First time in 25 years I’ve regretted coming on the first day of Christmas

[cdoc29]

LOL wait till the first day of Candy Canes.........

 

[Tinkaboo]

LOL wait till the first day of Candy Canes.........

too true

 

[chezcurrie]

Here today (Saturday) and it doesn’t seem to be too bad. Nothing compared to October at least! There doesn’t seem to be a strong influencer presence today, but maybe my zigging when they zag is working out. Lucky for them as I had a great plan to loudly “go LIVE” from the parks showing how influencers are ruining the experience of day guests. <— villain mode

I saw a couple lines at popcorn carts but nothing insane. Apparently people waited 3 hrs yesterday!?! (I don’t get the appeal of popcorn buckets myself.) The standby times however are ridiculous right now and return times for genie+ shot at waaay up starting at 10 so we’re taking a break at the GCH and waiting to book an evening post parade HMH.

To be on the safe side I mobile ordered our dinner to be picked up later. I added a Mickey gingerbread so let’s see if it still available later!

This post is definitely making me rethink coming on the first day of the 100th celebration…

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

How awful. I would have had a bad time with all that too. So many influencers now, ridiculous. I thought selfie sticks were banned years ago? Is it not enforced?

 

[Iceman93]

I was there with my daughters yesterday, booked months ago because they had the day off from school and I had the day off from work. I was excited when I learned it would be the first day of holiday stuff, and also dismayed. We don't give a hoot about instagramming or getting the latest popcorn bucket or whatever, but just wanted to enjoy a normal day at Disneyland. My girls were especially looking forward to some grilled cheese with tomato soup at Jolly Holiday, and I got excited because I saw they were going to have a holiday sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce--yum!

First of all, I agree that the influencers and merchandise hoggers are really annoying. The lines at popcorn carts were stunning! Luckily for us that didn't affect us at all but we did notice it. I kept a close eye on attraction wait times, and we targeted our rides accordingly. Several attractions were down at various times throughout the day, but sadly that's par for the course these days.

It was frustrating that we were not able to get food from Jolly Holiday at all. Shortly after 11am I opened the app to do a mobile order, hoping for a noon to 1pm pickup time; they were already after 6pm for the earliest pickup. Even my daughters were wondering how Disney, pre-COVID, seemed to be able to handle all the guests in the park getting food whenever they wanted and now presumably with the benefit of mobile order they can't. To that point, we looked at what food was available shortly and decided on Hungry Bear. We placed our order, clicked "I'm here" when we got there, and it still took over 40 minutes for our order to be ready. Even then, it was wrong (one drink missing, one side incorrect, and no ranch dressing for the salad)! The CM fixed the discrepancies, but it's head-scratching how the company that used to be the world's premier example of handling crowds has completely lost that ability.

We had a good Disney day, which is our family's measure of how much fun we had. It was crowded, but we expected that on a holiday. And we weren't trying to load up on holiday treats or limited merchandise items, thank goodness. But I feel bad, as I often do, for the first-timers or even often-timers who didn't do their homework to plan out their day. Gone are the days of dropping into Disneyland on a whim, riding a few rides and having a nice meal as you wish.

 

[Aurora0427]

Here today (Saturday) and it doesn’t seem to be too bad. Nothing compared to October at least! There doesn’t seem to be a strong influencer presence today, but maybe my zigging when they zag is working out. Lucky for them as I had a great plan to loudly “go LIVE” from the parks showing how influencers are ruining the experience of day guests. <— villain mode

I saw a couple lines at popcorn carts but nothing insane. Apparently people waited 3 hrs yesterday!?! (I don’t get the appeal of popcorn buckets myself.) The standby times however are ridiculous right now and return times for genie+ shot at waaay up starting at 10 so we’re taking a break at the GCH and waiting to book an evening post parade HMH.

To be on the safe side I mobile ordered our dinner to be picked up later. I added a Mickey gingerbread so let’s see if it still available later!

This post is definitely making me rethink coming on the first day of the 100th celebration…

Enchant key holders are blacked out today as well, so that minus the influencers is probably helping.

My daughter’s birthday is the first day of the 100th celebration…. We were planning on going, but after yesterday, forget it.

And I completely believe 3 hour lines for popcorn. I don’t understand it at ALL. The bucket isn’t even that interesting.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Enchant key holders are blacked out today as well, so that minus the influencers is probably helping.

