My recent experience at DLR

[evilmommie]

I've been there when a register as been open for quick service at Smokejumpers. Gotta get my S'more shake on.

 

[tenneycjt]

Well i just got 2 dining reservations so i can guarantee a couple of good sit downs, One is story tellers for dinner, have done breakfast many times but not dinner.has anyone tried it recently? and La brea cafe for lunch, I have never had to make a reservation here, but luv their breakfasts. Do they still do walk ups for breakfast?

 

[LeeLeeLuvsDisney]

I hope smokejumpers does have registers open when i go, luv the loaded waffle fries, Had a friend drop a smart phone today and broke it. thousand bucks, Another reason i dont want one, im dropping my phone constantly

We bought a smart phone for our son at Target for $30. He has prepaid data on it and mostly just connects to wi-fi to use it anyways. Might be something to consider just for your trip.

 

[DLgal]

I hope smokejumpers does have registers open when i go, luv the loaded waffle fries, Had a friend drop a smart phone today and broke it. thousand bucks, Another reason i dont want one, im dropping my phone constantly

There are no loaded waffle fries at Smokejumpers. The menu has drastically changed from what it was pre pandemic. No more toppings bar either.

 

[tenneycjt]

oh man what a bummer

 

[jandegumas]

We were there the same time as you. Busier than it’s ever been, way too many ride closures, and the mobile ordering for food was ridiculous. We typically go annually, but my family agreed that this was our last trip for quite awhile. The magic just wasn’t there. I will say that the GCH was as amazing as ever, though!

 

[vacay77]

We were there the same time as you. Busier than it’s ever been, way too many ride closures, and the mobile ordering for food was ridiculous. We typically go annually, but my family agreed that this was our last trip for quite awhile. The magic just wasn’t there. I will say that the GCH was as amazing as ever, though!

All of this for us, too. My family had a fun time but I agree, it just wasn’t the same. Long lines, rides breaking down, other guests were rude, large parties cutting in line when we had already been waiting in lines for over an hour. Some of the cast members were great, some of them disgruntled. We went to a character breakfast and the hostess demanded to know my son’s exact age. He’s taller than most kids his age so I guess she thought I was lying when I said he was under 9 years old. I’ve honestly never experienced that before. It was all the little things that added up.

 

[Iceman93]

Some of the cast members were great, some of them disgruntled. We went to a character breakfast and the hostess demanded to know my son’s exact age. He’s taller than most kids his age so I guess she thought I was lying when I said he was under 9 years old. I’ve honestly never experienced that before. It was all the little things that added up.

That's a great example of exactly the kind of thing I mean. There is a polite way to check on a child's age that doesn't make the guest feel attacked, and Disney used to spend a fair amount of time training everyone they hired (no matter the role) on those "secrets" of hospitality. As the training has been cut, it has directly eaten away at the culture of excellence. Eventually, those cast members who either have an inherent sense of hospitality or have been around long enough to remember their training will stop caring and stop providing that level of service, because they'll be the outliers. And we may not be far from that point.

 

[serendipityaey]

That's a great example of exactly the kind of thing I mean. There is a polite way to check on a child's age that doesn't make the guest feel attacked, and Disney used to spend a fair amount of time training everyone they hired (no matter the role) on those "secrets" of hospitality. As the training has been cut, it has directly eaten away at the culture of excellence. Eventually, those cast members who either have an inherent sense of hospitality or have been around long enough to remember their training will stop caring and stop providing that level of service, because they'll be the outliers. And we may not be far from that point.

Nine years ago when we went for my daughters third birthday, a week before she turned three a cast member absolutely would not let us in to DCA. She snarled at me I was lying. I offered to show her immunization record, everything. She would not let us in the gate. She was absolutely horrible. Eventually her lead came over and told her to let us in.

 

[vacay77]

Nine years ago when we went for my daughters third birthday, a week before she turned three a cast member absolutely would not let us in to DCA. She snarled at me I was lying. I offered to show her immunization record, everything. She would not let us in the gate. She was absolutely horrible. Eventually her lead came over and told her to let us in.

