Disneyland, California

This doesn't directly answer your question, but I have cancelled Disney in Orlando twice now (flight, car, hotel as well). I lost about $400 in rewards value from my credit card because of this as I had booked some of it on rewards. I am looking to go during December this year. We had already bought and paid for our tickets to Magic Kingdom. Disney doesn't refund but will apply the value of what you paid to a new ticket when you're ready to rebook. Haven't done that yet, but hoping it will be a smooth process when I am ready.

I think with the removal of negative tests from April 1, a lot of people will be travelling.

Any Disney park went downhill since reopening with the new changes that focus on just charging way more money for what you really get, they lost the magic and amazing experience way.
That CEO Bob Chapek really needs to go.

Disneys new motto is to bleed as much as they can from each guest.. I love going to Disney with the family.. Everything I have been reading on all the new changes since covid hit have me reconsidering going again
Right now everyone is coming out of Covid panic and there flocking to theme parks and whatever else they can throw there hard earned money at
I would give it a year before heading to any theme park..

You might have more luck with Disboards, Disney fans sharing their tips, tricks, experience, etc.

ya, Disney pissed me off with all their nonsense, we cancelled our trip. The parks are JAMMED packed these days, not even interested.

Im here in Anaheim at the moment so i can help shed some light on current situation. It’s spring break right now and fairly busy, so my situation should be similar to your summer travel experience.

1. There’s no denying it - the new Genie+ system is gian corporate cash crab by the Disney machine. But let’s put that discussion aside for another thread. Getting Genie+ is an absolute must if you want to go on lots of rides. Used efficiently, it will offset the crowds. For my family of 4, we have purchased the service for our 5-day pass, BUT we will not be purchasing the ad-hoc passes for spidey, cars, and rise.
2. Wait times and feel: The crowd feels smaller than than prime time in years passed. This is likely due to Disney’s reservation system. More about that later. Average wait times for the most popular rides hover around 45mins to an hour. I have yet to see anywhere close to 2hrs. The most we’ve waited in a standby line is 45mins. I suggest you download the disneyland app. You can see wait times in real time. On the topic of masks, i would say less than 5% of people are wearing masks. No one will judge you if you wear yours, but yeah, just be prepared for that.
3. Disneyland’s reservation sytem: You can’t enter the park without a reservation, which is mostly a good thing but it’s hard if plans change. See the availability calendar here and you will know how far out these dates are selling out: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/availability-calendar/
   
   You can cancel any reservation and change to a different day, but that’s subject to availability. If the day is sold out, you’re SOL

That’s good for now. Time for my continental breakfast. If you wanna know anything else, feel free to ask.

bump! anyone else been recently?

I was there last month.

Genie+ is definitely worth it but note it does not work on the new Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride (which they sell at an extra $20). It'll be more efficient since you can book space for the bigger ticket rides (or if you're not sure what to do you can literally book a smaller ride with a slot 5-10min from your current time).
Crowds were quite big considering I went on a Wednesday after Memorial weekend but since this is in Anaheim there's the entire population of LA that has access unlike I guess Disney World. One thing I liked was how small it was vs Disney World so less of an emphasis on an "itinerary" since you can just go back and forth from one end of the park to the other in 10-15min. It is however smaller than World.

FYI I only did Disneyland not California Adventure (where the Marvel campus is) so the above only applies to that.

I just bought one day ticket in July at Disneyland for my family of 5 ... I am not sure if I by virtue of buying the tickets I have also done the reservation at the same time ... How do I even check that?

We're planning to arrive before 7AM and getting in line for the park opening at 8AM. First thing we'll do is the Rise of the resistance as you can't book a time slot on Genie+ and the rest ... we'll see how the day goes!

Heard you can bring your own food into the park .. so that could potentially cut on some spending!

My advice is to check on YouTube videos of people who's been there so at least you have a good sense of what things are!

Let us know how it went!

SH

SuperHanuman wrote: ↑ I just bought one day ticket in July at Disneyland for my family of 5 ... I am not sure if I by virtue of buying the tickets I have also done the reservation at the same time ... How do I even check that?

We're planning to arrive before 7AM and getting in line for the park opening at 8AM. First thing we'll do is the Rise of the resistance as you can't book a time slot on Genie+ and the rest ... we'll see how the day goes!

Heard you can bring your own food into the park .. so that could potentially cut on some spending!

My advice is to check on YouTube videos of people who's been there so at least you have a good sense of what things are!

Let us know how it went!

SH

Is there a date on the ticket/confirmation? If so, then you've effectively reserved. Disney's system also allows you to change the day provided there is space and no fare differences.

It'll be one heck of go-go-go day, but my advice is to prepare yourself as much as you can. Definitely download the Disneyland app as you'll need it for Genie+. Once you get it, log in to your account and you'll be able to quickly see if you indeed have a reservation for that day. If not, no biggie, it'll let you do it in the app. I'm checking the availability calendar now, it looks fully open for the whole month. This means they have upped their capacity and will likely be at pre-pandemic crowd levels. Yes, you can bring your own food and drinks. If you have a young one with a stroller, load it up. If you've just got your backpacks, remember you'll be walking around all day with heavy food and drinks.

My last piece of advice is what I tell all my friends when they are asking about Disneyland.... You're going early and it seems like you have a list of must-do rides. My advice is, after checking off these rides, enjoy the park. Dont feel like you have to hit up as many rides as possible simply because you're there. There's plenty of time from open til close for a tonne of rides, lunch and dinner, fireworks, parade and pictures. The park is magical if you let it be, but alternatively it can be maddening if you let it be.

Enjoy

There are some very good Disneyland Instagram accounts.
I find these are really good for up to date or even live information.
The ones I follow and find most useful are @disneylandnewstoday @disneylandtourguide @foodatdisneyland