Mini Report of Jan 2-7 trip - Oh, the Humanity!

[GrandBob]

As title says, we went Jan 2-7. Me, DW, and DGD13 (about to turn 14). Stream-of-consciousness thoughts:

1. Crowded! CROWDED!!! Oh the humanity! Micechat reports that Wed Jan 4 saw 64500 at DLR. I believe it. I had previously thought that only Christmas-New Years and 4th of July ever saw capacity closures. On Jan 4, we left the park in the early afternoon and came back around 5pm for our reservation at Blue Bayou. On the way in there was a big sign announcing that Disneyland was closed, but DCA was still open. Apparently it was a level 1 closure, because when we went to the gates they were letting in anyone with a hand stamp, which we had fortunately obtained when we left. I found it interesting, though, that they didn't advertise that. They just said "closed". It apparently worked, because very few people were even attempting entry.

2. Per the above point. The next day, Thurs Jan 5, it rained heavily. We decided to use our MM on that day, figuring we could beat the crowds with the double whammy of rain and MM. We got through security and the entrance gates around 7:10. Yes, I know, get there ahead of opening. But believe me, getting there that early with DGD, especially now that she's a teenager, was a major accomplishment. So, we headed for PP. At 7:10am, in the middle of heavy rain, PP had a wait time of an hour! Unbelievable. We never did make PP that trip.

3. I could go on about how everything was nose-to-nose, wall-to-wall, but you get the idea. We did OK by getting there at opening each day and getting FPs, but by 10am the standby lines were crazy, so we'd typically use any FP we had and left around noon, to return after dinner.

4. Oh, Monday Jan 2? We had decided to do final rides on TOT, one on the regular ride, and once for late checkout. But I made a major, major tactical error. I thought I could sneak in a RSR FP first. Wrong! By the time those 2 hours had passed, not only couldn't we get a daytime TOT FP, they were sold out of ALL FPs. So, we spent about 1.5 hours in line that afternoon for the regular TOT. And then we spent 4 (count-em, 4!) hours in line after dark. Now, we're a family that won't wait more than 30-40 minutes for anything. Was it worth it? To be among the last to ride it, I think so. Even DGD, who hates waiting in line more than I do, was happy to be doing it. But we were exhausted the next day, which is why we slept in on Tues and then went to Newport Beach.

5. Somehow, we had previously never made it to Micky and the Magical Map. Teenage DGD is all about rides, not shows. But we all thought that it was a great show. Granted, it's mostly a rehashed Sorcerer's Apprentice. But the singing and presentations were great.

6. Less positive reviews for Frozen. I mean, the singing was good, and it was a decent show. But compared to Aladdin, well, it's not in the same league. But DW and DGD liked it well enough.

Note to self -- don't go during crazy crowded periods any more. And don't believe the Touring Plans crowd predictor (predicted 9 Monday, 8 Tues, then 5s and 6s).

 

[CAmommy]

We were there on the 3rd, 4th, 5th. Crowds and wait times were insane, however, we did find that rides in Adventureland and Orleans Square were dead in the early morning! We walked on Haunted Mansion at 8:30 and then waited only 20 min for Indiana Jones on Wednesday (the most crowded day). We were really surprised! We still had a blast even though it took a lot of planning and avoidance of Fantasyland.

 

[prestoncaldwell]

This report makes me relieved we were there Christmas to New Year's Eve. I never thought I'd say that.

 

[WonkaKid]

I was there Sunday the 8th and crowds were lighter than I expected. I feared that there'd be residual crowds from the holidays but, again, they were lighter than expected. Still -- lines for PP and POTC were long. They almost always are.

One of the things I love about early Sunday mornings is that POTC is almost always a walk-on (or close to it). PP, though? Never a walk-on ;-).

 

[GrandBob]

We were there on the 3rd, 4th, 5th. Crowds and wait times were insane, however, we did find that rides in Adventureland and Orleans Square were dead in the early morning! We walked on Haunted Mansion at 8:30 and then waited only 20 min for Indiana Jones on Wednesday (the most crowded day). We were really surprised! We still had a blast even though it took a lot of planning and avoidance of Fantasyland.

