Disneyland Resort

[JawsVictim]

Thanks! I'll be there Sunday and initially I was planning on being at M&F around 7:45 or so. If Gardenwalk is a cheaper option maybe I'll just do that instead.

Does anyone know if MicheChat is still offering their parking deal with the Anaheim Hotel on Harbor?

Don’t bother with the Micechat deal. The lobby at 7:30 AM is crazy with many others also trying to park there. There was also a sign saying no public parking both times I tried.

Gardenwalk is the same price as DL, but less of a walk and quicker to get in on the Harbor side.

 

[DTH]

Gardenwalk is the same price as DL, but less of a walk and quicker to get in on the Harbor side.

I've never parked in Gardenwalk but it looks ideal. Is it open 24/7? Also it says $18 for theme park parking, so a little bit cheaper if that is still the case. Does it ever get super packed and hard to get into during the mornings? This seems like the ideal situation if it's empty, closer, and cheaper.

 

[deadbydawn]

I've never parked in Gardenwalk but it looks ideal. Is it open 24/7? Also it says $18 for theme park parking, so a little bit cheaper if that is still the case. Does it ever get super packed and hard to get into during the mornings? This seems like the ideal situation if it's empty, closer, and cheaper.

We used Gardenwalk on Sunday for the early Avengers Campus line up. Overall super short walk to the Harbor gate. I am pretty sure it's open 24/7. We pulled in around 6 AM with no issues. The parking at the end of the day was about $30 (our group split it) but there may some discount or validation that we missed because we heard about the $18 theme park deal and weren't sure how to actually get it.

The parking lot that early was pretty empty but at the end of the day everyone lines up at one entrance to get out and typically the Katella exit is much easier to exit from.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

A bunch of food offerings are opeing up including Oga’s, Lamplight Lounge Brunch, Wine Trattoria, Alien Pizza Planet, Rancho Zocalo and docking bay seven. Starting June 17th. Full list here:

UPDATE – Disney’s Parks Foodie News: Announcing New Openings and Offerings – Sebastian’s Bistro, ‘Ohana, Wine Country Trattoria, Lamplight Lounge Brunch, and More

We are so excited to announce booking and opening dates for some of your favorite Disney dining locations! Check out all the delicious details below.

disneyparks.disney.go.com

 

[JawsVictim]

A bunch of food offerings are opeing up including Oga’s, Lamplight Lounge Brunch, Wine Trattoria, Alien Pizza Planet, Rancho Zocalo and docking bay seven. Starting June 17th. Full list here:

UPDATE – Disney’s Parks Foodie News: Announcing New Openings and Offerings – Sebastian’s Bistro, ‘Ohana, Wine Country Trattoria, Lamplight Lounge Brunch, and More

We are so excited to announce booking and opening dates for some of your favorite Disney dining locations! Check out all the delicious details below.

disneyparks.disney.go.com

Uh oh. Now I’m tempted to go back just for Oga’s!

 

[deadbydawn]

Disneyland has updated their website to reflect tomorrow’s new rules regarding masks for guests.

Update on Disneyland Resort Operations

 

[JawsVictim]

Disneyland has updated their website to reflect tomorrow’s new rules regarding masks for guests.

Update on Disneyland Resort Operations

And just like that, we’re back to normal operations. I wonder how much longer reservations will be required. Guessing until they get enough CMs back or hired.

 

[Rideguy70]

I wonder how much longer reservations will be needed as well.

Also, even with this news, I suspect that Single Ride still won't be a thing for a while. I think there are lots of people who aren't yet ready to have a stranger sit right next to them, especially if they don't have a mask on. I wouldn't... no way to know if they're vaccinated or not.

 

[Nick]

Another situation that proves that Park Pass sucks a big one. He actually says at the end too, "We're more than happy with Universal... they seem to have it down pat". Disney is literally pissing people off with this to the point they are going to the competition and saying they'll never come back to your park again. He also mentions he talked to another family while having lunch that had the exact same experience as him.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

He’s not wrong but at the end of the day demand for Disneyland outpaces supply.
That may not always be the case but right now people are willing to pay the premium for a less the 100% experience. It is frustrating and locally other parks like Universal and Knott’s will benefit but I am not sure how they can resolve the rise problem.

Another situation that proves that Park Pass sucks a big one. He actually says at the end too, "We're more than happy with Universal... they seem to have it down pat". Disney is literally pissing people off with this to the point they are going to the competition and saying they'll never come back to your park again. He also mentions he talked to another family while having lunch that had the exact same experience as him.

