What's really happening in the parks?

[Jorillaman]

When ticket sales opened last month, we waited for hours to purchase tickets, make reservations, reserve a hotel, etc. At that time, there were rumors CA planned to open June 15 which has since materialized. We purchased tickets for the week prior (June 7-11) to experience both Avenger's Campus and pre non-CA attendance while also being capped at 25% (or 35%).

That said, we're so confused by the mixed signals/reports. Is the park overwhelmingly busy or not? I'm nervous as one of our young children struggles greatly in large crowds and after seeing the park walk through videos, it appears that the park is just crazy busy. At the same time, there are posts and notes about it being pretty light. What is really happening in the parks right now?

When this whole saga started to unfold, we decided it might be better to drop to 3 or 4 days or just cancel altogether, but how to take away a Disney trip from the kids!? Seems like reducing a day or two may be a good compromise along with any suggestions from the park pros (you guys) BUT, I've called Disney 4 times and sent 3 emails now - never an answer, never a call back. Every phone call has been 1-2 hours of holding before eventually giving up. Any suggestions on how to actually reach Disney to make changes?

Thanks for your help!

[YeaDZNY]

When ticket sales opened last month, we waited for hours to purchase tickets, make reservations, reserve a hotel, etc. At that time, there were rumors CA planned to open June 15 which has since materialized. We purchased tickets for the week prior (June 7-11) to experience both Avenger's Campus and pre non-CA attendance while also being capped at 25% (or 35%).

That said, we're so confused by the mixed signals/reports. Is the park overwhelmingly busy or not? I'm nervous as one of our young children struggles greatly in large crowds and after seeing the park walk through videos, it appears that the park is just crazy busy. At the same time, there are posts and notes about it being pretty light. What is really happening in the parks right now?

When this whole saga started to unfold, we decided it might be better to drop to 3 or 4 days or just cancel altogether, but how to take away a Disney trip from the kids!? Seems like reducing a day or two may be a good compromise along with any suggestions from the park pros (you guys) BUT, I've called Disney 4 times and sent 3 emails now - never an answer, never a call back. Every phone call has been 1-2 hours of holding before eventually giving up. Any suggestions on how to actually reach Disney to make changes?

Thanks for your help!

Well your def on the right track by reducing the days your going. And I understand everyones feeling with Cabin Fever for the last year. But....

I was SOOOO Bummed with the overall experience, and as a previous AP'er about 2 years ago for about 10 years. I want to make sure that you and your family are aware of all the changes and what to kinda expect. We did the whole 2 day park hopper with 2 nights at Disneys CA Grand to welcome ourselves back to the parks that we have loved going to for so long.

*Positives:
- First time being back for more then 2 years
- Beats starring at the same faces and walls
- Experiencing some of our favorite rides again

* Negatives:
- Dont be fooled like we were when you see this 35% capacity limit. Because DL is so crunched for space in a lot of places it feels way more crowded.
- Not having FP or Maxpass sucks!
- Getting a Virtual Queue spot is a crap shoot at best...but were lucky enough to score 1 ride on ROTR
- You have to basically map out our whole day with food/drinks for the whole family and can be an absolute pain and a nightmare if your staving (and because you have kids) quite challenging
- Spontaneity is gone (for reasons just mentioned with the App)
- And if your going in July...wearing a mask all day, I dont care how some folks want to sugar coat it...SUCKS!!!!
- All the FantasyLand Dark rides are speed up so fast that are literally off the ride in 20-30 seconds and dont get time to really appreciate the ride
- I would say half of the CM's we interacted with rude and not helpful
- After this trip, and after crunching the numbers...was just as expensive as going to Hawaii!?!? (so bummed that we did this instead)


We all decided as a family that we wont be going back until the Parks and the State are in a more "normal" state of operation.
We also also cancelled a trip we booked in a couple weeks to experience Avengers Campus before its open to the masses. But we already cancelled that trip, because of reasons mentioned above. And come to find out that they are making the only ride they have (Spiderman Web Slingers) as a VQ as well. So there is also a chance that if we did go (only to DCA for Avengers Campus) and if we dont get a spot in the VQ...be all for nothing

Good luck!

[OCDave]

I was at DCA on Wednesday this week, and the crowds there seemed to be about the same as I've always seen. Maybe DCA was never above 35% capacity! Mobil ordering wasn't so bad, but finding tables to eat at was a challenge. Lines were long (90 minutes for Racers), only got on three rides in the 7 hours that we were there. Shopping was easy but we did that on our way out long before the park closed.

[greenalfonzo]

Is the sped up fantasyland rides accurate? I just went and pulled up youtube videos of Snow White from 2019 and 2021. Both have the ride clocking in at a little over 2 minutes.

[YeaDZNY]

Is the sped up fantasyland rides accurate? I just went and pulled up youtube videos of Snow White from 2019 and 2021. Both have the ride clocking in at a little over 2 minutes.

When we went about a week ago....more specifically Toad and Pan were light speed.

[9oldmen]

When we went about a week ago....more specifically Toad and Pan were light speed.

YeahDZNY, first you said they sped them all up, and now you sat it's 2 out of 5? Also, I just checked YouTube videos from before the closure and from the last few weeks. Pan was about 2:10 in both instances and Toad was 1:50. And in the LA Times article from just yesterday it stated that Snow White has actually been slowed down in addition to the rethemeing.
I think this "speeding up" may be happening in your head.

[SuperHappyCM]

I walk through Disneyland to get to the Cast Member parking structure. Pre-pandemic was a horrible nightmare because I couldn't just "walk". I had to stop; go; stop; turn; go around, etc. Right now I just walk. It's not as light a crowd as opening day. They definitely increased capacity. But it's not the absolute horror of before. I can stroll through without hurtles to deal with.