not reading a lot of complaining - parks can't be that bad right now?

[sherilaine]

With all the closures and walls up, we've been setting expectations pretty low for our upcoming trip - we all still want to go and know we will have a good time but just to make sure we are not deflated when we walk in that first day down Wall Street.

I had said to my family - if it's really bad there, I'll hear about it on the Disboards because people post a lot of information about the park and share their experiences both good and bad.

I have read that it's more crowded, naturally and yes, it's not great, but certainly not as much upset as I had expected to hear which is great. I am hoping that people are still having a great time.

Our first visit to DLR was in early 2012 when DCA was all walled up and we still had a blast!

Anyone else have a trip coming up very soon and are still excited no matter what??

 

[mom2rtk]

People who visit the DIS (and post their experiences here) likely already knew what to expect with the walls.

 

[sherilaine]

People who visit the DIS (and post their experiences here) likely already knew what to expect with the walls.

Yes, I have thought of that - people here are in the minority that is for sure. I will keep an eye out for people who look shocked when they first walk in then! I hadn't found this forum until after our first trip and it made all the difference in the world!

 

[minnieralyks]

We were there last weekend and everything was perfect! Sure the walls are a bit of a bummer, but we found our way around them. I think if you go in with the right expectations, you'll have a great trip no matter what. I didn't hear any complaints when walking around, so most people didn't seem to mind. Perhaps they just weren't very vocal about their dismay lol

Crowds were great, too.

 

[MillauFr]

I guess I don't understand any of the concern about the walls? There were a couple but in no way impacted our fun at the park. I am glad Disney is continuing to invest in maintenance and make sure the park is in top condition.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Haven't had any rudeness issues with CM's but sure have with other guests. Even physical violence with people trying to start fights.
Between that and the relentless crowds, we haven't been back in 2+ years.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I was there a couple weeks ago and only went to Disneyland. It was fine. I knew what to expect going in and I knew what I wanted to do and I was able to do everything.

Sadly, have to agree with Indiana Scott. There were a lot of rude people, even for it not being excessively crowded. When I was sitting on the train with people next to me and in front of me talking non stop about their personal business I realized why so many people on here say that the locals are a problem. If I wasn't a local and made the huge effort to visit Disneyland, I would have been disappointed. It wasn't just the train ride. There were lots of times that day where there were people who obviously go to DL all the time that seemed to not be enjoying it. It seemed like they were just there to hang out and be bored and take cuts and not see or find any of the magic of the place.

 

[agamble]

The walls won't bother you once you get where you are going. I think for first time visitors it's a bit of a bummer because they block the view of the castle from Main Street. Otherwise it isn't so bad. Yes, it's crowded. But midweek is pretty nice right now. Of course this is a holiday weekend, not sure when you are going.

 

[sherilaine]

I was there a couple weeks ago and only went to Disneyland. It was fine. I knew what to expect going in and I knew what I wanted to do and I was able to do everything.

Sadly, have to agree with Indiana Scott. There were a lot of rude people, even for it not being excessively crowded. When I was sitting on the train with people next to me and in front of me talking non stop about their personal business I realized why so many people on here say that the locals are a problem. If I wasn't a local and made the huge effort to visit Disneyland, I would have been disappointed. It wasn't just the train ride. There were lots of times that day where there were people who obviously go to DL all the time that seemed to not be enjoying it. It seemed like they were just there to hang out and be bored and take cuts and not see or find any of the magic of the place.

There are rude people everywhere - there is no way to scan them before the enter the park though - such is life. When we go to Disneyland we try to have a more positive hat on - let it go kind of attitude - if people want to be miserable when they are there and make a fuss I am not going to pay attention to them. That is their problem.

 

[GatorChris]

I just spoke with a friend today who was there Mon-Wed of this week. She knew about Paradise Pier being under construction, but she didn't know about the DL walls. She was pretty disappointed when she kept telling her son that he was going to see the castle. Then she entered Main Street, saw the walls around the flag pole area. She then strolled him past that and said, "Here it comes, son!"....and....Walls. She was pretty disappointed about that. They had fun, but not everyone seemed to like the construction.

My question is why hasn't this been done yet? Didn't they put the walls up over a month ago? It should take 5 or 6 weeks to relay trolly car rails.