 

[Freak]

Another situation that proves that Park Pass sucks a big one. He actually says at the end too, "We're more than happy with Universal... they seem to have it down pat". Disney is literally pissing people off with this to the point they are going to the competition and saying they'll never come back to your park again. He also mentions he talked to another family while having lunch that had the exact same experience as him.

Someone needs to get him to Universal in Florida as well. They have the FAR superior Spiderman ride.

I think we may finally experience the humbling of Disney parks here. I mean they're NOT going out of business, but I think they're going to piss people off to the point to where they will not be interested in giving the mouse their money. Don't even get me started with how disgruntled people are with Disney now in general.

Look, RotR is a technologically advanced ride, I get it. It's prone to break down a lot. They need to have some leeway to letting guests have a better time. Discounted tickets? A stand-by? IDK. For Spiderman, it's a simple ride. Just let people wait in line for the thing. There's no reason to force people into that VQ nonsense. Just let people wait in line! I'm dreading my DCA trip this Thursday.

But I will say that he was not supposed to keep refreshing the app. But that's stupid for anyone to be let in on these kind of secrets just to have a chance at riding what you dropped the money for.

He’s not wrong but at the end of the day demand for Disneyland outpaces supply.
That may not always be the case but right now people are willing to pay the premium for a less the 100% experience. It is frustrating and locally other parks like Universal and Knott’s will benefit but I am not sure how they can resolve the rise problem.

That may be true now, but Disney needs to be careful. Like I mentioned in another DL-related thread, people's habits have changed since Covid, more specifically in California. With so many people out of the habit of going to theme parks in general for over a year, they will be used to not going to DL a lot. They will only be reminded of the sour experience they had of being forced out of the squirrel lottery to see the only two rides they wanted to see. This will hurt them in the long run and push them to Knott's or USH.

 

[JawsVictim]

It seems like a lot of people aren’t prepared for the current DL experience. Yeah, if you’re used to showing up at the parks and leisurely spending a day there, you’re screwed. As someone who planned trip itineraries even as a kid before FP, I’m able to do everything I want in a day and some. You just have to be prepared and I do believe there’s plenty of info out there to help out the average guest.

 

[Nick]

It seems like a lot of people aren’t prepared for the current DL experience. Yeah, if you’re used to showing up at the parks and leisurely spending a day there, you’re screwed. As someone who planned trip itineraries even as a kid before FP, I’m able to do everything I want in a day and some. You just have to be prepared and I do believe there’s plenty of info out there to help out the average guest.

DL is turning into WDW with the amount of planning you have to do and that's not good at all. Us in the theme park community have been pissing and moaning about it for about a decade about WDW's system, but it wasn't until people started getting excluded from rides where the average guest (on both coasts) really has started to speak up.

Before the Boarding Pass system was put in place, it was a major pain to plan a vacation, but at least all of that was ahead of time. Now, BP is a day-of thing that people really can't plan for in any way other than being awake and ready and sometimes you're still screwed. I know that i've been screwed by the BP system before and I know what i'm doing. This is true for Hagrid at IOA, too.

Virtual Lines are completely ruining the guests experience to the point of complete and utter frustration for the rides that guests want to experience most.

 

[JawsVictim]

DL is turning into WDW with the amount of planning you have to do and that's not good at all. Us in the theme park community have been pissing and moaning about it for about a decade about WDW's system, but it wasn't until people started getting excluded from rides where the average guest (on both coasts) really has started to speak up.

Before the Boarding Pass system was put in place, it was a major pain to plan a vacation, but at least all of that was ahead of time. Now, BP is a day-of thing that people really can't plan for in any way other than being awake and ready and sometimes you're still screwed. I know that i've been screwed by the BP system before and I know what i'm doing. This is true for Hagrid at IOA, too.

Virtual Lines are completely ruining the guests experience to the point of complete and utter frustration for the rides that guests want to experience most.

To be fair, everyone’s going to bitch about getting on these new rides, with or without BP. FoP and Hagrid’s are good examples: every time I’ve gone on those, I’ve been one of the first riders of the day because I get there an hour and a half before opening so I can rope drop. If not, it turns into a 3 hour wait. So people are going to complain long lines are ruining the experience or BP’s are ruining things. Either way, I adapt and am able to experience everything I want to see.

At least with BP you still get a second chance during the day and can adjust your plans accordingly. IMO, BPs and VQs aren’t ruining anything. No one’s being forced to pay all this money to visit the parks, it’s a choice.

