Haven't been since 2008. Drove down from Merced - took 6 hours - past the Sand fire - stayed at the cheesy and Disneyfied Marriott Fairfield. Walked over to Downtown Disney and was reminded of my big reason for staying away. It's just too flippin' crowded for me. The pathways are elbow to elbow, the shops are crowded and crazy, the restaurants have hour waits - not my idea of fun. Even the Disneyland Hotel was packed. Can't see me returning anytime soon. Disneyland, you won't have Jim in Merced CA to push around anymore.
I understand. We never go in the summer anymore unless it is a family obligation. September is not as bad and February-Spring Breaks is generally pretty quiet still. Other than those few weeks, where hours are short and many rides down; there is no real *off season* anymore. I hope the wedding was a happy occasion, crowds notwithstanding.
The wedding was lovely. At the Disneyland Hotel wedding gazebo. Outside, so plenty hot, but she came in on the Cinderella horse-drawn carriage (they're both Disneyland cast members) and it was very sweet.
I wanna believe I'll be back soon enough. My family's had so many wonderful memories there and we love it. But I can't keep deluding myself that the crowds won't get to me and won't be outlandish. Even on "slow" days it's intolerable. I'm sure there's those rare days when it's truly not busy. But I can't spend that kind of money to play crowd roulette and hope for the best.
At least the wedding was nice! It was a dream of mine, but could never justify the price. I guess being Cast member's helped keep the cost lower. Yea, there is no slow time anymore. We used to love Halloween time, but last year it was pretty much the worst trip ever (may have been my family) but, we are really considering if we should bother going back. We were considering a few Days around Christmas, but having so many attractions down, the price and crowds I figure I'll have a better time staying home with a jug of Egg Nog and a bottle of Rum.
Much cheaper October used to be our favorite time. Nice weather and almost no crowds. NO MORE!! I haven't even been to the *party* since they moved it from DCA to DL. The only time we will go in December is the first week or so. After that it is a madhouse.
The first week in December seems to be the optimal time to go. We have done that multiple years, and the crowds aren't TOO bad...definitely bearable. I wouldn't go any later than that because that's when school starts letting out for the holidays.
I have been to the party a few times at Disneyland but, I must admit we enjoyed ourselves much more over at DCA. Now on party nights Disneyland is closed, and DCA is a nightmare on those nights!! we made a mistake of going to DCA on one of these nights, the crowds were even worse than a typical Christmas day.
The crowds have been bad at DLR for some time now, but I have found that they are manageable through adaptation. Gone are the days when I would go attraction to attraction all day long, morning to close. Nowadays I tend to spend the mornings at DL when the crowds are less, have a good lunch somewhere, spend the afternoons at DCA, etc. I go on fewer rides, take longer meal breaks, take more drink breaks -- and it's quite enjoyable. But it's not just a Disney phenomenon -- I think there are just more freakin' tourists out there. I just spent a month in Europe and some of the places I went to were at least as crowded as DLR. I think big crowds are just a symptom of a growing global middle class. So you either have to adapt to enjoy popular places, or avoid them altogether.
Yes, it does seem busier everywhere else too. I don't know how to compare Disneyland now to Disneyland when I was a child? I remember we would wait the standard 1-2 for major attractions, and that was just the way it was. Today, with FP for the most part the lines are less or similar. I think part of the problem is people are getting more impatient, and have poor attention spans.
Agreed. And part of I think is the ticket prices. When people drop the kind of cash they do just to walk in the door, by gosh, they're going to get their money's worth. Not my idea of a good time.
Can you imagine what it will be like when Star Wars land opens? Whatever we thought of as crowded before will look like the off season. To get from point A to point B will require crowd surfing.
That's an interesting point. I wonder if there's a shift in demographics as well as how people choose to spend their money.
I think so. The burgeoning middle classes (especially UPPER middle class) in Asia are choosing to spend their money like Americans do: on cars, food (like meat) and travel. So demand in travel is growing but supply of travel locations is severely limited. How many cities like Rome are there? Or Paris? Or Disneylands, for that matter? Crowds are here to stay until we find new and interesting planets we can divert the tourists to. Or we crush the rise in middle class participants (a vote for Trump could help with this).
