--June 2018 Check-in Thread--

[Mamato4boys]

Seriously?!? I am literally in tears now. We planned this trip to try to avoid heavy crowds and now that it is too late to cancel..?!?

I feel seriously sick.

 

[Mountain Fan]

WOW! The feeling is beyond disappointment. Been going to DL for more than 45 yrs....taking my family in less than 2 weeks..and it will be the last trip. Plenty of other places to vacation.

 

[BadPinkTink]

geez all the doom and gloom, lol, my park days will be June 20, June 21 and June 22. Yes there will be crowds, yes some things may be closed but for many people Disneyland is something they will NEVER experience. Not everyone has the means to even enter the USA, let alone return year after year to Disneyland. Its a privilege granted to those of us who have the means to go. Stop taking it for granted and just enjoy the magic and sunshine

 

[mickeyfan0805]

As a PH who is not blocked out & having already purchased tix for a visiting niece coming the 18th/19th, not at all thrilled with this! (Just added frustration given the hours and late notice of TSMM closure, etc).

This one really upsets me too. I get that things happen - but we scheduled our entire trip around next weekend because of the AP dates, and when the PP opening was announced as just after our stay and WOC and TSM were both closed, we consoled ourselves by saying that crowds might be lightened a bit due to all of this in concert with the blockouts. Now we will have all ap's with low-cost friend passes and half of DCA closed.

Feeling quite disheartened!

 

[Mamato4boys]

geez all the doom and gloom, lol, my park days will be June 20, June 21 and June 22. Yes there will be crowds, yes some things may be closed but for many people Disneyland is something they will NEVER experience. Not everyone has the means to even enter the USA, let alone return year after year to Disneyland. Its a privilege granted to those of us who have the means to go. Stop taking it for granted and just enjoy the magic and sunshine

I am curious if you travel with children..? If so, are they special needs? Do you save for 2+ years to take your family?

The logistics of some people's experience can make it more complex than just shaking it off or whatever. A single person or even a group of adults can alter their plans to make up for large crowds, etc a LOT more easily than families (particularly of young children, special needs, etc).

 

[BadPinkTink]

I am curious if you travel with children..? If so, are they special needs? Do you save for 2+ years to take your family?

The logistics of some people's experience can make it more complex than just shaking it off or whatever. A single person or even a group of adults can alter their plans to make up for large crowds, etc a LOT more easily than families (particularly of young children, special needs, etc).

solo traveller, from Europe, have a 10 hour transatlantic plane journey to California, low paying job so I save for about 10 months putting money aside bit by bit, and economise and go without to afford to go to Disney every year. My dates are not flexible, same 2 week time slot every year.

I make it happen without all the moaning and groaning and doom and gloom and woe is me, when many others, colleagues, friends, family who get paid more than me say they cant afford it. When you work for something, when its a struggle and have to make scarfices to make it happen. you appreciate it more and dont take it for granted

 

[Mamato4boys]

If I were travelling solo, with no one to worry about but myself, crowds wouldn't be an issue to me either.

Trying to explain to my kids that we can't wait in a huge line for a particular ride, show, etc because their brother won't be able to handle it (or else having to explaining to said brother why his brothers get to go on a ride while he can't) make crowds a big deal. I'm glad you feel your struggle makes it worth it to you, but for me, the struggle results in 4 disappointed kids.

 

[*RJ*]

Well I'll add to the gloom and doom. I know I'll still be in DISNEYLAND(!), but I just feel mad that I spent so long pouring over dates to find the "perfect" week, only for this to happen. We haven't been in five years and it will be at least that long before we can go back. Maybe it won't be as bad as I'm expecting, but right now it's really put a damper on my excitement.

 

[OlliePop27]

I know it's doubtful, but I do think it's at least feasible that DL park hits capacity for some part of the day on Saturday, 6/16. Absolutely no AP blockouts, the date is near the summer blocking of all levels (two weeks later) and the new discounted friend promotion is valid. The 16th will be the ONLY Saturday for months where Deluxe and both SoCal levels aren't blocked.

Still, probably unlikely - there's really nothing new to attract a enough people to force a closure. Many will likely wait one week until the pier opens (but SoCal's are blocked on the 23rd). I'm SURE parking lots will fill on the 16th, however.

 

[becks59]

We just finished our five days at the parks. It was great and we did nearly every ride and show. We used max pass for the last three days and loved it. Between MP and arriving early we didn’t wait more than 20 min for a ride. Most were more like 10 min or less. The only exception was pirates today. We were in line for about 30 min in the morning. Crowds were heavy by mid day, but we either went to the hotel or hung out in animation academy. We took things easy in the evenings with a few rides and shows. It was great and we all got to do our favorite rides multiple times.

 

[limace]

We just finished our five days at the parks. It was great and we did nearly every ride and show. We used max pass for the last three days and loved it. Between MP and arriving early we didn’t wait more than 20 min for a ride. Most were more like 10 min or less. The only exception was pirates today. We were in line for about 30 min in the morning. Crowds were heavy by mid day, but we either went to the hotel or hung out in animation academy. We took things easy in the evenings with a few rides and shows. It was great and we all got to do our favorite rides multiple times.