My daughter’s birthday is the first day of the 100th celebration…. We were planning on going, but after yesterday, forget it.

And I completely believe 3 hour lines for popcorn. I don’t understand it at ALL. The bucket isn’t even that interesting.

It would be really nice if Disney set up extra carts next to the popcorn carts for specially bucket sales and left the regular popcorn carts for scoops of popcorn and regular buckets (not the premium ones) so people who just want to get their kids some popcorn can do it easily.

Or heck, just sell them in the old arcade space, set up 10 tables and go.

 

[irlandaise]

It would be really nice if Disney set up extra carts next to the popcorn carts for specially bucket sales and left the regular popcorn carts for scoops of popcorn and regular buckets (not the premium ones) so people who just want to get their kids some popcorn can do it easily.

Or heck, just sell them in the old arcade space, set up 10 tables and go.

That's a great idea. I hope that all of you who couldn't get popcorn yesterday will write to Disneyland and suggest something like this.

I once got caught in a long line at McDonald's because there were some special toys being given out with kids' meals and parents were saying, "No, not that one. Do you have the xxx?" I was trying to get to a class and just wanted a fishburger and a shake! I was not in a very good mood by the time I got to the counter...I did suggest to them that they have a separate line for people who just wanted food.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I thought selfie sticks were banned years ago? Is it not enforced?

I was going to post the exact same thing. I think the selfie-stick ban occured sometime after 2015, but I could be wrong.

 

[DizneyMommy]

I was going to post the exact same thing. I think the selfie-stick ban occured sometime after 2015, but I could be wrong.

Yup, and no, not enforced at. all. The people walking around with the damn thing in their face makes me batty. They pay zero attention to where they are going

 

[DizneyMommy]

It would be really nice if Disney set up extra carts next to the popcorn carts for specially bucket sales and left the regular popcorn carts for scoops of popcorn and regular buckets (not the premium ones) so people who just want to get their kids some popcorn can do it easily.

Or heck, just sell them in the old arcade space, set up 10 tables and go.

Right? I saw most people who were hoarding popcorn buckets either say no popcorn or throw it out. Some people just want popcorn!

 

[Pluto468]

I was going to post the exact same thing. I think the selfie-stick ban occured sometime after 2015, but I could be wrong.

I remember we went right after they'd been banned, and a few people ahead of us in line had to leave their selfie sticks behind. I guess they've stopped enforcing that rule.

I agree about a line for people who only want popcorn. I looked on ebay out of curiosity today, and there are TONS of those musical popcorn buckets for over $50. I have no idea what they normally cost, but I doubt it's $50.

When we went in June we got the MSEP popcorn bucket and sipper and they were nice souvenirs, but I wouldn't have waited 3 hours for them.


OP- I'm sorry your trip wasn't as wonderful as in previous years, and I hope you managed to have a least some fun. When I lived in LA I loved the decorations and festive treats in the parks, but the holidays just seem to be getting more and more busy.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I also think why Disneyland likes to put their holiday stuff directly after Halloween is so people can get whatever holiday merchandise they put out as soon as they can otherwise if people wait for it to be on sale whatever items they have is already sold out and they either are stuck calling every day to see if the item is in stock or buying the item from ShopDisney. When Halloween merchandise made it's Disneyland debut everybody went for the big Halloween items which were the Halloween Mickey and Minnie plush set which sold out quickly and Hocus Pocus 2 plushies of the Sanderson Sisters which also sold out quick as a flash and now that Christmas is here these Christmas items are I think are gonna be big sellers at Disneyland this year and sell out fast
1. 2022 Disneyland collectible ornaments
2. Holiday character plushies
3. Disney Christmas tree toppers
4. Disney character holiday throws
5. Christmas character family pajama sets
6. Disney Christmas home decor
But what I think Disneyland is mainly hoping for a successful sale of holiday merchandise this year
Dodger

 

[whiteness]

Why does Disney make those stupid, expensive “popcorn buckets” that don’t look like they are very good for their supposed purpose? And why do people buy them when they don’t actually want popcorn anyway? Fine, if they are just toys or collectibles, why can’t Disney stop playing this silly game and just sell them in some of the shops on Main Street? Then, on the off chance that someone actually wanted to soil their precious “popcorn bucket” with actual popcorn, maybe they could just get a free voucher? Problem solved!

