Feeling annoyed with Disney right now

[BriannaRuth]

So I'm a "plan everything" kinda gal when it comes to vacations. Maybe I need to take a deep breath and go with the flow instead. Or maybe Disney could be just a tiny bit more helpful knowing that people have to book things months in advance to get decent rates --

Planning a 8 day trip, 5 of which will be spent at DLR and 3 of which will spent spent at SeaWorld and Universal. Trying to decide which 5 days to spend at DLR, but my trip is the last week of August and there are no park hours, etc. posted yet. Thinking going during the week would be good, but I don't want to miss fireworks, etc. Makes it kinda tough to book a hotel, the prices of which are going up every day I check.

I would add that both SeaWorld and Universal have their calendars for late August posted. Hint to Disney.

On top of that, I'm booking the DLH during our stay, which comes with 6 day hoppers. But because we want to go to SeaWorld and Universal as well, I'm thinking of doing the CityPass "upgrade" available on Disney's site instead, which comes with 3 day hoppers instead of 6. When I ask what the cost will be to upgrade the CityPass to 6 day hoppers, they say, "We can't tell you." They say I'll have to check at the ticket office ON ARRIVAL, they can't tell me the cost in advance. Seriously? How am I supposed to know which package to book if they refuse to tell me what the cost will be?

I feel better now. Kind of.

 

[jenergy]

Well I'm pretty sure you can count on there being fireworks during the week in August as peak season doesn't typically end until early Sept. I know it's not a set in stone thing until the schedule comes out but with Cars Land opening, I'm assuming they're not going to update the schedule until end of June/early July for August.

As far as the tickets go, first of all, I wouldn't do a package cause I've never thought they were worth it. I'd just book hotel only then buy the tickets separately. Second, you should definitely try calling a couple more times to see if you can get an actual response about the upgrade cost. Just ask about it without asking about the package as I'm sure the CMs may get overwhelmed sometimes when there's multiple factors. If you still can't get a set cost then just buy them when you arrive. I know, it sucks not being able to know the exact cost to factor in but if you predict high then you can only be pleasantly surprised when it's lower than your prediction and you have extra money for food.

 

[chrissiecutie]

There is a way to access park hours and times from previous years. I've used it in years past but I'm sorry that I have no clue where to access this info now...maybe someone can chime in here??

While the parades, fireworks, times etc won't be exact, it can be very helpful in gathering info. For example, if you're going in Aug, I bet that by being able to see what was happening in the parks last Aug in 2011, would give you great insight into fireworks, parades, weekdays vs weekend etc.

Perhaps a google search for " summer 2011 park hours" or something of this nature would help??

 

[starshine514]

For many of these types of questions, try the stickies at the top of the board and look for Hydroguy's tips.

"Historical DLR Park Hours, Entertainment and Refurbs" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2291124

 

[taniapacheco]

call back and you might get the answer you want. That happened to me just last week. Wanted to add someone to my package first girl said no phoned back next girl said no problem. done.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

call back and get a diffrent person that person sounded rude and maybe new, but most cm's know what the price will be normaly you look at how much a 3 day pass costs and the add the diffrince up so if a 4day is 230 (just guessing) and the 3 day is 200 then 30 for 4 days, then add how much it would cost for the 5day ticket from the 4th (just guessing here but ive heard its done like this. good luck

 

[mystic_path]

I am going at the end of August too, and it is a challenge to plan you vacation when you just dont know hour etc. But I've been doing the planning for years now. You also sound like me when I first took over for my mother for all the the Disneyland trip planning and arrangements. When I start planning now I found that I had to ask myself a few questions

1. Are you planning on staying in an Anaheim hotel through your entire trip?
2. Are you renting a car or doing day excursion to Sea World and Universal? If you upgrade to a City Pass, you wont get as many days at Disneyland, plus you have to supply your own transportation.

I will share my personal experiences and travel tips. You can take them into account or not, but hopefully to help out a bit, my family has considered the city pass as an option, but opted to do day excursions through Gray Line Tours instead which departs from Anaheim and will take you to places like to Universal, or San Diego Zoo, and this year we have one booked for Sea World as well. Gray Line offers free round trip transportation from your hotel and back to your hotel door at the end of the day. So no driving on your part is required. Its brilliant and you can sit back and relax while you take the HOV lane and get there fast and hassle free.

