Articles | Disneyland | Walt Disney World
Page 9 of 15 FirstFirst ... 7 8 9 10 11 ... LastLast
Results 201 to 225 of 362

Thread: Disneyland Reopening - tickets, reservations, and visit experience

  1. #201
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca

    So let me just say that I had been back and forth on if going was a good idea up until the day before we were set to go. So many different reasons-wait times and not knowing what was correct or not, the guidelines being followed compared to not, the mobile order/food issues (especially after ATOD with that stuff) and so on. I was watching the weather as well and that seemed to have bounced around a bit leading up to the 7th. Then as long as the kids wanted to go we did it. My oldest was suppose to but decided not to so canceled his reservation and told him if he wants to go later on at some point and drag a friend or 2 will pay for tickets for them to go together instead. So it was me with the 19 yr old and 14 yr old.

    Anyway, the morning started off with the app giving me issues already. Tried to get a WS group and the screen never changed to allow me to even try. I refreshed when I needed and nothing. So whatever. Yet it was the first glitch of the day. I had issues with it brining up wait times a few times, bringing up my ticket area, it was showing my GE like it wasn't even the land but how it looked before it opened and then glitched when trying to complete the boarding group for Rise. I didn't bother talking to a CM about the Rise issue as I figured it probably wouldn't have matter to them in the end and would have none nothing for us. I had a lot of times I had to close it more than one time to go back in and see if it would work. It happened when I was trying to get it read in a shop for the LP discount. It was just the circle over and over and I had to close it and back in then it came up as I was apologizing to the CM. Now it actually worked for mobile ordering though. I had things set in place for where we needed in a couple of them. Still don't like having to deal with it but at least this time was easier than it was in the past. It even came up that I could hit the button at least 5 minutes before it should have and within seconds said it was ready. Which at Smokejumpers we came a bit early to find a table nearby and glad we had since we had to wait around. The first one I walked up to some guy saw jumped in front of me and asked if they were done before I could say anything. I did saw something as I walked away. Luckily another nearby couple saw we were waiting and when done gave us their table. Of course the CM walking around wiping tables down disappeared on us to get that done. I made sure a lady nearby waiting on a table got our's. She was close enough to call out to. Food was so so. Kids had chicken tenders and the waffle fries. Son didn't like the fries like that so only had a couple of them and daughter was fine with it all. It filled them for the time being. I had the brisket mac n cheese but it was a little to greasy for me and runny. Plus their was more fatty pieces than there was meat it seemed like. I'm to the point that I feel I just don't have luck at Smokejumpers. I had made sure to set a time for the Mint Julep Bar because my daughter wanted beignets. That was the same where it came up before our time and within seconds of hitting I'm here it was up. Both places as well we had little wait too. We did walk over to Rancho del Zocalo to sit with them. I knew that was probably a good spot with less people for seating away from a lot of others. I had seen some have issues with getting water/soda at carts even so that was a concern. Yet we had no issues at all. Walked up to the popcorn cart in Tomorrowland with no wait at all. Found a table easily for us to sit as well. Which the people before us, the lady offered to wipe it down for us with wipes she had. That was super kind of her to do. I had plenty of hand sanitizer but no wipes on hand.

    I will say that I kept decent track of the waits listed on the app and what we ended up waiting for rides. I did a picture at each spot we started our wait and then where we got on the ride or right before we were. We did by pass a few because the lines were really long and it wasn't the distancing along making it but just long. A few went back to later in the day and were shorter and others never changed. So here is what we did:

    DCA: Toy Story wait said 20 but it was 10, Little Mermaid wait said 20 but was a little under at 16, Mater wait said 25 but was around 16, and Monster's I don't remember what the wait was listed but want to say around 35 and it was close to that wait. It was 32 for us.
    DL: Autopia wait said 10 was about that, Roger Rabbit said 5 and was a walk on, HM wait said 35 and was close to it, Pooh wait said 20 and was close to it, Snow White wait said 40 but was 23, Pinocchio wait said 10 and was 5, Mr Toad wait said 15 but was around 10, Alice wait said 25 but was 12, Casey wait said 15 and was 10, Splash listed 10 but was a walk on so that was done 2 times (first time daughter agreed to ride it), and Pirates wait said 45 but it was about 8.

