High anxiety about upcoming trip

[jknc]

Thanks. We have schedule flexibility outside the 6 nights at D Land to head to Yosemite and I booked a place up there for 4 nights. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[xipotec]

We have similar anxieties!

We are August 1st week, first DL trip ever, after dozens of WDW visits.

We are only doing 3.5 days, that being said, we are all older, and our kids are 16 and 19. So alot of the little kids rides will be not a priority.

We will be focused on GE, and DL mostly. We are only doing DCA 1/2 day and 1 full day.

We are foodies and plan to do at least 1 sit down per day. We got G+ so we could ride the big ones at least once.

Looking at touring plans it seems most rides have slots open for mist of the day so far…

BUT

to you DL experts….what about summer? I keep reading that DL summers are not peak times as lots of DL visitors are local?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Let me preface that we’ve been to WDW many times but never DL.

We were just @ WDW in mid-February and this is the source of my anxiety.

It was the worst of our trips. Genie, the lines, the ride breakdowns, the people. It was just exhausting.

We have 6 nights booked for early June @ DL Hotel w/ 5 days of hoppers.

Tell me we’re gonna have a good time and my money is being well spent, please.

I’m gonna take a different viewpoint than others here and preface it with I haven’t been back to DLR since Covid (but I have done WDW post-Covid a few times).

DLR has almost the same recipe as what disappointed you at WDW so I am not going to tell you to expect a different result. Genie is the same. Lines are lines. Ride breakdowns seem more common based on reports. Crowds feel more to me at DLR than WDW because of how much smaller DL is. There is no early entry for on-site guests. And there is construction at DLH as they’re building a 4th tower so while noise complaints have not been reported generally it won’t be relaxing oasis situation at the pool. People are people so I really don’t what you want to hear about that? That they’re nicer? They aren’t. No buses for transportation so that’s nice!

Oh, brace for nighttime shoes. Fantasmic & WOC are STANDING shows where people are packed into sections to stand and watch. Like fireworks at MK.

I too was at WDW mid-Feb actually. I didn’t it think it was that bad but I forked over the cash for ILL & G+ on a number of days. I’m expecting a more crowded feeling for my DLR Apr trip. Long afternoon breaks will be key.

If I had a miserable time at WDW in mid-Feb I wouldn’t be going to DLR in early June expecting it to be different. If I NEEDED it to be a better happier experience? I definitely wouldn’t go. Book a relaxing vacay somewhere relaxing and use your DLR tickets at some time when you’re ready for crowds and lines and Genie+ again.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Since I live that direction, just want to make sure you realize Yosemite is at least a 6 hour drive one way. And make sure you have reservations set up, they are harder than Disneyland reservations.

I just looked at early June and park reservations are actually wide open right now. Surprised me. Maybe America’s National park obsession of the last couple years is dying down?

 

[chezcurrie]

I too was at WDW mid-Feb actually. I didn’t it think it was that bad but I forked over the cash for ILL & G+ on a number of days. I’m expecting a more crowded feeling for my DLR Apr trip. Long afternoon breaks will be key.

I’ll be curious for your comparison after your April trip. I hope (and believe) you will be pleasantly surprised with the differences between Genie+ at DLR. There are more rides (particularly with park hoppers) and we are not seeing the reports of return times only in the evenings like from WDW (or even the recent statement about expecting 2-3 LL a day).

We had almost instant return times during a very bust week in December and I was able to stack our evening LL in our second park. Ride breakdowns mean ME LL (there is even a post about “phishing” for ME LL on this board.) My only complaint is no re-rides but with a good morning strategy (or late night) you can accomplish so much. No big.

That said, afternoon breaks are always key! I hope you have a fabulous trip!

 

[Rich M]

Sorry to hear you had a bad trip in Feb. We were there in Feb and had a great time and used Genie Plus. DL and DCA is much smaller as everyone has mentioned so crowds can be in one area at a time. Early June is the start of summer vacation so crowds can be heavy and June can be great weather. Staying at DLH will allow you to be close to have pool time and get to do everything with no bus rides back to the room like WDW.

I recommend to take your time and enjoy. Rope drop in the morning with a late brunch and back to the room to relax and pool time. Personally I always recommend park hoppers at DL because its so easy and if things are busy one park you can jump to the other. Personally I like Genie Plus and love the fact I can go to my room and stack them for the evening time. Not sure I would pay for it for 5 days straight for a big family but I would get it for sure at some point. Make sure you take the time to watch the night time shows. Its a nice break and come June I am sure the parks will be open late.

Have a great trip and you have a great support team here to answer any and all questions.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’ll be curious for your comparison after your April trip. I hope (and believe) you will be pleasantly surprised with the differences between Genie+ at DLR. There are more rides (particularly with park hoppers) and we are not seeing the reports of return times only in the evenings like from WDW (or even the recent statement about expecting 2-3 LL a day).

