Quick Trip Report Oct 23-26. You win Disney, we're tapping out....

[Aspencreek]

Just back from 4 day family trip to DL/DCA from Oct 23-26. Did Sunday and Monday at DL, then Tuesday at DCA all day including Oogie, then Wednesday at DL again to finish it off.


The executive summary trip report:

1. Disneyland on Sunday and Monday was very busy but manageable with Genie+ (would have been terrible without.)

2. Oogie party was fantastic and we loved it. Villians Grove was amazing, treat trails were fast and it was fun to see the characters (Sid looked EXACTLY like the cartoon came to life), and we loved getting to walk-on or nearly walk on all the rides including Guardians, Midway, Goofy Sky School, etc.

3. Disneyland on Wednesday was insanely busy and if that had been our only experience of the park I doubt we'd ever go again. One thing to be crowded, but it was so bad that at one point I lifted up both my feet off the ground and the surrounding crowds carried me from the Tiki room clear past the Hungry bear before I had to put my feet down again. Seriously, it was baddddd. Wednesday started off ok at first and we thought maybe mid-week would be better than Sun/Mon, but then crowds poured in and by lunchtime you could barely manage to squeeze through some areas and wait times on EVERYTHING shot up and was basically an hour plus with many of the rides 2 hours. To counteract that we ended up buying Rise passes for $25 each just to do SOMETHING, but then of course Rise broke down just as we got there for our time so we couldn't go on it. We tried several more times but each time it would show that it was working, as we got partway there it would go down again. Got too fed up and we bailed on the parks out of frustration in the afternoon and lost our Rise money along with half a day in the park.


Anyway, we have gone a bunch of times over the years so we were okay with not going on tons of rides each day, but I think this trip (especially the last day) has tipped us over into the "Not Worth It Anymore" zone now. I know everyone says October is especially crazy, but how are we supposed to know that every other time won't be crazy also? Summer is crazy, October is crazy, Nov/Dec Christmas-time is crazy, Spring Break months are crazy, etc, etc. Not sure I can get my family excited to want to take the risk of going again in the foreseeable future which is just sad.

 

[bwvBound]

Whoa. That Wed report sounds really rough. I feel for you ... so sorry!

 

[LizzyS]

We almost always go at the end of February and I honestly almost decided to cancel our upcoming trip, but my husband seemed sad about it, so it's still on. I just- there are so many variables now and it's so expensive, anyway. After this next trip I'm going to evaluate if we'll be going yearly going forward or maybe like every other year instead. We went this past February and enjoyed the trip, but I'm just unsure if the yearly expense is worth it for us anymore.

 

[irlandaise]

To counteract that we ended up buying Rise passes for $25 each just to do SOMETHING, but then of course Rise broke down just as we got there for our time so we couldn't go on it. We tried several more times but each time it would show that it was working, as we got partway there it would go down again. Got too fed up and we bailed on the parks out of frustration in the afternoon and lost our Rise money along with half a day in the park.

Are you saying that you don't get a refund on an ILL if the ride goes down? Does Disney say, "Well, it was up for a while; sorry you didn't get there in time" and consider that they've kept up their end of the transaction?

 

[Aspencreek]

We almost always go at the end of February and I honestly almost decided to cancel our upcoming trip, but my husband seemed sad about it, so it's still on. I just- there are so many variables now and it's so expensive, anyway. After this next trip I'm going to evaluate if we'll be going yearly going forward or maybe like every other year instead. We went this past February and enjoyed the trip, but I'm just unsure if the yearly expense is worth it for us anymore.

Agree. We come down from Idaho and it isn't cheap even before you add in the now-higher-priced tickets and Genie+. I'd been reading about October being busy and we probably would have cancelled and tried in January, but we had Oogie passes and really wanted to try that out. That was the highlight of the trip by far, but otherwise is was pretty bad sadly. Just too many ride closures and refurbs and lack of shows/experiences that are usually available so people that would be more spread out are now all hitting the fewer things that are open. I can't believe that in 3 days of Disneyland we only managed to do the Haunted Mansion one time, most of the Fantasyland dark rides one time (no Peter Pan at all), Indiana Jones one time, Jungle Cruise one time, Smugglers Run one time, etc. I love the ambience of the parks and could almost get by just BEING in DL for a few days, but at some point the crowds just are too much.

 

[Aspencreek]

Are you saying that you don't get a refund on an ILL if the ride goes down? Does Disney say, "Well, it was up for a while; sorry you didn't get there in time" and consider that they've kept up their end of the transaction?

If the ride goes down the ILL pass changes from a 1 hour window time, into being good for the rest of the day. Which might be fine if the ride is available later in the day and you are still there. We tried a couple more times but it kept going down before we could use them. Asked CMs about refund and we were told we could go talk to Guest Relations. Was going to do that on the way out as we bailed early, but even THAT line was like 30 people long and we were just fed up and done by that point. So we let Disney win and have the money.

