Disneyland July 4-8 - great time or terrible idea?

[disneylover102]

Yeah, the reservation system has really evened things out. We went on Dec 19, 21, and 28, and almost went back on Dec 31 (same day reservations were available). It was fine.

Yeah when we went I remember 3 hours for Space, 2 hours for Star Tours, an hour for Buzz, 3 hours for Indy, 2 hours for Splash even though it was December, 4 hours for Cars, 2 hours for Screamin’ (which is what it was back then)… and the list goes on. The paper fastpasses were disconnected between the 2 parks so I was the fastpass runner all day park hopping about 10 times a day to get those fastpasses… we managed to have fun. My legs didn’t though. But never again lol

 

[DLgal]

Yeah when we went I remember 3 hours for Space, 2 hours for Star Tours, an hour for Buzz, 3 hours for Indy, 2 hours for Splash even though it was December, 4 hours for Cars, 2 hours for Screamin’ (which is what it was back then)… and the list goes on. The paper fastpasses were disconnected between the 2 parks so I was the fastpass runner all day park hopping about 10 times a day to get those fastpasses… we managed to have fun. My legs didn’t though. But never again lol

It's been like this ever since Genie+ showed up.

I kid. Sort of...

 

[disneylover102]

It's been like this ever since Genie+ showed up.

I kid. Sort of...

Yeah… I mean wait times definitely aren’t THAT bad but some of them there aren’t even that many people in line but LL is way over prioritized… especially Space. I was joking around with my family last night that the ratio of LL to standby over there is 99 to 1… or maybe 100 to 0… lol but that line moves soooo slow now I’m desperate for single rider back lol

 

[Wesley815]

Yeah… I mean wait times definitely aren’t THAT bad but some of them there aren’t even that many people in line but LL is way over prioritized… especially Space. I was joking around with my family last night that the ratio of LL to standby over there is 99 to 1… or maybe 100 to 0… lol but that line moves soooo slow now I’m desperate for single rider back lol

Yep, Rise also completely stops standby if any LL show up. There's no ratio for Rise, 100% LL and if any break than maybe one or two of the lower class standby who don't even get eye contact. Don't even try to ride Rise right after downtime. Standby can stop for over 30 minutes for them to try and catch up on LL backlog.

Not blaming LL guests or hourly CM's- after all, the line better move fast if they each paid $20. Disney corp office is enjoying it though. You also can't compare it to Fast Pass as that was 'free' so it gave CM's a little more flexibility with merge ratio to standby.

 

[DLgal]

Yeah… I mean wait times definitely aren’t THAT bad but some of them there aren’t even that many people in line but LL is way over prioritized… especially Space. I was joking around with my family last night that the ratio of LL to standby over there is 99 to 1… or maybe 100 to 0… lol but that line moves soooo slow now I’m desperate for single rider back lol

The part about all of it that throws me off now is that you can't accurately judge how crowded it is by looking at wait times on the app. Last Sunday had the appearance of being crowded because of long wait times, but we were there and it felt very empty.

 

[disneylover102]

Yep, Rise also completely stops standby if any LL show up. There's no ratio for Rise, 100% LL and if any break than maybe one or two of the lower class standby who don't even get eye contact.

Not blaming LL guests or hourly CM's- after all, the line better move fast if they each paid $20. Disney corp office is enjoying it. Remember, money first before guest service is the new training policy.

Yeah I got LL for Rise every day of my last trip and it broke down during my window 3 days in a row and I was able to buy again. Out of the 8 times I used a LL there I got on immediately 7 times. The other time it was a few minutes because it was super backed up. It seemed to me that most of the time LL wasn’t backed up and because of that a significant portion of standby could go. But there was this one time I thought I had done well because I hurried to Rise once it came back up after being down. The posted wait was 50 and the line was just starting at the caves, which always took less than a half hour with boarding groups. It took 80 minutes to get on the final ride portion because LL was super backed up from the breakdown.

Moral of the story? Don’t think you’re saving any time by going right when Rise comes back up LOL

 

[disneylover102]

The part about all of it that throws me off now is that you can't accurately judge how crowded it is by looking at wait times on the app. Last Sunday had the appearance of being crowded because of long wait times, but we were there and it felt very empty.

