Disneyland = Disappointment

[luvthiscrzylife]

Sorry to be a downer, but this will be our very last trip to Disneyland. Between the hot, humid days, rain and unbelievable crowds, ride closures, it has been anything but fun. We fully expected Sunday to be busy, but wow! Then come Monday and Tuesday, hopes were high it would be less so. Not the case, at all. Then you've got the huge increase of Scooter use, and more strollers than I've ever seen on any trip to the parks. When you are fighting all of these factors, it feels a lot like swimming upstream. Last night, we had a great spot for watching fireworks(in front of the castle), half the crowd was polite and considerate by sitting down so all could see. Where we were sitting, a large group of mostly adults and older teens decided to come stand in front of us, making it difficult for my daughter to see. So very rude. That said, I hope the rest of you will enjoy your vacation, but this family will be making plans for elsewhere in the future.

 

[GatorChris]

Yeah, sometimes you can have some bad experiences....even at Disneyland. We've had our share, but the good times typically outweigh the bad. As for you not coming back, it's like the old Yogi Berra quote: "No one goes there anymore - it's too crowded." I have a feeling you're not the only who feels that way. Why pay the money to burn to a crisp with tens of thousands of others. Sorry you didn't have a good time .....buuuutttt, that just makes more room for us!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I can relate. Our last Disneyland trip was not so magical. Went to check in at GC (we're DVC Members) and they didn't have a room for us in the vacation villa that we had a reservation for (we got to check in around 5:30 p.m.). Found the parks beyond crazy crowded! We're used to crowd and long lines but it was insane. Didn't help with some popular rides were closed (most had just broken down). We were just about to board It's a Small World when that broke down. Our FP return line for Cars was over 60 minutes. DL uses the old fast pass system but many were just not open. Never found out why. Decided to take a break from the parks (DL and DW), that's why we're doing our first cruise next year.

 

[bumbershoot]

That's exactly how I felt on our recent trip. Look at my signature. I'm no newbie. But it was just awful. I had to control myself to not end up in the papers as being part of a "brawl" at DL like there had been at WDW. I might be short, but I'm not invisible, people, and I'd kinda like to stick with my own family *just like you're trying to stick with yours* (and cutting into my family to do so).

Alas we have the Star Wars runs booked in January and have to go back. Also we never expected it to be so miserable and flat out bought APs before entering. So we are stuck.

And now they are changing everything. Too much.

It's a rotten feeling, to feel stuck like this.

We'd been for the 50th, we'd been in July. Neither were awful. But the 60th IN July was just too much.

 

[Mommy26]

It was crowded and rides were down? When did you go?

My biggest issues are the cost, the rude people, and changes that make things so complicated.

If the price went down it would make up for the complications or vice versa, but both at the same time are squeezing me out of wanting to go as often.

It feels like the focus is more on the money, and less on the magic.

 

[tlovesdis]

Sorry to be a downer, but this will be our very last trip to Disneyland. Between the hot, humid days, rain and unbelievable crowds, ride closures, it has been anything but fun. We fully expected Sunday to be busy, but wow! Then come Monday and Tuesday, hopes were high it would be less so. Not the case, at all. Then you've got the huge increase of Scooter use, and more strollers than I've ever seen on any trip to the parks. When you are fighting all of these factors, it feels a lot like swimming upstream. Last night, we had a great spot for watching fireworks(in front of the castle), half the crowd was polite and considerate by sitting down so all could see. Where we were sitting, a large group of mostly adults and older teens decided to come stand in front of us, making it difficult for my daughter to see. So very rude. That said, I hope the rest of you will enjoy your vacation, but this family will be making plans for elsewhere in the future.

I was there this past weekend too and it was crazy busy and crowded! I figured the weekend would be with Halloweentime beginning, but it was Monday that surprised me! It was busier Monday morning than both Saturday and Sunday morning and by noon it was insane!!! We waited longer for RSR on Monday during EE than we did on Saturday with no EE!!

Rides were going down a lot over the weekend as well! HM, Thunder, Soarin, etc...Made for even longer waits!

I don't think there is a down time at DL anymore

 

[jenhelgren]

We will be visiting next month and I have been checking ride wait times periodically to get an idea of how to plan. Every single time I have checked wait times there has been main attractions marked as closed. Is this common at DL? This will be our first trip and this post is making me nervous as California is a LONG way from home for us. I understand ride closures for refurb but was not expecting to have multiple attractions closed throughout the day randomly

 

[Indiana Scott]

I have to agree. Between Disney packing too many people in the parks and visitors who seem to get more rude and selfish with every year, we have slowed down our trips and even skipped years. We do lots of research and only go during very slow times now.

