Disneyland certainly is a different beast right now!

[Disco Lemonade]

I'm in favor of FastPasses, and the good news is that you'll have the option to opt out of purchasing Genie+ and Lightening Lanes. We waited in hour long lines where large parties still cut in front of us, so it happens even without the FastPasses. It was extremely frustrating to see 10 people joining 2 people in front of us in line, halfway through the line. Constantly.

The line joining issue is an annoyance either way. I agree in that I felt that it was even worse on this trip than I remembered. The line for Emotional Whirlwind probably doubled while we were in line and became one that I would have never waited in by the end. But fast passes increase the problem. It doesn’t matter in that Genie/Max pass/ whatever it is called in the future is going to always be around. This is just a brief opportunity to go to the parks and appreciate the benefits of not having it.

 

[RNTeacher]

We did OOB on Thursday night. it wasn’t too bad but only attraction experienced was Guardians. We had flown in and flights were delayed so did not arrive to DCA until after 7pm. We spent Friday in Disneyland and Saturday in DCA. Some thoughts:

1. IT WAS PACKED! After almost 2 years of distancing etc., it felt very odd to fill in “all available space” and to be that close to thousands of other people. We have never been to the California parks in October and not sure if this is how it was pre-Covid but WOW! My son and his GF are locals and have Magic Key and they said that this has been the most crowded that they have seen.
   There were huge family groups and many, many times one would be in line and then whole family would cut in. Most of the time just pushed through, no “pardon me”, “please”, or “excuse me” as they passed to get to their group.
   
2. There were not enough food options etc. for the amount of people in the parks. Lines were enormous. Mobile order was also sometimes an hour or more for availability.
3. They need the trams back from the parking garages. Not sure when or if they will be back but after a long day, that final mile back to the garage is hard on us older folks.
4. We still had a good time. There were attractions that we never made it on but I am NOT standing in a line over an hour. Son’s GF stated that this made them want Genie + and maybe that was Disney’s intention.
5. Loved web slingers and we had an early boarding group so basically walked on when boarding group was called.
6. DCA needs some shows or more attractions to help disperse crowds.
   

 

[Disney0010]

We’re going this week for two nights and thankfully we have both lunch and dinner reservations. It’s nice to be able to sit down for a while and take a break from the madness. We always leave the parks after lunch and come back after dinner. This helps with getting away from the crowds.

 

[Aspencreek]

There were huge family groups and many, many times one would be in line and then whole family would cut in. Most of the time just pushed through, no “pardon me”, “please”, or “excuse me” as they passed to get to their group.

Disneyland really needs to figure out a solution for this problem. It appears that some groups are using a placeholder person like a Fastpass -- so when the ONE person in line gets close to the front they will text the group and the other TWENTY then ram their way through the line to join the one in the front. Really not fair to the hundreds in line they passed through because who knows if those 20 line-skippers just got off another ride while everyone they skipped were waiting patiently. Does seem to be getting worse and if it doesn't get solved then either more and more groups will start doing it and/or violence will break out as people will reach a breaking point.

 

[Dory92130]

Hiring folk - hard to draw blood from a stone. Harder when CMs routinely get yelled at by parkgoers. If folk have an issue with the suits, take it out on them on the surveys and emails --- please not at the CMs.

We had reservations today, but decided to hold off despite the good forecasted weather. Santa Anas over the past couple days flared up our allergies already and don't want to deal with dirty looks with a sneeze (understandable in current environment)

There's always supporters of standby only vs FP/MP/Genie+ and now Individual LL. -- I do believe MORE CHOICE is better to overall parkgoer's experience.

Yes, in search of the mighty dollar outweighs logic on capacity management got them into trouble these past two weeks and probably into Nov.

For MK holders - best to just hang and flow like most did in the past while Disney works on getting this balanced out.

For ticket holders planning that magical trip -- suggest that hold off unless Halloween is simply a must.

 

[vacay77]

Disneyland really needs to figure out a solution for this problem. It appears that some groups are using a placeholder person like a Fastpass -- so when the ONE person in line gets close to the front they will text the group and the other TWENTY then ram their way through the line to join the one in the front. Really not fair to the hundreds in line they passed through because who knows if those 20 line-skippers just got off another ride while everyone they skipped were waiting patiently. Does seem to be getting worse and if it doesn't get solved then either more and more groups will start doing it and/or violence will break out as people will reach a breaking point.

percent this. This is exactly what we encountered this past week.

