For all the people who are 'freaking out' about the Carsland/DCA crowds...stop it!

[Rhonna]

After one ride on Luigi's, we headed to the RSR single rider line. (We were a group of adults, which made this feasible.) By the time we got in the single riders line, RSR was just getting going, and we rode it three times in a row in single rider, with almost no wait any time.

When you do the SR line do you see any of the theming of the main line?

 

[fctiger]

I've said in my Christmas Superthread before, "Don't be scared; be prepared."

It's very encouraging that things don't seem to be unbearably crowded so far!

To kind of put things in perspective, I would imagine that the 'key' here is that people conjure up images of crowds in their minds that are far worse than what the reality will turn out to be. So if someone expects the worst, then in all likelihood they will return and say it wasn't that bad. Anything that's better than what was imagined will seem like a relief!

However, I have found - and the subject of crowds comes up in my Halloween and Christmas Superthreads all the time - that to not expect crowds is just asking for someone to come back and say, "It was a lot more crowded than I expected!"

Also, a lot of it is in personal interpretation - I have seen people comment on certain days they were in the parks and they labeled them as "so crowded I won't go back again during that time," whereas other people who were there on the same exact days will return and say, "It wasn't that crowded at all!" That always amuses me!

I've only personally seen DCA in a really 'uncrowded' (nearly empty by comparison) state a few times - one of the days was Friday, September 16th last year (because everyone was in Disneyland for the Halloween festivities) and one of the days was Monday, December 5th of last year as well. The other time was maybe back in September 2007! I know to not expect that kind of luck again in the near future, but it's great to know that things are not as ominous as predicted or expected!

Oh yeah definitely agree! Its all relative at the end of the day! Even for me, when people said DL was 'busy' didnt feel all that bad to me because I'm a TDR vet where it can get VERY busy and was use to being in 1-2 hour lines regularly. So anything just an hour was light for me, but felt busy for others.

Anyway, if we are talking just DLR of course, most people probably just base it on the time of year. If its July and you can actually get on SM with just a 40 min wait, which been the average all summer thus far, thats VERY light for that time of year when it can easily be over an hour. But 40 min in the middle of Sept suddenly that 40 min wait feels very long when you can get on SM around 20 mins in the off season.

But yes, its SO nice to be able to go to these parks now and just have a very easy going time, even with all the people there. I still think its funny ST 2, the HUGE line eating ride just a year ago is now getting waits for 25-35 mins average basically all day long! FPs stick around through 7-8 p.m. now. That also tells you this stuff simply dies down after the initial hype. People were saying ST 2 will be 1-2 hours for years because of its random scenes ability, but it has found a balance like ALL this stuff finds after awhile.

And I will guarantee you a year from now RSR will have fallen a lot as well. Maybe not 30 mins but its not going to be 2-3 hour waits. It will probably be around 60 min waits average in high season.

Seriously, if you can go this summer, GO!!! All the new things that are around, the extended hours to see it all and the most reasonable waits I seen this summer thats hasnt been this good in years is a great time to go!

 

[Califgirl]

When you do the SR line do you see any of the theming of the main line?

Not much of the theming. The standby line goes through lots of little buildings that are each themed (including a bottle house buildidng). the SR line (and FP line) doesn't go in any of the buildings, but you do get a fairly nice view in most of the SR queue.

 

[Rhonna]

Not much of the theming. The standby line goes through lots of little buildings that are each themed (including a bottle house buildidng). the SR line (and FP line) doesn't go in any of the buildings, but you do get a fairly nice view in most of the SR queue.

Thanks. I'm sure it's worth the shorter wait to skip the long queue.