True. That's our favorite area too, and we did fine between opening and 10am or so. Oh, and I forgot our other highlight. We got walked off Splash one morning. First ride we've ever been stuck on and walked off. It was neat, a real unique experience. But because, as CAmommy says, things were very light in the morning (it was essentially a walk-on), we had been counting on riding Splash 3 times in a row before it got crowded. That plan was out because Splash was broken. We did get re-ride passes, posted to my ticket, for use later. "Later" turned out to be about 11:30am, when we thought we might get in a ride or two via standby before using our reride passes. Wrong! The line was over an hour, so we just did the reride and left the park.

 

[ParkHopper1]

This report makes me relieved we were there Christmas to New Year's Eve. I never thought I'd say that.

Right?

The 30th and NYE were awesome this year crowd wise.

 

[Redarrow5150]

We were there January 3-6th and it was heavily crowded. I've gone to WDW twice week of Christmas and it was worse IMO at Disneyland. The last day I just gave up in the afternoon and headed to Downtown Disney for some Starbucks.

 

[az4boys]

These reports are not helping me! Well, they are helping me. Just not what I wanted to hear. I was thinking of doing a trip one year for now, just after New Year's. I thought the crazy crowds ended with New Year's. Apparently not. Good to know.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

It appears that the annual pass changes from 2015 shifted a lot of the crowds from Christmas week (all passes except Signature + and Premier blocked) to the week after New Year's. I know that the first day that all the passes were allowed back (Jan. 4th?) was super crowded. We visited a few times before NYE, and while the parks were definitely crowded, they weren't absolutely insane like they've been in past years. The rainy weather probably helped with that, too.

 

[az4boys]

Also, a lot of schools started back a little later than in years past so there was more time to squeeze in a vacation. Just a fluke of the calendar. I think next year is similar.

 

[Kender]

It appears that the annual pass changes from 2015 shifted a lot of the crowds from Christmas week (all passes except Signature + and Premier blocked) to the week after New Year's. I know that the first day that all the passes were allowed back (Jan. 4th?) was super crowded. We visited a few times before NYE, and while the parks were definitely crowded, they weren't absolutely insane like they've been in past years. The rainy weather probably helped with that, too.

Yeah, January 4th was the worst I saw. It closed to capacity that day. I didn't witness any other capacity closures even on NYE (when my trip officially started).

Although it was pretty terrible from the 2nd on too. Dec 31st and Jan 1 were actually quite pleasant compared to what I'm used to. I was actually in Disneyland Park for midnight this year instead of DCA and my crowd anxiety didn't flair up because it was like a ghost town in Tomorrowland.

I wonder if part of it was also tier pricing plus people thinking it would be insanely crowded (so this choosing to stay away) in addition to the AP tier change taking effect? Not to mention a few other perfect storm factors.

 

[dshimel]

Friday the 6th we did DCA.

At rope drop I ran and got RSR fastpasses. People were pushing and shoving to get into line. I understand, because every time you took a step forward, the end of he line got 2 steps further away. I miss the days when they lined us up a half hour early to avoid that shoving match. By the time I got the FPs, the line to get RSR FPs was all the way through bugs land and past ToT.

Then I went and got WoC fastpasses. Wife and kids had already ridden RSR standby, so we met at Screamin' and rode that with 30 min standby.

Mickey's Fun Wheel swinging car with 15 min wait. I went and got Soarin' FPs while wife and kids rode swings. The line for FPs was all the way out to stand-by entrance. Took 10 minutes to get FPs, and the return time changed 15 mins while waiting. Wife reported Screamin' had gone down and they were walking people off. When Screamin' came back up, they never turned back on FastPasses.

Our plan had been to do Sky School after swings and soarin' FPs, but with Screamin' down, the wait time jumped from 15 mins to 45 mins in the 15 minutes.

Rest of the day was a blur of long lines and heavy crowds. We did pretty much everything we wanted to except Animation Academy and Challenge Trail.