They only time you may want a car is if you plan to do other things in the San Diego or LA area after park closing. But my family generally goes back to our hotel to change and goes back to Disneyland or relaxes in the hot tub. The great thing about Gray Line as well, is that if you book your tickets online, you can wait awhile before you call them to tell them what days you want to book your excursions on. I many times have waited up until a week or two before my vacation to give Gray Line a call. There is always space for you. So knowing that can take a lot of pressure off your worries.

If you had that 6th day instead of trying to upgrade to a City pass, then after you get back from Universal or Sea World you still have an evening to go into Disneyland when you return and have bit more fun, or depending on when you arrive or leave from your vacation you can always get into the park on the first day for a few hours, or on the last day before you leave.

Also Disney seems to have the same or similar set schedules each year for when peak season starts, when off season starts etc. My friend goes to Disneyland every year at the end of August and has been for the last 8 years.She says that the park hours stay open late until the end of the last weekend because its' the end of the peak summer season. So I would imagine during the week when we both are there the hours will stay open until 11pm, on weekends Midnight and on September 3rd they week day hours will go back to 8pm closing. Expect to see shows like the fireworks, or Fantasmic on the weekends (Friday - Sunday). Even in off season they will play on weekends unless there is a refurb or the fireworks are cancelled due to strong winds.

Whatever you decide to do, just relax and enjoy the experience of planning. Dont let it stress you out too much. Planning is half the fun.

 

[sonnyjane]

Can't help you with the CityPass issue, but as others said, August is still peak summer season (in fact end of August is more crowded than early August because of blockouts being lifted). That means that hours will still be long and entertainment will be the regular summer schedule of every night (not weekends only).

 

[cfrith5]

So I'm a "plan everything" kinda gal when it comes to vacations. Maybe I need to take a deep breath and go with the flow instead. Or maybe Disney could be just a tiny bit more helpful knowing that people have to book things months in advance to get decent rates --

Planning a 8 day trip, 5 of which will be spent at DLR and 3 of which will spent spent at SeaWorld and Universal. Trying to decide which 5 days to spend at DLR, but my trip is the last week of August and there are no park hours, etc. posted yet. Thinking going during the week would be good, but I don't want to miss fireworks, etc. Makes it kinda tough to book a hotel, the prices of which are going up every day I check.

I would add that both SeaWorld and Universal have their calendars for late August posted. Hint to Disney.

On top of that, I'm booking the DLH during our stay, which comes with 6 day hoppers. But because we want to go to SeaWorld and Universal as well, I'm thinking of doing the CityPass "upgrade" available on Disney's site instead, which comes with 3 day hoppers instead of 6. When I ask what the cost will be to upgrade the CityPass to 6 day hoppers, they say, "We can't tell you." They say I'll have to check at the ticket office ON ARRIVAL, they can't tell me the cost in advance. Seriously? How am I supposed to know which package to book if they refuse to tell me what the cost will be?

I feel better now. Kind of.

I've been feeling the same way. About a few different things like what you mention, also wish they'd put the hours the different restaurants are open. I have to search all over the internet trying to find this info.

 

[jenergy]

I've been feeling the same way. About a few different things like what you mention, also wish they'd put the hours the different restaurants are open. I have to search all over the internet trying to find this info.

The restaurant database on this site has all the hours for every restaurant on DLR property as far as I know.

 

[sonnyjane]

So I'm a "plan everything" kinda gal when it comes to vacations. Maybe I need to take a deep breath and go with the flow instead.

I've been feeling the same way. About a few different things like what you mention, also wish they'd put the hours the different restaurants are open. I have to search all over the internet trying to find this info.

Sorry you guys are disappointed, but Disneyland just isn't the park for "plan everything"-ers. If you want that, deal with "The World" and HAVING to make dining reservations exactly 6 months out or risk not eating at all. The best thing about Disneyland is that you don't NEED that level of planning here. Depending on when you're traveling, you can find a lot of useful information on these boards from regular visitors of the parks and also from old statistical data and park hours. As we mentioned for the OP, visiting during summer pretty much guarantees long hours and full entertainment.

When are you visiting, cfrith5? Do you have any specific questions we can help you with?