That is awful!

 

[serendipityaey]

That is awful!

I definitely cried after lol. It was pretty shocking.

 

[Priory]

For all of the reasons others have stated and many more, this place has become a nightmare. I don’t think I’ll be back for a while. Im on my last day and I can’t wait to go home. I have never felt this way. Funny story, Disneyland resort just sent me a guest survey and I thought “oh good, I can let them have it”. All of the questions were about hotels and streaming services I like . They don’t care.

 

[Aspencreek]

All of this for us, too. My family had a fun time but I agree, it just wasn’t the same. Long lines, rides breaking down, other guests were rude, large parties cutting in line when we had already been waiting in lines for over an hour. Some of the cast members were great, some of them disgruntled. We went to a character breakfast and the hostess demanded to know my son’s exact age. He’s taller than most kids his age so I guess she thought I was lying when I said he was under 9 years old. I’ve honestly never experienced that before. It was all the little things that added up.

This thread makes me sad and I feel like my family dodged a bullet for an October trip. We did a trip to DL/DCA just this last July and had a fantastic time. I was worried a bit before we got there after hearing some reports about the food situation and such, but the mobile ordering worked very well, the weather was great, crowds not at super low levels but not bad at all, no mask mandates or distancing required, etc. CMs and the general public all seemed fairly patient and understanding after the year-long closure. We had such a fun time that I was trying to organize us to go back in October for Oogie bash (plus the parks are just so cool at Halloween.) But then the new mask mandates came back and I was seeing more reports of ever-increasing crowds so we held off buying tickets hoping things would improve shortly. Thank heavens I did hold off because instead of getting better all the reports seem to be getting worse by the day.

Would really like to do another trip there this winter, but if Disney doesn't get its act together soon we will be doing San Diego or somewhere else instead. And THEN how am I supposed to spend $200 per day on churros?!

 

[DLgal]

And THEN how am I supposed to spend $200 per day on churros?!

You can go to Costco and buy 125 churro from the snack bar and hand them out to customers entering the store.

July at DLR was great, wasn't it? It was like another era altogether.

Disney messed up on the magic key tiers and pricing. They should have just released the one high end pass, priced it at $2000, and not allowed monthly payments, but also not require reservations. They made a mistake by selling multiple priced tiers that all have the same restrictions of needing advanced reservations and now you have people wondering why they paid $500 extra for a pass that lets them go on weekends, but it's impossible to book weekends. They are going to have to either change the system or they aren't gonna get many renewals next year.

 

[serendipityaey]

This thread makes me sad and I feel like my family dodged a bullet for an October trip. We did a trip to DL/DCA just this last July and had a fantastic time. I was worried a bit before we got there after hearing some reports about the food situation and such, but the mobile ordering worked very well, the weather was great, crowds not at super low levels but not bad at all, no mask mandates or distancing required, etc. CMs and the general public all seemed fairly patient and understanding after the year-long closure. We had such a fun time that I was trying to organize us to go back in October for Oogie bash (plus the parks are just so cool at Halloween.) But then the new mask mandates came back and I was seeing more reports of ever-increasing crowds so we held off buying tickets hoping things would improve shortly. Thank heavens I did hold off because instead of getting better all the reports seem to be getting worse by the day.

Would really like to do another trip there this winter, but if Disney doesn't get its act together soon we will be doing San Diego or somewhere else instead. And THEN how am I supposed to spend $200 per day on churros?!

