Disneyland certainly is a different beast right now!

[Bigmace]

We were there Wednesday through Friday, and did Goofies Kitchen and DTD on Saturday. It was insane. Not the worst I have ever witnessed but it was very crowded. We were only able to ride a handful of rides each day. Very different from our trip in mid August where the longest wait time was like 30 minutes (other than Cars which was still never longer than an hour).

 

[Aspencreek]

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”

Probably the same group that cut in front of us at an Ice Cream cart!!!

We actually did have that happen after waiting 10-15 mins in line where there was one guy in front of us. As soon the one guy got to the cart suddenly there were like 6 or 7 people with him, then 3 or 4 more slowly moseyed over so then we had like 12 people ahead in that group. And since none of them had had time to know what was served at this particular cart every single person had to ask about all the ice cream choices, ponder it for a minute before deciding, then finally get their treat... repeated times 12. We seriously thought they were going to buy out the whole thing before they were done. Thank heavens this was back in July when the crowds weren't bad and rather than getting super upset we all turned it into a joke and had a good laugh at the absurdity of it all. But if that had happened with the current situation and after waiting in horribly long lines all day....

 

[laugard]

Was also there Saturday and I don't know if recent reports just had us going in with super low expectations, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with our park experience other than the high temps, which we of course knew about (still so tiring, however). Don't get me wrong, I still miss Maxpass. A lot. And Saturday was definitely crowded. (You know it's busy when Pooh and Ariel are both listed at 30 minutes.) But we found nearly all rides had a shorter wait time than was posted (which I hadn't experienced in my other visits since the park reopened though others had reported experiencing that.) The only exception was Soarin' (45 min), which was also the one attraction along with Haunted Mansion where we were just drained and miserable due to the waiting outside in the heat. (That "hidden" back area where the Soarin line loops around is just terrible.)

We did single rider for RSR and Space Mountain (both 15 min) and Guardians twice, once regular and then Monsters After Dark. The two waits were listed as 65 and 95 and we waited 25 and 40, respectively. (Not saying 40 is ideal, but it was prime evening time. and definitely better than 95.) All in all, we arrived at 9, left at 10 and managed RSR, TSMM, Guardians 2x, Ariel, Animation Academy, Incredicoaster, Pooh, ROTR, Haunted Mansion, Lincoln, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates, fireworks, breakfast from the Shawarma cart (love all that seating nearby), two mini Avengers shows, lunch at Hungry Bear and dinner at Cocina Cucamonga. Far from our best day as far as how much we did, but a pretty full one still.

We upgraded our tickets to keys and got a reservation for the following morning so popped in for breakfast, Pooh and a few Fantasyland rides before heading to an appt. in Orange County. (Due to the appt., we had a hotel room overnight.)

We only had two rides that were "musts" for us this visit—Guardians After Dark and Haunted Mansion—so figured anything beyond that was extra. We mostly went to try the pumpkin cheesecake funnel cake at Hungry Bear And while not OC-local, we're close enough at 45 min away to know we have the luxury of coming back soon. It's definitely a reminder that experiences on a single day can vary wildly.

 

[Chickinvic]

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.

I haven't ever encountered this much at DL in all my years of going. Not even to a point that I can ever remember it being an issue. It sounds like today it is definitely a big issue. That is a major change from being a lot more subtle or rare. I hope they crack down on this because nothing makes me want to lose my **** quicker than someone butting into line. Grrrr.

 

[ClaudiaKincaid]

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.

THIS. I witnessed it SO MANY times this trip (Oct. 4-8) -- and I'd honestly never seen it at DLR/DCA before! One morning, my family (4 ppl) had rope-dropped and we aimed straight for RSR (as we always do); we were only about 10 people from the very front of the RSR line, with CMs constantly reminding everybody that your whole party has to be together to even ENTER the line. Ahead of us was a young teen boy, who had literally sprinted, full-out, from rope drop -- which is unsafe and against the rules, but whatever. When we got to the front, just as a CM was about to assign the boy a lane, his mom, four siblings, and several other people in their party rushed up from WAY farther down the line, intending to jump in on his line placement. I wasn't going to prevent them, but I couldn't stop my mouth saying "Naaaaah, man, no -- that's not how it works." The CM kind of blue-screened, and the mom was like REALLY offended that I'd objected, and made a big honking deal of "letting" us "go in front of them."

 

[laugard]

This line-jumping discussion just reminded me of two things that happened on Saturday. Not big groups, but same type of inconsideration!

