When will Disneyland go back to operating at 100% capacity?

[LKing]

My siblings have Believe Keys and they had a hard time reserving the Monday we went, over a month in advance even.

We live local and visit approximately once a week. We reserve six dates, weeks in advance. We cancel reservations early in the week, or even the day before, as our plans change. When we cancel, we immediately add another reservation several weeks out. If others are like us, it might be easier to pick up reservations closer to the date rather than a month in advance.

 

[33RPM]

The reservation system is not used to control capacity for COVID or social distancing purposes, at least not anymore.

It is used to:

1) Predict crowd level so they can staff accordingly.
2) Make sure that the more "desirable" guest is able to enter the park. The most "desirable" are disney hotel guests, the second most are regular ticket holders, and the 3rd are magic key holders. As far as other unusual ticket types, I do not know where they rank.

Will they continue to use the reservation system on a permanent basis or will they eventually end it like WDW is in January?

 

[Steven G]

Nobody knows if/when DLR will do that, but WDW is not getting rid of reservations completely. They are only getting rid of it for date based tickets.

below is for WDW.

No Theme Park Reservation Required

• Date-based 1-day ticket
• Date-based multi-day ticket
• Vacation package with date-based tickets

Theme Park Reservation Required

• Student group tickets
• Sport and Convention ticket
• Annual Pass
• All other ticket types not mentioned above

I believe annual pass at WDW has some loosening. Like you don’t need a reservation after 2pm.

 

[Foxhound3857]

It was just morbid curiosity, nothing more. As crowded as it was Monday, to hear that was still not full capacity and was even "calm" according to my brother was an eye opener, and makes me wonder just how much of a sardine can this place can become when it's at peak.

Even so, I had such a blast monday that I told my sister I'm serious about getting a Magic Key, most likely the Enchant tier, but it's going to depend on how often keys go on sale, how long they stay on sale, and whether or not being able to get on the website to buy one is even a reasonable process. If I can't secure one by January 2024 then I'll probably lose hope.

 

[Steven G]

the worst I have seen it was a few years ago, on Christmas day, right after the fireworks were over, in the main hub area.

My son and I were basically stuck in an immovable human wall of people for at least 15 minutes (very very slow moving).

The closest I have seen that has been in adventureland when trying to navigate between tiki room and jungle cruise, where it was so crowded that it was near impossible to move. I believe the main cause of that was Fantasmic ending.

Both of those were before covid.

The worst I have seen it after covid was during the week after Christmas, it was BAD, but not quite as bad as those other times. The specific one I remember was that the backup for lightning lane for GOTG ride was so backed up, it took 45+ minutes to get through the lightning lane.

Most of the other times during the year, it can get "bad", but not "BAD".

And as others have said, for some reason Monday seems to be the busiest day.

 

[DizMe]

the worst I have seen it was a few years ago, on Christmas day, right after the fireworks were over, in the main hub area.

The worst I've seen it was in the '90s. I'd just flown down for a job interview in San Clemente and my sister and I decided to go to DL for the day. We bought our tickets, went in and BLAM! Wall-to-wall people. By the time we got to the hub, I was literally afraid of being squashed (I'm short and at the time, weighed 100 lbs). My sister and I looked at each other, went NOPE and left.

 

[Dug720]

The specific one I remember was that the backup for lightning lane for GOTG ride was so backed up, it took 45+ minutes to get through the lightning lane.

That happened once when I was there in Feb 2022. Reason then was they went down to one gantry (I think it might have been down for a while before they got one going - but I was doing other things before it got that long). When that happens, they'll pull exclusively from the LL until there is room for one party from the standby line each time they're filling the area to go into pre-show. So the LL is definitely at an advantage, even if the line is long.

 

[DLgal]

the worst I have seen it was a few years ago, on Christmas day, right after the fireworks were over, in the main hub area.

My son and I were basically stuck in an immovable human wall of people for at least 15 minutes (very very slow moving).

The closest I have seen that has been in adventureland when trying to navigate between tiki room and jungle cruise, where it was so crowded that it was near impossible to move. I believe the main cause of that was Fantasmic ending.

Both of those were before covid.

The worst I have seen it after covid was during the week after Christmas, it was BAD, but not quite as bad as those other times. The specific one I remember was that the backup for lightning lane for GOTG ride was so backed up, it took 45+ minutes to get through the lightning lane.

Most of the other times during the year, it can get "bad", but not "BAD".

And as others have said, for some reason Monday seems to be the busiest day.

The LL for Guardians is FREQUENTLY 45 minutes. It's very annoying.

 

[joseph821]

The LL for Guardians is FREQUENTLY 45 minutes. It's very annoying.

Do they tell you the wait times before you buy LL? This is my first trip in August since 2019 and I have never used Genie or LL.

 

[DLgal]

Do they tell you the wait times before you buy LL? This is my first trip in August since 2019 and I have never used Genie or LL.

The wait times for the LL entrances? No. They do monitor them (we've been given the red card several times) but they don't post them.

You will know the standby wait time only
The LL wait times ebb and flow, and sometimes get VERY long, especially if a popular ride goes down anywhere in the park (because then people can use Multiple Experiences passes to ride other things). And when a ride has an extended down time, like Radiator Springs Racers, or Rise of the Resistance, once it opens again, the LL lines will be massive as everyone flocks back at the same time to ride.

 

[joseph821]

The wait times for the LL entrances? No. They do monitor them (we've been given the red card several times) but they don't post them.

You will know the standby wait time only
The LL wait times ebb and flow, and sometimes get VERY long, especially if a popular ride goes down anywhere in the park (because then people can use Multiple Experiences passes to ride other things). And when a ride has an extended down time, like Radiator Springs Racers, or Rise of the Resistance, once it opens again, the LL lines will be massive as everyone flocks back at the same time to ride.