Thanks for your report! Any food highlights?

 

[momof2n2]

I’m still processing this.
Currently in Albuquerque from our drive from NY with first DLR day just three days away.

I take the blame guys. As soon as I planned my 2014, WDW started all their tricks. DLR heard i was coming back in January and promptly shut down the pier, and it hasn’t stopped. .......

 

[HydroGuy]

First, I think if DLR has done things a certain way for many years and published things like AP blockout calendars 12 months in advance, it is a fair expectation that Disney will stick with that. It is reasonable to be disappointed and even discouraged when they don't. Yes, I know these are first world problems. I watched a (Disney) movie last night Queen of Katwe (really good BTW) and it softened how I feel a bit.

Nevertheless, Disney is offering a premium entertainment experience and charging a premium price for that. If they stop acting like a premium entertainment provider and change the game on you at the last minute, they should expect folks to be upset.

Do I think our trip will be ruined? Of course not. Do I feel like Disney pulled a fast one on me? Yes, I do. Will it affect my choices in the future? I think it will.

When I found out about this yesterday, I sent an email to Disney explaining how what they did was not fair. Who knows what will happen?

Everyone else - please call or email Disney if you are upset: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/phone/

 

[limace]

Yeah, good advice, HG-you sum up my thoughts so well! I will write.

Now working on shaking it off-I was pretty sad about it yesterday, but it was also on top of a long day at work and a bit of a cold. Today trying to focus back on excitement. We leave in a week! And we have five days in the parks and our first stay at the Grand! I’m an early riser anyway-with maxpass and emh we should be fine, and if we are driven out to hang out in our room or by the pool-we’ll, heck, that’s a pretty sweet vacation in itself. We are so so lucky to have this trip, and to have an adult kiddo that wants to be with us.

Right now trying to switch B.B. F! Reservation. We have it for Wednesday night, the 20th-but it’s the same day we have our amazing reservation for Club 33 for four at lunch so it’s a lot going on in one day. Plus with my anticipation that our WOC dessert party reservation for the 22nd will be cancelled, it kinda feels like all of our “special” stuff is happening in one day. No luck finding a new time yet-we are a party of eight so probably won’t happen. Those are the only reservations we have on our park days so far-they are all so expensive it may be QS and snacks from the room the rest of the time, though I’m contemplating a character meal for the kids’ sake.

 

[HydroGuy]

Yeah, good advice, HG-you sum up my thoughts so well! I will write.

Now working on shaking it off-I was pretty sad about it yesterday, but it was also on top of a long day at work and a bit of a cold. Today trying to focus back on excitement. We leave in a week! And we have five days in the parks and our first stay at the Grand! I’m an early riser anyway-with maxpass and emh we should be fine, and if we are driven out to hang out in our room or by the pool-we’ll, heck, that’s a pretty sweet vacation in itself. We are so so lucky to have this trip, and to have an adult kiddo that wants to be with us.

Right now trying to switch B.B. F! Reservation. We have it for Wednesday night, the 20th-but it’s the same day we have our amazing reservation for Club 33 for four at lunch so it’s a lot going on in one day. Plus with my anticipation that our WOC dessert party reservation for the 22nd will be cancelled, it kinda feels like all of our “special” stuff is happening in one day. No luck finding a new time yet-we are a party of eight so probably won’t happen. Those are the only reservations we have on our park days so far-they are all so expensive it may be QS and snacks from the room the rest of the time, though I’m contemplating a character meal for the kids’ sake.

Oh yah, I would not to BB and Club 33 on the same day if I could help it.

 

[OlliePop27]

On a separate, but related note, it appears the shorter weekend park hours through the summer are in fact correlated with AP blockouts. The day before the AP blockout's were lifted for many June dates, DLR increased hours for both DL and DCA between 6/16 - 6/21. Just an interesting side observation!

 

[DreamtheImpossible]

I'm upset also. We are traveling with my MiL who has EXTREME anxiety. I had prepared her that Disneyland would be busy, but specifically picked these dates in June in JANUARY, before the release of Pixar Pier. With that release date given, I knew we'd have some crowds the 23rd and 24th. But I specifically picked the week BECAUSE of the AP blockouts.

What are you doing, Disney?

 

[becks59]

Thanks for your report! Any food highlights?

We aren’t big foodies and didn’t eat a ton in the park. But, we tried the cozy cones Mac n cheese cone and the chili cone and they were very good. We loved the corn dogs. And we love the lemonade slushies and apple freeze Slushies. I tried an ants on a log churro and it wasn’t worth the extra cost. The taste wasn’t better and it seemed too sugary with a bunch falling of with each bite. Regular churro was better to me.

We only did TSMM one day and walking to it saw a long line for the Adorable Snowman Treats place. So if you were wanting to try that be prepared for a line I think.

 

[agamble]

Hit the road just before 10. Drove 45 minutes. Realized we forgot the stroller

Driving home to get the stroller.

 

[limace]

Argh!