There were two people ahead of me at bag check and after they went through the metal detector, I started moving to put my bag to the side so I could walk through. Suddenly two people walk in front of me, place their bags on the side table and one turns to the detector. I said "um, excuse me?" and she immediately goes "Oh, I'm with them," gesturing to the two who'd just gone through. Really? Since when is security a "hold my place" type of situation?

Similarly, we were waiting in the single riders line at Space Mountain, and the group in front of me started gesturing to family members a little further down in line behind me to join them. To the second group's credit, they did not move to join them, not matter how much the first group urged. But again, why would someone think this is ok in the SINGLE RIDERS line???

 

[wowsmom]

I wasn't going to prevent them, but I couldn't stop my mouth saying "Naaaaah, man, no -- that's not how it works." The CM kind of blue-screened, and the mom was like REALLY offended that I'd objected, and made a big honking deal of "letting" us "go in front of them."

It always amazes me how the people who know they are doing something wrong get so offended when called out.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Similarly, we were waiting in the single riders line at Space Mountain, and the group in front of me started gesturing to family members a little further down in line behind me to join them. To the second group's credit, they did not move to join them, not matter how much the first group urged. But again, why would someone think this is ok in the SINGLE RIDERS line???

If they want to be with their friends/family, the solution is simple - work back in the line to meet them. It's so obvious. But they clearly didn't want to give up ground in the line! Why would someone think it's ok in ANY line?!

 

[Aspencreek]

All these examples just prove my earlier point that DL needs to get a handle on this asap. 99.9% of people in the parks are polite and considerate, but if that tiny percentage of inconsiderate line-jumpers are allowed to continue it will devolve quickly. Tell me it won't get bad as more and more people realize from seeing other groups get away with it that there is no downside to line-jumping?

 

[gelatoni fan]

Similarly, we were waiting in the single riders line at Space Mountain, and the group in front of me started gesturing to family members a little further down in line behind me to join them. To the second group's credit, they did not move to join them, not matter how much the first group urged. But again, why would someone think this is ok in the SINGLE RIDERS line???

I agree that line jumping is absolutely not OK for Single Riders lines. I was once in a Single Riders line and a woman at the front of the line called up her entire family to join her from outside the line. People complained but the CM just brushed their entire family in.

On my last trip to Disneyland, we were waiting for the fireworks and a couple of guys just ducked under the rope in the front and then when people complained, they moved to the second row, then the third row. Eventually a loud argument broke out and the guest flow CMs didn't intervene but called security. When security got the guys to leave, the entire section started cheering and clapping. Maybe I'm just remembering them more now but this seems to happen more often than years ago.

But to be fair, I am sometimes involved in some minor line jumping. Typically, it's like when one person needs to go to the bathroom or something and the remaining 3+ people got in line first. Other times, it's when the craziness of rope drop separates the group. We're usually OK riding in separate groups or letting other people pass when that happens but we try not to have anyone ride alone so sometimes it makes the most sense for the laggard to join the group in front rather than have a large group clog up the line waiting for that one person who got left behind. Once, we got separated in line at Rise of the Resistance after the storm trooper room with a smaller group in front and a larger group about 3 groups back. We offered to let the groups behind us go first but they saw that our group was separated and told us to bring the larger group up so that's what we did.

 

[AndrewC]

I saw some more line jumping again last night at the Bash. It was still busier than I would have liked for a separate ticketed event. I wasn’t able to do the Grove because the line just looked too crazy long. I’ll have to come up with a strategy for Tuesday night.

I’ve also noticed some cracks in the well oiled Disney machine. Twice I’ve had table service experiences that were…. Slow to be polite about it. Last night it took over 15 minutes for a server to just take an order. I’ve also experienced less than stellar cast members. I’ve been a little late to my dinner reservations, it’s a theme park, lines are moving slower. I try to be respectful of those times and yesterday I checked it using the mobile app for Lamplight Lounge at 4:25 for a 4:30. At 4:41 I got notice my table was ready but I was still in security coming out of the Grand. I booked it right over to the host stand and got there at 4:52pm. She didn’t see a reservation for my name, then asked if I had got a text, which I said yes, then she said “oh, you’re late, we thought you were a walk away.” When I didn’t start to leave she said “um… can I see you text? How long ago was it?” I had them already pulled up and showed her and said it was about ten minutes and she said “ok…. You’ll have to wait but I’ll try to get you in.”

Like 30 seconds later she said I could head downstairs to be seated but warned me food would be cut off in a few minutes. I expected it to be so busy and only like 10 tables were occupied. Then I was worried we wouldn’t get a food order because our server was taking forever, but when we finally flagged someone down he got our server right away and we ordered food no problem… maybe they stop at 530? (I would not consider 4:55 to 5:30 “a few minutes” and the hostess had no reason to “warn us.”)

