When did Disneyland “peak,” if at all?

[Magic Feather]

I recently was thinking about most of Disney’s parks and how a lot of people think that they have been going downhill with decisions, often pointing to better times and times when the parks had “peaked.”
This got me thinking... Epcot and MK peaked in the mid to late 1990’s, Animal Kingdom Peaked just afternoon Avatar opened, but before entertainment got cut (late 2017-2018), Studios depends on who you talk to, and DCA peaked when Grizzly Airfield got done but before Tower closed.
But Disneyland... while there have been additions and retractions over the years, I can’t think of any significant change, that didn’t come with a big enough benefit to warrant the change or generally detract from the park.
It makes me wonder, did Disneyland peak, or is it still on an upward trajectory?

 

[Brer Oswald]

Not sure. The two years I always wish I could’ve visited were 1959 and 1967. I’ve always wanted to see Tomorrowland in its late 60s glory.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Summer 2020

 

[PiratesMansion]

I can't ever really know, but I would have liked to have been there shortly after...
1. Haunted Mansion opened
2. New Fantasyland opened, or
3. Indy opened

 

[SuddenStorm]

The couple months after Indy opened and before Peoplemover closed.

Arguable the best iteration of every modern attraction was in place at that point, and Pressler hadn't left his mark yet. Plus, Pirates and Mansion hadn't undergone changes yet.

 

[Stevek]

1995. Indiana Jones had opened in March that year so the resort was IMO, humming full speed ahead. And then, ugh, the day the Peoplemover was shuttered and they started the "New Tomorrowland" rebuild it started downhill.

That being said, my favorite years personally were probably late 70's/early 80's when Space Mountain and big thunder were new, Adventure thru Innerspace, America Sings, the Skyway, original subs, country bear jamboree, mission to mars, america the beautiful circlevision were all still operating and The Main Street Electrical Parade still felt fresh and new. Those years, the many visits with my family as a kid...those will always hold very special memories for me.

After that, the 50th was when I started to make a lot of memories with my own children. They were 4 & 5 so they really started to get an appreciation for the park and I was seeing how special DL was to them...the same way it was for me in the 70s/80s.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

The couple months after Indy opened and before Peoplemover closed.

Arguable the best iteration of every modern attraction was in place at that point, and Pressler hadn't left his mark yet. Plus, Pirates and Mansion hadn't undergone changes yet.

This.

I recall being at the park with my aunt, (late) uncle, mom, and cousins and the park was truly wild with crowds a year after Indy opened. I remember members of my family getting lost for hours and using the castle as an unofficial meeting place” as not having cell phones was still common. And of course I remember the anticipation of waiting what must’ve felt like 10 hours for a 6-7 year old at IJ in a pre-FP era queue that stretched out to Main Street.

Combined with the insane swelling crowds and fandom for the MSEP closing, and my fond memories of the bones of the ‘67 TL (subs, starcade, star tours ‘87, and the People Mover). And of course the fun of taking the monorail to the DL Hotel’s monorail cafe for dinner.

 

[SplashGhost]

The couple months after Indy opened and before Peoplemover closed.

Arguable the best iteration of every modern attraction was in place at that point, and Pressler hadn't left his mark yet. Plus, Pirates and Mansion hadn't undergone changes yet.

If Disneyland could be frozen in time, this is the time that I would choose to freeze it in. We have lost a ton of great things since then, and I could easily do without any of the changes that came afterwards.

 

[mickEblu]

Of course I can only really judge periods in my lifetime although from everything I know, I really do believe it peaked in my lifetime. I would say it peaked sometime between Splash or shortly after Indy. If you look at ride rosters alone then you go with Indy. But if you want to factor in value and crowds then maybe you go circa 1990. So around the 35th anniversary or shortly after.

DCA is easy. It peaked in 2016 after Grizzly Peak Airfield and before GOTG:MB.0

 

[TP2000]

I would say there are three distinct Peaks, with valleys of varying deepness between them;

1967 = Pirates, New Tomorrowland, and a Disneyland operation honed by over a decade of Walt's hands-on leadership

1987 = New Fantasyland, Captain EO, Star Tours, and a reinvigorated Disneyland led by an engaged Michael Eisner

2012 = A pristine Disneyland, and a DCA that had finally been fixed; Cars Land, Buena Vista Street, World of Color, etc.