For that matter, why doesn’t Disney just be honest and upfront, and sell TICKETS for Fantasmic and etc, rather than forcing people to go through the motions of making an ADR for a crummy, overpriced meal or table of cupcakes and Coke products? Just call it what it is, put a price on it and sell it.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

The poster is saying they shouldn’t allow people to mobile order before park opening, not that they shouldn’t be able to mobile order at all. And I agree with this, especially on days when they are releasing special food items like this.

I honestly think people shouldn’t be able to order unless they’ve scanned into a park on days like this. It would make the “playing field” much more fair.


It wasn’t much better in DLR. I actually think 16 rides for being in the parks for rope-dropping and being in the park for 14 hours AND using Genie+ isn’t that great. They should’ve been able to do way more. Rise didn’t even open until at least after one. The evening for rides was actually much better than it usually is for a Friday night. I suspect it’s because locals were in the parks for merch, food, and ambiance and not so much for rides.

My husband and our daughter pretty much walked onto Indie at around 9:30 at night. They said they used their MEP from earlier when it was down but they should have saved it because there was no one in the Standby line. Meanwhile, Goofy’s flight school had a 230 minute wait after it came back up. What a weird day for rides.

I never said I didn't agree that they shouldn't allow people to mobile order unless they are in the park, the fact of the matter is they do and unfortunately that means people are going to do it. I would have done it because it's allowed.

 

[Aurora0427]

Well we went back today because it’s the only day my husband can experience the holidays at Disneyland due to his work schedule… wayyyyyy better day and my six year old finally got popcorn. Today was pretty nice. It was busy but it felt normal busy not frantic crazy insanely busy.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Why does Disney make those stupid, expensive “popcorn buckets” that don’t look like they are very good for their supposed purpose? And why do people buy them when they don’t actually want popcorn anyway? Fine, if they are just toys or collectibles, why can’t Disney stop playing this silly game and just sell them in some of the shops on Main Street? Then, on the off chance that someone actually wanted to soil their precious “popcorn bucket” with actual popcorn, maybe they could just get a free voucher? Problem solved!

For that matter, why doesn’t Disney just be honest and upfront, and sell TICKETS for Fantasmic and etc, rather than forcing people to go through the motions of making an ADR for a crummy, overpriced meal or table of cupcakes and Coke products? Just call it what it is, put a price on it and sell it.

Most likely because it would cause accounting and internal politics issues. The popcorn buckets and meals can be under the "food and beverage" department's budget and earnings while what you are suggesting would put it under merchandise and entertainment respectively.

Imagine being the manager of Hungry Bear and told you have to lay off some cast members because it makes more financial sense to just sell Fantasmic reserved seating instead of a dining package. It's going to be a rocky few months if someone holds a grudge over this.

 

[whiteness]

Most likely because it would cause accounting and internal politics issues. The popcorn buckets and meals can be under the "food and beverage" department's budget and earnings while what you are suggesting would put it under merchandise and entertainment respectively.

Imagine being the manager of Hungry Bear and told you have to lay off some cast members because it makes more financial sense to just sell Fantasmic reserved seating instead of a dining package. It's going to be a rocky few months if someone holds a grudge over this.

I don't know if internal politics is the whole story. But, anyway, Disney is happy to lay people off and shuffle people around when it suits their purpose. Especially these past two years.

 

[Malcon10t]

We were there Friday and Saturday. Friday was a mess. We mainly wanted to shop, see the parade and fireworks, we didn't do rides. We had fun with the parade. Unfortunately, fireworks were canceled, but I sort of enjoyed watching all the vloggers who had been set up for hours, have their time wasted.

Saturday was easier.

 

[Aurora0427]

We were there Friday and Saturday. Friday was a mess. We mainly wanted to shop, see the parade and fireworks, we didn't do rides. We had fun with the parade. Unfortunately, fireworks were canceled, but I sort of enjoyed watching all the vloggers who had been set up for hours, have their time wasted.

Saturday was easier.

This made me lol. The only fireworks I’ll try and get a good spot for is Halloween Screams because the projections are so great, and Zero! We got lucky this year and they weren’t cancelled on the day we went for fireworks.

I chuckled at your last line…. Darn vloggers made Friday horrific!