Recent Visit - My Thoughts

[Malcon10t]

Did I mention I had a great trip??? I don't think we need to debate the cost cutting or plastic vs paper. For those of us who don't like the paper straws many in this group have given us all many options for alternate solutions to our problems. I appreciate each and every one of you for allowing me a forum to give my thoughts and also help me make my next trip even more outstanding.

I'm glad you had a great trip. I hope your next trip is even better!!!!

 

[Malcon10t]

can't wait to go back in October. I am taking my GS for that trip so I am looking forward to spending the time with him and going nice and slow and going on rides for a 3 year old. We sent him a picture of us on Radiator Springs and he told his mom, " Remember when I went on that and we won". " I want to go again mommy." I can't wait to take him in October.

This is probably part of my favorite parts of being a grandparent. I love taking my grandkids and sharing my love of Disney with them. My granddaughter has so many memories, and we are now working with my grandson. He just turned 3 here, but he really loved meeting Spiderman,

and Peter Pan ("He's my friend, we played chase!") . He is 4 now.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

To reiterate:
Plastic bottles: recyclable
Plastic straws: not recyclable

Even though plastic bottles are technically "recyclable," it's becoming very expensive to do that, so most recycling centers are sending those plastic bottles to landfills.

Perhaps Disney parks could sell refillable water bottles that customers must buy/use when getting drinks in the park. Bonus points for it being a souvenir that the customers could bring home. The bottle could also include a reusable plastic straw for sippy drinks like milkshakes or smoothies.

One can dream ...

You beat me to it, AllenBrain! I was going to say the same thing about plastic bottles. Since China stopped taking our plastic much of it is ending up in landfills. I'd LOVE the refillable bottle idea. I'll dream with you

Edited to add: And glad you enjoyed your trip, @Malcon10t! Love the pics!

 

[wowsmom]

Fireworks are weekends only outside of summer and the 2 holiday weeks surrounding Christmas due to local noise ordinances.

I was going to mention that. I'm actually missing hearing the fireworks every night (we're about 5 miles away), but I understand that people who live closer could find it annoyingly loud.

 

[Rich M]

This is probably part of my favorite parts of being a grandparent. I love taking my grandkids and sharing my love of Disney with them. My granddaughter has so many memories, and we are now working with my grandson. He just turned 4, but he really loved meeting Spiderman,

That is so cool. I am learning a totally different side of Disney when I take my GS. I really like the slow pace with him and going on rides I hadn't gone on in years. Seeing his eyes light up and his reaction to everything is priceless. He tells me all the time "Are we going to Disney World tomorrow." We are raising him the right way. lol

 

[lvdis]

Friday nights are always packed for the parade and fireworks.

I'm pretty sure the Halloween fireworks started on Sept 6.

I was there on the 6th and I believe that was the first Halloween fireworks.

Oh yeah, I forgot the Halloween stuff all started on the 6th. It was lots of fun, but man was it packed that evening!

 

[Rich M]

It so much fun with him

 

[Plip]

It so much fun with him

There's nothing quite like going to Disneyland with your kids, is there?

 

[tarheelalum]

They don't cut all shows and parades during the week. They still do Mickey and the Magical Map on select weekdays, MSEP is nightly until Sept 30, World of Color is nightly, and there are a bunch of smaller performance shows that happen daily as well. Fireworks are weekends only outside of summer and the 2 holiday weeks surrounding Christmas due to local noise ordinances. Fantastic goes dark every fall for several weeks. Lower tier passholders can experience everything during the week at some point every year.

They can't ever see fireworks and that is not on the city. Disneyland sets their AP calendar. A lot of the other shows you listed are only available on certain times throughout the year and Disney doesn't post their schedule a long time advance so you can't plan out a trip from Vacaville or Salt Lake City and Disney knows that. The only real choice they have, if they want to see all of that entertainment, is to buy the higher end passes or pay the absurd gate prices.

