sleeve next. After all, both parks started with the same man, and the same mouse.