 

[Dory92130]

percent this. This is exactly what we encountered this past week.

Hard to reason with people who think they are more important than you and never learned their kindergarten rules.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

percent this. This is exactly what we encountered this past week.

Sadly, this issue has been around for decades. The people doing it know it's not right, but ignore you or try to make you feel like it's none of your business. If we were in line and someone from our group got there late, we'd work our way BACK to them. That's not something that even pops into the heads of some folks. We've learned it's out of our control and we mostly accept it and try to enjoy the time at Disney anyway! But it's not right and shouldn't happen.

 

[vacay77]

Sadly, this issue has been around for decades. The people doing it know it's not right, but ignore you or try to make you feel like it's none of your business. If we were in line and someone from our group got there late, we'd work our way BACK to them. That's not something that even pops into the heads of some folks. We've learned it's out of our control and we mostly accept it and try to enjoy the time at Disney anyway! But it's not right and shouldn't happen.

So true. I know it’s happened in the past. For us, though, I realized how much we relied on those darn fastpasses/MaxPasses. We were able to avoid those types of situations.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

Disneyland really needs to figure out a solution for this problem. It appears that some groups are using a placeholder person like a Fastpass -- so when the ONE person in line gets close to the front they will text the group and the other TWENTY then ram their way through the line to join the one in the front. Really not fair to the hundreds in line they passed through because who knows if those 20 line-skippers just got off another ride while everyone they skipped were waiting patiently. Does seem to be getting worse and if it doesn't get solved then either more and more groups will start doing it and/or violence will break out as people will reach a breaking point.

That’s ridiculous. And rude. I’d be tempted to not let them pass

 

[Aspencreek]

Sadly, this issue has been around for decades. The people doing it know it's not right, but ignore you or try to make you feel like it's none of your business. If we were in line and someone from our group got there late, we'd work our way BACK to them. That's not something that even pops into the heads of some folks. We've learned it's out of our control and we mostly accept it and try to enjoy the time at Disney anyway! But it's not right and shouldn't happen.

Yes, that is the polite way to do it Thanx. Sadly not enough like you though!

Probably has been around forever but it seems like it used to be a group/family of people were already in line and one person joined them. Fair enough, things happen like potty breaks, got lost, etc. Now it has reversed and one person in line gets joined by a large group. That's just cheating the system, and as it increases in frequency so will the animosity.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Yes, that is the polite way to do it Thanx. Sadly not enough like you though!

Probably has been around forever but it seems like it used to be a group/family of people were already in line and one person joined them. Fair enough, things happen like potty breaks, got lost, etc. Now it has reversed and one person in line gets joined by a large group. That's just cheating the system, and as it increases in frequency so will the animosity.

In addition to that, there are line crawlers. They annoy me and I don't let them pass. They usually send a kid to weasel through the line alone and it looks like the kid is looking for their group. Eventually, the rest of the group snakes in and joins the kid. Ive seen it happen many times over the years.

When I was here a couple weeks ago, a grandpa tried to get past me with a little kid in line for Haunted Mansion. He swung the kid ahead of me and then joined the kid. His group were all wearing the same shirt and I counted 14 people. I just shook my head no at him and he got behind me. It actually wouldn't have bothered me if he was legit in line and his group joined him. He was just cheating the line on behalf of his group.

 

[Disco Lemonade]

That’s ridiculous. And rude. I’d be tempted to not let them pass

The cm currently allow it, though. I don’t blame them necessarily if there isn’t an overt rule about it. I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that, especially now. Numerous times last week I saw people ask the cm for help with this and they assisted. For example, on Snow White one person waited in line and asked for help as we got closer. They said ok and let in a whole group. I saw it other times as well but that one sticks out. Also guys going all the way through the millennium falcon ride with huge lightsabers attached to their backs and going straight in. It’s become an accepted thing, I guess, but I still don’t like it or do it myself.

