No WOC 9-14? (Black hole week)

[sturner324]

Yeah, I'm starting to feel a bit better. The only time I am really worried about now is Thursday evening (14th). Since they close DCA down at 5, everyone will go over to DL that wants to stay in the parks in addition to that being the time that locals will hit the park. Must plan accordingly....

Maybe locals will know and avoid it altogether that night. Fingers crossed!

 

[KBinCO]

Yeah, I'm starting to feel a bit better. The only time I am really worried about now is Thursday evening (14th). Since they close DCA down at 5, everyone will go over to DL that wants to stay in the parks in addition to that being the time that locals will hit the park. Must plan accordingly....

yes, as much as I hate to waste hours at the park that we paid for, I am tempted to go back to our hotel after DCA closes, swim, have dinner by the pool, and get to bed early to prepare for a long day on the 15th. That 5pm closure is what I am still the saltiest about!

 

[onlyoneash]

yes, as much as I hate to waste hours at the park that we paid for, I am tempted to go back to our hotel after DCA closes, swim, have dinner by the pool, and get to bed early to prepare for a long day on the 15th. That 5pm closure is what I am still the saltiest about!

That is exactly what we are planning! I just don't think it will worth it. I mean, just the turnstiles to get into DL will probably be bad. We are planning and early morning Fri and Sat, so I guess the sleep on Thurs will be good for us anyways.

 

[KBinCO]

I continue to stalk and wait times today at 2:30pm local CA time are so low. Even RSR has a standby line of 35 mins. Indiana Jones is listed at 15 mins, Pirates 5 mins, Splash Mountain 15 mins, PP 25 mins with the rest of Fantasyland at 5-10 mins. TSM is at 35 and Soarin is expectedly high at 55 mins and out of fast passes, but RSR still has fast passes. Still optimistic!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I continue to stalk and wait times today at 2:30pm local CA time are so low. Even RSR has a standby line of 35 mins. Indiana Jones is listed at 15 mins, Pirates 5 mins, Splash Mountain 15 mins, PP 25 mins with the rest of Fantasyland at 5-10 mins. TSM is at 35 and Soarin is expectedly high at 55 mins and out of fast passes, but RSR still has fast passes. Still optimistic!

I was at the parks yesterday and so many rides were walk on or instant fast pass returns. I assume it has to do with the heat (it was over 100 degrees in the parks yesterday). We walked on Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Flick's Flyers, Little Mermaid, Monster's Inc (three times in a row!)... Nemo was 10 minutes at 10:30 on a MM/EMH day, 5 minute wait on Astro Orbiters. We walked into the Disney Junior dance party three minutes before the show started and still sat in the front row. It was so, so hot. It's supposed to be hot all week and weekend (and pretty dang hot for the next few weeks too).

 

[KBinCO]

I was at the parks yesterday and so many rides were walk on or instant fast pass returns. I assume it has to do with the heat (it was over 100 degrees in the parks yesterday). We walked on Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Flick's Flyers, Little Mermaid, Monster's Inc (three times in a row!)... Nemo was 10 minutes at 10:30 on a MM/EMH day, 5 minute wait on Astro Orbiters. We walked into the Disney Junior dance party three minutes before the show started and still sat in the front row. It was so, so hot. It's supposed to be hot all week and weekend (and pretty dang hot for the next few weeks too).

oh yes, I forgot about the heat, I am sure that has something to do with it! I would take cooler temps and some longer lines if I had to choose between the two...!

 

[onlyoneash]

Touring plans estimated that until Labor Day, the crowd levels to be only 1 or 2 (out of ten) so it sounds about right. I would say a 1 because of the heat.

The week after Labor Day and black hole week is supposed to be 3s...Except obviously Friday 15th and Sat 16th will be much busier because of the first weekend of Halloween.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

oh yes, I forgot about the heat, I am sure that has something to do with it! I would take cooler temps and some longer lines if I had to choose between the two...!

