Disneyland empty?

My friend and I have been here since rope drop! Thank goodness we didn’t stuck in that horrible ticket line. We saw it when we were parkhopping. We’ve done 13 rides so far, plus blue bayou. We would’ve done 14 rides but cars broke down so we will use our fastpass later. We are in line for the Star Wars line. We also have a fastpass for big thunder.
 
Today has been interesting with crowds. Certain areas are very congested. The esplanade and lines to get in midday are nonexistent. We started at DCA. It was very slow at rope drop. We did Soarin, TSMM, Goofy Sky school, Monsters Inc, Ariel, Silly symphony swings, and Philarmagic by 9:15. We would’ve done Cars had it not broke down. I keep checking the app and it’s still down so not sure if we will be able to do it. We then went over to DL and did Space, Indy, Pirates, Tea cups, Snow White, Matterhorn, Blue Bayou, MFSR, Big Thunder, and Star Tours. When we were in Fantasyland doing Snow White we noticed it was packed in that area, but then walking over to Pirates it was very open...Toontown was also very packed, but we waited less than 10 minutes for pics with Mickey in his house. That’s normally such a long wait.
 
Today has been interesting with crowds. Certain areas are very congested. The esplanade and lines to get in midday are nonexistent. We started at DCA. It was very slow at rope drop. We did Soarin, TSMM, Goofy Sky school, Monsters Inc, Ariel, Silly symphony swings, and Philarmagic by 9:15. We would’ve done Cars had it not broke down. I keep checking the app and it’s still down so not sure if we will be able to do it. We then went over to DL and did Space, Indy, Pirates, Tea cups, Snow White, Matterhorn, Blue Bayou, MFSR, Big Thunder, and Star Tours. When we were in Fantasyland doing Snow White we noticed it was packed in that area, but then walking over to Pirates it was very open...Toontown was also very packed, but we waited less than 10 minutes for pics with Mickey in his house. That’s normally such a long wait.
Agree, it’s been super packed in some areas. This morning over by Toy Story and Incredicoaster it was really crazy. Galaxy’s Edge this afternoon was just moderate crowds. It was SO crowded walking past Splash Mountain/Haunted Mansion but Winnie the Pooh and HM waits were low. Over by Indy where it’s usually so congested it was not crowded at all.
 
I arrived here tonight at 6:30. It’s the most crowded I’ve seen it since May. Walkways are definitely more crowded. Mobile ordered bengal bbq and its a good thing I did. Line was massive. Hyperspace was 110 min. Jumped over to DCA. Toy Story was 90 min with the FP line stretching past Jessie’s carousel. Incredicoaster 75 min. Even Ariel had a long line.

So either ppl have heard about the parks being dead so far this summer and are finally coming or they are taking advantage of the 90$ bring a friend offer. Or maybe lots of ppl are starting to buy the flex pass and are getting those reservations
 


WE fly out from Sydney next Monday (29th) it seems every second person we meet is telling me that the crowds are light -it has been in our newspapers here. School holidays end here tomorrow so even families that added and extra week and took their kids out of school should be leaving Anaheim in the next few days. I planned for massive crowds so even if its picked up I'm happy.

Sandie
 
We thought Disneyland was very busy today.... we still met a ton of characters, saw two shows, and rode many rides, but none of the huge headliners.... space mountain was 120 minutes at one point today. Fortunately we have small children and riding the quieter rides like Snow White etc. keeps them happy. However Dumbo still has a 30 minute wait and at one point today it was over an hour. Going back at rope drop to get some things done early.
 
Ride lines were weird later today, because headliners went down, sometimes simultaneously, e.g. IC, RSR, BTMRR In the early evening. This threw a lot of guests out into circulation looking for other rides to go on. It was odd -- HM didn't have a long line, but POTC was crowded.
 


Ride lines were weird later today, because headliners went down, sometimes simultaneously, e.g. IC, RSR, BTMRR In the early evening. This threw a lot of guests out into circulation looking for other rides to go on. It was odd -- HM didn't have a long line, but POTC was crowded.
There were soo many ride breakdowns! RSR kept breaking down and would be down for hours! Our return time was 8:35 am-9:35am, so it's been going down since the early morning! We never got a chance to go back and use our replacement fastpass. We also had a fastpass for Haunted Mansion and as soon as we scanned in they closed the gate saying it was down :(Thankfully the guest relations CM was awesome and gave us a replacement fastpass. We went to use it at Big Thunder, but that too was down :guilty:..so then we went over to Star Tours to use it. We scanned in there. While in line they announced they were having delays which made the lines longer..ugh! :sad2: But we were able to do that, so that was good. And throughout the day, I noticed Incredicoaster, TSMM and Matterhorn had broken down so I am sure that also contributed to people being out in walkways.

Around 12,I also noticed that fastpass return times were still very plentiful. We had to wait 2 hours before we could choose a new fastpass, because all of the times being distributed were too soon and would interfere with our meal reservation. So even though it was crowded, people weren't taking advantage of fastpasses.
 
On a good note, we got through a ton yesterday! My friend was amazed lol. She's been to DL before with her family but she said they would do at most 4 rides. So when she was able to do 17 rides, a full sit down meal, character pictures, and 2 shows, she was super happy lol. We are exhausted though lol. Off to brunch we go!
 