 

[profa]

We were there last week including doomsday the 24th. I was a little worried after all the talk on here but that was our DL day and MM and it was fine. We loved DL because it seemed much calmer than DCA. DH isn't one for heavy crowds and just getting around DCA on June 26th was more work.
I sent him straight to RS but it was not working. I went to a FP line that was wrapped around hollywood and bugs land, which I ddn't realize at first. At 8:40 I got our FP for 6pm. The boys got to do mater 2x but never luigi as the lines were alway over 70 min including during WOC.
The joy of CL is that disney doesn't seem as crazy.

 

[katejc]

Oh Thanks for letting me know! I still have hope!

Oh me, too! I am glas to hear that!

 

[pinktink83]

I gotta call you out on this one. No way is DL a "dream" during the summer, right after an entire new land opens up. Not compared to off season months during the school week anyway, and thats what matters to me (and a lot of other people).

And do you have kids at the park with you? Because it doesn't sound like it, and that makes a HUGE difference!!!!! Being one person with no responsibilities but yourself would be awesome anytime. But going with a family of 3-5 would be my definition of a nightmare during the hot, busy season.

Not to mention, you obviously live in Cali and get to go whenever the heck you darn well please, can choose to skip rides or stand in long lines, etc. People coming for ONE TRIP for a few days do not have that luxury! So of course they are more worried about crowds! Going to DL for a day to hang out is NOTHING like going to DL for a family vacation from out of state.

 

[fctiger]

I gotta call you out on this one. No way is DL a "dream" during the summer, right after an entire new land opens up. Not compared to off season months during the school week anyway, and thats what matters to me (and a lot of other people).

And do you have kids at the park with you? Because it doesn't sound like it, and that makes a HUGE difference!!!!! Being one person with no responsibilities but yourself would be awesome anytime. But going with a family of 3-5 would be my definition of a nightmare during the hot, busy season.

Not to mention, you obviously live in Cali and get to go whenever the heck you darn well please, can choose to skip rides or stand in long lines, etc. People coming for ONE TRIP for a few days do not have that luxury! So of course they are more worried about crowds! Going to DL for a day to hang out is NOTHING like going to DL for a family vacation from out of state.

Ok, I dont know where the hostility is coming from lol, but ok!

Lets clear up a few things:

A. No, dont have kids, but have been with MANY family members who do, all under the age of 8 and yes, its very different experience! In fact, was there with 5 kids and 6 adults just one week after the official opening! We had a great time! But again, the point of the thread wasnt talking about how 'easy' it was to do the parks in the summer, simply that its not as BAD as people predicted or as its been previous summers. So having kids or not wouldnt make any difference in that respect. If you go with kids in the summer, you go with kids in the summer, right? Plenty of people obviously do, but thats not what this thread about.

B. I'm NOT suggesting it dead or anything, as I made clear to point out several times now, simply that its 'managable'. The point is everyone thought when CL opened, suddenly TLM was going to be 40 mins or TOT was going to be 2 hours, etc. I wrote this thread to tell people that average wait times has basically been either normal for this time of year or even LESS than this time of year as others have mentioned as well.

C. As I ALSO said, you should still plan like you normally do! If that means you are a family of 5 who wants to do the FL rides first, fine, get there early! If it means you want to do RSR, fine, get there early! If you have EE, fine, do that as well! My only point is its absolutely NO reason to postpone your trip months OR think you cant get much done right now. You can! If you are a family and you usually do a normal set of things at this time of year, you can STILL do that, even with the onslaught of CL. Thats what I'm saying!


D. I NEVER said you shouldnt be worried about crowds, what I'm telling you as a local and has gone to the park for several weeks now that the crowds is not forming as predicted! DL and DCA is basically a dream FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR! I'm not saying its like being there in January on a Thursday, but for it to be the week of July 4th and 90% of the attractions are under an hour wait, FPs lasting all day and you dont have to line up an hour for every show IS a dream for this time of year.

But if you just hate summers, thats fine. Not suggesting you go during that time. This is for the people who DO like to go during that time, but felt reluntant because all the media and hysteria scared them away. There is no reason to be!

Hope that clears it up!

