A few thoughts from last week’s Spring Break trip…

[underminer]

We spent 3 days in the park last week (14-16th) on our Spring Break from AZ. Crowds were high but I’ve seen worse. We would try to get in line for bag check at 7am and usually by 7:15 to the front gate and 7:30-7:45 waiting near or at the front of the rope. We did 1 DCA and 2 DL rope drops which got us quickly on Webslingers, ROTR and PP on our 3 mornings. Overall a good trip and here are a few of my thoughts (Clint Eastwood style:

The Good:
- Mobile ordering is a godsend on busy days and really is the fastpass for food! Eating early lunch and dinner helps in finding places to eat which is helpful for bigger groups (we had 10).
- Cast members were always great and super helpful
- Eating Dole whips while watching a Tiki room show is a quintessential Disney experience
- Animation building and Philharmagic are great things for busy afternoons in DCA with the Mark Twain and Pirate island serving a similar purpose at DL
- Disney theming in areas like Carsland and Galaxy’s Edge are amazing and a big reason why we keep coming back

The Bad:
-Spring refurbs (No Pirates or GRR) and big shows and parades was a big downer, not only because we love them but they suck up a lot of people and ease crowds in other areas.
- Wait time estimates are all over the place and really hard to trust…especially with LL attractions. I realize that wait times are a moving target but I’ve never seen them this inconsistent.

The Ugly:
- Genie + and individual paid LL. Perhaps if it had always been this way it wouldn’t be as big a deal but as a huge fan of the old free fast pass and even the paid max pass, I really disliked this current version. I didn’t find it very user friendly and the whole Genie part of the app was At least before, it was a level playing field and you could choose to use it or not use it as either a free or paid version. With our large group, an extra $200 a day was tough to swallow, but the alternative wait with younger kids is pretty tough too. The problem now is that it is cheap enough for individuals that they sell a ton of them but hard on bigger families who feel the pressure to buy them everyday. The individual paid LL is such a naked cash grab that it makes me upset. But I felt that it was worth one big ride together on RSR at night and didn’t want to wait 2 hours. $135 extra for one ride……was it worth it? Yes and No I suppose.

I love Disneyland like everyone else here but this was the first trip where I started to question if I am truly getting the value out of the money spent. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much on a three day Disneyland trip, and that was with minimal merchandise purchases and cheaper hotels.
OK well enough ranting….Thanks to all of you for your great advice on these boards! So helpful!!!

 

[RainyDayPixie]

I hear you!

I went last month with a group of 6. Stayed at Desert Inn (not fancy!) and we probably dropped $7-8k for our trip. Everything felt like a cash grab. Those light up bubble thingies are up to $30! I actually didn’t add it all up.

I am not cheap either. I live in an expensive area and am not especially budget conscious.

I LOVE Disneyland, but I think we’ll prioritize other trips the next few years. DL was a once a year or every two years for us. Now maybe every 5. Or maybe just a weekend with one kid special kind of trip.

 

[DisneyAndreaM]

We were there 16th-19th and I agree with all your comments. I don’t even want to know the amount we spent in total on $LL in addition to Genie+. Another bummer was realizing once you went on a LL ride once, you couldn’t again that day. I get having to wait until a certain time, but you should be able to ride the same attraction more than once.

I also found the interface of Genie clunky and it took me awhile to get the hang of it. Once I realized “Til Board” is where I want to be it was so much better. I really missed MaxPass.

I can’t imagine going if you’re not a super fan like we are and read these boards to know what you’re doing!

 

[smartlabelprint]

I agree that we’ll be skipping Disneyland after our Spring trip. We’re trying legoland and a DCL cruise. Our kids can’t handle chaos and it sounds like the parks are in chaos.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Thanks for sharing, OP. Will be heading back to DL soon and really do not look forward to the Genie and LL cash grab/planning chaos

 

[gelatoni fan]

I love Disneyland like everyone else here but this was the first trip where I started to question if I am truly getting the value out of the money spent. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much on a three day Disneyland trip, and that was with minimal merchandise purchases and cheaper hotels.
OK well enough ranting….Thanks to all of you for your great advice on these boards! So helpful!!!

I think this is the sentiment felt by a lot of people. In some ways the parks are better than before with Avengers Campus, Galaxy's Edge and better food especially on the DCA side. But Disney's has increased prices while slacking in other areas such as maintenance and shows. With travel to many other places still cheaper than pre-pandemic, Disneyland can seem like a comparatively bad value.

 

[duckboyone]

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm a bit apprehensive about using Genie+ as well, I will miss the Fast Pass system. For us, the addition of Photo Pass with it helps the justification of the cost some, since we always get Photo Pass, but you're right it's basically a cash grab.

I'm also nervous about the reports of customer service and maintenance not being as good as before. I understand that it might be because of the staffing issues, and that's tough. But, that is one of the main reasons all of us pay SO much more money to go there, than to other parks. Disney, take some of that big money, and get people hired and trained and get that stuff improved! In my industry, if we lag in performance even a little, there are no excuses, we have to fix it NOW. Disney is rich enough to get their issues fixed too.

Glad you still had a great trip!

 

[DLgal]

We were there 16th-19th and I agree with all your comments. I don’t even want to know the amount we spent in total on $LL in addition to Genie+. Another bummer was realizing once you went on a LL ride once, you couldn’t again that day. I get having to wait until a certain time, but you should be able to ride the same attraction more than once.

I also found the interface of Genie clunky and it took me awhile to get the hang of it. Once I realized “Til Board” is where I want to be it was so much better. I really missed MaxPass.

I can’t imagine going if you’re not a super fan like we are and read these boards to know what you’re doing!

I can't even tell you how many strangers I've had to help with LL. I show them all the "tip board" and they are like "ooooh...thank you!" Almost every time we are approaching a LL scan point, a clueless person taps me on the shoulder when they see our barcode on my phone and are like "are you doing lightning lane? Can you show me where to find that barcode?" And then I show them "My Genie Day" and they are always surprised. It's really quite ridiculous that the app doesn't have a basic tutorial after you purchase to walk you through it. It's also ridiculous how clunky and UN INTUITIVE it is in general.

This stupid Genie+ is such a disaster, I really hope they realize that and go back to the old Maxpass system.