News Nightmare Scenario Unfolds for Disneyland Passholders as Reservations Disappear

SoCalDisneyLover

SoCalDisneyLover

Well-Known Member
CaptinEO said:
Same sentiment here. Wife and I also only can go on weekends, and certainly don't want to go on Sunday and work the next day. Saturday is always our day of choice.

So far this year we got a 2 day ticket in May, a 1 day ticket this month, and will get another 1 day ticket in December. We get discounted tickets through work and pay about 105 for a 1 day 1 park ticket, regardless of "tier".

I'd say overall we'll have paid roughly 420 dollars in admission this year for 4 weekends, where as before we bought signature passes at 1050 a piece.

Best part is we never feel a need to visit Cali Adventure.
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That's fair, and I don't want to defend Magic Keys too much here. But the question is, would you go more often if you had the ability to do so, by having a Magic Key? Based on your situation, you would need 9 visits to reach the Believe Key price. However, the difference being, that having the Believe Key would give you discounts on food, merch & parking that you're not getting now. The downside, of course, is the spontaneity ability would likely be less than going the individual ticket route, due to reservation availability. Though if you're going on Saturdays, you could always book 6 in a row with the Believe key.
 
Professortango1

Professortango1

Well-Known Member
CaptinEO said:
Best part is we never feel a need to visit Cali Adventure.
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Exactly! Once I started buying day tickets, DCA quickly fell away. With the ruining of their best E Ticket (TOT), the Instagamification of Paradise Pier, and the removal of TTBAB, I just don't find the park that magical. Every few years I'll visit to ride RSR, but its hard to justify the price when there's so little left that I enjoy.
 
mickEblu

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Magic Keys/ Annual passes in general create artificial demand. But the reservation system is taking it to the next level. Now people are booking and going to the park more days just out of FOMO which also screws up the system with leftover dates that are just placeholders.
 
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Th3 DUd3

Well-Known Member
I really haven't had any issues getting reservations, but I do my due diligence and put in the effort into getting them. I know exactly what day and time the reservations open up and I go online to get what days I want when I want. That being said I got my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. Point is.....if you put in the effort, you wont get locked out. I have my 6 reservations lined up and I don't have to worry about a thing.

My biggest and only complaint is the 1 pm park hopper rule. I personally would visit at rope drop, ride all the major rides at DCA or DL by 11-12 then head to the other side...repeat the process and then head home. Can't do that now. Another caveat is the virtual queue. I now can't come at rope drop ride Spider-man(Horrible ride, but) then head to DL and wait for the 12 pm queue to open up to see if I can get on that or vice versa. (guess its theoretically possible if you get quick boarding queue and a later second boarding pass)

The reservation system HAS made me re-think how I spend time in the parks, especially at Disneyland. So now I just try to have fun with it. For example, I recently just did an entire Fantasyland day cause that got me to 1pm or something similar.

Once again, I think it's the amount of effort you want to put into things. I get it...it was easy to be lazy before. Be less now and more creative.
 
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Ryan120420

Well-Known Member
Th3 DUd3 said:
I really haven't had any issues getting reservations, but I do my due diligence and put in the effort into getting them. I know exactly what day and time the reservations open up and I go online to get what days I want when I want. That being said I got my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. Point is.....if you put in the effort, you wont get locked out. I have my 6 reservations lined up and I don't have to worry about a thing.

My biggest and only complaint is the 1 pm park hopper rule. I personally would visit at rope drop, ride all the major rides at DCA or DL by 11-12 then head to the other side...repeat the process and then head home. Can't do that now. Another caveat is the virtual queue. I now can't come at rope drop ride Spider-man(Horrible ride, but) then head to DL and wait for the 12 pm queue to open up to see if I can get on that or vice versa. (guess its theoretically possible if you get quick boarding queue and a later second boarding pass)

The reservation system HAS made me re-think how I spend time in the parks, especially at Disneyland. So now I just try to have fun with it. For example, I recently just did an entire Fantasyland day cause that got me to 1pm or something similar.