    I know we were going to go to Fantasyland when we hopped over to DL but Snow White was a lot longer at that time so we decided to go to Autopia instead at the time. It was the right move obviously because after we got beignets we headed that way and it was not near where the line was going earlier. Peter Pan was done or we would have done that too. For a short time I was almost wondering how much we were going to be able to do because the times showing and how the lines looked in places but going to the ones we did first then move around other ways worked out for us. The longest waits we had seemed to have been for Monster's and HM.

    I will say that I all the bathrooms I had used that only 1 had paper towels in it. The rest had nothing at all. I've never come across it like that before even on the busiest of days in the past.

    Those distance markers on the ground, some seem oddly placed and there there are so many times there is nothing at all. Its understandable where the confusion comes in for distancing in places like there was. Which mind you before even getting into the parks there is no one distancing and close to half either not wearing a mask or its under the nose. We came in on the Harbor side. No one said a word to those people in that area. Which as we were moving along at one point, there was some lady with an attitude vibe going on and she stuck a mesh mask on her face.....all I can say is glad we were no place near here after that and can't imagine how that went when she got closer to the temp/bag check area. Just don't get those that want to make it hard CMs. Anyway, there wasn't much distancing going on with the ride lines in many places but most people were following rules and trying at least. A few walking eating/drinking, with at least one we saw having a CM tell them they can't do that and the guy questioning things of course. Wasn't to thrilled with the people at Smokejumpers that let their kids run around with no masks and getting close to other people's tables...including our's. When we waited for Alice, a lady and her young son were on the ride as it was going in, the mom pulled her mask off and my daughter couldn't help it but yelled for her to put her mask back on. Leave it to my 14 yr old. LOL After seeing issues so many others saw around them, I have to say that it did seem like guests were pretty much good about things. Always a few bad apples though no matter if its not or before covid.

    Oh and with the ride lines, was a bit surprised they had been using all the indoor part for Pinocchio. The new version of Snow White wasn't bad. Glad to see there is still some Evil Queen in there. Something else ride wise, we noticed that not just the HM but the Fantasyland rides all seemed a bit darker inside as well compared to usual.

    I will say that crowd wise it did remind me of just a typical day in the parks. Weather was great for the day. Cloudy most the day and drizzle off and on for parts of it. The sun did peak out and got a little warmer at that time but once it went away it was so nice. So picked a good day weather wise for us for sure. Shops didn't have a wait to get in on Main St, except the candy/treats one. Didn't do as much shopping as I would have liked to but that is ok. Kids got something like usual. Then I splurged on the only Dooney and Bourke I've seen that I wanted...the Disney Afternoon one. I'm typically a Loungefly purse girl.

    We all had a good time. Kids are a bit sore. I took a few Advil before bed and was fine when I got up this morning. 19 yr old was asking as we were leaving when we can go back. LOL

    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  2. # ADS

    Join Date
    Location
    Posts
     

  3. #202
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca
    More food places opening up this month and next.

    Oga's Cantina will open June 17th and bookings start the 14th.
    Lamplight Lounge Brunch open July 9th and booking start June 14th.
    Wine Country Trattoria opens July 17th and bookings start June 14th.
    Tiki Juice Bar (mobile order available) – Opening June 17
    Docking Bay Food & Cargo (mobile order available) – Opening June 17
    Alien Pizza Planet (mobile order available) – Opening June 17
    Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante – Opening June 17
    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  4. #203
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca

    Curious for those that have gone, have any of you noticed in uptick in "service dogs"? We saw 4 different ones yesterday that clearly were not legit service dogs and I say that as the behavior was the telling sign by both the dog and owner. I know we have seen it for years getting to be more and more but nothing like that in 1 day. I didn't think they were allowed in the regular lines either which was a first to see. We were at the end of Pirates to unload and as we went by saw a lady with her tiny dog next to her in the regular line.

    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  5. #204
    Super Moderator
    MousePad Moderator

    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Blog Entries
    1

    Agreed on the uptick of dogs in the parks. I wonder how they're getting them in if they're not legit service dogs.

