Disneyland officially reopening April 30th

[Little Green Men]

The mobile order thing sucks. I recommend people select the window before the window they actually want and click “I’m here” at the very beginning of their window even if they are not there. Picking up my Birria tacos was a 45 minute process from the time I clicked “I’m here” to the time they handed me my food. It took about 25 min for them prepare the food and then 15 minutes in a physical line to pick up the food after they said it was ready. Then they hand me the food and there are no forks or napkin in any of the dispensers outside of the restaurant. So I have to go back to the window and they didn’t have any there either. They were supposedly sending someone to restock and nobody came out for 2-3 minutes so we just walked away so we could eat our food hot. All for the super low bargain Disney prices. Oh ya don’t forget to hunt down a table 20 minutes before hand.

Anyway can’t complain too much. I know what li was getting into. I’m sure a lot of this will be a thing of the past in the next couple weeks to months.

Very interesting, at WDW when we clicked “I’m here” the order was usually immediately ready. Longest it took was maybe a min later.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Mobile Order does suck. We had great success just leaving the park and enjoying DTD establishment while the Hungry Bear and other food courts at DL were abandoned.

 

[waltography]

Been reading lots of guests’ comments over the past couple weeks saying the park is ultimately unenjoyable and frustrating in its current state. With tickets exceeding $150/per-person, per-day, I‘d have to agree. Right now, there is a multi-hour morning entry experience if entering via Harbor, virtual queues for the two newest attractions at the resort that sell out in under 10 seconds, exclusively outdoor lines, and a process in which you must order your lunch and dinner at breakfast time in order to ensure you eat at an ideal time—only to have to wait 20-30 minutes when picking it up.

I feel for all the guest services Cast and hope the feedback forces management to turn it around ASAP. With the 15th upon us, the opportunity for them to do that is now, it’s just up to TDA to execute.

Spoiler: Language

This doesn't help the crowds towards the middle of the day, but I've been telling people if at all possible to park in M&F and shoot to arrive before 8am for the best morning experience. Harbor is a straight-up mess (people start lining up at 5am for no good reason) and by the time you're through the parking structure, getting into the parks is pretty much a short wait since the gates are already open on both sides and lines move just fine.

Disney needs to up the capacity on their end immediately just to meet the actual capacity in the parks, let alone any proposed capacity increases past two days from now. Absolutely no excuse that you can't get Dole Whips past noon if you don't mobile order ahead fast enough.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Maybe they should just shut it all down again.

 

[mickEblu]

This doesn't help the crowds towards the middle of the day, but I've been telling people if at all possible to park in M&F and shoot to arrive before 8am for the best morning experience. Harbor is a straight-up mess (people start lining up at 5am for no good reason) and by the time you're through the parking structure, getting into the parks is pretty much a short wait since the gates are already open on both sides and lines move just fine.

Disney needs to up the capacity on their end immediately just to meet the actual capacity in the parks, let alone any proposed capacity increases past two days from now. Absolutely no excuse that you can't get Dole Whips past noon if you don't mobile order ahead fast enough.

I was surprised how smooth starting my day at Mickey and friends was. I got to the parking structure at 8:45am and walked through security at 9:30am and we re slow moving with 2 strollers and lots of bags. Granted, in the old days this would have been terrible but not bad by modern standards.

 

[MisterPenguin]

More people wanting to be there than the land/park can accommodate is, of course, going to be problematic. The ones who think that they can just stroll right into a newly opened land while there still are some pandemic restrictions on capacity with no waits are delusional. If Disney didn't create a two hour line to get into the park/land, then the land would be literally shoulder-to-shoulder packed... and don't think for a minute the same people wouldn't be complaining about that online.

Then there are the APers who are now complaining about the cost per entry, now that their heavily discounted free rides are over. They're not realizing that the high price was meant to discourage them, not entitle them to special treatment.

Could DL have managed the crowds better? Yes. They certainly should have cut back on park reservations for the day, signaling "we're full."

 

[ToTBellHop]

More people wanting to be there than the land/park can accommodate is, of course, going to be problematic. The ones who think that they can just stroll right into a newly opened land while there still are some pandemic restrictions on capacity with no waits are delusional. If Disney didn't create a two hour line to get into the park/land, then the land would be literally shoulder-to-shoulder packed... and don't think for a minute the same people wouldn't be complaining about that online.

Then there are the APers who are now complaining about the cost per entry, now that their heavily discounted free rides are over. They're not realizing that the high price was meant to discourage them, not entitle them to special treatment.

Could DL have managed the crowds better? Yes. They certainly should have cut back on park reservations for the day, signaling "we're full."

I just don’t understand why all these locals who know it’s hella expensive, hella crowded, and know AC is hella crappy keep showing up. I thought Universal and Knott’s were the new go-tos since they respect locals. Who needs Spidey when you can have SLoP and Silver Bullet?