Once again, I think it's the amount of effort you want to put into things. I get it...it was easy to be lazy before. Be less now and more creative.
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Same here, besides eliminating FastPass, the park hopping restriction is the biggest negative in all this crap that Disney has rolled out.

I wish Disney would revise it so that when you enter a park you have to wait say 2 hours before you can parkhop or at 1pm, which ever comes first.

I've made 7 visits on my Magic Key pass and 2 of those visits I had DCA as a starting park. 2 hours into each of my days at DCA I was bored and ended up park hopping over to Knotts and never returned to Disney. All thanks to that stupid 1pm rule.
 
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Th3 DUd3

Well-Known Member
Ryan120420 said:
Same here, besides eliminating FastPass, the park hopping restriction is the biggest negative in all this crap that Disney has rolled out.

I wish Disney would revise it so that when you enter a park you have to wait say 2 hours before you can parkhop or at 1pm, which ever comes first.

I've made 7 visits on my Magic Key pass and 2 of those visits I had DCA as a starting park. 2 hours into each of my days at DCA I was bored and ended up park hopping over to Knotts and never returned to Disney. All thanks to that stupid 1pm rule.
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Hey Ryan,

When you get bored with DCA and obviously the bars haven’t opened provided you consume any alcohol(hint go to UVA). I would highly advise to go draw a character and everything in that area. I would also advise to do something you wouldn’t normally do like ride the Wheel. After all who cares? Your stuck…try something new and plan it out. Maybe next time you can take the time you were bored and get some awesome pictures cause you were too busy riding rides or doing other things you enjoy. Maybe try Redwood Creek. There is always SOMETHING to do. A lot of the times you just need to get out of your comfort zone and try it again or try something new. I hear you..just wanted to offer some suggestions. Hope it helps.
 
Professortango1

Professortango1

Well-Known Member
Th3 DUd3 said:
Hey Ryan,

When you get bored with DCA and obviously the bars haven’t opened provided you consume any alcohol(hint go to UVA). I would highly advise to go draw a character and everything in that area. I would also advise to do something you wouldn’t normally do like ride the Wheel. After all who cares? Your stuck…try something new and plan it out. Maybe next time you can take the time you were bored and get some awesome pictures cause you were too busy riding rides or doing other things you enjoy. Maybe try Redwood Creek. There is always SOMETHING to do. A lot of the times you just need to get out of your comfort zone and try it again or try something new. I hear you..just wanted to offer some suggestions. Hope it helps.
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DCA has very limited options. I might do the animation studio with a friend, but if I'm by myself, I'm looking at shows or rides.

While I supported the idea of swapping out Aladdin, Frozen just isn't a well executed show I can sit through multiple times. Mission BO is a trainwreck. GRR is fun with friends in the heat of summer, but by yourself or in colder weather, there isn't much to see.

I don't mind filler attractions, but when that's all the park really has, it gets old incredibly quick. RSR, Midway Mania, and the downgraded Incredicoaster are the only major rides I'd be interested in visiting. Vs HM, POTC, IJA, Splash, Space, BTMRR, Rise... They really just need to make DCA a lower cost ticket. The fact that it is valued the same as DL is absurd, especially considering DL has longer hours and features multiple evening shows.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
CaptinEO said:
Me too. I remember my family visiting it in Summer 2001 and we were in our car at 2pm to head home.
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I’m laughing because I had similar experiences, only we wouldn’t go home and we’d be out of DCA before noon. We always went to DCA first and “got it over with.” By 10:30 or so, we’d all look at each other like, we don’t here? Cool. Then we’d rush over to Disneyland for the rest of the day. This was the routine for years. I think we started spending a little more time there around 2004 or 2005.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
CaptinEO said:
That's so funny! My family must not have had a parkhopper that day!