 

[DizMe]

Oh my. That sounds horrible! I'm so sorry. I do hope this isn't going to be the new norm. It doesn't seem safe to have so many people crammed in that you don't even have to put your feet down! I'm short and on the small side so being surrounded by people like that would absolutely freak me out.

I'll be there in Dec so fingers crossed. At least it's just 2 of us (adults) and we don't care about going on tons of rides. But it really detracts from the experience--from the Disney happy vibes--if you feel like you're in a cattle drive.

 

[monkeypat83]

Are you saying that you don't get a refund on an ILL if the ride goes down? Does Disney say, "Well, it was up for a while; sorry you didn't get there in time" and consider that they've kept up their end of the transaction?

If the ride is down and you aren't able to stay to ride it later you can go to one of the guest service umbrellas and tell them the situation and they can process a refund. Bought a ILL for Webslingers for my daughter and I to ride near the end of our day (6 PMish) and was planning to be out of the parks by 7 PM because she is 3 and needed to go to bed at a reasonable time. Ride broke down on our walk over there so after hanging out in Avenger's Campus for a little while we gave up and asked for the refund. They didn't have any problems giving the refund once I explained that we had to go to bed. Sounds like the OP didn't know to do this or did want the hassle of going through the process of finding someone to do the refund.

 

[Aspencreek]

If the ride is down and you aren't able to stay to ride it later you can go to one of the guest service umbrellas and tell them the situation and they can process a refund. Bought a ILL for Webslingers for my daughter and I to ride near the end of our day (6 PMish) and was planning to be out of the parks by 7 PM because she is 3 and needed to go to bed at a reasonable time. Ride broke down on our walk over there so after hanging out in Avenger's Campus for a little while we gave up and asked for the refund. They didn't have any problems giving the refund once I explained that we had to go to bed. Sounds like the OP didn't know to do this or did want the hassle of going through the process of finding someone to do the refund.

The CMs told us wrong if there was an option for a refund from somewhere besides the Guest Relations place at the front of DL. Actually, the first CM I asked (the one at Rise) said we could get a refund at Guest Relations OR use the ILL as a standard LL at another ride if we wanted - like HM or another ride. I thought that didn't sound correct so an hour later I asked a different CM on our next attempt at Rise and they said the only option was a refund at Guest Relations and we could NOT use it like a LL at another ride. So if we could have got a refund somewhere else easier that is really aggravating as the CMs should know that.....

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The CMs told us wrong if there was an option for a refund from somewhere besides the Guest Relations place at the front of DL. Actually, the first CM I asked (the one at Rise) said we could get a refund at Guest Relations OR use the ILL as a standard LL at another ride if we wanted - like HM or another ride. I thought that didn't sound correct so an hour later I asked a different CM on our next attempt at Rise and they said the only option was a refund at Guest Relations and we could NOT use it like a LL at another ride. So if we could have got a refund somewhere else easier that is really aggravating as the CMs should know that.....

I would start a chat in the app and state all that transpired and ask for a refund. It can’t hurt to try. It’s ridiculous that you paid to ride and it went down so many times you couldn’t ride it and then the line to ask for a refund was so long you didn’t want to wait. I don’t think they should be charging for a ride that goes down as often as RotR.

I was there yesterday. The morning was actually pleasant even at 1:30 when I left it was still fine. Busy yes, but there was no comparison to earlier in the month. HMH was 55 minutes all morning long until about 1pm and that ride has been WELL over two hours all day this month. This week seemed much less crowded than the first three weeks in October.

 

[Aspencreek]

I would start a chat in the app and state all that transpired and ask for a refund. It can’t hurt to try.

I was there yesterday. The morning was actually pleasant even at 1:30 when I left it was still fine. Busy yes, but there was no comparison to earlier in the month. HMH was 55 minutes all morning long until about 1pm and that ride has been WELL over two hours all day this month. This week seemed much less crowded than the first three weeks in October.

Good idea, I'll try the chat in the app and see what happens.

Wow, can't imagine what earlier in the month was like then. As I mentioned Sun/Mon this week were really busy compared to any of our prior trips, but with Genie+ it was alright. Yesterday started alright for the first couple hours but then got insanely packed compared to Sun/Mon. We went through the POTC area a couple times around 2 and 3pm and it was fully packed and stopped with no movement at the choke points where you had to weave through parked scooters/strollers just to get past. I think POTC said times were at 55mins when we went by those couple times. HM was 120. Maybe things will get better over the next couple months. In retrospect we probably should have ended the trip on a high note with the Oogie party!

 

[pharmama]

You can use the MEP they give you when Rise goes down on another attraction if you wish, though of course that's suboptimal considering you paid extra for it. The MEP will say what rides it can be used on if you view the details for it (and for ILLs that is usually pretty much anything).

