My Disneyland Experience Rating? "meh"

[neilintoronto]

People with kids could line up early for the shows. Oh, wait. They do. And their inconsiderate parents put them on their shoulders so now I've got 7 or 8 foot "people" blocking my view. I no longer let families squeeze in front of me because of this. I actually really enjoyed WDW for this reason. Much easier to get a good view because there is so much more room.

Wouldn't it be possible to create a steeper incline in DCA for WoC? Is that area used for anything else? I guess the cramped quarters is why DL has people lining up and spreading out their blankets hours before any show.

 

[pennym]

Neilintoronto I absolutely get what you are saying. I live in NZ but love Disneyland so much that I have visited at least 13 times in the last 20 years and have been an annual pass holder several times. On my last trip I noticed a definite degradation of the experience with cms chatting instead of doing their jobs, rubbish lying around, lights out all over both parks, parts of signs missing, so many rides inexplicably down etc. I wrote a letter to Guest Services saying how much I love Disneyland and how disappointing it is when a place you love seems neglected. I was answered almost immediately. Guest Relations were concerned that my experience was not as good as it usually is, and I felt good that I was able to share with them things that their surveys don't cover.

I still love Disneyland, and no place will ever be perfect. It's not gonna stop me coming to the happiest place on earth! But I encourage you to pass on your concerns to the people who should hear them. It's only if they hear from us about what we are looking for that changes might be made.

 

[neilintoronto]

Neilintoronto I absolutely get what you are saying. I live in NZ but love Disneyland so much that I have visited at least 13 times in the last 20 years and have been an annual pass holder several times. On my last trip I noticed a definite degradation of the experience with cms chatting instead of doing their jobs, rubbish lying around, lights out all over both parks, parts of signs missing, so many rides inexplicably down etc. I wrote a letter to Guest Services saying how much I love Disneyland and how disappointing it is when a place you love seems neglected. I was answered almost immediately. Guest Relations were concerned that my experience was not as good as it usually is, and I felt good that I was able to share with them things that their surveys don't cover.

I still love Disneyland, and no place will ever be perfect. It's not gonna stop me coming to the happiest place on earth! But I encourage you to pass on your concerns to the people who should hear them. It's only if they hear from us about what we are looking for that changes might be made.

You make a good point. As pointed out earlier I am "high maintenance" but only when it comes to Disney. I prefer "passionate". And I was disappointed at the overall service level at DL. Not really so much the CMs but Pete is always mentioning on Disinplugged the "overall guest experience".

Even small things struck me, such as the paper schedule of shows you get with the guide map listed the times that Mickey and the Magical Hat would be playing. But when we arrived at the Fantasyland Theater...no show. Just roped off and no show times listed. Which is okay. Shows get cancelled unexpectantly. But this didn't feel unexpected. There were no CMs around. There was no sign explaining that the show was camcelled or that the schedule handed out was wrong. If this happened at my local amusement park, I would be like, "well. It happens. Can't expect everyone to provide service like Disney does." But this WAS Disneyland!

 

[Westcoastwild]

You make a good point. As pointed out earlier I am "high maintenance" but only when it comes to Disney. I prefer "passionate". And I was disappointed at the overall service level at DL. Not really so much the CMs but Pete is always mentioning on Disinplugged the "overall guest experience".

Even small things struck me, such as the paper schedule of shows you get with the guide map listed the times that Mickey and the Magical Hat would be playing. But when we arrived at the Fantasyland Theater...no show. Just roped off and no show times listed. Which is okay. Shows get cancelled unexpectantly. But this didn't feel unexpected. There were no CMs around. There was no sign explaining that the show was camcelled or that the schedule handed out was wrong. If this happened at my local amusement park, I would be like, "well. It happens. Can't expect everyone to provide service like Disney does." But this WAS Disneyland!

The showtime thing is weird. That has never happened to me. Do you happen to remember what showing you tried to catch? I'm wondering if the map you got was out of date.

