Great day at Disney yesterday!

[luvsvacation]

I’ve been reading about how crowed it currently is and how hard BG are to come by. I went into our trip with pretty low expectations as to what we would get to do. Yesterday was our first park day and it was awesome!! We left our hotel at 7:00 and got web slingers BG 24 just before we headed out. At rope drop we went straight to RSR and were on the ride by 8:10. We then headed to guardians, but had to stop and take pics along the way of all the cool stuff in Avengers campus. Rode Guardians (coolest ride ever btw!) by 8:40 and by then our web slingers BG had been called. Rode that by about 9:15. Then we stopped for lots of photos, watched some character interactions/shows and just generally wandered around. Rode Little Mermaid (husbands fav movie) and the Ferris wheel (swinging cars were not as scary as I thought they’d be). Went and picked up our food from Pyms and were eating that when I realized it was almost noon. I was shocked to get a BG for ROTR!! Group 174. After lunch we hung around Avengers Campus to watch the guardians dance off (DD fav movie) then we rode Toy Story and Incredicoaster before hopping over to Disneyland around 3:15. Went to Galaxy’s Edge and ROTR was down. We walked all around taking pics and looking at everything. Rode Smugglers Run and then ROTR and omg I can see now what all the excitement was about! It was amazing and I don’t even know the movies at all. DD and husband love them and they were in heaven. DS and I don’t watch the movies but were totally impressed! Walked around some more, and got some blue milk. Hit Pirates and Star Tours on our way out for the evening. Everyone was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel and chill. We’re doing Disneyland all day today so we weren’t too worried about hitting all the rides there yesterday. All in all it was a great day and we did far more than I expected! Looking forward to Disneyland today and trying for ROTR again!!

 

[Britrawr]

Thank you for posting this. I leave Monday and reading all the posts lately made my anxiety bad lol. I’m like you though I’m going with low expectations of how much I’ll get to do and hope for the best. Told my bf that I didn’t care what we did as long as I get to go! Been five years

 

[brenda1966]

I'm so glad you had a great time. Thanks for posting, I too was having second thoughts about an upcoming trip. Glad you found the magic!

 

[DLgal]

I think the fall break rush is over. This week appears to be very nice at the parks.

 

[ktlm]

I think the fall break rush is over. This week appears to be very nice at the parks.

So jealous!!!!!!! We were in the fall break mess.... of course we were there for fall break ourselves (we are from the middle of the country- not CA or AZ))

 

[Dug720]

Joining the group of thanks for this report! It's been hard to stay excited about my trip reading all the negativity on here. Very glad to hear a good report!

 

[luvsvacation]

Oh I forgot we rode Soarin yesterday too. Got a BG for ROTR again this morning! 9:00 and so far we’ve ridden Space Mtn and Indians Jones and are about halfway through line for haunted mansion. So so glad things are better this week! I was so nervous reading here the past few weeks!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Yay, so glad you're having a good trip!

I think the fall break rush is over. This week appears to be very nice at the parks.

Yes, last night was WORLDS away from our last few visits. We were at DCA, and lines were still pretty long (especially after about 6), but the wait times on the DL side looked much better, so I think if someone was at DCA and then DL yesterday, that would be pretty nice.

It's been hard to stay excited about my trip reading all the negativity on here.

I feel like most people here have actually gone out of their way not to be overly "negative" and have highlighted good moments that they had amidst the chaos of early October. Most of the reports have been quite reasonable, with thoughtful commentary, and people who have expressed disappointment have done so respectfully. I find it refreshing since other Disney discussion forums (Reddit, Twitter, etc.) just devolve into thoughtless pile-ons and bashing. I appreciate hearing a variety of experiences and sympathize with those who don't find the magic they're hoping for on their trips.

 

[Dug720]

I feel like most people here have actually gone out of their way not to be overly "negative" and have highlighted good moments that they had amidst the chaos of early October. Most of the reports have been quite reasonable, with thoughtful commentary, and people who have expressed disappointment have done so respectfully. I find it refreshing since other Disney discussion forums (Reddit, Twitter, etc.) just devolve into thoughtless pile-ons and bashing. I appreciate hearing a variety of experiences and sympathize with those who don't find the magic they're hoping for on their trips.