We had almost instant return times during a very bust week in December and I was able to stack our evening LL in our second park. Ride breakdowns mean ME LL (there is even a post about “phishing” for ME LL on this board.) My only complaint is no re-rides but with a good morning strategy (or late night) you can accomplish so much. No big.

That said, afternoon breaks are always key! I hope you have a fabulous trip!

I’ll definitely report back!!

 

[Geoff_M]

I can happily report that I was in the same situation as you... a long-time WDW veteran, but clueless about the DLR. We just got back from a trip to the Disney "mothership" and I'm happy to report that our experience was great. We had 4-day park hoppers with Genie+. We had reservations for two days for each park. The crowds were heavy due to Spring Break. We did rope-drop all four days and took short breaks back to our on-site hotel mid-afternoon most days. We were able to do everything we wanted to do attraction and food-wise. It was a bit disorienting that we had no idea (relatively) where things were located, or what direction we needed to take to get from Point A to B, but we quickly got the hang of both parks. Genie+ worked great, but we did run out of things we wanted to use it on in CA. We did purchase ILL for RotR and RSR, but not WEB Slingers. It was a bummer that PotC was shuttered, the same with Nemo still being out of action.

I wouldn't be concerned about only having three days. We had a fourth day, but we mainly used it to re-visit things we had already done and wanted to do a 2nd, 3rd... or 4th time.

 

[starlite_]

You'll be fine, DLR is so much more relaxed than WDW. Just reading about WDW stresses me out tbh. 3 days are more than enough time to do everything once and repeat your favorites

 

[jknc]

I’m gonna take a different viewpoint than others here and preface it with I haven’t been back to DLR since Covid (but I have done WDW post-Covid a few times).

DLR has almost the same recipe as what disappointed you at WDW so I am not going to tell you to expect a different result. Genie is the same. Lines are lines. Ride breakdowns seem more common based on reports. Crowds feel more to me at DLR than WDW because of how much smaller DL is. There is no early entry for on-site guests. And there is construction at DLH as they’re building a 4th tower so while noise complaints have not been reported generally it won’t be relaxing oasis situation at the pool. People are people so I really don’t what you want to hear about that? That they’re nicer? They aren’t. No buses for transportation so that’s nice!

Oh, brace for nighttime shoes. Fantasmic & WOC are STANDING shows where people are packed into sections to stand and watch. Like fireworks at MK.

I too was at WDW mid-Feb actually. I didn’t it think it was that bad but I forked over the cash for ILL & G+ on a number of days. I’m expecting a more crowded feeling for my DLR Apr trip. Long afternoon breaks will be key.

If I had a miserable time at WDW in mid-Feb I wouldn’t be going to DLR in early June expecting it to be different. If I NEEDED it to be a better happier experience? I definitely wouldn’t go. Book a relaxing vacay somewhere relaxing and use your DLR tickets at some time when you’re ready for crowds and lines and Genie+ again.

Have you looked at DLR wait times vs WDW?

 

[xipotec]

Have you looked at DLR wait times vs WDW?

Myself, I have in preparation for my DL trip. The seem high for DL( historically)....but defiantly better then WDW.....I am so glad we choose to go to DL this summer....I would not want to be anywhere near WDW this summer.

That being said, I have concerns about summer in DL as well. I think G+ has issues after a certain number of people has been breeched in the parks. It cannot handle a certain number of people. If Disney keeps packing them in, and does not use the reservation system to actually keep park attendance reasonable G+ will be a fail in DL as well.

ALSO, with ride breakdowns and closures, Disney should limit park guests. Having Nemo and POTC down, no shows, and from what I hear constant Indy breakdowns...where are those people going to go? Shopping? I bet Disney hopes so.

 

[chezcurrie]

Have you looked at DLR wait times vs WDW?

I have been checking for a friend who has an upcoming WDW trip, contrasting it to my trip mid April and night and day wait times. Still high mid day, that’s to be expected. One of the real pluses for DLR and Genie+ is you can *not* book your first LL return until you have entered the park, vs 7am for WDW. That alone will make a huge difference in inventory, and give morning guests a real head start. We actually didn’t need Genie+ until after 10:30.

So many of us at DLR were used to Maxpass, so being “limited“ to only 3 LL a day would I think cause a horrible uproar on this board, which I have not seen. If you were used to 3 FP and pulling an extra one in the old WDW system you will be even more pleased with Genie+ at DLR.

 

[DLgal]

I’m gonna take a different viewpoint than others here and preface it with I haven’t been back to DLR since Covid (but I have done WDW post-Covid a few times).

DLR has almost the same recipe as what disappointed you at WDW so I am not going to tell you to expect a different result. Genie is the same. Lines are lines. Ride breakdowns seem more common based on reports. Crowds feel more to me at DLR than WDW because of how much smaller DL is. There is no early entry for on-site guests. And there is construction at DLH as they’re building a 4th tower so while noise complaints have not been reported generally it won’t be relaxing oasis situation at the pool. People are people so I really don’t what you want to hear about that? That they’re nicer? They aren’t. No buses for transportation so that’s nice!