I think if they could have built an incline there they would have. WOC was a big project, and it's a very popular show (which is weird to me- I've tried to sit through it and I find it a snooze.) I know you don't want to show up early for stuff like that, but you kind of have to at DLR. how did you find firework viewing or parades? I find that worse than WOC.

 

[Sun_soakin]

Sounds like an off experience. DL is my home Resort (we usually have APs but are a 5 hr drive away), but we've done a few WDW trips too. I've had off experiences at both places. They both have pros and cons and are very different experiences and therefore I prefer to not compare them. I will say that our first WDW trip felt off- we didn't know our way around, didn't get in many rides, felt like we were rushed along in a big ol assembly-line machine, and saw a lot of really poorly cast princesses. We were desperate to get back to DL. However, our next trip to WDW was much longer and much better researched and we had a lovely time. It has been so crowded at DL lately that I think it'd be really tough to try to navigate as a newbie and much less enjoyable. As to the CMs..,I think it might have just been an off trip, or over analyzed... We've had lots of wonderful experiences w/ CMs at DL over the years. I enjoy both parks for the unique things they offer, but neither place is perfect.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Although I had multiple negative experiences myself that I'm sure die hards could easily excuse away I do want to put a positive spin on this thread.
I enjoyed The Enchanted Tiki room much more at DL than at MK.
I think its probably because its actually sponsored by Dole. It gets a lot more attention and man oh man did I love the audience participation!
I went to Hawaii last summer and we learned early in the trip that if you are greeted with an A-lo-ha! you just as enthusiastically said it back and so in Tiki Room when the CM said it I said it back and while there were a few others I was definitely the loudest lol and as is part of their script they said that was pretty good but I think we can do better and said it again and everyone said it back. Then people actually sang where as usually in MK I'm the only one tweet tweet tweet tweet tweeting.
And guess what... Its one of the few attractions that I felt like the CM actually wanted to be there!
It seems to be a lost and forgotten attraction at MK but at DL its right up there with the rest of them.

 

[mummabear]

I wasn't trying to ride with the group. Just wait in the line with a group. This wasnt the loading zone, to get on the ride. It was just an arbitrary judgement by the CM to cut the line at this particular spot.
It was the CMs attitude that was the problem.

That's right it was a judgement the CM was entitled to make, you were in a single rider line and asking to be treated as a group. It's a fairly simple concept.

 

[mummabear]

It's just surprising to me that Disney can't keep mutiple rides from breaking down every day. And that they would be so broken that they couldn't be up and running again within ... an hour? I have experienced amusement parks where a single ride goes down for a whole day? But multiple rides going down in a day? Everyday? That just doesn't make sense to me.

This is always something that bothers me.
I really don't understand the problem, I mean how hard is it to keep them running?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... It's just surprising to me that Disney can't keep mutiple rides from breaking down every day. And that they would be so broken that they couldn't be up and running again within ... an hour? I have experienced amusement parks where a single ride goes down for a whole day? But multiple rides going down in a day? Everyday? That just doesn't make sense to me.

This is always something that bothers me.
I really don't understand the problem, I mean how hard is it to keep them running?

It is important to understand that the most frequent cause of ride closure is not the ride breaking down, but guest behavior. The rides are on a strict timing system for loading and unloading. Right before getting on the ride is not the time to start arguing with your group about rearranging who sits with whom and where. Unloading is not the time to start goofing off and posing for selfies. If the guests take more than the alloted time (and the time allowed appears to be fine for most guests), then the system shuts down and has to be rebooted. That means the ride goes down for half an hour. Other guests refuse to keep their hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the ride vehicles at all times. They think it is funny to reach out to touch walls or props, to throw trash trying to hit things, to try to get out of the safety restraints. This sets off sensors and shuts down the rides. Some of the stories our CM friends tell are unbelievable. Disney can do its best to maintain the actual rides, but they cannot control all guest behavior/misbehavior.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