Food was fantastic. The perfect fries and that impossible burger is wildly good! The product is still really good, the execution of it is just lacking…

Also had a cast member that was a little older (probably 40s) loading Guardians last night that was S L O W. Must have taken a minute or two just for her to verify belts. Most the time they can do it in like 15 seconds. I was wondering why the line was moving so slow when there were only like 60 people in line.

It’s so close. It’s still wonderful, the surprising charm is just missing. This really does come down to operations (MaxPass/Genie/etc) and cast members. Disney is so incredibly powerful when they have awesome staff and a well thought out and trained plan. They are still very much in recovery mode from that year of shut down.

On the plus side, apparently my DLH premium downtown Disney view room wasn’t ready in time (it was 3:20, I guess rooms are supposed to be ready at 3pm) so I got a nice freebie. Honestly I was just park hopping and decided to swing by to ask if there was a chance for a magic upgrade to a club level. Cast member asked a manager and then apologized to me that because of how many people had access to the lounge she couldn’t upgrade, but she could offer me a room ready right then (same view) that was just a little lower (7 floor) and $100 credit that can be used if I charge anything to the room. Not sure where my original room was, 8th floor, 9th? It wasn’t club level and the tower isn’t THAT tall, so I’m happy with the view, took a little break, and got $100. Very magical… until I feel sick from $100 of dole whip

 

[AndrewC]

Oh, another miss I just remembered. I bought tix for the dessert party for the Bash & put I had an allergy. I’m vegetarian and know the rice crispy treat and gummy worms have gelatin in them. About 10 days ago a Disney dining cast member reached out via email to ask about it and back and forth with email he verified they did have gelatin and said not to worry, they could easily sub those out and I was set. (I had originally said I was fine with just two or something else.)

Well last night they give me the allergy wrist band, ask what it is, bring out a normal dessert plate. Server knew something looked funny but didn’t know what my allergy was. I quickly explained vegetarian, which two have gelatin, & that Disney dining had confirmed it days ago that I would be set. She politely went back to her lead and then came back with the fruit plate and dessert plate and offered them to me. This is awesome and way above what I expected, BUT, she followed it up with the comment “my lead said everything on the dessert plate is vegetarian, but I’ll leave both and you can decide which you want.”

By making that (incorrect) comment she changed stunning above and beyond recovery of service to making the guest feel guilty and that they’re wrong. She didn’t imply I could have both, or even parts of both, just she would let me decide. Obviously the moment both plates were set on the table and she walked away they became mine, she wasn’t going to take one to a different table once I made my mind up. So because of Disney dropping the ball, I enjoyed some fruit and the 4 out of 6 desserts I could eat. Honestly it should be default half fruit half treats, they balance that overload of sugar so much better!

I’m doing it all over again Tuesday night, we’ll see if they get my vegetarian request correct that time and if not how they recover.

It is frustrating to see an error like this in the first place though. Such effort to have a real human reach out to me to find out what the issue is, verify with his team what would cause me problems, reply back to me letting me know they addressed it, and then see zero result when I actually show up. I guess it would be easier if I had a major allergy that required the fruit plate, but how hard would it be to hold two items on one plate and toss a second cake pop on? Everything is pre arranged before hand, print out the adjustments, tape it to the lid, assign it to my table. Done.

 

[Disney0010]

We noticed a little of the line cutting last month. Heading over tomorrow and the older that I get the less that I tend to overlook the rude people who think that they can just cut in front of me. At some point I’m going to call them out and it won’t be nice.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We had something similar happen to us, but to a lesser degree. We were in line at the Matterhorn, and at one point people exiting the attraction will pass through the queue to leave. This guy thought he would be clever and tried to cut in with his girlfriend, and I just said, "I don't think so." The people behind me backed me up and the guy sheepishly left. His girlfriend was so embarrassed. For the most part, I don't pay attention to line cutters, but some are pretty blatantly. Our group sometimes just spread out and block them from passing us. We have only done this when it's pretty obvious that they are cutting through.

My own opinion - if we are in line and someone has to go to the restroom or something - if when they return we don't need an extra vehicle then we stay in line and they join us. If the return causes us to need an additional vehicle or row, then we'll wait for them at the end of the attraction (they won't ride with us) or let people go in front of us until they catch up.

 

[alvernon90]

All of these stories make me feel sad. Crowds and line jumping have obviously been issues at DLR for a long, long time but it sounds like DLR is devolving into WDW. Unfortunately I believe that incidents of aggression between guests will rise. Line jumping was always a problem but it was small enough that you could ignore it. But when it becomes more widespread, and it starts happening in lines for food as well as rides, and Disney starts demanding $10 per head per ride to skip the mess they made, conflict is inevitable.