We had a fantastic time last week! Mobile ordering worked great for us, and we had lots of walk-on rides and short waits on Wed - Fri. Saturday got bottlenecked while people waited for the fireworks but it was nowhere near the busiest I’ve ever seen pre-pandemic. We rode RoTR Saturday and Sunday morning with less than 15 minute waits in line each time and that was amazing! It was the longest we’ve waited in lines in general this trip because we couldn’t take advantage of max pass but every line moved so fast it didn’t feel troubling at all and it was the perfect time to mobile order for after the ride. We got in line for Indy around 4:45 on Saturday and was off and getting food at Plaza Inn by 5:45 with no line. Haunted Mansion posted more than an hour Friday night but we were in the elevator within 25 minutes and got to see the lighting of the mansion! This trip was also the best most consistently good experiences I’ve had at security and entrance, with short waits every time. There are still ways to plan a great time!

 

[lily_belle]

Reading all these posts has me concerned for my late November/early December trip (we arrive the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend and fly home Friday). Not for me, I could care less about crowds, waiting for food, long lines etc. - but my friend has been extremely anxious through this whole pandemic and I finally convinced her to go on this trip. We're vaccinated and going to be taking all kinds of precautions like wearing masks even if not required, but if it's like it was the last couple weeks based on reports in this thread - I'm afraid she's going to have a panic attack and spend the week in the hotel room. Going to think positive but not going to lie I'm a bit concerned now.

 

[tlcdoula]

Reading all these posts has me concerned for my late November/early December trip (we arrive the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend and fly home Friday). Not for me, I could care less about crowds, waiting for food, long lines etc. - but my friend has been extremely anxious through this whole pandemic and I finally convinced her to go on this trip. We're vaccinated and going to be taking all kinds of precautions like wearing masks even if not required, but if it's like it was the last couple weeks based on reports in this thread - I'm afraid she's going to have a panic attack and spend the week in the hotel room. Going to think positive but not going to lie I'm a bit concerned now.

We are going to be heading to the parks just after veterans day and hope that we are able to manage the crowds and stay comfortable with masks etc.
I hope your friend will be able to enjoy herself and you two can have a great trip. I am trying to keep in my mind that this won't be like previous trips and to just enjoy being there. We won't be doing all the rides multiple times a day (normally we are park open to close and are go go go) this trip will be longer lines and enjoying the moment as much as we can.

 

[kikismom]

We are going to be heading to the parks just after veterans day and hope that we are able to manage the crowds and stay comfortable with masks etc.
I hope your friend will be able to enjoy herself and you two can have a great trip. I am trying to keep in my mind that this won't be like previous trips and to just enjoy being there. We won't be doing all the rides multiple times a day (normally we are park open to close and are go go go) this trip will be longer lines and enjoying the moment as much as we can.

This is perfect. I am so used to being able to ride multiple times and I had to get over that. Thankfully I was following the boards, some FB people, and checked wait times in the weeks leading up to the trip. I knew we had to mobile order in the morning and that ride waits we're crazy. It should be said that the people who hadn't been before win our group thought the trip was amazing with the exception of attire from park guests.

 

[lily_belle]

We are going to be heading to the parks just after veterans day and hope that we are able to manage the crowds and stay comfortable with masks etc.
I hope your friend will be able to enjoy herself and you two can have a great trip. I am trying to keep in my mind that this won't be like previous trips and to just enjoy being there. We won't be doing all the rides multiple times a day (normally we are park open to close and are go go go) this trip will be longer lines and enjoying the moment as much as we can.

I have set some expectations that things won’t be like the last time we were there together which was 2015! I’m sure everything will be fine, I just have to worry.

 

[MonocularVision]

I remembering concerning myself about crowd levels. Eventually I came to an agreement with myself that I would try to enjoy myself as much as I can. Waiting in lines? Use the time to make eye contact with my kids and talk with them. Bumping into folks as we’re all crammed together waiting for role drop? Start moo-ing like cattle and cracking other dad jokes to help everyone have a good time.

Ultimately, if I don’t want to be around lots of people, I choose to visit somewhere else.As a family we have had a couple of vacations since COVID and we have found other things to do that don’t involve throngs of people. We will probably doing more of that and less of Disneyland in the future. But that’s ok, it just means when we do visit, we will accept it for what it is.