 

[Curious Constance]

Yeah there are problems across the board. They can't hire anyone new until all those that were laid off that want to come back get retrained first (part of the union agreements). I think end of this month or beginning of next is when new hires start to come in in some locations.

Calosha is second. Got to have distancing and such and most kitchens are not large enough so staffing has been reduced. Until calosha changes procedures Disney is stuck with that.

Some Vendors that they get treats/food from either went bankrupt or having a hard time themselves keeping up with the demand because of covid.

But with things opening up there will be more food locations to choose from that should ease food waits. Fingers crossed. And indoor queues limits / social distancing should be gone by the 15.

CalOsha withdrew their rules last week, didn’t they? Do they have to come up with new ones before Disney can do anything differently?

 

[Californian Elitist]

I just don’t understand why all these locals who know it’s hella expensive, hella crowded, and know AC is hella crappy keep showing up. I thought Universal and Knott’s were the new go-tos since they respect locals. Who needs Spidey when you can have SLoP and Silver Bullet?

You don’t know this forum very well. Also, I don’t think any of us have made comparisons to the ways in which Universal and Knott’s treat locals versus Disney. Passholders, yes. Not all Disneyland annual passholders were locals, once again. A few of the regulars here in this forum actually live in Northern California and at least one lives in Oregon and are therefore not locals.

The DL frequent visitors here are known to express initial disappointment or lack of enthusiasm for something Disney comes up with for the DLR, but will still experience it for themselves in person and usually report back here to the rest of us who haven’t experienced it yet. We’ve been doing that for years. Sometimes our initial reactions don’t change and sometimes they do. Just because we may be initially disappointed with something coming from the DLR, it doesn’t make us hypocrites for going to see it for ourselves for final judgement. Additionally, some of us here have families that may include young children or other members of the family, or even groups of friends who want to experience new offerings or the parks in general. Of course we’re going to be together to do all of that.

Same thing goes for crowds and prices. We may be disappointed, but that doesn’t mean we’re never going to not pay or brave the crowds.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You don’t know this forum very well. Also, I don’t think any of us have made comparisons to the ways in which Universal and Knott’s treat locals versus Disney. Passholders, yes. Not all Disneyland annual passholders were locals, once again. A few of the regulars here in this forum actually live in Northern California and at least one lives in Oregon and are therefore not locals.

The DL frequent visitors here are known to express initial disappointment or lack of enthusiasm for something Disney comes up with for the DLR, but will still experience it for themselves in person and usually report back here to the rest of us who haven’t experienced it yet. We’ve been doing that for years. Sometimes our initial reactions don’t change and sometimes they do. Just because we may be initially disappointed with something coming from the DLR, it doesn’t make us hypocrites for going to see it for ourselves for final judgement. Additionally, some of us here have families that may include young children or other members of the family, or even groups of friends who want to experience new offerings or the parks in general. Of course we’re going to be together to do all of that.

Same thing goes for crowds and prices. We may be disappointed, but that doesn’t mean we’re never going to not pay or brave the crowds.

Everything you write explains the exact reasons why DL can get away with AC and will continue its current practices.

 

[Californian Elitist]

More people wanting to be there than the land/park can accommodate is, of course, going to be problematic. The ones who think that they can just stroll right into a newly opened land while there still are some pandemic restrictions on capacity with no waits are delusional. If Disney didn't create a two hour line to get into the park/land, then the land would be literally shoulder-to-shoulder packed... and don't think for a minute the same people wouldn't be complaining about that online.

Then there are the APers who are now complaining about the cost per entry, now that their heavily discounted free rides are over. They're not realizing that the high price was meant to discourage them, not entitle them to special treatment.

Could DL have managed the crowds better? Yes. They certainly should have cut back on park reservations for the day, signaling "we're full."

Did anyone here expect to be able to just walk right into AC freely without a wait? To those who’ve been to the parks recently, @waltography @mickEblu @Stevek @DrAlice etc.? Were any of you genuinely shocked to find a line to get in? I’m curious.

The disappointment is justified. I’m sure we’re all aware that the DLR has to do things differently because of the pandemic restrictions, but it’s not like how it was and we have every right to feel a little disappointed. The parks were closed for over a year and many of us enjoyed going to the parks without having these weird restrictions and obviously miss those days. The parks haven’t been open for very long and the initial, normal reactions are still rolling out.

I’m neither annoyed, nor shocked about the feelings now longtime ex-APers may have currently. Anyone who’s ever been a longtime DLR passholder could most likely understand why some are naturally pressed about the situation.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Everything you write explains the exact reasons why DL can get away with AC and will continue its current practices.

Disney in general will get away with anything they want. It’s Disney.

We’re the minority here.