The weird thing is that Disney has it in their power to make it stop by simply lowering the number of slots available in the parks each day. The fact that they are not doing this makes me think that they are going for a "natural" solution to the problem -- hoping the "nobody goes there, it's too crowded" joke becomes real. Once people too disgusted with the situation stop coming, the crowds will shrink down to an equilibrium of "barely tolerable" and they will maximize their profit.

 

[AndrewC]

All of these stories make me feel sad. Crowds and line jumping have obviously been issues at DLR for a long, long time but it sounds like DLR is devolving into WDW. Unfortunately I believe that incidents of aggression between guests will rise. Line jumping was always a problem but it was small enough that you could ignore it. But when it becomes more widespread, and it starts happening in lines for food as well as rides, and Disney starts demanding $10 per head per ride to skip the mess they made, conflict is inevitable.

The weird thing is that Disney has it in their power to make it stop by simply lowering the number of slots available in the parks each day. The fact that they are not doing this makes me think that they are going for a "natural" solution to the problem -- hoping the "nobody goes there, it's too crowded" joke becomes real. Once people too disgusted with the situation stop coming, the crowds will shrink down to an equilibrium of "barely tolerable" and they will maximize their profit.

After seeing some staff up close (or at least closer), I think they can optimize a lot more still without specifically needing more bodies. There are a lot of “slow points” when it used to be before you even stopped moving they were doing something to get the ride going or next set of people on etc. I’m also wondering if masking is slowing stuff down some. I had a lady in the boat behind on Pirates that must not have been putting her mask on. We sat for what felt like forever before I heard her just say “if you’re going to kick me off just tell me so then I know to leave.” We ended up leaving just about then but both cast members that were loading jumped on their little phones. Not a huge time suck, but an extra minute or two can keep adding up and slow things down a couple hours into operation.

Also the amount of stuff that has gone down… not sure if it might be masks ending up on the tracks or lack of upkeep or bad luck or what, but that certainly can’t be helping things.

They’re not running as fast and smooth as they were in 2019.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Also had a cast member that was a little older (probably 40s) loading Guardians last night that was S L O W.

Well, this comment just made me feel ancient

 

[Dory92130]

Once people too disgusted with the situation stop coming, the crowds will shrink down to an equilibrium of "barely tolerable" and they will maximize their profit.

The real maximizing profit is getting their hotels filled. At $300-800 per night plus a character breakfast meal or two -- if they can drive that by having hotel availability over ticket/MK bucket availability, they have truly won the dollar game.

 

[gelatoni fan]

The real maximizing profit is getting their hotels filled. At $300-800 per night plus a character breakfast meal or two -- if they can drive that by having hotel availability over ticket/MK bucket availability, they have truly won the dollar game.

This. For example, if you were keyholders from out of town, you may ordinarily book a $150 per night off property hotel. But due to reservation availability, you may choose instead to go with Paradise Pier to access the hotel bucket for $300 a night. You wouldn't pay for day tickets but this seems reasonable as in some ways you are getting a better hotel. Disney just made an extra $300 and you spent an additional $150 per night. The loser is the nearby hotel that you would have stayed at otherwise.

With the boosted demand, they can sell rooms at higher prices in addition to selling more rooms. The same hotel room at DLH can sell for $400 or $1000 depending on the night and few people would complain because that's just how hotel pricing works. Just look at Tokyo Disneyland where for New Years Eve, every single hotel with guaranteed access to the parks go for over 1000 USD when during slow season, they can be less than 150 USD per night.

Without any conferences right now, this is definitely a good way to boost hotel revenues. But if this keeps up, I think a lot of people may elect to not renew Keys and take their entertainment budget to other companies.

 

[Dory92130]

A key metric Disney can follow is close-in cancellations my MK holders 1-2 days before -- that's an indication of hoarding and not good overall for optics and access.

Disney has always been the top theme park destination year-in year-out despite significant ticket premiums. Most folk travel to Orlando for Disney and add-on visits to other parks, not that other way around. And Disneyland gets 1-2 day carveouts while visiting SoCal for out-of-towner.

I believe the pure # of reservations was too generous and causing the hoarding phenomena, which is fine for locals to troll the weekends while real late comers simply just book a disney hotel to get access.

I prefer WDW's way - lower reservation#s, but if booked via Disney hotel, doesn't count against your reservation count -- this minimizes hoarding by locals (us included), opens up reservations in general, while enticing incentive to have a Disney hotel stay for both locals and non-local MK holders -- all the while preserving good optics of decent availability and less closein cancelations.