    Karin


  6. #205
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4

    Berry Princess - thanks for the update. I think its obvious from your descriptions that the lack of CMs and ability to keep up with the number of guests in the park is meeting critical stages at moments during an operating day. Not enough tables to sit, places dont get cleaned as often, line estimates are not what they say (good or bad - I've heard Disneyland tends to be longer than posted), etc. We all hope that when June 15th comes around things will change. However, it all depends on getting cast levels back up, being able to have cast work in close proximity, and dealing with any tweaks from the state on actual ops changes allowed for June 15 (its not going to be "wide open like pre-pandemic). Disney management has said ops would slowly go back to normal over the rest of the year - but it seems like they're ready to open the gates quite wide while still fixing the ops issues. The strong cynic in me makes me think their position is "hey once they come in where can they go? dont worry" I know, I know. this is Disney - they're different. Well, need for money after you had none for a long time is a strong motivator. Most of you know on here know I always go with the thought that they are hard focused on revenue first, guest experience second and hide this well. Lets see if its any different as we move forward.

    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  7. #206
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca
    Quote Originally Posted by Karin View Post
    Agreed on the uptick of dogs in the parks. I wonder how they're getting them in if they're not legit service dogs.
    I assume like before that CMs just don't care, don't know they can ask 2 questions on it or are afraid to question things. Yet I was surprised with the one in the Pirates line because that is not where they belong and the fact a CM let them through that way seems like there is a lack in training in this area.


    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    Berry Princess - thanks for the update. I think its obvious from your descriptions that the lack of CMs and ability to keep up with the number of guests in the park is meeting critical stages at moments during an operating day. Not enough tables to sit, places dont get cleaned as often, line estimates are not what they say (good or bad - I've heard Disneyland tends to be longer than posted), etc. We all hope that when June 15th comes around things will change. However, it all depends on getting cast levels back up, being able to have cast work in close proximity, and dealing with any tweaks from the state on actual ops changes allowed for June 15 (its not going to be "wide open like pre-pandemic). Disney management has said ops would slowly go back to normal over the rest of the year - but it seems like they're ready to open the gates quite wide while still fixing the ops issues. The strong cynic in me makes me think their position is "hey once they come in where can they go? dont worry" I know, I know. this is Disney - they're different. Well, need for money after you had none for a long time is a strong motivator. Most of you know on here know I always go with the thought that they are hard focused on revenue first, guest experience second and hide this well. Lets see if its any different as we move forward.
    I think its not a total surprise there isn't enough CMs to keep up with the amount of guests. From what it sounds like, I don't think much will change when June 15th comes. I know more food places will be opening here soon enough and there will be those CMs but they also need more outside of that. When we got off Alice I had pulled to the side so we could sanitized and check waits on a few things, a lady asked if I was waiting to get my return time checked for the ride. There was no CM there for the DAS folks so the lady was stuck there waiting for who knows how long as we had left to move on to another ride. I will say that there is a mix in how CMs come off as well. Some are great but there is more that just seem like they don't want to be there. I don't know if they just aren't happy with where they are working, dealing with certain guests or what it is. The ones that were great though stood out for sure over the others.

    BTW, speaking about CMs working in close proximity, there was a lot of them back working in Smokejumpers so I think that isn't even an issue at this point. If they can do it in there they can do it in other spots as well and bring more back. I don't know about the other theme parks but it seems like its just Disney doing it this way while the others open all or as much as they can that goes along with following guidelines. Which as you said, with Disney its all about revenue first and guest experience after.
    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  8. #207
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4

    one reported issue for CMs has been lots of assignments to areas or attractions they are not familiar with. I know there was a push by the parks to get people to switch parks but that would mean losing seniority in the park you were a part of so many CMs balked at that. it may be lack of familiarity or it may be these CMs are still uncomfortable with working in the parks but they have to in order to have some sort of work. Of course another answer is many who came back just don't have the same joyous attitude as standard CMs. who knows - its such a problem right now overall with level of standards it could be quite a while before that high expectation level can be met.

    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  9. #208
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4

    dining reservation change?

    Hi all - maybe you can help me. I have a reservation for Cafe Orleans this coming Sunday for lunch. A friend of ours is coming it turns out. Our ressie has 3 - so I tried to add a fourth and I was told in the app there are no available reservations for June 13th. So it appears that the app is trying to create a different ressie with 4 people instead of adding. Is there a way I can add this person to my reservation? Should I call? will they allow us to add on the fly when we arrive? I mean we have 3 people - Im pretty sure they're giving us a 4 person table. So I would think adding a fourth doesnt impact the capacity as far as tables.