You know, yesterday was really fun because of the shorter lines. We went with the mentality that we would leave if it wasn't fun but we had a great time. We tried to do dark rides (with AC) and other indoor things, plus water stuff (Grizzly River Rapids and Dot's Puddle Park, and we had two spray water bottle fans that we all used quite liberally), plus drank lots of water (and ate lots of ice cream!) and it was honestly great. I did start to feel a little overheated as I was WALKING back to the Mickey and Friends parking structure due to not wanting to wait in the tram line, but other than that, it was very enjoyable! Our kids were totally fine and we had a blast!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Touring plans estimated that until Labor Day, the crowd levels to be only 1 or 2 (out of ten) so it sounds about right. I would say a 1 because of the heat.

The week after Labor Day and black hole week is supposed to be 3s...Except obviously Friday 15th and Sat 16th will be much busier because of the first weekend of Halloween.

I'm curious, what does Touring Plans say for Labor Day itself?

 

[onlyoneash]

I'm curious, what does Touring Plans say for Labor Day itself?

The weekend is 6-7 and Labor Day itself has been hovering around 7 or 8 (it has changed a couple of times). I think originally it was a 9 or 10, but they have lowered it and with the heat, I wouldn't be surprised if they lowered it even more.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The weekend is 6-7 and Labor Day itself has been hovering around 7 or 8 (it has changed a couple of times). I think originally it was a 9 or 10, but they have lowered it and with the heat, I wouldn't be surprised if they lowered it even more.

Interesting. If this heat holds up I would not be surprised. I wonder if we will have an especially hot October... this heat wave sort of came out of nowhere. The weather was so cool last week!

 

[onlyoneash]

Interesting. If this heat holds up I would not be surprised. I wonder if we will have an especially hot October... this heat wave sort of came out of nowhere. The weather was so cool last week!

The 14 day forecast shows that it is supposed to drop into the 80s Sept 6 and beyond. So Labor Day is going to be in the 90s, but not 100s like this week. Still hot though plus I feel horrible for those people running the marathon!

 

[jrjankowski8]

Thought I'd share my email/letter to Disney about our upcoming trip. I think it sums up everything that's going on (or not going on) at Disneyland next month:

"Hello,

I am writing you as a out-of-state traveler that has been planning a trip to Disneyland for Sept. 8-14 for my birthday. My wife and I purchased our Disney vacation package in May and have put a lot of planning into our trip (one of the few vacations we get per year).

For our second trip to Disneyland (our first was on our honeymoon in 2013), we planned and purchased a 5-day park hopper, intending to give ourselves the most time in the parks to experience everything that Disney has to offer. We are also ONLY planning to go to Disney this trip.

However, during the planning process, several unforeseen circumstances have arisen. The first, was the "delay" in Halloween time at Disneyland. I write delay in quotes because I know that there was never an announced date, but based on past park history, Halloween time begins the 2nd Friday in September. That was not the case this year. Missing the decorations, etc. is disappointing, but what was most disheartening was that it would also include the closure of Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain during our trip. These are two attractions with FastPass that are unique to Disneyland. In addition, this announcement was made months after our trip planning had begun. In addition to these two rides, Monster's Inc. is also closed, a ride only available in Disneyland.

Separate from rides, we knew that the Main Street Electrical Parade was going to close on August 20. We knew their was an extension of closing date well in advance. However, when I looked at the calendar in August as it was published for the days on our vacation, Pixar Play Parade was listed as only on the weekends. A week later, Pixar was removed from the schedule and removed from the calendar without notice. We are now only able to experience the Mickey's Soundsational Parade during our trip as daytime entertainment and World of Color and Fantasmic/Fireworks on the weekends only, if the weather permits. This leaves us with very limited, unique entertainment on our visit. If the weather is not good, we will only have one parade as daily entertainment in 5 days at 2 parks.