But I don't begrudge Disney for doing this, but they most certainly do it intentionally to get as much money out of people as possible by making the lower tier passes a far lesser experience that cannot be planned out in advance the way I can with my sig+ pass.

But I do begrudge Disney for cutting back on everything and jacking up food prices because of their failures with Star Wars. Disneyland was just fine without Star Wars. Its actually worse off today due to it and that is 100% Disney's fault.

 

[Rich M]

They can't ever see fireworks and that is not on the city. Disneyland sets their AP calendar. A lot of the other shows you listed are only available on certain times throughout the year and Disney doesn't post their schedule a long time advance so you can't plan out a trip from Vacaville or Salt Lake City and Disney knows that. The only real choice they have, if they want to see all of that entertainment, is to buy the higher end passes or pay the absurd gate prices.

But I don't begrudge Disney for doing this, but they most certainly do it intentionally to get as much money out of people as possible by making the lower tier passes a far lesser experience that cannot be planned out in advance the way I can with my sig+ pass.

But I do begrudge Disney for cutting back on everything and jacking up food prices because of their failures with Star Wars. Disneyland was just fine without Star Wars. Its actually worse off today due to it and that is 100% Disney's fault.

I am going to guess you don't plan on renewing your pass??

 

[Malcon10t]

That is so cool. I am learning a totally different side of Disney when I take my GS. I really like the slow pace with him and going on rides I hadn't gone on in years. Seeing his eyes light up and his reaction to everything is priceless. He tells me all the time "Are we going to Disney World tomorrow." We are raising him the right way. lol

Totally!

I can't wait to take him back for Thanksgiving again. He is not nearly the brave soul is older sister was. She was riding all the 40" rides at 2.5years. He on the other hand says everything is too fast or it is super fast and he doesn't like "super fast". He gets very nervous around many rides. Last trip, we spent a lot of time on Dumbo, which he said was perfect....

 

[Rich M]

Totally!

I can't wait to take him back for Thanksgiving again. He is not nearly the brave soul is older sister was. She was riding all the 40" rides at 2.5years. He on the other hand says everything is too fast or it is super fast and he doesn't like "super fast". He gets very nervous around many rides. Last trip, we spent a lot of time on Dumbo, which he said was perfect....

I think we might have twins lol. He is the exact same way. He wouldn't even get on Dumbo until 10 minutes before the park closed on our last day and now he loves it and wants to ride it all the time. He was so scared of the Cars ride but loved the fact that we won and even told the other cars that we were winners but then wouldn't go back on until we told him he could win again. It is just the best.

 

[limace]

Looks like a wonderful trip! And I’m so glad this conversation moved away from straws-don’t understand all the wailing and gnashing of teeth-and back to the joy.

 

[LizzyS]

They can't ever see fireworks and that is not on the city. Disneyland sets their AP calendar. A lot of the other shows you listed are only available on certain times throughout the year and Disney doesn't post their schedule a long time advance so you can't plan out a trip from Vacaville or Salt Lake City and Disney knows that. The only real choice they have, if they want to see all of that entertainment, is to buy the higher end passes or pay the absurd gate prices.

But I don't begrudge Disney for doing this, but they most certainly do it intentionally to get as much money out of people as possible by making the lower tier passes a far lesser experience that cannot be planned out in advance the way I can with my sig+ pass.

But I do begrudge Disney for cutting back on everything and jacking up food prices because of their failures with Star Wars. Disneyland was just fine without Star Wars. Its actually worse off today due to it and that is 100% Disney's fault.

Am I crazy in guessing that most people who have APs live in SoCal?

I know people from further out DO buy APs and make multiple trips in a year's time, but that's too rich for my blood. I always go when I feel like it, on average once a year, and pay the "absurd gate prices". I live less than 5 hours away.

 

[pharmama]

Am I crazy in guessing that most people who have APs live in SoCal?