    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  10. #209
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca
    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    one reported issue for CMs has been lots of assignments to areas or attractions they are not familiar with. I know there was a push by the parks to get people to switch parks but that would mean losing seniority in the park you were a part of so many CMs balked at that. it may be lack of familiarity or it may be these CMs are still uncomfortable with working in the parks but they have to in order to have some sort of work. Of course another answer is many who came back just don't have the same joyous attitude as standard CMs. who knows - its such a problem right now overall with level of standards it could be quite a while before that high expectation level can be met.
    There was another board that someone had posted tweets they came across of CMs discussing being called back and the HR person that was doing it. It seemed that at the time the HR person wasn't answering questions the CMs had and was rude sounding...even a few said they were hung up on. There was stories of some CMs feeling pressured to return and mix in the ones you said that they were trying to put in a different park, which would mean losing seniority is not a way to make for a happy CM either. Its not a good way for any company to treat long time employees and it does make for not so happy to be there employees as well. I don't blame the ones that aren't comfortable but had to go back. Its a tricky situation for sure when you know how people's attitudes and behaviors have been for over a year now but then to have to deal with some of those people...yikes.

    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    Hi all - maybe you can help me. I have a reservation for Cafe Orleans this coming Sunday for lunch. A friend of ours is coming it turns out. Our ressie has 3 - so I tried to add a fourth and I was told in the app there are no available reservations for June 13th. So it appears that the app is trying to create a different ressie with 4 people instead of adding. Is there a way I can add this person to my reservation? Should I call? will they allow us to add on the fly when we arrive? I mean we have 3 people - Im pretty sure they're giving us a 4 person table. So I would think adding a fourth doesnt impact the capacity as far as tables.
    Maybe try the chat in the app to see if they can help out. It would be quicker than calling. I don't think those places usually have an odd number at the tables for seating so can't imagine adding 1 extra would be an issue when you have 3
    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  11. #210
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4

    well - governor's office announced it in a tweet. As of June 15th. No capacity limits, no distancing, no color tier system. That's the state's rules. Disneyland can do their own thing but I suspect the outdoor queues and distancing will be abandoned. Masking may still be part of the requirements for the park.

    https://twitter.com/CAgovernor/statu...244058115?s=19

    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  12. #211
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca

    According to ABC7

    "Disneyland: If you want to visit the most magical place on Earth, you're still going to need to mask up even after the June 15. The only thing that will change after California's reopening is that the capacity limits at Disneyland and Disneyland California Adventure will be lifted."

    Editing to add: I had wondered if they were going to up capacity though because of how the dates have come and gone at times during the end of June or if it was just switching over hotel spots that weren't being used or what. Then nothing has really sold out after July and the one day that looked like it had was back open again. Which was also another reason we decided to go ahead and go when we had. Didn't want to be in with what could come. Heck the distancing...there is no social distancing there already so nothing new in that area.

    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  13. #212
    Super Moderator
    MousePad Moderator

    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    Hi all - maybe you can help me. I have a reservation for Cafe Orleans this coming Sunday for lunch. A friend of ours is coming it turns out. Our ressie has 3 - so I tried to add a fourth and I was told in the app there are no available reservations for June 13th. So it appears that the app is trying to create a different ressie with 4 people instead of adding. Is there a way I can add this person to my reservation? Should I call? will they allow us to add on the fly when we arrive? I mean we have 3 people - Im pretty sure they're giving us a 4 person table. So I would think adding a fourth doesnt impact the capacity as far as tables.
    I would think you could deal with it day of. Don't risk losing the ressie on the app. They're already going to be putting a party of 3 at a table that accommodates 4.
    Karin


  14. #213
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    foresthill Ca
    Quote Originally Posted by Karin View Post
    I would think you could deal with it day of. Don't risk losing the ressie on the app. They're already going to be putting a party of 3 at a table that accommodates 4.
    This. The app wouldn't let me make a group of 6 since we were a group of 4 in my app. The dine line was not open. So I went to Carthay the day before and asked about adding the other 2. The CM I had was training, he called the other one forward, she said just to come early and let them know at check in. It was fine. Just make sure everyone is there at check in. My son in law had stopped to take a business call and we had to wait for him to check in otherwise we had no issue at all.