 

[Cal-Pie]

We were there Fri/Sat, then did OBB on Sunday. We left with similar feelings, OBB was great, but the rest was meh. Couldn't make good use of Genie+ when all of the return times were well into the evening by noon. This is the first time that I haven't been planning my next trip as I was walking out on the last night. It will be a while before we come back, I'm ready to try some new vacation destinations.

 

[Aspencreek]

You can use the MEP they give you when Rise goes down on another attraction if you wish, though of course that's suboptimal considering you paid extra for it. The MEP will say what rides it can be used on if you view the details for it (and for ILLs that is usually pretty much anything).

That's what I thought at first and what the first CM said. Second one had me click on the updated pass and it said it was good for that day only (any time) on Rise only. We did get a couple other MEPs during the trip and those did list the other options as you say, but not the Rise one.

 

[Aspencreek]

We were there Fri/Sat, then did OBB on Sunday. We left with similar feelings, OBB was great, but the rest was meh. Couldn't make good use of Genie+ when all of the return times were well into the evening by noon. This is the first time that I haven't been planning my next trip as I was walking out on the last night. It will be a while before we come back, I'm ready to try some new vacation destinations.

Exactly how we feel Cal-Pie. For the better rides the LLs got way out into the evening fairly early in the day. And thank heavens before our trip I saw on this forum someone mention about setting a timer for 2 hours for reminders to get the next LL. Not sure I would have noticed that feature at all if it hadn't been mentioned here and I would have gotten even less LLs reserved.

Always loved going to DL but if we don't hear of some improvements soon it will have to be a cruise or beach trip or Universal trip or.....?

 

[Aurora0427]

If the ride goes down the ILL pass changes from a 1 hour window time, into being good for the rest of the day. Which might be fine if the ride is available later in the day and you are still there. We tried a couple more times but it kept going down before we could use them. Asked CMs about refund and we were told we could go talk to Guest Relations. Was going to do that on the way out as we bailed early, but even THAT line was like 30 people long and we were just fed up and done by that point. So we let Disney win and have the money.

The rules about LL irritate me…. We used a MEP on haunted mansion and it went down. After standing there with an exhausted 6 year old for 20 minutes, we got out of line and went to the plaids by HM. Because we chose to leave the line, and they hadn’t decided to evacuate the line, she didn’t want to give us our LL back. I think she could tell that after being very nice, I was about to become testy. So she finally scanned it in for us, but I think she thought we were lying or something. But instead of giving us our MEP back, I think that’s what it’s called…. The one you get to use on a variety of rides if yours goes down, she gave us a HMH specific one, which we didn’t realize until we got to BTMRR, which we were trying to ride on our way out…. Fortunately the cm there was amazing and said that since we were so polite while explaining everything, she scanned in a BTMRR freebie for us.

This is a long winded way of saying I feel like LL is a major pain if the ride goes down once you’ve scanned in… it’s amazing to me they wouldn’t just give you a refund. We had the same thing happen to us with RSR, and the cm at the ride just refunded us because we were leaving the park and couldn’t wait around for the ride to come back up.

 

[Gaub]

For those that keep saying "October is busy, but the rest of the year is manageable," I'm not buying it. September was insanely busy and July 2021 was the same way! There is no more "off season" at DL. In fact, I don't think they are even adhering to maximum capacities. They've created artificial chokepoints (Genie+, 1PM Park Hopper restrictions, OBB, etc). Disney Parks management doesn't care about anything other than your money. It's sad what they've devolved, too.

 

[twodogs]

We were there the holiday weekend two weeks ago for OBB. We purchased two RSR ILL$ that went down and we could not ride it. I went to the main GS in the esplanade. They said if it is down during your time and unused, it will automatically refund to your card in 24-48 hours. A week later, we had neither refund. I did the chat (which is very inconvenient since it took over 3 hours for anyone to come on the chat, but they looked it up and I had the email instantly about the refund and the actual refund in 1-2 days. Do NOT let Disney take your ILL$ money. Do the chat and get a refund.

 

[Malcon10t]

they said the only option was a refund at Guest Relations and we could NOT use it like a LL at another ride. So if we could have got a refund somewhere else easier that is really aggravating as the CMs should know that.....

Guest Relations has several locations in the parks and one outside the parks. The one you liikely went to was the one most people think of at City Hall. But there are also GR in front of Plaza Inn, one across from Haunted Mansion exit, one in Tomorrowland by the Launchbay, and one ini Fantasyland by Mr. Toads. And GR in the esplanade.

 

[irlandaise]

Guest Relations has several locations in the parks and one outside the parks. The one you liikely went to was the one most people think of at City Hall. But there are also GR in front of Plaza Inn, one across from Haunted Mansion exit, one in Tomorrowland by the Launchbay, and one ini Fantasyland by Mr. Toads. And GR in the esplanade.

Thank you, Malcon10t, I've put those locations in my DL notes!

Do you happen to know of any locations in DCA?