 

[sheetz]

When I ask what the cost will be to upgrade the CityPass to 6 day hoppers, they say, "We can't tell you." They say I'll have to check at the ticket office ON ARRIVAL, they can't tell me the cost in advance. Seriously? How am I supposed to know which package to book if they refuse to tell me what the cost will be?

.

I think the reason they can't tell you is because there's always a chance that prices could change by that time.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

The City Pass: They will give you $198 (adult) towards the higher priced ticket. BUT they no longer sell the 6 day passes so you may not be able to get 6 days in September. Some sites still have the 6 day passes but that's only until Sunday so decide fast.

August 2011 hours

 

[BriannaRuth]

The reason we're not doing the GrayLine thing is because we really want something more leisurely and don't want to be stuck on GrayLine's schedule. Leaving and returning the same day isn't all that appealing to me. We arrive into John Wayne mid-morning, so that gives us plenty of time to drive down to San Diego and maybe do a little sightseeing and hanging out at the pool before being at SeaWorld first thing in the AM the next day if we stay in San Diego instead of Anaheim.

Thanks for the recommendations about trying to call again, I'll do that!

As for late August being busier than early August -- that's not what I've heard, although I haven't been in DL that time of year. Supposedly the local schools go back on the 20th and the crowds die down somewhat during the week. RideMax shows a big drop on wait times on the 20th. We'll just have to see ... I already have my airline tickets, so we get what we get! We've always gone in September before but I just can't take the kids out of school this year as they're older and their school docks their grades 40% for unexcused absences!

 

[BriannaRuth]

And thanks for all the info on the CityPass price differences! I'm thinking going ahead with the 6 day hoppers with my package and then buying SeaWorld and/or Universal tix separately is going to be the way to go, but I will call DL back again just to see if I can get a better answer.

 

[DISHoppy]

"The World" and HAVING to make dining reservations exactly 6 months out or risk not eating at all.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, there are some places like CRT and Le Cellier that require an ADR 6 mos. out to get the best times (mainly due to limited seating), but I have made plenty of ressies w/in a couple of mos. out for good times @ very good places to eat like Jiko, Boma, Artist Point, etc. We've also walked up to places like Tony's during spring break and got a table outside during dinner time and had a great meal while people watching and catching the end of the late afternoon parade. It all depends on the time of year and whether free dining is being offered. Even failing that, I'm more than happy to grab a dog @ Casey's.

-Kevin

 

[DISHoppy]

Also Disney seems to have the same or similar set schedules each year for when peak season starts, when off season starts etc.

That kinda goes out the window this year with the events/crowds for DCA and the addition on EMH and APEE. You're more than likely to see more early and possibly longer hours this summer.

-Kevin

 

[disneychrista]

You can expect hours to be
Disneyland Park 8am - 12 mindnight
DCA 8am - 11pm.

Entertainment schedule will be similar to be what it is in July.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

As for late August being busier than early August -- that's not what I've heard, although I haven't been in DL that time of year. Supposedly the local schools go back on the 20th and the crowds die down somewhat during the week. RideMax shows a big drop on wait times on the 20th. We'll just have to see ... I already have my airline tickets, so we get what we get! We've always gone in September before but I just can't take the kids out of school this year as they're older and their school docks their grades 40% for unexcused absences!

Southern California has over 20 million residents, and there are over 100 different school districts in just Orange and Los Angeles Counties. There are no "local schools" to count on with dates- some will start as early as the first or second week in August, others not until after Labor Day. Don't count on school calendars to plan days. I would focus more on days that APs are blocked out. But no matter what, with the opening of Carsland, this is going to be a massively busy summer. Lots of folks (tourists as well as Californians) have put off trips till this summer when Carsland was finished.

 

[mystic_path]

This is going to be one interesting summer at the DLR you guys! This will be me -----> and many others constantly watching the boards and other sites on crowd reviews, ride reviews, entry reviews, and strategies to see how bad things really are there and how to tackle it. Good or bad, this is going to be a shock to us all. Just be prepared for it to be busy. You will most likely have to wait at times to see attractions, but take a deep breath, jump in and have a good time. Your at Disney, and everyone else is sitting at their work desks totally jealous that you are getting a wicked sun tan, chasing pirates, eating a churros, watching fireworks, parades and meeting Mickey mouse