First Non DW Trip-Disneyland or Disneyland Paris

If your kids are younger still, I'd probably start with California. It's such a magical experience to be there. It's small, intimate, historic, and you can walk everywhere. Paris is on my list and we had it fully planned once and had to cancel during the pandemic.. It can be a lot to plan. If I had younger kids, I'd do Disneyland in CA first. Lightning Lane+ works so well in CA because it's a locals park and locals don't use it.

Disneyland.

We are in Arizona and have done DL many times. We also did DLP last year at the beginning of June. The parks at both resorts are very close together and incredibly walkable. Got the old version of Adventure World at DLP since the renos were not completed until this Spring, but I understand that the expansion makes it more of a full day park now.

The castle in Paris is physically more impressive than the one in DL, but there is just something about the nostalgia of the original park that makes it so engaging. The firework shows are completely different. The DLP one is incredible, but it is kind of like World of Color in DCA in that the park is closed after the fireworks are done, which is an adjustment. Our kids are adults now, so I think that they appreciated DLP in terms of how different it is from the US parks. The steampunk vibe on Tomorrowland and the statues in the hub are so visually impressive, but I think that coming from WDW and DL helps you understand the difference. We added to the trip by taking the train into Paris and doing all the walking, etc. that is associated with going to Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Museum D'Orsay, etc., and I think that they enjoyed it more since they were older (as we sat and had a slow and leisurely wine and charcuterie at the bistros).

So, I echo what Amy said. Younger kids? California.

Disneyland. We did Disneyland a few years ago when we decided to visit Southern California. My kids were the ones who pushed it; I thought it’d be a hard pass. They 15 and 13 at the time. They loved it. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel before VDL. I’m a Marriott guy and was leaning towards the JW but I really wanted to stay in the bubble and so glad we did. My highlight was rope dropping California Adventure Land and riding Incredacoaster 4 times consecutively without having to leave my seat. FWIW when we did take our kids to Europe jet lag hit them harder than us.

Thanks all for the input! I was initially leaning toward Paris because of the Spring Break impact in Cali....but you've all made great points and convinced me otherwise :)

I think you need to do the OG first, then start working on the international parks. We have been to DLR and WDW many times, hitting DLP this summer, then hopefully Tokyo in the next couple of years.