Thanks and Thoughts

[Poppins2010]

Just back from a fast 4 day trip. Thanks to all of you who offer their advice and suggestions here, as I've always found them to be so helpful and spot on. I'm a planner by nature, so I enjoy my trips more when I feel like I know what's what.
My thoughts:
The parks were packed. The crowd calendar thought my days there would be 4, 5 and 6. I wish! That, and the newest masking regulations, made for some uncomfortable "tight" moments. Really tight proximity, plus hardly anyone wearing masks, felt really risky. My fam were wearing masks, but it felt like we were almost the only ones.
I'm sad to report that I, too, am done with the Blue Bayou. It was a tradition for our family to eat there once, and celebrate big things, but it absolutely isn't the same. No bread, no salad, very limited menu, and a "get 'em in and out" feeling, in addition to the crazy prices, made it our last meal there - unless things drastically change in the future.
The rides were all great. The RR advice offered here is spot on.
The cast members were all great. Didn't see any bad attitudes,
Food was all fine. In addition to BB, we ate at Lamplight, T Joes, Bengal, and Olgas.
Favorite new treat? Churro Toffee. To. Die. For.

Just my 2 cents - thanks again everyone.

 

[lvdis]

Glad you had a good trip! Did you have park hoppers? Did you buy Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane for any rides?

We are planning on a going with 4 day hoppers in September. Not sure how to split up the starting park for each day. At this point we aren't planning to add Genie+ or buy any ILL.

 

[disneycat321]

Glad it was a great trip!

Where can you get churro toffee?? Sounds interesting....

 

[Poppins2010]

Our plan was to "see how it goes" before buying Genie +, but with the crowd level, we pulled the trigger. To me it was worth it, as we don't get to the park very often. We had park hopper tickets. My kids hopped a couple of times, but the old man and I ended up staying in one park every day.
We found churro toffee in most of the shops that had caramel apples. It is toffee that, instead of chocolate, is covered with the magical churro dust. It doesn't look very fancy, so it is easy to overlook in the goodie display. So tasty, and especially good for folks who don't do chocolate, like my son.

 

[disneycat321]

We found churro toffee in most of the shops that had caramel apples. It is toffee that, instead of chocolate, is covered with the magical churro dust. It doesn't look very fancy, so it is easy to overlook in the goodie display. So tasty, and especially good for folks who don't do chocolate, like my son.

Thank you! That sounds amazing. I don't like chocolate either, so it's perfect for me!

 

[Critter3]

The RR advice offered here is spot on.

By RR do you mean Rise of the Resistance? Can you elaborate on what advice was spot on . We'll be going for the first time in May and I'm gathering all the advice can, ha ha.

And yes, the crowds and covid will also turn up the anxiety for our family too. And same thing for crowds for us in May. The calendars say it should be in the 5-6 but I am expecting it to be closer to 10. And I am questioning the wait times posted through touring plans, but I'll have to update my plans closer to.

 

[austinelsa]

what percentage of visitors did you think are still masking? Just curious. I’m sure it fluctuates by day and location though…

 

[Poppins2010]

By RR do you mean Rise of the Resistance? Can you elaborate on what advice was spot on . We'll be going for the first time in May and I'm gathering all the advice can, ha ha.

Yep. The advice that I heard here - loud and clear - was don't try for this at rope drop, and that can't be overstated. Half of the rope drop crowds head there - and they run. Really run - not speed walk. I'm not willing to start my day that way! We waited until the afternoon, when the standby time was 60 minutes, and then got in line. It turned out for us that the ride went down for about 45 minutes. Most of the folks left the line, so when it came back up, we were among some of the first on, so 60 minutes was an actual wait time.
Our plan was to try to get on with a reasonable wait time, and if we couldn't, we would splurge for the LL on our last day, fortunately we didn't need to.

 

[Poppins2010]

what percentage of visitors did you think are still masking? Just curious. I’m sure it fluctuates by day and location though…

Gee wiz..... maybe 10% were masked. We were there on the first day that the mask mandate was dropped, so maybe people were giddy with the freedom? I don't know. All employees are masked up.

 

[pokee99]

Thanks for the review.

We leave in a few weeks and the crowds and masking situation has us very nervous because we have to TEST before we go home to Canada, and can't re-enter for 10 days if we test positive.