 

[limace]

Whoa, Pinktink! I'm not sure why this thread has upset you, but I'm a mom with 3 kids, including a toddler, I live far away, and this thread was great news for me. It doesn't matter if crowds are much better on a Thursday in January, but I can't go then (see above mention of 3 kids).

I've been before for a week in July, right after Nemo (not a fare comparison to CL, to be sure, but still increased crowds), with a different toddler at the time, and we had a fabulous trip. We got up early, napped back at te hotel, etc etc... It sounds like our August trip might be similar. Thanks!

 

[daneenm]

We just got back, visiting DLR 6/28-7/2. We concur with what others have said. ..Carsland was crowded, but the rest of DCA and DL were quite manageable, at least early in the day. We stayed on property and were traveling in a group of 4 (Mom, Dad, DD15, DS11). The plan of attack that worked well for us where CL was concerned was...

• On EE mornings at DCA, we lined up at the gates at 6:20. We were first in line at our gate both days we did this.

• At rope drop, walk to RSR and ride. Both days we were there we walked right on.

• Ride Luigi's next (very little wait because folks were still on RSR).
**note: on the second day at DCA, DD and DS jumped into the SR line for RSR twice, directly after our first ride. Walked on both times. So that was 3 rides for them before 7:45 a.m.

• Rode Mater with the children while DH got into the FP line for RSR. 10:40 return time on our FP.

• At 8:00, after collecting our Fps for RSR, headed to TSMM for a 5 and 10 minute wait for two consecutive rides.

In DL, we FPed and rode everything we wanted multiple times. We found Sunday night at DL to be quite crowded, but were only went in after dinner for a few rides, so it did not cause an issue for us. With arriving so early, we were usually ready for a break between 13:30 and 1:30 and hit the pool and went back to the parks after dinner.

We had a great time!

 

[rramstad]

We just got back, visiting DLR 6/28-7/2. We concur with what others have said. ..Carsland was crowded, but the rest of DCA and DL were quite manageable, at least early in the day. We stayed on property and were traveling in a group of 4 (Mom, Dad, DD15, DS11). The plan of attack that worked well for us where CL was concerned was...

• On EE mornings at DCA, we lined up at the gates at 6:20. We were first in line at our gate both days we did this.

• At rope drop, walk to RSR and ride. Both days we were there we walked right on.

• Ride Luigi's next (very little wait because folks were still on RSR).
**note: on the second day at DCA, DD and DS jumped into the SR line for RSR twice, directly after our first ride. Walked on both times. So that was 3 rides for them before 7:45 a.m.

• Rode Mater with the children while DH got into the FP line for RSR. 10:40 return time on our FP.

• At 8:00, after collecting our Fps for RSR, headed to TSMM for a 5 and 10 minute wait for two consecutive rides.

In DL, we FPed and rode everything we wanted multiple times. We found Sunday night at DL to be quite crowded, but were only went in after dinner for a few rides, so it did not cause an issue for us. With arriving so early, we were usually ready for a break between 13:30 and 1:30 and hit the pool and went back to the parks after dinner.

We had a great time!

Really cool plan.

Anyone out there with a similar set of suggestions for NON EMH people?

 

[disneegrl4eva]

B. I'm NOT suggesting it dead or anything, as I made clear to point out several times now, simply that its 'managable'. The point is everyone thought when CL opened, suddenly TLM was going to be 40 mins or TOT was going to be 2 hours, etc.

see now I never thought that TSM and TOT was going to be worse than it usually is during the summer...Im going by crowds and although you are right, its not as bad as people thought it would be straight away, I still stick by what Ive been saying all along that its going to be busier this year than most...I think a lot of people didnt go to DL this summer because they expected huge crowds due to CL and that they are waiting till cooler weather ie halloweentime, the holidays etc. to go and i think this is when we are going to see the impact the most...