To be fair to OP I did RSR single rider and they did ask each group where the end of their group was so that they may wait in line together.
We were all prepared to sit alone though and while some of us were in the same ride vehicle we did not sit next to each other.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It is important to understand that the most frequent cause of ride closure is not the ride breaking down, but guest behavior. The rides are on a strict timing system for loading and unloading. Right before getting on the ride is not the time to start arguing with your group about rearranging who sits with whom and where. Unloading is not the time to start goofing off and posing for selfies. If the guests take more than the alloted time (and the time allowed appears to be fine for most guests), then the system shuts down and has to be rebooted. That means the ride goes down for half an hour. Other guests refuse to keep their hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the ride vehicles at all times. They think it is funny to reach out to touch walls or props, to throw trash trying to hit things, to try to get out of the safety restraints. This sets off sensors and shuts down the rides. Some of the stories our CM friends tell are unbelievable. Disney can do its best to maintain the actual rides, but they cannot control all guest behavior/misbehavior.

But why must it be on such a strict timeline?
WDW does not have to take 30 minutes to um 3 hours to reboot a ride when someone's lap bar gets stuck or someone needs an extra second to get a seat belt fastened. (BTW I did not see guests trying to rearrange themselves or argue about who sits where. It was all about simply not having enough time to get on and off a ride before the ride vehicle took off.)

 

[VandVsmama]

I will admit that my next anecdote is very "picky". But we are taking about Disney here, not the travelling carnival that sets up in the mall parking lot for the weekend. My family was waiting in the single rider line for Splash Mountain (as this cuts your wait time from 75 minutes to 15 minutes). The (lone) cast member was doing his double-duty of handling the single rider line and managing the disabled-access returns. The call came in from the loading zone to let another group single riders through. As he counts off the numbers, my family goes through but I happen to be #11 or #21 or whatever - I'm the cutoff point. If you've ever done the single rider line at Splash Mountain, you know that this first line is just to keep the single rider line from interfering with people exiting the boats. Sending up one more single rider (or 5) isn't going to impact the ride in any way. But the biggest issue wasn't that this cast member had no clue (or care) that the 4 of us were together, it was that when we sort of stopped for a second and told him that we were a group of four together, he had already turned his back to us and pretty much growled "you're all SINGLE RIDERS!" I looked at my wife and we shrugged and up she went with the kids, as I stayed behind. Now, if this was my "home park" (WDW) I would have ripped this cast member up one side and down the other. For a couple of reasons:

1) The single rider line at Splash Mountain is 98% chaos. Anyone who gets off the ride can simply turn left instead of right and join the line.

2) it's a single "rider" line, not a wait-by-yourself line.

After a 7-8 minute wait, the call came from the top of the mountain to let more single riders through, again without making eye contact the cast member waved through some more people. And I arrived at the top of the mountain to rejoin my family. After the two people who had jumped the line by joining the single rider line instead of exiting the ride kindly let me pass them.

Had the cast member done anything really wrong? No. He was just doing as he was told. They said let 10 people through, so he did. But he definitely couldn't care less about our experience. I found the overall indifference to the customer experience to be present in several aspects of DL, not just the cast members.

Based on your description and based on the way that Single Rider lines work, the CM did nothing wrong. The CM was correct when he told you that you were all single riders. If you wanted to stay together as a group in line, you should have gone into the Standby or FP line. When you go into the Single Rider line, you WILL get separated. It is unreasonable for a family group of over 10 people to expect to get to stick together in a Single Rider line.