 

[Dug720]

At least at the two rides in Pandora in Animal Kingdom, there is at least one CM stationed at the entrance to the line (or currently the part where it really begins - where the wait time is posted) and they will not let anyone through if their whole party is not together. If people admit others are not in line, the CMs advise them to wait to the side until the rest gets there from the bathroom (the usual excuse) and will let them in then. If people try it anyway and the back part doesn't get the message to SAY their whole party is together (assuming the line is not extending beyond that point) and says they're meeting their party in line, it's a no-go. (This I know because a party in front of me got a call in line when we were getting close to the section where you're split into boarding lines and had it on speaker for anyone around to hear the person outside say "They won't let us in to catch up to you. They said you should have waited here for us." So the choices were for the party in front of me to go BACK to that point - because since they'd already said they needed to meet the rest of their party the CMs wouldn't let them through, knowing they'd line crawl.)

Now, are there people who are smart enough to not say they're meeting their party when the line starts after the main entrance? I'm sure there are. And probably some who will wait in the outside portion when it's longer than the main entrance and then crawl once they're through it (and Flight of Passage does have a restroom IN the line, so you do get some people going up to it or catching up with their party once used). But I don't see nearly that problem with those two lines as with other long lines.

Those are the only two lines I've seen it ENFORCED at though.

 

[Wesley815]

At least at the two rides in Pandora in Animal Kingdom, there is at least one CM stationed at the entrance to the line (or currently the part where it really begins - where the wait time is posted) and they will not let anyone through if their whole party is not together. If people admit others are not in line, the CMs advise them to wait to the side until the rest gets there from the bathroom (the usual excuse) and will let them in then.

I sure hope Disneyland starts enforcing this, and I don't want to hear it's a 'staffing issue' because over past couple weeks I've seen Greeter positions with 3 or 4 CM's chatting grouped together almost ignoring guests entering line.

Sadly I know times have changed, even 10+ years ago when I worked at the park we weren't allowed to "group" together if on stage and had to be approachable by guests.

 

[Dory92130]

Only real grouping of 3+ CMs consistently happens at RSR and IJA because of the bottlenecks that happens on those rides

 

[Wesley815]

Only real grouping of 3+ CMs consistently happens at RSR and IJA because of the bottlenecks that happens on those rides

True.... and standing side by side is fine, it's just more along the lines of talking about weekend plans and parties vs. keeping an eye on guests.

 

[AndrewC]

I'm in favor of FastPasses, and the good news is that you'll have the option to opt out of purchasing Genie+ and Lightening Lanes. We waited in hour long lines where large parties still cut in front of us, so it happens even without the FastPasses. It was extremely frustrating to see 10 people joining 2 people in front of us in line, halfway through the line. Constantly.

Were you right behind me in line on Jungle Cruise?! Like three families with a total of like 13 people joined two people that had been in line in front of me. Not a parent running a kid to the restroom or getting something from a stroller, this was clearly “hey, go get in line and when we’re done with food/this ride we’ll come join”

 

[AndrewC]

We did OOB on Thursday night. it wasn’t too bad but only attraction experienced was Guardians. We had flown in and flights were delayed so did not arrive to DCA until after 7pm. We spent Friday in Disneyland and Saturday in DCA. Some thoughts:

1. IT WAS PACKED! After almost 2 years of distancing etc., it felt very odd to fill in “all available space” and to be that close to thousands of other people. We have never been to the California parks in October and not sure if this is how it was pre-Covid but WOW! My son and his GF are locals and have Magic Key and they said that this has been the most crowded that they have seen.
   There were huge family groups and many, many times one would be in line and then whole family would cut in. Most of the time just pushed through, no “pardon me”, “please”, or “excuse me” as they passed to get to their group.
2. There were not enough food options etc. for the amount of people in the parks. Lines were enormous. Mobile order was also sometimes an hour or more for availability.
3. They need the trams back from the parking garages. Not sure when or if they will be back but after a long day, that final mile back to the garage is hard on us older folks.
4. We still had a good time. There were attractions that we never made it on but I am NOT standing in a line over an hour. Son’s GF stated that this made them want Genie + and maybe that was Disney’s intention.
5. Loved web slingers and we had an early boarding group so basically walked on when boarding group was called.
6. DCA needs some shows or more attractions to help disperse crowds.

Did you fly into SNA? I experienced delays into SNA on Friday because the airport lights wouldn’t turn on

 

[vacay77]

Were you right behind me in line on Jungle Cruise?! Like three families with a total of like 13 people joined two people that had been in line in front of me. Not a parent running a kid to the restroom or getting something from a stroller, this was clearly “hey, go get in line and when we’re done with food/this ride we’ll come join”

It seemed to be a common theme but the most egregious for us happened while we were in line for RSR.