How bad is it?

[Goseethemouse]

I am thinking of taking a vacation in Southern California with my sons (11 and 14) this summer but am not sure whether to visit Disneyland or not. We have been pretty often to WDW and once to DL (well, the kids once, I have been several times). Everyone loves it but it has gotten so expensive and now I keep hearing about all the cut-backs/closures.

We would probably visit for two or three days right around Labor Day. I have been reading various threads but have a hard time figuring out exactly what would be closed. Can anyone give me a better idea of what all we would be missing?

 

[luulu1999]

I am thinking of taking a vacation in Southern California with my sons (11 and 14) this summer but am not sure whether to visit Disneyland or not. We have been pretty often to WDW and once to DL (well, the kids once, I have been several times). Everyone loves it but it has gotten so expensive and now I keep hearing about all the cut-backs/closures.

We would probably visit for two or three days right around Labor Day. I have been reading various threads but have a hard time figuring out exactly what would be closed. Can anyone give me a better idea of what all we would be missing?

besides what will be closed all year which is fantasmic, the train, and the rivers of america stuff they dont really announce that far in advance, im not sure when they close stuff for halloween overlays either

 

[Epek]

Haunted Mansion usually closes right before Labor Day weekend for it's Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. Space Mountain closes right after, I believe (someone will correct me if I'm wrong ). However, we don't know the status on Hyperspace Mountain. They could very well choose not to do the Halloween overlay and keep it as it is!

 

[mad hatter fan]

Lulu mentioned all of the things that we know will be down then. Of those things, I feel that the only one that could warrant a discussion of "if it is worth the trip this summer" would be Fantasmic. And there are so many new things to experience. The Fireworks are a new show, and the new night time parade Paint the Night is amazing! My family and I are going this summer and while we will miss Fantasmic, PTN will definitely soften the blow as my kids haven't seen it yet. World of Color is a great show as well and Soarin will have a new movie by then.

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thanks for all the answers.

I don't care too much about Fantasmic - I am actually more worried about the train and rivers of america. Doesn't that take out a big chunk of the park?

 

[Disney Dider]

We never to the boat stuff or the island. If you don't care about fantasmic you are good to go!

 

[mad hatter fan]

The view of the rivers of america is not affected. They have used coffer dams to keep the water in part of the river but they apparently they are not in view to visitors to the park. I have been to the park when they completely drained the river. That really affected the feel of the area. This way is so much better. And while Tom Sawyer island, the two ships, and the canoes being down my be disappointing, they are not even close to being any of the most popular attractions and would not affect my family's enjoyment of a trip much. We have been on many trips of 5 days and more over the years and some trips we did not do any of those attractions. The train will disappoint us more this summer but mostly because we will miss a way to reduce the walking.

 

[Goseethemouse]

We usually do spend a couple of hours visiting the island and the train at Disneyland is so much fun... Glad to hear that it at least looks okay - it would be a real bummer to just see a drained river.

 

[mad hatter fan]

We have had many trips when something beforehand caused a very big disappointment. Because we knew about them in advance, we had time to get over that disappointment, adjust expectations, and move our focus to all of the many other things that were still open. We always went on to have a great trip. Only you can decide if these things are a no go for you or just a big disappointment.

 

[smartlabelprint]

The park was great this week. I'd be more concerned how busy it will be on Labor Day weekend.

 

[Goseethemouse]

Of course it would still be fun - just not sure if it is enough fun to make it worth spending so much money or whether we should do something else/wait a bit. To be honest, I love Disney but we have gone a lot so I wouldn't mind skipping it but the kids REALLY want to go...

We went Labor Day weekend a couple of years ago and it wasn't too bad in the early morning (but got worse during the day). We'd probably still be there on Tuesday - it should be calmer then, I would think?

 

[adykate]

Labor Day weekend is the Half Marathon weekend, so that affects the crowds. Mornings are not bad as racers are still finishing and such, but it gets pretty crowded in the afternoons/evenings. Tuesday is definitely much better.