Oh, brace for nighttime shoes. Fantasmic & WOC are STANDING shows where people are packed into sections to stand and watch. Like fireworks at MK.

I too was at WDW mid-Feb actually. I didn’t it think it was that bad but I forked over the cash for ILL & G+ on a number of days. I’m expecting a more crowded feeling for my DLR Apr trip. Long afternoon breaks will be key.

If I had a miserable time at WDW in mid-Feb I wouldn’t be going to DLR in early June expecting it to be different. If I NEEDED it to be a better happier experience? I definitely wouldn’t go. Book a relaxing vacay somewhere relaxing and use your DLR tickets at some time when you’re ready for crowds and lines and Genie+ again.

Sorry, gonna have to correct you on several points.

1. Genie is NOT the same here. There is no 7am booking or onsite guest preference. NO ONE can begin making Genie+ selections until they scan into the park and purchase it. Thus, times do not run out as quickly and people are able to get FAR MORE than "2 to 3 rides per day" that Disney claims for WDW.

2. People ARE different in DL vs WDW. I've been to both parks enough times to know this for a fact. I grew up going to WDW, got married there in 2000 and have visited every year since. I have lived in CA since 1994 and have been a DL regular since 2001. I've visited DL parks over 500 times. The culture here is different. The crowds at any given time are majority local so cal residents. There is not the same sense of urgency or chaos that you get at WDW, where the majority of visitors are tourists on their "once in a lifetime or once a year vacation." For the most part, people at DL are chill.

3. There is no early entry, but our parks are consistently open at 8am with closings at either 10pm or midnight. No need for early entry or extra magic hours. There is plenty of time in the regular operating day to get a lot done. Not so at WDW.

4. People sit for Fantasmic now. It's been that way for some time. Only in the very back sections do people stand. I sat down the last 2 times I watched Fantasmic in 2019.

5. Disneyland STILL does not feel crowded. It feels busy most days, but there are no bottlenecks and packed walkways like there used to be pre Covid. Even on the busiest day I've experienced at DLR, it was NOTHING like pre pandemic. Photos I've seen of WDW look far worse than what I've seen at DLR. The long lines only started after Genie+ launched. But it's not related to there being more actual people in the parks. By all accounts, Disneyland is still not hitting their desired attendance numbers.

 

[gottalovepluto]

... By all accounts, Disneyland is still not hitting their desired attendance numbers.

They need to fire their park reservation guessing team. There is no excuse for Disneyland not hit those numbers with the calendars saying the parks are full

Glad to hear the walkways, etc aren’t as crowded now! They did some walkway widening over the last couple years didn’t they? Maybe it’s paying off!

Crazy what you’re saying about the people to me! Never found them to more chill- well last fall at WDW MK park wasn’t open 5 mins and I saw some guys almost start throwing punches in front of PP so I do expect DLR not to be like that! I’m very intrigued now to see how my April trip goes! I’d love a chiller vibe!

 

[jknc]

it’s reasonable to think I’ve built in enough time (6 nights, 5 hoppers) to not have a frantic, hair on fire experience @ DLR

 

[xipotec]

Well, we can hope for a classier crowd...but I can tell you , since lockdowns are ending , retail people have been very demanding and impatient. The seem to have forgotten how to interact in a crowd, and how to deal with waiting again.

 

[chezcurrie]

Well, we can hope for a classier crowd...but I can tell you , since lockdowns are ending , retail people have been very demanding and impatient. The seem to have forgotten how to interact in a crowd, and how to deal with waiting again.

I love the local audience in DLR. Especially with such an extended closure, everyone seems so happy to just *be* there. I always love spotting the people on “disney dates” whether that be a couple or a parent/child, or friends. Spread that joy!

 

[jknc]

Very appreciative of the thoughts, opinions in this thread

 

[prestoncaldwell]

May I offer a different frame of reference that might allow you to approach the entire stay more relaxedly?

You have been to WDW. Most of the offerings at DLC have like offerings at WDW. Slightly different in some, but overall the same.

The difference at DLC is the history, the feeling that you are seeing the park through Walt's own eyes. Take in the look and feel of everything, the aura of the park is markedly different than WDW.

Certainly ride the attractions that are unique to DL and DCA, and the other rides that most appeal to you within the time you have, but most of all enjoy especially the Disneyland side as a delightful relic of a more innocent era. It's Southern California, breathe!

 

[DLgal]

May offer a different frame of reference that might allow you to approach the entire stay more relaxedly?

You have been to WDW. Most of the offerings at DLC have like offerings at WDW. Slightly different in some, but overall the same.

The difference at DLC is the history, the feeling that you are seeing the park through Walt's own eyes. Take in the look and feel of everything, the aura of the park is markedly different than WDW.

Certainly ride the attractions that are unique to DL and DCA, and the other rides that most appeal to you withon the time you have, but most of all enjoy especially the Disneyland side as a delightful relic of a more innocent era. It's Southern California, breathe!

Very true. The real magic of Disneyland is found in the spaces between the rides.