 

[Matty Hatter]

You don’t know this forum very well…..

Raven 24, you came off a little strong on Mansionbutler. He has a good point. All perspectives should be welcome.

 

[CaptinEO]

Did anyone here expect to be able to just walk right into AC freely without a wait? To those who’ve been to the parks recently, @waltography @mickEblu @Stevek @DrAlice etc.? Were any of you genuinely shocked to find a line to get in? I’m curious.

The disappointment is justified. I’m sure we’re all aware that the DLR has to do things differently because of the pandemic restrictions, but it’s not like how it was and we have every right to feel a little disappointed. The parks were closed for over a year and many of us enjoyed going to the parks without having these weird restrictions and obviously miss those days. The parks haven’t been open for very long and the initial, normal reactions are still rolling out.

I’m neither annoyed, nor shocked about the feelings now longtime ex-APers may have currently. Anyone who’s ever been a longtime DLR passholder could most likely understand why some are naturally pressed about the situation.

Not people on this forum, but I'm sure thousands of people show up every day seeing the Avengers Campus Ad or Star Wars Rise ad and have no idea it's a lottery. Disney doesn't communicate this in any of their advertising and off a lot of people. One of my friends is one of them, him and his wife paid for a hotel in the area to go to Avengers opening weekend and were not aware of the lottery.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You don’t know this forum very well…..

Raven 24, you came off a little strong on Mansionbutler. He has a good point. All perspectives should be welcome.

I’m used to it..

I just don’t know why anyone would want to be unhappy. And people sound unhappy. And not just here. They sound like they were unhappy in the park. Sometimes I’ll have a largely-wonderful day in the parks with one or two hiccups that annoyed me that I’ll comment on. This isn’t that. This sounds like people unhappy all day. If that is the case, you and Disney are in an unhealthy relationship.

 

[Californian Elitist]

You don’t know this forum very well…..

Raven 24, you came off a little strong on Mansionbutler. He has a good point. All perspectives should be welcome.

I didn’t say his perspective wasn’t welcome here. And noticing that someone isn’t familiar with the culture here and calling it out is simply that. I was explaining how the mentality works here. I can see you’re new here, so this goes for you as well. We complain here sometimes, yes, but that doesn’t automatically mean we’re going to cease going to the parks forever. It also doesn’t automatically equate to unhappiness and bitterness once we’re actually at the parks.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Not people on this forum, but I'm sure thousands of people show up every day seeing the Avengers Campus Ad or Star Wars Rise ad and have no idea it's a lottery. Disney doesn't communicate this in any of their advertising and **** off a lot of people. One of my friends is one of them, him and his wife paid for a hotel in the area to go to Avengers opening weekend and were not aware of the lottery.

Exactly. I’d say it sucks even more for the casual guest who won’t easily find this type of information before heading to the parks.

 

[cmwade77]

I was surprised how smooth starting my day at Mickey and friends was. I got to the parking structure at 8:45am and walked through security at 9:30am and we re slow moving with 2 strollers and lots of bags. Granted, in the old days this would have been terrible but not bad by modern standards.

Yikes! Even with a stroller, you should be able to be through security by 9 AM at the latest, unless you didn't leave your car until then.

 

[Matty Hatter]

You don’t know this forum very well…..

Raven 24, you came off a little strong on Mansionbutler. He has a good point. All perspectives should be welcome

I didn’t say his perspective wasn’t welcome here. And noticing that someone isn’t familiar with the culture here and calling it out is simply that. I was explaining how the mentality works here. I can see you’re new here, so this goes for you as well. We complain here sometimes, yes, but that doesn’t automatically mean we’re going to cease going to the parks forever. It also doesn’t automatically equate to unhappiness and bitterness once we’re actually at the parks.

I appreciate you pointing at that I’m new here and passively putting myself and others in their place. A ray of sunshine in this forum indeed.

 

[Stevek]

Did anyone here expect to be able to just walk right into AC freely without a wait? To those who’ve been to the parks recently, @waltography @mickEblu @Stevek @DrAlice etc.? Were any of you genuinely shocked to find a line to get in? I’m curious.

The disappointment is justified. I’m sure we’re all aware that the DLR has to do things differently because of the pandemic restrictions, but it’s not like how it was and we have every right to feel a little disappointed. The parks were closed for over a year and many of us enjoyed going to the parks without having these weird restrictions and obviously miss those days. The parks haven’t been open for very long and the initial, normal reactions are still rolling out.

I’m neither annoyed, nor shocked about the feelings now longtime ex-APers may have currently. Anyone who’s ever been a longtime DLR passholder could most likely understand why some are naturally pressed about the situation.

I originally expected the land to be open to all. That being said, I knew what I was getting in to so the fact that I only had a 20 min or so wait was a nice surprise.