  15. #214
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4
    Quote Originally Posted by candles71 View Post
    This. The app wouldn't let me make a group of 6 since we were a group of 4 in my app. The dine line was not open. So I went to Carthay the day before and asked about adding the other 2. The CM I had was training, he called the other one forward, she said just to come early and let them know at check in. It was fine. Just make sure everyone is there at check in. My son in law had stopped to take a business call and we had to wait for him to check in otherwise we had no issue at all.
    Thanks @Karin and @candles71 and @Berry Princess
    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  16. #215
    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    Hi all - maybe you can help me. I have a reservation for Cafe Orleans this coming Sunday for lunch. A friend of ours is coming it turns out. Our ressie has 3 - so I tried to add a fourth and I was told in the app there are no available reservations for June 13th. So it appears that the app is trying to create a different ressie with 4 people instead of adding. Is there a way I can add this person to my reservation? Should I call? will they allow us to add on the fly when we arrive? I mean we have 3 people - Im pretty sure they're giving us a 4 person table. So I would think adding a fourth doesnt impact the capacity as far as tables.
    Heres your answer 😊 When you go to check-in on your app 15 mins prior to your reservation, you will be asked if you want to add another person to it. You are able to add one extra person to your reservation. We did this on Saturday at River Belle.

  17. #216
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4
    Quote Originally Posted by indiejones View Post
    Here’s your answer When you go to check-in on your app 15 mins prior to your reservation, you will be asked if you want to add another person to it. You are able to add one extra person to your reservation. We did this on Saturday at River Belle.
    Woo hoo! great. Thanks.
    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  18. #217

    Visit experience from 6/13:

    We attempted to get a Web Slingers Boarding Group at 7am from the car; two adults trying on three phones, all failures. Not unexpected, oh well. We got a locker in the esplanade before park opening (on our last visit I tried midday and they were all sold out, so go early if you need one!) because I knew I was buying a spider bot for a friend.

    Entered DCA shortly before opening; standby line for Avengers Campus was already estimated at 3 hours. No thanks! Went on a handful of other rides with moderate waits (Grizzly, Inside Out, Jumpin' Jellyfish), did some shopping (shops are EMPTY early in the day, score), had some snacks. We mobile ordered lunch way ahead at Pacific Wharf Distribution. We did this a week and a half ago and it was a breeze -- they had a standby line for the beer and non-mobile orders, and mobile orders just walked up and grabbed their food. HOWEVER, it was not like that yesterday. I went to the Mobile Order sign when it said my order was ready, and I was pointed to the standby line and told "there's just one line for everything today". That line stretched under the bridge slightly into Cars Land. Oof. But at that point it's actual lunchtime and I wasn't sure anything else would actually be quicker, and dang we just wanted our hot dogs. So we waited, behind all the people just wanting to order beers and such. Get to the front, and they're actually out of hot dogs, but more are coming "very soon." So they have us wait off to the side. At this point it's been half an hour and the noon timeframe to try for a Boarding Group is creeping. Of course, at 11:59am they call my name, and I very apologetically told them that I will be right with them, but it's Web Slingers time, lol. I again failed to get a Boarding Group, as did the two other adults in my party. Everyone around us seemed to have success, based on the excited screaming. Super disappointing. Oh, and then the hot dogs were all cold... sigh. DCA was not my favorite yesterday. I did see a Pym mobile order pop up and got something small just to see if they'd let us into Avengers Campus with it (I'd seen a lot of conflicting reports), but the CMs said mobile orders still needed to wait in the standby line, no go. No big deal since I was kind of expecting that, but I figured it was worth a try, lol. I was able to cancel the order, so no loss on that end.