If you feel that passionately about your experience on Splash Mountain, then you should contact Disney and let them know how you feel. Perhaps others found it to be a negative experience as well and if enough people complain about it, perhaps they will consider changing things up a bit in their Single Rider operations on that attraction.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I don't know why the timing on loading/unloading is so strict. Perhaps someone else here can answer. But the fact is that the current timing system allows enough time for most people to load and unload without a problem. Anyone who needs more time can ask any CM for assistance. There is no need for the average guest to take more than the allowed time for the simple act of getting in the vehicle and putting on the safety restraint, if there is one. Again, CMs are always available to help.
And I have seen people arguing and rearranging groups at loading and after loading on rides. (I'm talking to you guys who climbed over the rows to switch seats on POTC after the boats had launched! Earned them a warning over the PA.) Other people here have posted that they've been in line when another party has shut down the ride by not loading in time. One poster confessed that she accidently shut down SM by taking too long to load. She felt so bad about it.

 

[cruisehopeful]

And I have seen people arguing and rearranging groups at loading and after loading on rides.

I seem to see this often at Matterhorn. People actually climb out after already being loaded in. I'm always holding back from yelling at them. Seriously, they could cause a serious accident.

 

[HydroGuy]

OP, I read your OP and appreciate the sentiments shared. Sorry your trip was disappointing in some ways. I read a few of the replies but not all. I will make a few observations without any intention of minimizing or denying your specific experiences. Hopefully I can add some perspective.

1. CMs - I have never observed a big difference between WDW and DLR CMs. I did notice, however, when on a first trip to WDW I had to rely on CMs more than at DLR (because I know DLR so well) so the WDW CM inadequacies were amplified for me. I received so much misinformation it was crazy. I think to some degree that happens at a new place compared to a place where you know your way around. I rarely lean on DLR CMs so I rarely see any issues with them.

2. SR lines - Sorry you had a negative experiences there. DLR has way more of these (like 8-10) than WDW (3) which is really nice IMO. I have never had particular issues with either and they have always seemed similar to me as far as how they function. The Splash Mtn SR line is particularly strange and confusing how they implemented it as the ride clearly was not designed to handle SR lines like RSR which clearly was.

3. Rides breaking down at DLR - I am afraid I have to agree although in DLR's case rides going down does not always mean they break down. Sometimes it is guest misbehavior (e.g., bringing out a banned selfie stick). For whatever reason, DLR rides seem to go down a lot more than WDW rides.

4. World of Color is my favorite of all Disney shows. Disney messed up with the design of this show, plain and simple. I created a thread that explains what guests need to do to get a good view. If you can't do that or do not want to wait, then I tell people it is best to skip it. I would argue with 5 days at the parks it is worth dedicating the time to wait at least once because the show is so good. Sorry you were disappointed and Disney shares some of the blame for their poor viewing area design. But that does not change the fact that show is spectacular. There is ample advice on this forum about the issues with WOC and how to work around them. If you did not follow that advice and had a bad experience, that is largely on you because it was avoidable.

5. I had a number of negative experiences at WDW on my first trip. My first day at Epcot ever was during a tropical storm in June (first storm of the season) where it rained buckets all day, non-stop and much was cancelled. My first day ever at AK was a hot, humid, crowded day where the (then) new EE ride broke down in the morning and the crowds and confusion around that was just a bad start to the day. My DW did not like the need for ADRs at all which at one point led to a serious argument between us which soured one of our days. But...there was enough there that I enjoyed and I learned the ropes well enough that I went back and my second trip was much better. Now I enjoy WDW equally to DLR - better in some ways for sure, not as good in others, but both magical in that unique Disney way.

I hope my responses help you and others who may read this in the future to have a bigger picture view of all this. Again, sorry you had a disappointing trip.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

But must they inspect Fantasyland on nights when the fireworks have been cancelled? As was the case one night last week?

Yes. Anytime a fireworks show is set up, it's for a determinate time. If the show starts, and stops; or doesn't even start, all tubes must be inspected and cleared for the immediate area to be be cleared to open. Even if there was no fallout, because the show never happened, they have to inspect.

And that they would be so broken that they couldn't be up and running again within ... an hour?

While the park is open, there is only one response team to go and "fix" any issues that cause a ride to go down. If more than one ride goes down at the same time, there's a delay. They (the response team) cannot be in two places at once.