 

[Geemo]

My question is why hasn't this been done yet? Didn't they put the walls up over a month ago? It should take 5 or 6 weeks to relay trolly car rails.

The closure list has Main St closed 01/08/18 to 3/14/18

I do feel sorry for guests that arrive unaware of the construction projects.

Give 'em a break. When the projects are done Disney will bring the walls down.

Until then enjoy the rest of the parks.
Main Street and Paradise Pier are only a small portion of what the parks have to offer.


Geemo

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I just spoke with a friend today who was there Mon-Wed of this week. She knew about Paradise Pier being under construction, but she didn't know about the DL walls. She was pretty disappointed when she kept telling her son that he was going to see the castle. Then she entered Main Street, saw the walls around the flag pole area. She then strolled him past that and said, "Here it comes, son!"....and....Walls. She was pretty disappointed about that. They had fun, but not everyone seemed to like the construction.

My question is why hasn't this been done yet? Didn't they put the walls up over a month ago? It should take 5 or 6 weeks to relay trolly car rails.

They are redoing the street as well. I think installing brick pavers, which will look really pretty when done. I don't love the walls on Main Street but they bother me less than the walls in fantasyland with three rides down at the same time.

 

[sherilaine]

They are redoing the street as well. I think installing brick pavers, which will look really pretty when done. I don't love the walls on Main Street but they bother me less than the walls in fantasyland with three rides down at the same time.

I am happy that only Dumbo will be down in Fantasyland once we arrive in early March - they show as being back to normal by then. Fingers crossed at least.

 

[WonkaKid]

Haven't had any rudeness issues with CM's but sure have with other guests. Even physical violence with people trying to start fights.
Between that and the relentless crowds, we haven't been back in 2+ years.

Wow. I go to the park all the time -- at least once a week -- and rude interactions with CMs, for me, are very rare -- perhaps a total of three in more than 100 visits. Rude guests? I hear about such things but for the most part, I find other guests to be well behaved and genial. Never have I seen anything that even approached a fight -- not to say that other people haven't. I talk with CMs regularly and one told me recently that, in her estimation, about 70% of the guests are well behaved. The other 30% think they're the only ones who've paid through the nose for their trip and expect the world. I'm always kind to other people (unless they give me a reason not to be) and certainly I try to be especially well behaved at the parks. I'm very friendly and often engage with strangers there. I find that about 49 out of fifty seem to be receptive. Once in a while, they're simply not into talking to/with strangers for whatever reason(s). I sense that quickly and move on.

There will always be people that are difficult to be around for any number of reasons. Some are simply entitled, others misinterpret accidents for intentional slights. Certainly a case can be made for families that spend a ton of cash for a four-day visit to the parks (several thousand dollars, in fact -- maybe they've saved all year) and expect value for their money. This is open to interpretation but I think some believe that extends to not having to wait in lines, etc., as unrealistic as that may be. Again, I find that if I'm kind, most people respond well to that. But obviously I can only control my own behavior.

One of the main reasons I love going to DL so often is that nearly everyone is decent and in a good mood. I tell friends that it restores my faith in humanity.

Now that I've said all of this, this'll be the weekend that I encounter a rude guest ;-).

 

[LilyJC]

We were at DCA yesterday and today and thought it was great! Everything is well marked and we found the construction process intriguing. Granted we didn’t head over to Disneyland as my kids prefer DCA so I can’t comment on that. We enjoyed the special WOC Lunar New Year show/fireworks last night! And pleasantly surprised by the Pacific Wharf Cafe seasonal soup selection of loaded baked potato. Yum!

 

[Indiana Scott]

Wow. I go to the park all the time -- at least once a week -- and rude interactions with CMs, for me, are very rare -- perhaps a total of three in more than 100 visits. Rude guests? I hear about such things but for the most part, I find other guests to be well behaved and genial. Never have I seen anything that even approached a fight -- not to say that other people haven't. I talk with CMs regularly and one told me recently that, in her estimation, about 70% of the guests are well behaved. The other 30% think they're the only ones who've paid through the nose for their trip and expect the world. I'm always kind to other people (unless they give me a reason not to be) and certainly I try to be especially well behaved at the parks. I'm very friendly and often engage with strangers there. I find that about 49 out of fifty seem to be receptive. Once in a while, they're simply not into talking to/with strangers for whatever reason(s). I sense that quickly and move on.