 

[quantumottle]

I gotta call you out on this one. No way is DL a "dream" during the summer, right after an entire new land opens up. Not compared to off season months during the school week anyway, and thats what matters to me (and a lot of other people).

Don't concern your self with this post fctiger, some people just don't get it.

How anyone can think the best time to visit DL is when the park opens at 10 and closes at 8, has multiple ride refurbishments going on, and minimum shows and attractions running, is beyond me...

Indeed, some people just don't get it. As they say, to each there own.

 

[BayGirl22]

Don't concern your self with this post fctiger, some people just don't get it.

How anyone can think the best time to visit DL is when the park opens at 10 and closes at 8, has multiple ride refurbishments going on, and minimum shows and attractions running, is beyond me...

Indeed, some people just don't get it. As they say, to each there own.

Huh? How is that statement to each their own? Plenty of reason for some people to visit then, especially if you don't want to deal with navigating with tiny kids through crowds, aren't going to be able to ride most of the e-ticket rides, and don't plan to stay in the parks late into the night. There are times in my life when I'd love to be at DLR in the middle of the summer and times in my life I'd prefer to be there the week after Labor Day. Its not a matter of not getting it, its a matter of understanding your needs and knowing what you are getting in to so you set your expectations appropriately.

I actually thought it was someone else (not the OP) who said DLR last week "was a dream". I thought that statement, said without the context of "its a dream for Summer" was what PinkTink was responding too. But it wasn't quoted, so just a guess. Within that context I didn't interpret the post as hostile.

 

[quiltymom]

I was talking with a PhotoPass photographer on Main Street on Tuesday afternoon and he was wondering where all the people were. He said that both Monday and Tuesday seemed very slow to him compared to the previous week.

And DCA didn't seem that crazy to me at all, 'cept for RSR. The lines for the characters (except for the princesses) in both parks were insanely SHORT, averaging a 10 minute wait. (sorry - had to use that word... :lol

 

[fctiger]

see now I never thought that TSM and TOT was going to be worse than it usually is during the summer...Im going by crowds and although you are right, its not as bad as people thought it would be straight away, I still stick by what Ive been saying all along that its going to be busier this year than most...I think a lot of people didnt go to DL this summer because they expected huge crowds due to CL and that they are waiting till cooler weather ie halloweentime, the holidays etc. to go and i think this is when we are going to see the impact the most...

Well maybe YOU didnt think that, but the threads I been reading here and other places seem to assumed the ENTIRE resort was going to be packed due to CL and DCA in general. It seemed to be this belief that it was just going to be wall to wall people everywhere and while that still can happen, thus far its been the complete opposite.

And as someone who spent about 5-6 days at DLR last summer vs 9 this summer so far, seriously once you get out of CL it doesnt feel any different than last summer, which obviously had a lot going on as well, but still very very managable.

And like I also said, CL in general is just not that busy as people thought. Besides RSR and LFT, the rest of the place if fine! It takes 10-15 mins average to be served in Flos. All the shops are walk ins and Maters is 20-30 mins wait average. Its gotten up to 60-90 mins, but that was the first few days and in the mornings. By the afternoon and evenings it drops off a lot!

As I said in my second post here, I think a lot of people assumed CL would be like Harry Potter in IOA and have massive queues to get in the place. Nothing close to that ever happened. Disney planned the area well for crowd control unlike Harry Potter which is VERY flawed in that arena.

Don't concern your self with this post fctiger, some people just don't get it.

How anyone can think the best time to visit DL is when the park opens at 10 and closes at 8, has multiple ride refurbishments going on, and minimum shows and attractions running, is beyond me...

Indeed, some people just don't get it. As they say, to each there own.

Well to be fair, I have no issues if the poster doesnt think the summer is a good time for them and thats fine! But this thread had nothing to do with summer per se, it was just about the hysteria behind the opening of CL and BVS. It just happens to open in the summer obviously, but the threead was IF people wanted to come this summer, but felt uneasy about it, there was no reason to wait, none! UNLESS you want to go and hit RSR 5 times straight or something, other than that its been very manageable and no different than most summers. And as I and others been saying, some days its felt LESS busy in some ways since so many people are in CL.