2020-2021 seems to be a valley, even before Covid killed the economy and closed the park for six months or more. Bob Chapek had not only reversed some of the gains of 2012 with the awful Pixar Pier, but then he severely damaged the Star Wars Land expansion by cutting the budget too much in 2018-19 so that the snack bar employee Ky'Le From Tustin was expected to be a Disney Character similar to a professional actor paid at the AGVA rate. None of that worked, Bob Chapek got promoted bizarrely just as the world collapsed, and now here we are. Disneyland is still closed.

 

[D.Silentu]

So far two people have individually said that 2016 was the peak for California Adventure. I propose that it may have been a few years earlier. In the first quarter of 2016 the Mad T Party was cancelled and no night time entertainment replaced it. The annexation of Condor Flats was an improvement overall, but in my estimation the evening party did more for the park.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Early to mid-2010’s, after the DCA revamp, was a good time.

 

[mickEblu]

So far two people have individually said that 2016 was the peak for California Adventure. I propose that it may have been a few years earlier. In the first quarter of 2016 the Mad T Party was cancelled and no night time entertainment replaced it. The annexation of Condor Flats was an improvement overall, but in my estimation the evening party did more for the park.

I never saw mad T Party but I would take a land being beautified over a temporary stage show in the ugliest part of the park. Especially since there was other nighttime entertainment in the park such as PTN and World of Color after the period you mention.

 

[Phroobar]

Disneyland peaked in 1996 right before they destroyed Tomorrowland.
DCA peaked in 2016 with the Mad T Party even though ElecTRONica was better.

 

[britain]

My brother turned 40, and I thought this would be a good gift for him. I think this was peak Disneyland. It definitely looks like it as a map. (I even call the carousel theatre "Future Attraction" a feature, not a bug!)

 

[Nland316]

During the 60th, before ROA was shortened.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

As has been noted, there have been some great eras for DL (50's, 60's, 80's and more).

But for DCA - 2011 (ElecTRONica) and 2012-2014 (original Mad T Party and the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers who MADE Christmas there for me) were the glory times. Though the loss in 2016 of Mad T (which broke my heart) and the Bell Ringers was later slightly mitigated by the brief glorious appearances of the Silver Lake Sisters later that year in ToT and in 2017 when they brought in GOTG: Awesome Dance-Off and the Thor: Ragnarok cute intro show with Thor & Loki.

Edit: But I'm still hopeful that the Avengers Campus is going to be a new home/happy place in DCA whenever that opens.

 

[SplashGhost]

I think the peak of DCA was the time between when Cars Land opened and before they closed Muppet-Vision 3D. It is a shame that DCA 2.0 didn't last long. They did such a great job fixing the park, and then Chapek was like "time to throw in some IPs that don't fit."

Tower of Terror and Soarin' Over California were thematic anchors for the park. Without those attractions, the park doesn't work thematically. I think the brief returns of Soarin' Over California have been the best thing to happen to the resort since Cars Land opened.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I recently was thinking about most of Disney’s parks and how a lot of people think that they have been going downhill with decisions, often pointing to better times and times when the parks had “peaked.”
This got me thinking... Epcot and MK peaked in the mid to late 1990’s, Animal Kingdom Peaked just afternoon Avatar opened, but before entertainment got cut (late 2017-2018), Studios depends on who you talk to, and DCA peaked when Grizzly Airfield got done but before Tower closed.
But Disneyland... while there have been additions and retractions over the years, I can’t think of any significant change, that didn’t come with a big enough benefit to warrant the change or generally detract from the park.
It makes me wonder, did Disneyland peak, or is it still on an upward trajectory?

When I visited DL last year I noticed it was the only US park where I didn't permanently wished I was visiting in another age. That should answer your question.

Even if I'm not sure if DL is currently at its, or a, peak. DL possibly has the wildest history ride of all parks.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The "history" of WDW is overrated by WDW fans.