    Went over to Disneyland just after 1:00 and the day got much better! We rode so many things -- started with Splash, then did Haunted Mansion (we got to take the stairs, YAY), Pirates (Captain Jack was on the balcony over the ride line, so that was fun), Big Thunder. All of our waits were slightly less than posted. Splash was only about 5 minutes shorter than posted, but Mansion and Pirates were both around 30 minutes when the posted wait was 45 minutes. Big Thunder was about 5 minutes shorter. My mom lost my hat on Big Thunder (apparently "hang on to them hats and glasses" wasn't enough of a warning, lol), and I learned that you can now do a Lost and Found report from the app. We'll see if it amounts to anything, but it's nice that you don't have to go to Lost and Found to do it. Got dinner after that from Jolly Holiday (we had ordered earlier, but the window was actually only about 15 minutes in the future when we picked up around 5, so we were able to do a second order for desserts); smooth pickup with no wait from mobile order. After that, went on Snow White, Dumbo, Casey Junior (time posted was accurate for all), then over to Small World (posted time was 5 minutes, but it took closer to 10). Went to Toon Town after that (at around 8pm by that point), which was pretty much a ghost town. It was fun to see the Railway progress and do the car photo ops with hardly anyone around. Rode Gadget's six times in a row (the 6yo was living her best life), a few times without having to exit and go through the line again because no one was waiting for it. The CMs were super nice and my kiddo loved them. Played with the fountain over there (I had never realized there were foot buttons to activate the fountain instruments, probably because there are always too many people around), then did Roger Rabbit as a walk-on. Went over to Toad after that with a 5-minute wait, and got in a 20-minute Peter Pan line at 8:59pm (under the wire!). That one took WAY longer than expected -- when we'd been in line about 5 minutes, they stopped loading it for quite some time. The line CM eventually told us a guest had reported an "irregular noise" at some point during the ride and they're required to investigate reports like that, even if they have no indication the ride is malfunctioning. Oy vay. Some folks abandoned the line while this was happening, so we did at least make some progress, and they got everyone through quickly once they got moving again, but I think it ended up being a 35 or 40-minute wait for us instead.

    Started out rough, but we had a great day (at least the Disneyland part, lol).


  19. #218
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca

    Shortpix77, we felt the Disneyland part for our day ended up better as well than the DCA part had gone. When we went back to Toontown for Roger Rabbit it was the quietest part of the parks it seemed like. Glad your daughter got to ride Gadget's like that. Sounds like it was a fun day for you all!

    About the boarding groups, I see so many people discuss how they practice getting one from home before trips and so many tell others to do this, so it had me wondering how much does this end up effecting things for those trying to really get one for the day they are in the parks.

    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  20. #219
    Quote Originally Posted by Berry Princess View Post
    About the boarding groups, I see so many people discuss how they practice getting one from home before trips and so many tell others to do this, so it had me wondering how much does this end up effecting things for those trying to really get one for the day they are in the parks.
    Ugh, I wonder as well -- I've NEVER had an issue getting Rise (we've gone on around 10 times now and it's usually been me that succeeds), but that was a spectacular failure

  21. #220
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Blog Entries
    4

    I visited Disneyland on June 13th as well (but never ran into Shortpix!) and had a moderately successful day. Boarding groups at 7 were a no go. My phone seemed to act slower than when I was at the park with Avengers. Go figure. so hit the car for the parks. I tried to use the flyover and waited till it was open - but that was a wasted effort. In the past the flyover was opened at 730 or 735. this time not till 8. That took way too long to park. Lines to DCA hit the monorail beam. But i was going to Dland. We did big rides in the morning so that we wouldn't have to stand outside in the heat for Pirates or Haunted. We rode about 15 rides - but the biggest disappointment was TOTALLY FORGETTING ABOUT 12 NOON!!!! for a ROTR boarding group. We were in line for Snow - chatting it up in the shaded queue (where princess hall is) and the people around us are cheering. I just felt that sense of dread that I blew it. Too late. We tried at the end of the night since they went through 248 boarding groups to see if we could walk on - but the ride was down as of 830pm. This bothered me all day more than just missing out would.

    Shopping early is key (as Shortpix said). the line at Dok's was really long compared to when I shopped earlier in the day. And Main St. of course as exiting the park was very busy. I think one thing I noticed was that lines were shorter than advertised if the advertisement was long. Say 45 to 60 min it was actually shorter. However, lines advertised as short were actually longer. Pan was advertised as 20 and it went 30. Others did this as well. I think it depends on flow of people - there tends to be these herds flowing from attraction to attraction - and there are times when the ride lines die down a bit. Its a random thing - but if you are lucky you pick it up and wait less.