How's THAT for trip anxiety!?

Most of us have just planned for an extra 10 days of vacation!!!

 

[DLgal]

what percentage of visitors did you think are still masking? Just curious. I’m sure it fluctuates by day and location though…

Minimum percentage. What I've seen Friday and yesterday is that the people masking are masking EVERYWHERE, not just indoors. And not all CMs are masking either. We had a server yesterday who was unmasked. I think it's up to the CMs at this point (if they are vaccinated) if they work outdoors.

 

[austinelsa]

I am generally super covid conscious (I have an under 5 yr old, though the rest of us are vaccinated), so we are planning a very covid conscious visit. Kn95s, rope dropping indoor rides and then outdoor rides only the rest of the day, outdoor dining only. So it’s good to know what to expect so I’m not shocked when I get there. I know there’s risk involved in Disneyland, I just want to minimize it. The kids so deserve this trip. Thanks for the honest answer.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I am generally super covid conscious (I have an under 5 yr old, though the rest of us are vaccinated), so we are planning a very covid conscious visit. Kn95s, rope dropping indoor rides and then outdoor rides only the rest of the day, outdoor dining only. So it’s good to know what to expect so I’m not shocked when I get there. I know there’s risk involved in Disneyland, I just want to minimize it. The kids so deserve this trip. Thanks for the honest answer.

Us and our big kids are vaccinated but we all got omicron. The unvaccinated under 5 had it worst, diarrhea for at least 3 weeks. The ped said that’s what she’s seeing with unvaxxed babies.

 

[Squinty]

I am generally super covid conscious (I have an under 5 yr old, though the rest of us are vaccinated), so we are planning a very covid conscious visit. Kn95s, rope dropping indoor rides and then outdoor rides only the rest of the day, outdoor dining only. So it’s good to know what to expect so I’m not shocked when I get there. I know there’s risk involved in Disneyland, I just want to minimize it. The kids so deserve this trip. Thanks for the honest answer.

This is our plan too. Like I said elsewhere, I hope I don’t regret this trip. We have done essentially nothing (except a few camping trips) for 2 years and I want my kids to have this. Fingers crossed.

 

[austinelsa]

This is our plan too. Like I said elsewhere, I hope I don’t regret this trip. We have done essentially nothing (except a few camping trips) for 2 years and I want my kids to have this. Fingers crossed.

Same! Done nothing for 2 years - the last thing we did pre-covid was a trip to Disneyland! A week before it shut down. So it’s a big deal to go back. Fingers crossed!

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Churro toffee is available in both parks and Downtown Disney. It doesn’t stand out in the case, but is really delicious. It is toffee covered in white chocolate and cinnamon.

 

[pokee99]

Same! Done nothing for 2 years - the last thing we did pre-covid was a trip to Disneyland! A week before it shut down. So it’s a big deal to go back. Fingers crossed!

We had to cancel everything 2 days before we were due to fly to DL in 2020 (which was also 2 days before they announced the Disneyland closure) because of the border closures. So this is our "rescheduled"... TWO YEARS LATER! UGHHH! So this is a REALLY big deal for us! We're still having to jump through Covid hoops, as well (testing, and potentially having to stay an extra 10 days if positive) just to come home to Canada!!!

 

[amyg1975]

Gee wiz..... maybe 10% were masked. We were there on the first day that the mask mandate was dropped, so maybe people were giddy with the freedom? I don't know. All employees are masked up.

We were there the past three days and I would agree that 10% of guests were masked. My husband and I thought it would be closer to half of the guests masked, but clearly, we were wrong.

 

[Critter3]

This is our plan too. Like I said elsewhere, I hope I don’t regret this trip. We have done essentially nothing (except a few camping trips) for 2 years and I want my kids to have this. Fingers crossed.

We are going in May and I am hoping by then risks will be lower, but we feel the same. We have done our part (not trying to start a debate, lol) and we need this trip to reward ourselves. We had originally planned July 2020 but because of the pandemic our first ever trip to Disney had to be cancelled. My Wife is going to be very anxious with so many people unmasked, but she’s trying to be brave, lol. We are doing an 18 day road trip so I just hope we don’t catch it along the way and ruin our plans.