Yeah. Soarin’ is REALLY bad. I haven’t waited in standby post-genie+ since I’ve been buying it but the wait has been 2 hours when the line is barely outside the ride building. And that’s apparently accurate because one time when I was about to get on it broke down and there were some very angry standby people who had been waiting 100 minutes

 

[DLgal]

Yeah. Soarin’ is REALLY bad. I haven’t waited in standby post-genie+ since I’ve been buying it but the wait has been 2 hours when the line is barely outside the ride building. And that’s apparently accurate because one time when I was about to get on it broke down and there were some very angry standby people who had been waiting 100 minutes

Goofys Sky School is another bad one. I can't fathom why they EVER added LL to this ride in the first place. It loads as slowly as all the Fabtasyland dark rides.

 

[disneylover102]

Goofys Sky School is another bad one. I can't fathom why they EVER added LL to this ride in the first place. It loads as slowly as all the Fabtasyland dark rides.

I’ve only ever done Goofy’s once and that was last week with LL because I didn’t have hardly anything left I could get LL for. First of all I hated it LOL. But also yeah it loaded really slow and I did not envy those in the standby line… I also couldn’t understand why people were waiting so long, I waited 6 minutes and that wasn’t even worth the wait LOL

 

[DLgal]

I’ve only ever done Goofy’s once and that was last week with LL because I didn’t have hardly anything left I could get LL for. First of all I hated it LOL. But also yeah it loaded really slow and I did not envy those in the standby line… I also couldn’t understand why people were waiting so long, I waited 6 minutes and that wasn’t even worth the wait LOL

My kids love it. If not for them, I'd skip it every time.

 

[disneylover102]

My kids love it. If not for them, I'd skip it every time.

I’ve never liked that kind of coaster. I don’t see what’s so fun about all those sharp turns. They weren’t as bad on Goofy’s as other Wild Mouse type rides but the pain inflicted on me throughout the rest of the ride made up for that LOL

 

[gelatoni fan]

My experience with July 4th is that in the morning, crowds are surprisingly light but a couple hours before fireworks, Main Street gets packed. The July 4th World of Color is my favorite version of the show.

If the July 4th fireworks and World of Color runs for a few days before July 4 as in some previous years, the days after July 4th may actually see lighter crowds as people would have gone on the earlier days.

 

[mouschievous]

Husband has to work on July 4, so we won't arrive until evening. No park that day for us, which is fine, probably for the best actually. Hoping for lighter crowds 5-7!

 

[DLgal]

My experience with July 4th is that in the morning, crowds are surprisingly light but a couple hours before fireworks, Main Street gets packed. The July 4th World of Color is my favorite version of the show.

If the July 4th fireworks and World of Color runs for a few days before July 4 as in some previous years, the days after July 4th may actually see lighter crowds as people would have gone on the earlier days.

I didn't find last July 4 particular crowded at fireworks time, but they were also still doing limited capacity then. Regardless, my son and I always watch the fireworks (husband and other son go back to the hotel as they don't like the noise) and we are always able to find a spot near the train station last minute to watch. Last year, we were on the street directly in front of the train station and had plenty of personal space around us.

 

[mouschievous]

I just realized we'll probably miss fireworks all together, won't we? We likely won't get there in time for fireworks on the 4th, and we'll leave on the 8th (Friday) before fireworks time. DL doesn't do them on weeknights like WDW, do they? Oh well - not the most important part of the trip. I'm just hoping WOC is up and running so I can finally see it!

 

[gelatoni fan]

I just realized we'll probably miss fireworks all together, won't we? We likely won't get there in time for fireworks on the 4th, and we'll leave on the 8th (Friday) before fireworks time. DL doesn't do them on weeknights like WDW, do they? Oh well - not the most important part of the trip. I'm just hoping WOC is up and running so I can finally see it!

In the summer, they are likely to run fireworks and the other nighttime spectaculars every evening. It's possible they won't in the current Bob Chapek era but historically, they'd have fireworks on July 5-7 even if they were weekdays.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I think weather will be fine, it'll be coming off of the variably cloudy June weather, and on-site stay = afternoon pool break with a park return (yay late hours!)

But it was definitely 107 degrees on July 6, 2018... so be prepared for that possibility.

 

[mouschievous]

@PirateBrigade, yeah...we lived through that 116 degree nonsense in the PNW last summer! If temps are in the 100s, we'll definitely be early morning and late night people at the parks.

 

[DLgal]

I just realized we'll probably miss fireworks all together, won't we? We likely won't get there in time for fireworks on the 4th, and we'll leave on the 8th (Friday) before fireworks time. DL doesn't do them on weeknights like WDW, do they? Oh well - not the most important part of the trip. I'm just hoping WOC is up and running so I can finally see it!

Fireworks are nightly between Memorial Day and Labor Day.