Ok. Thanks for the advice. And you can only buy 2 LL a day right? Not 2LL per park per day?

 

[DLgal]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. And you can only buy 2 LL a day right? Not 2LL per park per day?

You can buy 2 INDIVIDUAL Lightning Lanes (ILL) per day, correct.

Lightning Lane is just the name of the line you get to use when you purchase the standard Genie+.

 

[Foxhound3857]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. And you can only buy 2 LL a day right? Not 2LL per park per day?

My brother was getting several throughout the day. I think it's around 6 per day or something.

We got one for Rise of the Resistance, one for Big Thunder Mountain, one for Incredicoaster, one for Guardians Tower, one for Radiator Springs (have to pay for that one) and one for Space Mountain.

 

[Dug720]

My brother was getting several throughout the day. I think it's around 6 per day or something.

We got one for Rise of the Resistance, one for Big Thunder Mountain, one for Incredicoaster, one for Guardians Tower, one for Radiator Springs (have to pay for that one) and one for Space Mountain.

Rise and RSR are both Individual Lightning Lanes which have extra cost. The others are LL.

I was in DL over Presidents' Week in 2022 and while I didn't count, I got a lot of LLs each day. I kind of mastered picking rides that were down which converted to anytime for many of the rides (not all), and some - if they knew the ride was going to be down a while - converted very close to the time I picked them so I would end up with a lot. I didn't necessarily use the anytime for the ride that I'd initially gotten it for. (I only paid for an ILL once - for WebSlingers which is not NOT an ILL. I did single rider for RSR, MMRR was not open yet, and I have less than zero interest in anything Star Wars.)

 

[DLgal]

My brother was getting several throughout the day. I think it's around 6 per day or something.

We got one for Rise of the Resistance, one for Big Thunder Mountain, one for Incredicoaster, one for Guardians Tower, one for Radiator Springs (have to pay for that one) and one for Space Mountain.

There are 2 different things.

No limit to how many LL you can get for the participating rides in that program. Although the theoretical limit is 11 in Disneyland and 7 in DCA, because you can only use them once per ride.

There are 3 attractions across both parks that are not included in Genie+. They are Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and Radiator Springs Racers. Those are INDIVIDUAL LIGHTNING LANE (ILL) rides and cost anywhere from $15-20 per ride to use the LL. You can purchase 2 of those per day.

 

[joseph821]

You can buy 2 INDIVIDUAL Lightning Lanes (ILL) per day, correct.

Lightning Lane is just the name of the line you get to use when you purchase the standard Genie+.

Thanks. I am sure by the end of my first day..I'll get the hang of it.

There are 2 different things.

No limit to how many LL you can get for the participating rides in that program. Although the theoretical limit is 11 in Disneyland and 7 in DCA, because you can only use them once per ride.

There are 3 attractions across both parks that are not included in Genie+. They are Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and Radiator Springs Racers. Those are INDIVIDUAL LIGHTNING LANE (ILL) rides and cost anywhere from $15-20 per ride to use the LL. You can purchase 2 of those per day.

So I could get 4 LL for Haunted mansion (particpating) per day but only 1 LL for Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway and only 1LL for Radiator Springs Racers? There is my limit of 2 right there.

 

[DLgal]

Thanks. I am sure by the end of my first day..I'll get the hang of it.

So I could get 4 LL for Haunted mansion (particpating) per day but only 1 LL for Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway and only 1LL for Radiator Springs Racers? There is my limit of 2 right there.

No, you cannot get 4 LL for Haunted Mansion. You are not allowed to use the LL more than once per ride per day. Once you get one for HM, you can't get another one. Although, you CAN use a Multiple Experiences pass (if you get one due to a breakdown) to ride HM using the LL again, if you want.

The theoretical limit in DL is 11 different LL because there are only 11 participating rides for Genie+. You will likely not get that many in a day.

You can pay for any 2 (of the three) ILL per day. You cannot buy all three rides. Just 2. You cannot buy 2 ILL for Radiator Springs Racers. Across the board, the Genie+ and ILL program allows a maximum of ONE ride per day on each participating attraction.

 

[joseph821]

No, you cannot get 4 LL for Haunted Mansion. You are not allowed to use the LL more than once per ride per day. Once you get one for HM, you can't get another one. Although, you CAN use a Multiple Experiences pass (if you get one due to a breakdown) to ride HM using the LL again, if you want.

The theoretical limit in DL is 11 different LL because there are only 11 participating rides for Genie+. You will likely not get that many in a day.

You can pay for any 2 (of the three) ILL per day. You cannot buy all three rides. Just 2. You cannot buy 2 ILL for Radiator Springs Racers. Across the board, the Genie+ and ILL program allows a maximum of ONE ride per day on each participating attraction.

Understood...for LL. How does Genie+ work? is there a limit?

 

[DLgal]

Understood...for LL. How does Genie+ work? is there a limit?

I just explained that above.

The easiest way to explain it is "no repeats".

Genie+ IS LL.

ILL is the other program.

ALL the "fastpass" lanes are called Lightning Lanes.

Here is an app screenshot that might help

 

[Foxhound3857]

There are 2 different things.

No limit to how many LL you can get for the participating rides in that program. Although the theoretical limit is 11 in Disneyland and 7 in DCA, because you can only use them once per ride.

There are 3 attractions across both parks that are not included in Genie+. They are Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and Radiator Springs Racers. Those are INDIVIDUAL LIGHTNING LANE (ILL) rides and cost anywhere from $15-20 per ride to use the LL. You can purchase 2 of those per day.

Ah, so him getting them for ROTR and RSR we hit our limit for those?