I live 2 blocks away from Disneyland and have had an annual pass since 1986. When the conditions are right I can hear the train whistle in my living room. So the opposite is true for me. WDW is jarring and odd. At Disneyland it is not unusual for people to ride Space Mountain, then decide to ride Haunted Mansion, then head over to Small World. If you did that at WDW you would be wore out before lunch. Everything is so far and spread out. I feel like I need to have a game plan there and go to a land, see what I I want to see and then move on to the next land. It's more fluid at Disneyland.
Don't get me wrong, I love WDW. But when I get home I almost feel like I need a vacation to rest up from my vacation. Disneyland is home and the park in my backyard.

Growing up in Ohio, I went to WDW for the first time in the late 70s. I believe we only went once or twice. I then took my kids to WDW in 2010 and then we went to DL/DCA in 2013. I liked all the parks and resorts of WDW (there was never any downtime). But I also LOVED the intimate feel Disneyland had. Walt had walked those streets and rode most of those rides. Sure I thought the castle looked like a small toy compared to the one at Magic Kingdom BUT I lov how you can get from one side of Disneyland to the other in 5-10 minutes instead of the half hour or so of WDW. The cast members seemed nicer in WDW but the park goers seemed nicer in Disneyland.

I grew up in California, so Disneyland was the only place I ever visited until I became an adult, and left the state. I fell in love with Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and most importantly Walt Disney World. I thought that Disney World was the only Disney destination I would ever need to return to.
That being said, last month, I returned to Disneyland for the first time in over 20 years, and I was home again.

Disneyland=daytrip, disneyworld=mind-boggling experience

Oddly enough, I felt the exact opposite. I moved to Florida 7 years ago, and I found that WDW wasn't nearly as detailed or intimate as Disneyland. When people ask me which is better, I always say the same thing: Disneyland is better than Magic Kingdom, but WDW is better than Disneyland resort (it's that size thing). Disneyland is far more attraction dense, and most of the attractions there are superior to the ones here (I'm looking at you, Pirates). One thing I definitely can agree on, if you're a Disney fan and all you've seen is WDW, you're really missing out on not seeing Disneyland!