 

[mummabear]

It is important to understand that the most frequent cause of ride closure is not the ride breaking down, but guest behavior. The rides are on a strict timing system for loading and unloading. Right before getting on the ride is not the time to start arguing with your group about rearranging who sits with whom and where. Unloading is not the time to start goofing off and posing for selfies. If the guests take more than the alloted time (and the time allowed appears to be fine for most guests), then the system shuts down and has to be rebooted. That means the ride goes down for half an hour. Other guests refuse to keep their hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the ride vehicles at all times. They think it is funny to reach out to touch walls or props, to throw trash trying to hit things, to try to get out of the safety restraints. This sets off sensors and shuts down the rides. Some of the stories our CM friends tell are unbelievable. Disney can do its best to maintain the actual rides, but they cannot control all guest behavior/misbehavior.

This doesn't explain why it is a much more significant problem at DLR compared to at WDW or Universals

 

[HydroGuy]

This doesn't explain why it is a much more significant problem at DLR compared to at WDW or Universals

I think the PP is right but can only speculate as to why. My immediate thought (guess?) is that DLR tends to attract a higher number of local, teenager/young adult day trippers (insert stereotype as you see fit) while WDW tends to attract a higher number of families on vacation from out of state. To the degree that is true, DLR has the percentages in their favor when it comes to misbehaving guests.

 

[chickapin parterre]

it can start at rope drop and not be open......an hour later and not be open.....which could be a good insight by hydroguy as we all see folks visiting Disneyland. So for any new person visiting Disneyland, expect the closures to be a norm. A good insight into how up to the wire opening some attractions have is Peter Pan.......the chains, in my experience, are never configured for a guest to enter into the maze but for a CM to tell you that Peter Pan is not open at the direct chain route.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Maybe I can shed some light on the Fantasyland closure during Fireworks. I was in Disneyland California on 19 and 20 June 2017. On a previous visit I had heard about the pre line up for Peter Pan so on Tuesday June 20 I decided I wanted to do this. I went to Fantasyland around 8pm when it was still open and asked the CMs what time would they put up the ropes to close the land and where the ropes would be. I sat on the wall at the carousel and just waited it out. As soon as I saw the CMs preparing the rope barrier I went over to the rope barrier. The CMS who put up the rope barrier and cleared out Fantasyland were very chatty. They were the CMS who had been working the rides in Fantasyland and they were planning to go over to Guardians of The Galaxy during the Fireworks, as they had a scheduled break. There were about 6 or 8 of them and when they left, 2 managers took over from them.

I managed to be first in line in the pr line up for Peter Pan. As soon as the first firework went off, the manager put another rope barrier up, making a pen for the Peter Pan pre line up. As I was at the front of the line, the manager was chatty and explained lots of things to us. During the fireworks bits of ash fell on my face as looked up, as we were right in the middle of the fireworks. You wouldnt know if you only ever saw the fireworks from in front of the Castle but they actually set them off from 2 locations. Some are set off from The Castle and some are set off from Toontown, so basically where I was standing, beside Mr Toads Wild Ride, we were right in the middle.

Once the fireworks ended we could see the fire marshal along the top parts of the Castle with his torch inspecting all the areas. He basically has to go to every firework set up and check that everything is ok. It is just one person doing a walk through and it takes about 20 minutes from the time he starts.

So to answer the question about Fantasyland closure even when there are no fireworks.
1. The fireworks are set up every night and are expected to take place
2. Ride CMs are either on a break or have ended their shift during Fireworks
3. During the scheduled Fantasyland closure time, there are reduced numbers of CMs on duty in Fantasyland, enough to do crowd control but not enough to open the Land / Rides
4. The CMs do not have the authority to open Fantasyland after the fireworks or if the fireworks are cancelled. The fire marshal will give the go ahead over the radio and will actually walk out through Fantasyland and personally acknowledge the senior CM at the rope barrier.