    Our meal at Cafe Orleans was great - but anything Mobile Order was a wait even in the morning. we actually skipped dinner since no walk ups that were convenient and no mobile orders. Carts had off and on lines as well. We actually bailed on dole whips (i know, how could I) because the walk up line was so long and no mobile. What really struck us was Galactic Grill. 9 windows - with CMs standing there waiting with nothing to do - and I order an ice cream and a soda. I waited 10 minutes via mobile order for that. Ice cream? it comes pre-packaged. I really think some of these mobile-order policies are not created by the line ops folks but by financial spreadsheet jockies back at TDA. Oh well. All in all it was a very tiring but successful day. I'll be back probably next month for my birthday (and the new jungle cruise) then not back until Halloween.

    EDIT
    I wonder how this week will go. They were pulling up some of the distance markers already yesterday (Sunday june 13th) . Will there be expectation that all things are open? How about dining? will all the tables be back in place? I think the park overall will feel about the same because there will be more people but many of the extras will be inside buildings. It will be an interesting thing to watch day to day. how will disney pivot when there are Ops snafus.

    Last edited by olegc; 06-14-2021 at 09:21 AM. Reason: comment
    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  22. #221
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca
    Quote Originally Posted by Shortpix77 View Post
    Ugh, I wonder as well -- I've NEVER had an issue getting Rise (we've gone on around 10 times now and it's usually been me that succeeds), but that was a spectacular failure
    Really I don't even get the point of "practicing" and stressing like some do. Yet if this is effecting things, its really frustrating for anyone trying for the day they are there and can't grab anything either time of day.


    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    Shopping early is key (as Shortpix said). the line at Dok's was really long compared to when I shopped earlier in the day. And Main St. of course as exiting the park was very busy. I think one thing I noticed was that lines were shorter than advertised if the advertisement was long. Say 45 to 60 min it was actually shorter. However, lines advertised as short were actually longer. Pan was advertised as 20 and it went 30. Others did this as well. I think it depends on flow of people - there tends to be these herds flowing from attraction to attraction - and there are times when the ride lines die down a bit. Its a random thing - but if you are lucky you pick it up and wait less.

    Our meal at Cafe Orleans was great - but anything Mobile Order was a wait even in the morning. we actually skipped dinner since no walk ups that were convenient and no mobile orders. Carts had off and on lines as well. We actually bailed on dole whips (i know, how could I) because the walk up line was so long and no mobile. What really struck us was Galactic Grill. 9 windows - with CMs standing there waiting with nothing to do - and I order an ice cream and a soda. I waited 10 minutes via mobile order for that. Ice cream? it comes pre-packaged. I really think some of these mobile-order policies are not created by the line ops folks but by financial spreadsheet jockies back at TDA. Oh well. All in all it was a very tiring but successful day. I'll be back probably next month for my birthday (and the new jungle cruise) then not back until Halloween.

    EDIT
    I wonder how this week will go. They were pulling up some of the distance markers already yesterday (Sunday june 13th) . Will there be expectation that all things are open? How about dining? will all the tables be back in place? I think the park overall will feel about the same because there will be more people but many of the extras will be inside buildings. It will be an interesting thing to watch day to day. how will disney pivot when there are Ops snafus.
    Its funny because I had no issues on Main St. a half hour before the parks closed except Candy Palace. We skipped even bothering there because it had a line that wasn't really moving. Yet we walked right in to the Emporium and Disney Clothiers. There was no wait in the Clothiers at all and a short one at Emporium. Emporium though there was a good amount of people in it depending on where you were in the store I noticed. I know others have said the lines have been long though for them so maybe we got lucky that night in those 2 places.

    You aren't the first one I've seen say they say CMs stand around in a food location and they were made to wait to get their order. There is no reason for that at all IMO. Which also shows that there was no reason for mobile order to be pushed in such a way as well. I know the times we walked by Galactic Grill I didn't see anyone at the windows getting food or awaiting around either for food like I had in a few other locations. It seems this is one place walk ups should have been welcome all day. It really seems like this shines more of a light on those in the Disney company that seem to be out of touch with what is going on in ​the parks and what does/n't work. Will be interesting to see if any of this changes with walk ups/mobile order or not tomorrow and moving forward.

    BTW, Disney has announced their June 15th guidelines. Vaccinated guests won't need to wear their mask outdoors or indoors and obviously they won't be checking who is or isn't so we know how this will go. Says guests 2 and up that are not vaccinated will be still required to wear a mask indoors and when dining...I say good luck with that and how people are.

    Toy Story lot will open June 18th and masks are to be worn on bus transportation it says.