I was clearly not the only one feeling anxious about an upcoming trip as others on this thread thanked you also. There have been threads "I won't be going back because of lines!" "It's not what it was!" etc. that are not balanced, but regulars bemoaning everything as it is so much that it is easy to feel anxious when you're spending this kind of money on a trip.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I was clearly not the only one feeling anxious about an upcoming trip as others on this thread thanked you also. There have been threads "I won't be going back because of lines!" "It's not what it was!" etc. that are not balanced, but regulars bemoaning everything as it is so much that it is easy to feel anxious when you're spending this kind of money on a trip.

I think there is a lot of warranted frustration at what is happening to the parks. I can't remember any time in Disneyland history that this many disliked changes all happened at once. That said, there have been some improvements:

• character appearances are far more frequent so if you like seeing that, this is a huge improvement
• food has gotten better and not inflated as quickly in price compared to food outside the parks. Eating at Disneyland now feels comparatively inexpensive and good value compared to years ago. Pym's is a great example of a new restaurant that is done right
• the new rides with new technology are well done. Rise of the Resistance more so than Web Slingers but they're cool new modern rides
• having mobile order, Play Disney and other app features adds to the guest experience

But there are also some issues that make it seem like Disney is just trying to do the bare minimum while nickel and diming guests:

• The reservation system, especially what is happening for Magic Keys is not acceptable in my opinion
• The lack of entertainment lowers the value of going to the parks. The new Marvel shows are feeble attempts at entertainment and I would have expected something better out of Disney
• Forcing people to use apps when there are loads of IT errors is really lazy. I've had to deal with problems purchasing/upgrading Magic Keys and forced substitutions due to mobile order. They even got rid of the plastic card issued with Annual Passes
• Merchandise quality has gone down
• At the same time they are cutting things, prices have been going up

Lines are something that I think is justifiable to complain about but I don't necessarily blame Disney too much for. Maxpass was a great system but also eventually caused problems such as spikes in lines later on in the day when a major ride broke down. Virtual queues add stress if ROTR and Web Slingers are priorities but I see how they can help lower wait times. I can see some people benefit while others hurt in all line related situations so this is something I think people just need to adapt to.

In my opinion, if shows properly return, Disneyland in terms of attractions and entertainment would be better than in the past. Ignoring cost and difficulties when planning, Disneyland is still the best theme park in California unless you primarily care about big thrill ride. But once we add in the price and them making systems less customer friendly, I think it's getting harder and harder to justify paying to go to Disneyland.

 

[AndrewC]

Anyone that’s been reading my recent comments may think I’ve just experienced a bunch of little misses but I have really enjoyed myself this trip. I’ve done a huge amount (other than Sat/Sun last week, those days were a bit packed). It’s just really interesting to compare it to previous years. There are so many little things “off” or “lacking” compared to previous years. Would someone notice that only goes once every five years? Probably not. Would it be enough of a reason not to go, absolutely not. It’s just Disney would very much like to say things are back to normal and nothing to see here. In all honesty, they’re not back to normal. The casual guest won’t notice but if you’ve done it a bunch there are a bunch of little things that make you go “hmm, this used to be different.”

 

[cruisehopeful]

I'm glad things are getting better. I was thinking that although October has been a favorite time for me to go for the last 20 years or so, I probably would do all my Halloween visits in September next year. Perhaps I'll go during October next year after all, but not until the end of the month. September is generally a better time crowd wise, but it can also be hotter than I like.

 

[Pluto468]

Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you had a good time.

 

[Castlequeen5]

So glad to read your report! I too have read numerous reports about how crowded DL has been, how long the lines were, how the rides were breaking down, and how the food was running out. We were on the verge of canceling our trip as well, including losing our money on the OBB tickets. I even sent an email, opened a chat, and waited over an hour on hold, just so I could discuss my ticket options.

Ultimately, we decided to continue with our trip. It took me a couple of weeks to figure out, that we can still have a great time no matter what issues we face. I’ve been to WDW twice this year with no fastpasses or extra benefit, and it was fabulous! We are prepared for crowds and long lines. We have terrific ADRs for each day, that I worked really hard to get. We plan to mobile order early each day, for any additional meal or snack. And we will avoid carts, unless the line is short or we REALLY REALLY want it!

We are super excited about the new Avenger Campus and Guardians, since we haven’t been in almost 5 years. The Oogie Boogie party sounds like lots of fun. We already have a list of our must do rides, so hopefully we’ll get to knock those out and then some. Maybe we’ll get to do more than we plan, or maybe it’ll be less. But either way we’ll be spending the Halloween weekend at Disneyland, which is better than being at home!!