There will always be people that are difficult to be around for any number of reasons. Some are simply entitled, others misinterpret accidents for intentional slights. Certainly a case can be made for families that spend a ton of cash for a four-day visit to the parks (several thousand dollars, in fact -- maybe they've saved all year) and expect value for their money. This is open to interpretation but I think some believe that extends to not having to wait in lines, etc., as unrealistic as that may be. Again, I find that if I'm kind, most people respond well to that. But obviously I can only control my own behavior.

One of the main reasons I love going to DL so often is that nearly everyone is decent and in a good mood. I tell friends that it restores my faith in humanity.

Now that I've said all of this, this'll be the weekend that I encounter a rude guest ;-).

It was almost a daily occurrence during our last 6 day trip. One of the worst was some guy that "shoulder checked" me hard in TL. He spun me around and then turned and sized me up with his fists clenched - then decided otherwise. It was obvious it was on purpose. Never in my life had anything like that happen before - or at least since high school.
Then there were several obnoxious people in lines that just seemed to want inflict some ill-will on somebody - anybody.
Also saw drunkenness and a group of three that was obviously on meth. Kept wondering where security was.

With that and the crowd levels, I'm not sure we'll go back for a very long time. Might try WDW again but have always preferred DLR. Or maybe we'll just keep spending our vacation dollars in Hawaii (this year) and other nice places.

 

[Leslie0915]

We were there and had the walls and closures in mid January and honestly I didn't really care about either. We generally don't hang out on Main Street so once we came in or out that was that. I would have loved to go on Splash but it was down. It will still be down when we go back in April and I thin it opens two days after we leave.... grrrr!
So even with rides down, no parades or fireworks we found there was more than enough to do to wear us out in two days

 

[rstamm]

I was there a couple weeks ago and only went to Disneyland. It was fine. I knew what to expect going in and I knew what I wanted to do and I was able to do everything.

Sadly, have to agree with Indiana Scott. There were a lot of rude people, even for it not being excessively crowded. When I was sitting on the train with people next to me and in front of me talking non stop about their personal business I realized why so many people on here say that the locals are a problem. If I wasn't a local and made the huge effort to visit Disneyland, I would have been disappointed. It wasn't just the train ride. There were lots of times that day where there were people who obviously go to DL all the time that seemed to not be enjoying it. It seemed like they were just there to hang out and be bored and take cuts and not see or find any of the magic of the place.

For me coming from the east coast once a year or every other year this is one of my biggest issues.

People using this park as a hang out and talking all through the rides and teenagers screaming on some of the rides just for a joke because they come every week.

It’s not like that at all at DW.

 

[PinkHelloKitty]

We are going at the end of February and at first we were disappointed to hear about all the construction and closures, on top of shorter hours (only open until 8pm when we go) but the more we talked about it the more we realized there were still more positives than negatives:

1) We are going to be celebrating both our birthdays and a belated Valentines Day
2) Because of the Canadian discount we get to spend 3 days instead of 2 at the parks for even less money
3) Really there are only two rides we care about that are being refurbished
4) We are going to be using max pass for the first time, so more rides!
5) We will be able to finally ride guardians of the galaxy. Tower of Terror was my absolute favourite ride and I hear this one might even be better
6) After a very very stressful month workwise for both of us, this will be the break we need

But to be fair if we were going in blind without Dis and weren't aware of all these changes like some families we would have been a little shell shocked once we arrived and it might have put a damper on the trip

 

[Gisele]

It was almost a daily occurrence during our last 6 day trip. One of the worst was some guy that "shoulder checked" me hard in TL. He spun me around and then turned and sized me up with his fists clenched - then decided otherwise. It was obvious it was on purpose. Never in my life had anything like that happen before - or at least since high school.
Then there were several obnoxious people in lines that just seemed to want inflict some ill-will on somebody - anybody.
Also saw drunkenness and a group of three that was obviously on meth. Kept wondering where security was.

With that and the crowd levels, I'm not sure we'll go back for a very long time. Might try WDW again but have always preferred DLR. Or maybe we'll just keep spending our vacation dollars in Hawaii (this year) and other nice places.

Oh please, take me with y'all to Hawaii.