Thats all I was saying and and I made two long, detailed posts stating just that! It has nothing to do with how one individual and their family tour the parks and the best time for them to go, it was simply about the overall crowds at the resort during this time and how controlled they are vs the madhouse everyone just assumed it would be.

I think the poster didnt read the full post (and if they did I apologize) and just assumed I was telling people its super light and summer is really the only time to come or something which I never remotely said of course.

And yes, summer is usually busy for a reason, because thats when the majority of people get vacation time! I'm sure some people would love just the opposite and take it at other times of the year when tourism seasons are down and can take advantage of off season deals and less crowds. I mean for anywhere, not just DL or other theme parks! I went to Greece once in the off season, one of the best vacations of my life! The islands were empty and everything was 50% off because it was Febuary and still great weather! But not everyone gets that luxury and if you have kids its going to just be easier to work around their school vacations. So it goes both ways!

 

[wbl2745]

We were at DLR last week and were a little concerned about the crowds in general and in Carsland in particular, but then we noticed that with an effective use of FPs and early entry we had been on RSR four times, waiting no more than 30 minutes each time, Mater's Jamboree and Lugi's several times, and all of the DCA rides that we wanted. We usually go to DLR in the off season and I was really pleasantly surprised at all of the street entertainment that is usually not present in February or October.

As I was in Critter Country there was an older couple with a couple of young kids walking toward Splash Mountain. The lady commented to her husband (I presume) "We paid all that money and there's nothing that we can do." True at the point in the afternoon the standby line for Splash Mountain was about 90 minutes. I felt sorry for them and think someone (me?) should have tried to help them. Disney is less and less about spontaneity.

I really agree with the original poster, making a few plans and using your knowledge about the flow of traffic, our trip to DCA and DL really did not suffer from the crowds. I may change our attendance patterns to come in the summer to catch all the extras.

 

[woody73]

We have annual passes and went last week. Lines were long, but worth it.

Woody

 

[sheetz]

I really agree with the original poster, making a few plans and using your knowledge about the flow of traffic, our trip to DCA and DL really did not suffer from the crowds. I may change our attendance patterns to come in the summer to catch all the extras.

I think this is the point. There will be crowds, but aside from Cars Land, it's not too hard to avoid them by doing a little planning and understanding the resort's new traffic patterns.

Many people have had fears of both parks filling to capacity but AFAIK neither has come even close.

 

[AddictedtoDoleWhip]

I was at CL last night and it really wasn't all that bad, but if you do not have a FP I highly suggest a Single Rider if it's an option (obviously not if your kid is really young.) The group I was with when I did Single Rider waited in line for 3 hours or so (for Radiator Springs)

That's crazy in my opinion, and please whatever you do:

MAKE SURE YOUR KID IS TALL ENOUGH BEFORE WAITING FOR 3+ HOURS. Yesterday a CM had to tell the family the little girl was not tall enough, even though she hit the height requirement with shoes that made her just hit the right height limit they made her take off her shoes and measured her and then said she cannot ride the ride. They apologized to the family for them having to wait for awhile, but rules were rules. They were mad and the little girl was crying. They were able to get through the first measurement place by making it so she couldn't be seen by the person in the beginning of the line.

I haven't yet gone to any other ride of CL, the other two look okay but I'm more interested in Radiator Springs

Oh and Tower of Terror was like a 75 minute wait yesterday, Toy Story Mania was 50 minutes. Caliornia Screamin' wasn't too bad, only 15 minutes (I remember a very long time ago when it was always a super long line lol.) I thought about doing Grizzly River Run since it was a 5 minute wait at 10:50, but decided against it because I didn't want to be cold.