 

[luulu1999]

We will be visiting next month and I have been checking ride wait times periodically to get an idea of how to plan. Every single time I have checked wait times there has been main attractions marked as closed. Is this common at DL? This will be our first trip and this post is making me nervous as California is a LONG way from home for us. I understand ride closures for refurb but was not expecting to have multiple attractions closed throughout the day randomly

Honestly, I went last summer the end of July beg of Aug and it was not as horrible as everyone is saying, I think most of these people go frequently and that is why they have problems with all of the changes, while we were there we had a problem with TSMM being down and maybe RSR one morning and I think Indiana Jones breaks down frequently but there is nothing that can be done about that and you just have to move on to something else and try again some other time you have to be willing to go with the flow and flexible and you will have a great time in my opinion

 

[jetskigrl]

We are giving up our passes after 15 years because of all the changes It has just gotten to be too much for us. This last announcement about no holiday castle/fireworks/snow and garland on Main Street just broke my heart.

I am so disappointed about the removal of Big Thunder ranch and BBQ. And while we enjoyed the movie Frozen when it came out, it has now been added to every place they can find in the parks and I am truly sick of it. I refuse to tell my kids that they are replacing the Aladdin show with a Frozen one because I don't want to hear another rant about how sick they are of Frozen (luckily our passes will expire before the new show starts so they won't have to see it happen).

We were at the parks last Saturday and while we did enjoy the rides (there were a lot of people but the FP return times were pretty short most of the day), it was noticeably lacking in Halloween atmosphere. No roundup, no pumpkin carvers, etc. Of course, I noticed that the TV/billboard advertising is still aimed at the 60th anniversary and not Halloweentime like it usually is, so I'm pretty sure they had no intention of making Halloweentime a big deal for the daily guests this year. Hopefully those paying for the Halloween Party will get a little more for their money.

And given the announcement about the Holiday offerings, it sounds like it is going to be pretty much the same thing then too.

 

[meggles]

I feel like a lot of it is the weather. I can totally handle crowds and cranky people if the weather is reasonable. If it's hot and sticky, just walking around is difficult and even neutrally behaved people are annoying.
We went last sept and I said never again. Too hot which led to impatience and frustration.
Really hope the weather chills out a bit when we go first week of Nov.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We'd been for the 50th, we'd been in July. Neither were awful. But the 60th IN July was just too much.

The 60th IN JULY?! Ugh. No wonder it was miserable! We went end of Jul (or beg of Aug?) right after Cars opened. Yeah, never going that time of year again. (Famous last words...) We went after Memorial last couple trips and it was so much better. Give me a couple grad nights to avoid anytime over those crazy family summer crowds! Here's hoping your Star Wars trip is better!

 

[Girimama33]

We were there this July for the 60th...from 6/28-7/2, and the crowds were great. No excessive breakdowns were experienced. We had a fantastic time. It was our second trip during this time. We avoid Grad Nights, the So Cal AP's are blocked, and before the July 4th craziness.
Way better than going over Christmas/NYE.
I am going next week, and am curious how bad crowds will be. Also going for SW weekend... See you there Bumbershoot!

 

[LizzyS]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I think you have to go into Disney trips these days expecting crowds and doing a moderate amount of planning and research to really maximize your trip. Mornings are the best time at DLR, in my experience.

 

[Luckymommatoo]

I think a lot of LA County schools had Monday off for Rosh Hashanah. Funny, I had (local) friends there this weekend who commented that it wasn't as crowded as they were expecting. I am sorry you were disappointed, and I agree completely with this:
"I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I think you have to go into Disney trips these days expecting crowds and doing a moderate amount of planning and research to really maximize your trip."

 

[tlovesdis]

I think a lot of LA County schools had Monday off for Rosh Hashanah.

NO wonder Monday was so stinking busy compared to the weekend!!! Makes sense now!

 

[SMD]

For anyone going next week, even more schools will be closed for a holiday on Wednesday.

 

[ImDMous]

When they announced the 60th Anniversary plans, the new parade, the new fireworks, etc; they said right then the holidays this year would not have as much of a presence to focus on the anniversary and give guests a full year to visit and celebrate. Less Halloween and Christmas decor has been planned and announced a year ahead of time. It was even questionable whether they would do any Halloween parties.

I'm sad about the BBQ and Aladdin, but at the end of the day DL is not owned by me and I have no say in what they want to do. I can either roll with the punches or feel bitter and angry. I have more important things to worry about.

As for the crowds Monday, I'm sure a lot of locals took advantage of no school and no more summer weekend blackouts to check out the 60th stuff.

I'm sorry you had a bad time. It's your time and money and if DL is no longer fun for you, you should find somewhere else to enjoy.

 

[taniahappy]

Maybe it's just us but I can never have a bad day/experience at DL, sorry that you felt like that though.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

My biggest issues are the cost, the rude people, and changes that make things so complicated.

If the price went down it would make up for the complications or vice versa, but both at the same time are squeezing me out of wanting to go as often.

Now I'm just a simple country lawyer and not an economist, but I'm pretty sure that if the price went down, the crowds would actually go up - which seems to be the opposite of what you are looking for. Are you saying that if it cost less, you would be willing put up with a greater number of "complications" and "rude people".