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View Full Version : Disneyland schedule constantly changes!



cfrith
02-24-2006, 04:41 PM
Ugh! I have checked the DLR calender 3 times in the past 3 weeks (for week of April 24th). The first time it said that DL was open until midnight that week. The next time it said 8pm, and now, it says 10pm. This is very frustrating. :mad: Why can't they make up their minds?!?! I only make it there once every few years and I'd like to be able to plan. This makes a big difference in how we are planning meals and rest times. I'm definitely writing to someone at DLR about this.

ktrm
02-24-2006, 05:15 PM
Not only do times change but so do the rides which are closed! I don't know how people plan in advance to get good prices on hotels and packages. I almost booked the week where both the pirates and the haunted house were closed. Since I'm not a local, this was not ok with me. The penalties for cancelling packages are huge so I really don't know how people do it. Now the latest I've heard is that I might not be able to ride the monorail because I'm not staying at a DL resort. I wanted to take the monorail to have lunch in downtown disney. I totally share your frustration.

Susan L
02-24-2006, 05:30 PM
Unfortunately this is how it is. We were just there 2-11 through 2-18. I knew before we were going that the Mansion would be shut down but, we were still bummed out. We only seemed to really miss it everytime we past it on the way to Splash Mt. Also while when were there the fireworks were cancelled one night and Fantasmic was also cancelled one night. I go every 18 months or so and have to plan ahead. I just try to make the best out of what is going on.

cfrith
02-24-2006, 05:35 PM
You'd think that something like the hours they are open would be pretty easy to plan ahead! What next- are they going to make an announcement while we're there "we changed our minds and DL is closing at 5PM today, sorry"!!!!!! :mad:

ILovePoker
02-24-2006, 07:55 PM
I wouldn't complain about changing hours because for the most part, they are being extended. This past week was crazy and Disneyland was only open till 8pm and they only extended it to 9pm! It was just as busy as Presidents Week and I thought it was a very poor job on Disney's part to have such short hours. All Fast Passes were gone very quickly and many wait times were higher than 45 minutes.

ktrm
02-24-2006, 08:30 PM
Thanks for the update on the crowds. I'm surprised it was so crowded this week, now I'm getting nervous about my March vacation. Oh well....crowds, rain, ride closures.....I guess you can't plan your way through everything. I think I'll take the others advice and go with the flow.

olegc
02-24-2006, 08:34 PM
You'd think that something like the hours they are open would be pretty easy to plan ahead! What next- are they going to make an announcement while we're there "we changed our minds and DL is closing at 5PM today, sorry"!!!!!! :mad:

well, last year they only stayed open late during the traditional week before Easter. Trouble was, so many schools now have spring break in odd weeks around that time -that the parks were PACKED and closed at 8. I would say a weekday was about 45K people, after easter, all asked to leave the park at8pm.

Needless to say McDonalds across the street had great business - including ours.

Adding insult to injury - World of Disney closed at 7pm - very weird....

My assumption is that this year they are still trying to figure out what to do based on projections - and can't decide. They're looking for that magical point of intersection between controlling costs and making money.

ILovePoker
02-24-2006, 08:35 PM
No problem. I was very annoyed that California Adventure was closed by 6:00pm even though many rides had 30-60 minute waits with all of their Fast Passes long gone by 2 o clock.

The week before Presidents Day was great though, 10 minute wait for Splash, 15 for Indy, 20 for Space Mountain, 10 for the Matterhorn and 10 minutes for Big Thunder Mountain. It was truly an off-season and I loved it.:fez:

cfrith
02-24-2006, 08:43 PM
So in your opinion, do you think it'll be super busy the week of April 24th. I was hoping kids would be back to school!

experiment626
02-24-2006, 08:58 PM
April 24th is still 2 months away. they are still working on getting the scheudle together. Now if it was for NEXT week I would be annoyed. For something 2 months away then I think i would relax a little.

ILovePoker
02-24-2006, 10:38 PM
I think from March 8th to the end of Easter break, they might as well be running as summer hours.

Disneyland: 8am to 12am
California Adventure: 10am to 10am

If this past week was very busy (and it was) the park should be open a lot later than from 9am to 9pm. Here's a picture of the wait board I took over Presidents Day Weekend. *Note that it was drizzling out and Splash Mountain's wait time grew to 90 minutes over the day; also Big Thunder Mountain's wait grew to 45 minutes later as well.*

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a79/OtherCadaverArm/6cf56dc9.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a79/OtherCadaverArm/22b35002.jpg

AaronInCal
02-25-2006, 01:55 AM
Usually, Disneyland tries to schedule its operating hours based on attendence from the year before. So they would look to February 2005 to set the hours for this year. But with the 50th celebration going on, all bets are off. They are trying to be conservative and schedule the park to close at 8pm, not knowing if it will be busy or not during the week in a usual off-season period. That is why they have extended park hours many times ever since May 5 when the 50th began. They just can't judge attendence at all this year based on last year. It's probably driving everyone in charge of the hours and then those in scheduling crazy, too.

cfrith
02-25-2006, 07:38 AM
I guess I just don't understand why they can't just pick a time and stick to it. Yes, I do understand that they are unsure of the crowds because of the 50th, but they could still just pick a time.