    The above is why we made sure if we were going to go we would before not just out of state but they started dropping masks in the parks in different areas.
    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  23. #222
    Quote Originally Posted by Berry Princess View Post
    BTW, Disney has announced their June 15th guidelines. Vaccinated guests won't need to wear their mask outdoors or indoors and obviously they won't be checking who is or isn't so we know how this will go. Says guests 2 and up that are not vaccinated will be still required to wear a mask indoors and when dining...I say good luck with that and how people are.
    This is EXACTLY why I switched our reservation to June 13 -- we were originally scheduled for June 18. I feel like it's going to be chaos and all consideration and compliance is going to be gone, regardless of anyone's vaccination status. If young kids could get the vaccine, I'd feel differently, but I feel like while they can't, this move is premature and ignoring a large part of the population (and a key Disney demographic). We won't be back until the kiddos can be vaccinated.

  24. #223
    Quote Originally Posted by Shortpix77 View Post
    This is EXACTLY why I switched our reservation to June 13 -- we were originally scheduled for June 18. I feel like it's going to be chaos and all consideration and compliance is going to be gone, regardless of anyone's vaccination status. If young kids could get the vaccine, I'd feel differently, but I feel like while they can't, this move is premature and ignoring a large part of the population (and a key Disney demographic). We won't be back until the kiddos can be vaccinated.
    We went last weekend and have reservations to go again next weekend. It was an odd mixture of really fun and entirely miserable. My kids don't like lines, and have never been to Disneyland without Fastpass. I have significant sun sensitivity and can't comfortably wait outdoors. So between the two issues, we managed to go on 2-4 rides on Thursday, perhaps a few more on Friday, and 3 rides on Saturday before we called it quits. The rides we did go on were fun, but the "price per ride" was outrageous.

    We stayed at the Grand Cal for 2 nights, so we were able to go back to the room to rest when the sun became too much, but the kids couldn't go swimming during that time because of pool capacity limitations. By the time we got the text that the pool was ready, it was time to return to the parks to ride Rise of the Resistance.

    We were pretty lucky with the virtual queues, with two adults trying, we got something 4 of 5 tries.

    We have reservations for next weekend as well. Right now, my plan is to try again at 7am each morning, and head to the park in time to try for the noon spot (if needed) or to ride the ride (if successful). I am not sure we will stay much beyond that if the heat is as bad as it was this weekend.

    I hadn't realized how important Fastpass+ has become for our family. Once we've used our current 5 day tickets, I don't think that we will return to the parks until Fastpass is back. On our last day, I realized I probably could get a disability accommodation because of my need to avoid the sun, but I never wanted my kids to to have that entitlement that might cause them to fake disabilities when they were older/at the parks by themselves, and for the most part the rides that my kids want to do are the Fastpass+ rides, so that system worked fine for us. Taking away the Fastpass+ system and moving all of the lines outdoors was brutal over the hot weekend.

  25. #224
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Huntington Beach, Ca

    currence, I know what you mean on the sun/heat. I feel we got so luck on the day we went because the days leading up and after were sunny. We had that odd day of clouds with drizzle off and on most the day. Yet when the sun came out for a short time in the afternoon, I felt the warm up. Its when we were in line for Autopia. So after that we found a table where I grabbed us waters and the kids popcorn to snack on. If it had been like this week with temps though I would have canceled. Over the years that I started getting this way, we would do summer days in the park but most the time it was a show up later in the day. Rarely did we do the earlier half of the day or all day like we would have done outside hot summer days. My kids have never known the parks really without FP either. I told them going with no FP was going to be like how I used to experience it. It wasn't to bad. We did skip a few rides we had wanted to do because the lines were really to long....and not just social distancing making it look long but you could tell it was to much for us all to deal with. I am sorry you weren't able to do as much as you had before. Suggestion I've seen for many is getting a UV umbrella. I've seen many say it helps and you can get one on Amazon quick usually. I do hope you are able to have a better time as you finish using up your tickets.

    A crowded day at Disneyland beats a busy day of housework!!

    According to my princess, its not Star Wars land its "You stole my goats away from me!!......in progress land"

  26. #225
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    foresthill Ca

    Practicing at home won't get you anything though. Unless you have a reservation for that park it won't go through. They are just still going that fast. I'm thinking because of capacity limits they just aren't giving out as many.


Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •