Disneyland fire trap

[kiwitravel]

At the risk of upsetting AP holders... I wonder how much of the congestion problem is related to AP holders (for which Disney gets no further income from other than food etc). We travel in late June and early July, we noticed the quietest days in DL were the blackout days when APs are excluded without paying extra at the gate. It was noticably quieter, queue wait times were about half of what they were just a day earlier that was open to APs.

I have never seen it as busy as what is being described, I know that NYE is one of the busiest days of the year and I am sure thats a blackout day so APs are definitely not the whole problem.

 

[Gisele]

Those are interesting observations and experiences Kiwitravel, and I agree.

 

[Sherry E]

At the risk of upsetting AP holders... I wonder how much of the congestion problem is related to AP holders (for which Disney gets no further income from other than food etc). We travel in late June and early July, we noticed the quietest days in DL were the blackout days when APs are excluded without paying extra at the gate. It was noticably quieter, queue wait times were about half of what they were just a day earlier that was open to APs.

I have never seen it as busy as what is being described, I know that NYE is one of the busiest days of the year and I am sure thats a blackout day so APs are definitely not the whole problem.

I am an AP holder, but the theory doesn't upset me. I JUST got my very first AP a few weeks ago, but I don't foresee using it for more than maybe 1-3 more trips in the next year, and I wouldn't be blacked out on any days (mine is the Premium). So I am curious as to whether your ideas about it are on point. Maybe there is some logic to it, although many AP holders (Deluxe and lower) are blocked on weekends, and aren't weekends supposedly the busiest times? Possibly there are many more folks getting the Premium APs now and can go in on any day of the year?

 

[skoocher]

kiwitravel, I have to agree in general. I used to be a "local" so I know the temptation to go to DL often, but the locals and AP holders do affect park attendance. I know the last sveral times we went the parks were very quiet till about 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon when a lot of the local kids started showing up.

As to the general theme of this original post, I could not disagree more. Of all the large theme parks I have been to, I think Disney handles the crowds the best. All of the Disney resorts are some of the most visited attractions on this green Earth. I think you would be very stubborn to assume that there is not be times when they will be extremely crowded. If you can not handle the corwds then perhaps do a little more planing next time and visit when the parks are not as busy. DL really is a magical place, corwds and high prices regarless, so I suggest giving it another try. I promis you wont regret it.

As far as the issues at Blue Bayou. It is always busy and you nver have an actual reservation there. Perhaps Disney can do a better job and marketing their "Priorty Seating" and what PS really means. I have eaten there twice at different times of the year and had a good experience both times.

I just get sad when people have a bad experience at DL. I have so many good memories from there and I think that just about anyone can have a good time. Perhaps some people will never be happy, even at the Happiest PLace On Earth.

 

[JaneJetson]

Kind of off topic...

I was an AP holder for three years. Premium. I went all the time. I think Disney gets a lot more money out of AP holders than you think.

Now that I'm a non-AP holder, I'm only going to be there once a year. For three days.

Three day hopper (at the kids price) = $149
Meals for three days = maybe around $100
Snacks = maybe around $50 (I'm guessing because I have no clue)
Souvenirs = I rarely buy much. So maybe $50.
Total = $349

If I were an AP holder for a year....
Premium pass = $389
Dinner in the park = At least $15 a week or every other week (we'll just say every other week. So that would be $390)
Snacks = Probably $15 every other week or so ($390)
Souvenirs = Probably around $100 in a year.
Total = $1269

I realize I wasn't an average AP holder because I went once a week (sometimes more.) But anyway....just wanted to point out that AP holders actually pay quite a bit more money to Disney. It's a good thing I don't have an AP anymore...it's saving me some cash...haha.

And as someone else pointed out...weekends are almost always the busiest days. And those days are blacked out for a lot of APs. So I'm not sure your theory works.

 

[kiwitravel]

I am an AP holder, but the theory doesn't upset me. I JUST got my very first AP a few weeks ago, but I don't foresee using it for more than maybe 1-3 more trips in the next year, and I wouldn't be blacked out on any days (mine is the Premium). So I am curious as to whether your ideas about it are on point. Maybe there is some logic to it, although many AP holders (Deluxe and lower) are blocked on weekends, and aren't weekends supposedly the busiest times? Possibly there are many more folks getting the Premium APs now and can go in on any day of the year?

We found in late June that the weekends were quieter on the blackout days, at that time only one day of the weekend was blacked out, I remenber findiing the non blacked out day was absolutely chaos and we left the park and did other things, the blacked out day was quieter than the mid week days. Our quietest day last year was July4 (it fell on a mid week day and was blacked out for all but one AP). We got to ride Splash at night twice without getting off because there was no queue! The only time in all out trips we could do that. Everything else had really short queues, you didn't need FP for Space or BTMRR.

I think instead of an AP system, a concession system might be better (ie 5 days that can be used throughout the year (except blackout days) might be better, people might be inclined to go less but spend the whole day in the parks rather than the current "12am to 6pm once a month" sort of thing you get now. I am certain Disney too would get a much better return as people will be more likely to eat in the park if they are there all day. We noticed the crowd was really bad during this time on non blacked out days, early morning and late at night was relatively quiet.

 

[kiwitravel]

And as someone else pointed out...weekends are almost always the busiest days. And those days are blacked out for a lot of APs. So I'm not sure your theory works.

Looking at the Disney website, apart from late June to mid August which is basically totally blocked out for Southern Cal Aps (not the "select" pass) it tends to be only the Saturday that is blocked out on weekends, means Sundays probably will always be busier than a Saturday. Thats certainly what we noticed at the start of our trip, Once the total AP blockout period began the park closed an hour earlier midweek (11pm instead of midnight) and the park seem a lot quieter...

Looking at how few blockout days are in October (just the Saturdays) and hearing how busy the park is during October, I just wonder if the two are related.

 

[JaneJetson]

Looking at the Disney website, apart from late June to mid August which is basically totally blocked out for Southern Cal Aps (not the "select" pass) it tends to be only the Saturday that is blocked out on weekends, means Sundays probably will always be busier than a Saturday. Thats certainly what we noticed at the start of our trip, Once the total AP blockout period began the park closed an hour earlier midweek (11pm instead of midnight) and the park seem a lot quieter...

Looking at how few blockout days are in October (just the Saturdays) and hearing how busy the park is during October, I just wonder if the two are related.

Friday and Saturday are almost always more crowded than Sunday, unless it happens to be a three-day weekend with a Monday holiday.

What dates were you in the parks?

October is crowded because of the holiday decorations and activities.

 

[kiwitravel]

Friday and Saturday are almost always more crowded than Sunday, unless it happens to be a three-day weekend with a Monday holiday.

What dates were you in the parks?

October is crowded because of the holiday decorations and activities.

I can only comment on when we went which was in late June...

Its certainly not an exact science. We had a 14 day pass and went into the park most days, this is what we noticed.

 

[avalon451]

We saw awful crowds like those previously posted pictures during spring break, March 24th-28th (perfect storm, Easter was early and coincided with many schools' official spring breaks!) That was our first trip and we were pretty horrified by the crowds... some of Hydroguy's tips for "high season" were even thrown off because of the extreme crowds (send a runner for a fastpass? But the line just to COLLECT the FP was 15 minutes alone!) Later we heard it was record-breaking crowds. We experienced that kind of congestion our first night after fireworks... could only shuffle and stand, shuffle and stand to get out of the parks. The second night we were over by ROA to watch fireworks... and dawdled on the way out... and found the crowds much reduced by the time we hit Main Street. By dawdling 15 minutes before hitting Main Street, we were able to stroll at a steady, albeit slow, pace on the way out.

I was concerned about this trip Oct 12-16th; there were dire predictions for the MToT party and Columbus Day, as well as various schools' fall breaks. But we were pleasantly surprised. It seemed mellow to us, compared to Spring. Sunday and Monday were busy but not out of control, Tues and Wed were relatively quiet. Thursday was starting to get pretty busy by the time we left at 3 p.m.

In the future I will try to avoid weekends, or, like this time, try to time it so that we are there on just one weekend night and hopefully can catch the fireworks that night.

 

[toocherie]

Looking at the Disney website, apart from late June to mid August which is basically totally blocked out for Southern Cal Aps (not the "select" pass) it tends to be only the Saturday that is blocked out on weekends, means Sundays probably will always be busier than a Saturday. Thats certainly what we noticed at the start of our trip, Once the total AP blockout period began the park closed an hour earlier midweek (11pm instead of midnight) and the park seem a lot quieter...

Looking at how few blockout days are in October (just the Saturdays) and hearing how busy the park is during October, I just wonder if the two are related.

I am an AP holder and go quite often and there is no rhyme or reason I can tell; usually Sunday mornings until noon are quite good. Saturdays--even with the SoCal passholders blocked out (I have premium) are always bad.

 

[toocherie]

AND I agree with the PP about AP holders spending as much if not more than the occasional visitor. I figure it is at least a $100 day if we go out between meals etc. Plus, we love MM and the only way to get it as an AP-holder is to stay in one of the Disney hotels--so we have probably spent $2,000 plus on hotel rooms this year alone. Plus special seatings for Fantasmic, Electrical Parade, etc.--So we have probably expended $4,000 this year at least.

 

[Grumpy~N~Dopey]

I am kind of surprised they did not open up back-stage if the crowds were so bad. QUOTE]

I was there the same weekend as OP and they did open backstage after the parades and fireworks every night that weekend.

 

[bumbershoot]

I was an AP holder for three years. Premium. I went all the time. I think Disney gets a lot more money out of AP holders than you think.

I agree!


And from what I hear, it seems this whole year has been one big anomaly in terms of crowds. I'm not sure that this June could be considered normal, just like this October is either the new normal or a one-time crowded month, b/c in '06 when we went in October it was very quiet!

I was there the same weekend as OP and they did open backstage after the parades and fireworks every night that weekend.

I wonder if the OP was just in the middle of the crowd, or past an entrance, so just didn't know.

 

[JaneJetson]

I can only comment on when we went which was in late June...

Its certainly not an exact science. We had a 14 day pass and went into the park most days, this is what we noticed.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did a 14-day pass cost? I've never even heard of that.

 

[Caroline NZ]

I think the 14 day pass mentioned is the one we can buy here in New Zealand and Australia. It is NZ$357 which at the current exchange rate is about US$193.

 

[Gisele]

I totally can see the good points that have been made about spending more money, via having a AP. That most definitely makes good sense.
I have been thinking, hm... promotional price next year for 3 day p/h tickets, $149.00 (most likely will include free parking, as well as MM) versus the special discounted rate of $239 for the deluxe (regular) AP. Not a huge difference, however, what if I end up being only able to visit Mickey and friends that one trip? Will I have benefited the most from the AP? No, not according to my math. Now if I was to go just one more time, for even but a couple of days, then I would be if anything breaking even, maybe even doing better from that. So I am undecided at this time, regarding the AP. Not to mention the good points that have been already, and in the past. One may have the urge to go just often enough, to where, one will be spending more money from what one might actually have in mind to do so. So therefore, perhaps by not having an AP, one can actually save money.

 

[kiwitravel]

I think the 14 day pass mentioned is the one we can buy here in New Zealand and Australia. It is NZ$357 which at the current exchange rate is about US$193.

We only paid $250 in 2006, pays to really shop around, you can get them at the moment for $298 but expect that to change now the exchange rate here has gone through the floor.

 

[LavenderPeach]

And from what I hear, it seems this whole year has been one big anomaly in terms of crowds. I'm not sure that this June could be considered normal, just like this October is either the new normal or a one-time crowded month, b/c in '06 when we went in October it was very quiet!

I also wonder if part of the reason for more crowds (or crowds at "slow" times of the year) could be because of the economy. What I mean is that maybe more local people than usual are going to DLR for day trips instead of going on vacation somewhere else in order to spend less money but still do something fun. Sort of like a staycation.

 

[JaneJetson]

I totally can see the good points that have been made about spending more money, via having a AP. That most definitely makes good sense.
I have been thinking, hm... promotional price next year for 3 day p/h tickets, $149.00 (most likely will include free parking, as well as MM) versus the special discounted rate of $239 for the deluxe (regular) AP. Not a huge difference, however, what if I end up being only able to visit Mickey and friends that one trip? Will I have benefited the most from the AP? No, not according to my math. Now if I was to go just one more time, for even but a couple of days, then I would be if anything breaking even, maybe even doing better from that. So I am undecided at this time, regarding the AP. Not to mention the good points that have been already, and in the past. One may have the urge to go just often enough, to where, one will be spending more money from what one might actually have in mind to do so. So therefore, perhaps by not having an AP, one can actually save money.

We thought about upgrading to an AP instead because if we made one more trip it would be worth it. However, I don't think we're going to so we're just doing the 3-day. I've never heard of the 3-day coming with free parking. Where did you hear that?