Some observations:
1) With Tower closed, RSR FPs gone about 10am (park opened at 9) Screamin' not giving FPs after its couple hour closure in the morning, that left Soarin' and Sky School for FPs... and that made those run out early too. I think that by 2pm, there were no more FPs for ANYTHING.

2) We had a Disneyland first timer with us, and his favorite attraction in the resort was Its Tough to be a Bug. I don't understand why this show is always a walk on. It is really good show!

3) Turtle Talk with Crush was the most disappointing in dozens of times seeing it. The voice wasn't close to right. He didn't speak clearly so the software was having trouble synchronizing. The Finding Dory character add-ins felt forced and out of place. Just disappointing.

4) Miss the Muppets.

5) Didn't see the Frozen show.

6) Mermaid posted as 15 min wait, but took 8 mins. That line moves SOOOOO quickly.

7) I HATE days that kids are out of school but SoCal APs are not blocked out. They ALWAYS SUCK, SUCK, SUCK for crowds. Every time I go on one of those days, I swear I will never do it again.


++++

One unfortunate incident. Waiting for WoC, we selected a spot behind the dessert area, behind some short-ish young ladies. The ladies were sitting on the ground with legs outstretched in front of them. Then me with the backpack, then a trash can. The trashcan was the issue as there was walking space between the crowd and the rope everywhere except where the trash can and I happened to be. There were some people next to us that were behind taller people and were trying to push into our selected spot to get behind the shorter young ladies, so I was locked to my ground to stop them from moving in on us.

Well, this women with her husband and 2 kids were trying to walk through the viewing area, which worked until they reached the trash can. In a very annoyed voice, she told me to get out of her way. Between her voice that seemed to be annoyed at me, for standing in the standing area, the people trying to push in from the side, and my own frustrations at the end of a busy day.... Instead of squeezing in and letter her pass I snapped and refused to get out of her way. Instead, I informed her that the purpose of the rope is to separate the walkway from the standing/viewing area. I suggested that if she wanted to walk from one side of the area to the other, she should use the walkway instead of the standing/viewing side of the rope. I then turned back to face forward.

She made a "thanks for the info" snap, and tried to shove me out of the way.... Well, shove may be an extreme exaggeration, since she was like 4 feet tall and 90 lbs to my 6 foot, 240lbs. Her attempt to push me out of her way, so that she didn't have to go under the rope into the walkway, didn't go so well as she was unable to move me despite her attempt to push me out of her way. Then she yells about her kid being there.... hmmm... maybe you shouldn't use your kid as a battering ram to shove someone out of your way when you are trying to walk through the standing/viewing area, because going under the rope into the walkway is just too much work when you are trying to walk through an area.

Then I got a lecture about how I'm not Disney Security, so it isn't my job to tell them where they can walk. No, I'm just a guest, standing in the standing/viewing area, trying to hold my ground against the next group over that is trying to push into our spot, that gave you some really good advice that perhaps it would be better to walk in the designated, roped-off walkway rather than expecting people to move out of your way so that you can walk through the not-a-walkway.... when you made intentional physical contact with me in an attempt to shove me out of the way, so that you can walk through the not-a-walkway rather than having to go under the rope into the walkway.

There was a crowd control guy 15 yards off at the end of the area, so I offered to get him to come over, and they can explain to that Disney Employee how evil I was when I refused to move when they tried to shove me out of the way in the standing/viewing area because they didn't want to go under the rope into the walkway. They declined and went under the rope into the walkway.

ARG.... I guess that is what happens at the end of a way-too-crowded day when everyone is tired and frustrated. Disney prints on the FPs that you CANNOT show up before 8:30 (Early arrivals cannot be accommodated), but if you show up at 8:30, you find the viewing area is already 80% full. Short people like them had about 0% chance of getting a good spot to view the show.

 

[Pintail]

Thank you for the report. Yes, I agree that the School calendar is the same for us next year in Arizona, getting off the first week of January.
We need to consider that it may be that way for a lot of others too.