 

[Nick]

To be fair, everyone’s going to bitch about getting on these new rides, with or without BP. FoP and Hagrid’s are good examples: every time I’ve gone on those, I’ve been one of the first riders of the day because I get there an hour and a half before opening so I can rope drop. If not, it turns into a 3 hour wait. So people are going to complain long lines are ruining the experience or BP’s are ruining things. Either way, I adapt and am able to experience everything I want to see.

At least with BP you still get a second chance during the day and can adjust your plans accordingly. IMO, BPs and VQs aren’t ruining anything. No one’s being forced to pay all this money to visit the parks, it’s a choice.

But at least without a BP, I have the choice to wait in a 3 hour or heck, 10 hour line if I want to. BP doesn't give you choice, all you can do is HOPE that you get a timeslot.

 

[JawsVictim]

But at least without a BP, I have the choice to wait in a 3 hour or heck, 10 hour line if I want to. BP doesn't give you choice, all you can do is HOPE that you get a timeslot.

Well, you know that when you buy the ticket. Disney tells everyone how to reserve a BP before purchasing a ticket. You go into the experience knowing it’s a gamble.

 

[Nick]

Well, you know that when you buy the ticket. Disney tells everyone how to reserve a BP before purchasing a ticket. You go into the experience knowing it’s a gamble.

You're missing the point.

Theme parks shouldn't be run that way where they have to make a disclaimer up front so that they can point back to it when the enormous line forms at Guest Service. This is a Disney problem, not a guest problem. Sure, they can run their parks however they want and i'm not saying people are going to slow down going this summer since this is the summer where everyone wants to do things again, but if they keep up this nonsense long enough, it'll catch up to them and they'll see numbers start to decrease within a few years.

I don't know if an Annual Pass option is ever coming back to WDW, but if one does, I have no care to get one right now. The closest i'd get is a Water Park Pass. Disney parks are just not worth the hassle to me anymore.

 

[JawsVictim]

You're missing the point.

Theme parks shouldn't be run that way where they have to make a disclaimer up front so that they can point back to it when the enormous line forms at Guest Service. This is a Disney problem, not a guest problem. Sure, they can run their parks however they want and i'm saying people are going to slow down going this summer since this is the summer where everyone wants to do things again, but if they keep up this nonsense long enough, it'll catch up to them and they'll see numbers start to decrease within a few years.

I don't know if an Annual Pass option is ever coming back to WDW, but if one does, I have no care to get one right now. The closest i'd get is a Water Park Pass. Disney parks are just not worth the hassle to me anymore.

I get the point of what people want to expect from a theme park experience, but that isn’t the way the business is run. It hasn’t been that way for years. BPs and VQs are part of the experience now. It’s the same thing people said when FP, Maxpass, and FP+ were introduced. “It’s ruining the experience!” “Lines are too long!” “I’m never going back!” “There’s too much planning now!”

My POV is to adapt with the experience. I get the point that it’s upsetting for people who shell out the money and don’t get a BP for ROTR. Yet no one’s being forced to go and they tell you what the deal is up front. Anyone who’s mad or upset either needs to walk away or find the silver lining. VQs and BPs are here and I doubt they’ll be going away.

 

[Nick]

I get the point of what people want to expect from a theme park experience, but that isn’t the way the business is run. It hasn’t been that way for years. BPs and VQs are part of the experience now. It’s the same thing people said when FP, Maxpass, and FP+ were introduced. “It’s ruining the experience!” “Lines are too long!” “I’m never going back!” “There’s too much planning now!”

My POV is to adapt with the experience. I get the point that it’s upsetting for people who shell out the money and don’t get a BP for ROTR. Yet no one’s being forced to go and they tell you what the deal is up front. Anyone who’s mad or upset either needs to walk away or find the silver lining. VQs and BPs are here and I doubt they’ll be going away.

Oh I know the VQs aren't going away (at least anytime soon) because Disney wants to add more of them. Thus why I have no plans to go back any time soon. My next Disney trip will be to TDL where the experience is still as pure as you'll find at a Disney Resort.

 

[JawsVictim]

Oh I know the VQs aren't going away (at least anytime soon) because Disney wants to add more of them. Thus why I have no plans to go back any time soon. My next Disney trip will be to TDL where the experience is still as pure as you'll find at a Disney Resort.

And for me, I like them. It creates a create opportunity to hit other parts of the park and return to a popular attraction with a greatly reduced wait.

It’s oddly the same reason I liked having to book lunch/dinner reservations weeks in advance or plan my mobile orders for the day before entering the park. All that planning is taken care of and frees up my time while I’m in the park.