I know people from further out DO buy APs and make multiple trips in a year's time, but that's too rich for my blood. I always go when I feel like it, on average once a year, and pay the "absurd gate prices". I live less than 5 hours away.

While there certainly is a large local pool of AP holders, there are plenty out of area as well.

There are a large number of AP holders within that general driving distance (5-8 hours) - especially in the SF Bay Area. Count me in that group. I have a Sig and one of my kids has a Flex but the other two kids don't have APs at the moment. I usually only go with one or two of my kids at a time. We usually drive down which is relatively cheap (vs flying since there are 5 of us, though usually only 2-4 of us on any given trip) and if we really want to keep things budget we have family we can stay with about 45 min from the parks (I have parking on my Sig AP). But more often than not we stay at one of the Harbor hotels with occasional on site splurges. We rarely go for more than a weekend so usually 1-2.5 days. I have even decided on a Friday afternoon that I needed a Disney fix and driven down with one of my kids that night, hit the parks Saturday and half of Sunday and then driven back home. DLR is a stress relieving "happy place" for me and I love being able to do many smaller trips since I have an AP. The longest I have ever done the parks is 4 days and that was probably 7+ years ago (and I converted that ticket to an AP and have had one almost continuously since). It's funny how it changes how you visit too. Less pressure to do everything on every trip and feel more able to slow down and focus on certain things. Last trip was all about SWGE for us, for example. We rode a few other favorites and saw WoC but that was about it and it was great! Going in a couple weeks for OBB and will probably focus largely on Halloween stuff even for our regular park day the next day.

 

[Malcon10t]

Am I crazy in guessing that most people who have APs live in SoCal?

I know people from further out DO buy APs and make multiple trips in a year's time, but that's too rich for my blood. I always go when I feel like it, on average once a year, and pay the "absurd gate prices". I live less than 5 hours away.

A lot of APs are locals, but there are also a lot that live a distance away.

We are 6 hours away. Make the trip about every 6 weeks for a long weekend. We spend major holidays there and stay longer (Christmas we are there 2 weeks.) It is my mental health facility.

 

[Rich M]

Am I crazy in guessing that most people who have APs live in SoCal?

I know people from further out DO buy APs and make multiple trips in a year's time, but that's too rich for my blood. I always go when I feel like it, on average once a year, and pay the "absurd gate prices". I live less than 5 hours away.

I am one of the Bay Area folks so about 5 to 6 hour drive. Honestly without the Flexpass I would not be one. With Southwest flights usually being under 100 round trip I opt to fly and try to only go when I am able to fly. We will drive if we have too.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Am I crazy in guessing that most people who have APs live in SoCal?

I know people from further out DO buy APs and make multiple trips in a year's time, but that's too rich for my blood. I always go when I feel like it, on average once a year, and pay the "absurd gate prices". I live less than 5 hours away.

I live in northern California near Sacramento. My family has had annual passes most of the last twelve years. Yes, we have visited places other than Disneyland over the years, but Disneyland is our special place. My current pass started in March, and I have visited the parks for 5 multi-day trips so far. That is more than usual actually, but both boys attend college in southern California now, so I have been down that way more often the last six months.

 

[tarheelalum]

I am going to guess you don't plan on renewing your pass??

Am I crazy in guessing that most people who have APs live in SoCal?

I know people from further out DO buy APs and make multiple trips in a year's time, but that's too rich for my blood. I always go when I feel like it, on average once a year, and pay the "absurd gate prices". I live less than 5 hours away.

We left San Diego a few years ago and now live in Tucson. I have co-workers who live in Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, Nevada and Phoenix who all have passes. All of us are former southern California residents though so maybe thats it. We just got sick of the taxes and politics and left. But we still love our old home and the Disneyland we grew up with. But having said that, we probably will not be renewing our passes when they expire later next month. We just don't see a lot of value right now with all of the cuts. Maybe next year if the ROTR attraction turns out to be a success.

 

[LizzyS]

Thanks for the responses, guys. It was an informative read for me.