There are over a million AP holders at Disneyland. That is a LOT. On any given day when APs are all allowed access, my guess is that the majority are AP holders.

Agreed! When I lived down in Irvine, I always had an annual pass because there was always someone coming to town who wanted to meet me at DLR.

For the OP, if remember right, on one of the podcasts, Pete said there are only about 200,000 AP holders for WDW. So trying compare WDW AP attendance and DLR AP attendance is really apples and oranges.
 
Yeah, I have been watching the wait times and FP return times on the app, and it's definitely picking up. It still looks great at opening, but by late morning, wow.

Usually this summer, BTMRR has been nearly always an immediate return time for FP, but in the last week, that has changed and it's at least an hour out, or later in the day, a couple of hours.
I have warned my family that we will certainly be rope dropping every day in September, so just get used to the idea that this is not a "sleeping in" trip. We will come back to the hotel after lunch, chill by the pool and nap, but mornings are for riding!
 
We thought Disneyland was very busy today (Saturday)

I just returned to our hotel after our first half day in Disneyland. Some employees I talked to mentioned that it was very crowded yesterday.

Our experience this morning (Sunday July 21) was unique in my experience. We arrived early, but after the 8am rope drop. I started off getting fast passes for Star Tours at 8:15am, then we did the following rides in sequence: (1) Big Thunder, (2) Pirates, (3) Haunted Mansion, (4) Splash Mountain, then went on a walk through Galaxy's Edge, and made it back to Star Tours at 9:30am right as our fast passes were about to expire.

The first four rides were walk ons, and I mean that literally. There was not a single person in front of us when we did Big Thunder, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Splash. Our second hour in the park was almost as efficient, we did Matterhorn, Small World, Roger Rabbit, the Go Coaster, and Indiana Jones. After that we did Peter Pan with a 25 minute wait, and left the parks at 11:15. A total of 11 rides in 3 hours. I've never experienced anything like it.

When we left, the good times seemed to be over, with fairly long lineups everywhere. It appears, in the current environment, that it is critical to get an early start.
 
It seems the crowds have definitely picked up. It’s a small world has a 50 minute wait right now! We will be visiting next week and will prepare ourselves for higher crowds than we were hoping for
 
We were there this morning too and got a TON done before noon. We took a break for lunch (Pizza Planet and Plaza Inn...no crowds at either right at noon). Rode a couple more FP rides after lunch, got some ice cream, and left at 2:30. It got noticeably busy around 11am, but I had no problem getting immediate FP returns for Splash and BTMRR up until around 1pm.
 
Got there today for rope drop. Left at 2:00. Was able to get in 23 Rides: Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice In Wonderland, Merry Go Round, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Casey Jr, Storybook Canal, Tea Cups, Matterhorn FL Side(Fast Pass), Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin, Small World, Matterhorn TL Side(Single Rider), Train FL To TL, Buzz Lightyear(FP), Rocket Jets, Space Mountain(SR), Star Tours(FP), Indy(FP), Big Thunder Railroad(FP), Splash(SR), Haunted Mansion(FP), Jungle Cruise.
 
WDW not busy? You must be joking. I was checking wait times while there at Disneyland and seeing 120 mins on TOT but 45 at GOTG. 200 mins for RNR but 30 for Incredicoaster. I will never do summer there again! We went in Jan and it was a whole different ballgame.

The wait times can be deceiving sometimes especially when you're looking at it while not there. I was just there the week of the 4th and yes some rides had long standbys but in terms of amount of people it was way less crowded than when I was there in Dec and Feb.

Just like with Disneyland they will cut staff and not run rides at capacity which when looking at the app makes it seem bad. I rope dropped MK and rode 14 rides, some repeats all either walk on or with fast pass. It was easily one of the best trips I have had there.
 
I just returned to our hotel after our first half day in Disneyland. Some employees I talked to mentioned that it was very crowded yesterday.

Our experience this morning (Sunday July 21) was unique in my experience. We arrived early, but after the 8am rope drop. I started off getting fast passes for Star Tours at 8:15am, then we did the following rides in sequence: (1) Big Thunder, (2) Pirates, (3) Haunted Mansion, (4) Splash Mountain, then went on a walk through Galaxy's Edge, and made it back to Star Tours at 9:30am right as our fast passes were about to expire.

The first four rides were walk ons, and I mean that literally. There was not a single person in front of us when we did Big Thunder, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Splash. Our second hour in the park was almost as efficient, we did Matterhorn, Small World, Roger Rabbit, the Go Coaster, and Indiana Jones. After that we did Peter Pan with a 25 minute wait, and left the parks at 11:15. A total of 11 rides in 3 hours. I've never experienced anything like it.

When we left, the good times seemed to be over, with fairly long lineups everywhere. It appears, in the current environment, that it is critical to get an early start.

We left Disneyland today at 11, ate at Downtown Disney, and then hit the hell that was California Adventure for one ride, then headed home about 2 and you’re spot on. We arrived at rope drop this morning and walked on so many rides. But it was getting very crowded as we left DL around 11. Both of our girls were ready to go home. Ha!
 
I noticed RSR has been down every time I checked the app today (we are there in 2 weeks and I'm watching to get a feel for them). Has it been down a lot today?
 

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