I know with my wife and I even if we started the day with our APs at California Adventure, we'd always be at DL before noon as well and would never feel a need to go back.

It totally is like "getting the good rides over with". Then you go to the actual nice theme park.
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Yep. Go in, do the good rides, then bounce. No need to stay for too long. It’s actually quite sad. I don’t want to feel that way about DCA, but Disney has given me no choice. Once Cars Land opened with the rest of DCA 2.0, I did find myself spending a good chunk of my time there. But the dummies at Disney wasted no time and took five steps backwards and now I’ve gone back to spending a couple of hours there.

The biggest issue for DCA, in my opinion, is its location. If it was in some other part of Southern California, like Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, etc. and not directly across from Disneyland The Great in Anaheim, then I absolutely could spend a full day there. I’ve spent 8+ straight hours at Universal Studios Hollywood, but have never done so at DCA. Obviously it’s not because there’s not enough to do at DCA, but because there aren’t enough good things to do, especially in comparison to the far superior park some dozens of feet away.
 
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Sailor310

Well-Known Member
I brought my sister to DCA years ago. Ticket for her. AP for me. I bought box dinners to get tickets for WOC. We did single-rider on most of the big stuff. Did ITTBAB. After about 4 hours she was done. I said, ' no, I paid to see WOC. You need to see it,' but she was tired and was done. We headed for home.
 
SoCalDisneyLover

SoCalDisneyLover

Well-Known Member
By my count, there are 19 rides in DCA(includes the Trolley.) 20 if you count double for Swinging vs Non-Swinging on Mickey's Death Wheel. Fantasyland alone has 12.
 
W

WDWTrojan

Well-Known Member
FAIRIEDUST78 said:
I honestly believe that what we’re seeing is an “ I can finally go again and I have a key so let’s book a reservation and go!” I believe it will regulate itself. I also questioned why the rest of my family couldn’t book a reservation a few days after I did, yet a single day ticket holder could still get a reservation. Asked Disney, and got my answer. Apparently wenn’s mk holders are on a completely different calendar of availability. Basically they answered my question by rewording my question. Very frustrating. As we approach the holiday season, I know things will be difficult when wanting to obtain a reservation, but when I go four more times in the next eleven months( my pass started last month) I’ll have gotten my moneys worth.
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There's multiple buckets, depending on the type of ticket media you have. They want to prioritize certain types of guests (day guests, resort guests, etc). Part of the reason for the changeover was obviously to put a hard cap on the number of key holders that can attend, keeping the park not quite as packed to the brim, making it a better experience overall for guests on paid single or multi-day tickets.
 
Too Many Hats

Too Many Hats

Well-Known Member
I don't care for DCA, but it can be pleasant enough in the morning. I tap out in the early afternoon, when the lack of shade becomes oppressive. Seriously, the park needs some trees. Disney, please, think of the white people.
 
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FAIRIEDUST78

Member
TrojanUSC said:
There's multiple buckets, depending on the type of ticket media you have. They want to prioritize certain types of guests (day guests, resort guests, etc). Part of the reason for the changeover was obviously to put a hard cap on the number of key holders that can attend, keeping the park not quite as packed to the brim, making it a better experience overall for guests on paid single or multi-day tickets.
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You made that a lot clearer than the Disney response I got. Thank you.
i also remember before they announced the key program that it was mentioned that we passholders didn’t spend money in the parks. Now granted I’m not going to spend money on souvenirs just like any family who goes on vacation , but I always buy food and at least a pin or two and maybe a cool new hm item!
 
DrAlice

DrAlice

Well-Known Member
We enjoy DCA, and spend a full day there. BUT, we visit only once a year (or every two years) on a multi-day ticket vacation and our DCA day is our "slow day". My daughter is still young and enjoys Midway Mania as much as Incredicoaster and Mermaid. We typically ride our favorites multiple times to fill the day. I agree that it needs more attractions. I miss Aladdin.
 

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