With all of these closures of rides and entertainment only recently announced, it was even more upsetting to find out that two dining reservations we had made, would also be cancelled after our reservation window opened and reservations were made due to restaurant closures. The Riverbell Terrace will be closed and we had to rebook for Café Orleans, which is a suitable, if not better replacement and we look forward to it. What we did not foresee, was the temporary closure of the Plaza Inn. This is our favorite restaurant/character meal and I planned to begin my birthday celebration with this meal. My wife even called to note that it was my birthday to add to the celebration. With less than a month to go, the restaurant announced the closure and we had to reschedule again. Since it is our favorite restaurant, we rescheduled for one of the two days that we were in the parks that it would be open. But this left my birthday (which you can see in my profile), with no special meal to reserve on the actual day. We already had no choice but to book Plaza and Café Orleans Fantasmic meal on the weekend since that is the only time when it was offered. To replace my birthday meal, we booked Critter breakfast, which was a meal that we were not planning to do and will now cost us even more money (we are spending over $300 in dining reservations alone on this trip as it is a reason we love Disney). In addition, we had to book a pre-park opening slot to be able to get to the parks at opening, which we weren't going to do at the Plaza because we'd already be in Disneyland.

The reason I write this email, is not necessarily to complain, but to voice my displeasure with the many cancellations that have taken place during the planning process that are affecting our trip. As I mentioned, we don't often have the chance to fly from NY to Disneyland and take 7 days off from work, paying a lot of money, and putting in a lot of planning, only to find out that a lack of advanced planning on Disneyland's part (or at least the announcement of said planning), can significantly alter our plans. If we were able to find even some of this information with advanced notice, would could plan accordingly and perhaps move our trip to a different point in the year.

Please know that we will no doubt have a terrific trip and enjoy everything that is available at Disneyland, but it is very difficult to have one thing after another being cancelled only one month or less prior to our trip.

Thank you for hearing my concern and we look forward to being a part of the magic next month at Disneyland Resort."

Just an FYI, I just got a call from Disneyland thanking me for voicing my concerns and that they would be sharing them with the appropriate parties. Nothing major but was nice to get a call from them and nothing was being cancelled

 

[KBinCO]

Just an FYI, I just got a call from Disneyland thanking me for voicing my concerns and that they would be sharing them with the appropriate parties. Nothing major but was nice to get a call from them and nothing was being cancelled

wow, a call! Thats nice- I did get an email saying my comments would be forwarded to the appropriate parties but nothing beyond that.

 

[Geemo]

I started this thread (unintentionally), and I'm thinking I should just stop following it. LOL. At this point maybe I want to be oblivious...

I think it's great haha! From now on, whenever someone complains about how bad their week is going to be, we can always refer them back to this thread and tell them "it could be worse...."

Yes.... It could be worse....
Here's the list of Closures for our trip in Jan/Feb 2013.
It was when Disney had Theme Weeks at the parks.
One of the members on the board nicknamed it "The World of Closures".
Even with so many attractions closed we still had a fine time for the week.
Disneyland Park Rehabs:
Mark Twain Riverboat
Sailing Ship Columbia
Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes
Pirate’ Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
Mad Tea Party
Splash Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Autopia
Fantasmic!
Disneyland Railroad
It’s a Small World
20th Century Music Company
Disney California Adventure Rehabs:
Grizzly River Run
Muppet Vision 3D
World of Color
Soarin’ Over California

 

[KBinCO]

Yes.... It could be worse....
Here's the list of Closures for our trip in Jan/Feb 2013.
It was when Disney had Theme Weeks at the parks.
One of the members on the board nicknamed it "The World of Closures".
Even with so many attractions closed we still had a fine time for the week.
Disneyland Park Rehabs:
Mark Twain Riverboat
Sailing Ship Columbia
Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes
Pirate’ Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
Mad Tea Party
Splash Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Autopia
Fantasmic!
Disneyland Railroad
It’s a Small World
20th Century Music Company
Disney California Adventure Rehabs:
Grizzly River Run
Muppet Vision 3D
World of Color
Soarin’ Over California

yes, we had similar closures last March. I was most disappointed that we could only afford to fly out for 2 days and one of those days, DCA closes at 5. We found that out like 5 weeks out with everything booked, and I wish I could have known earlier to plan accordingly. Closures don't bug me as much as that. This is an expensive trip for us and it's getting cut short.

 

[onlyoneash]

Yes.... It could be worse....
Here's the list of Closures for our trip in Jan/Feb 2013.
It was when Disney had Theme Weeks at the parks.
One of the members on the board nicknamed it "The World of Closures".
Even with so many attractions closed we still had a fine time for the week.
Disneyland Park Rehabs:
Mark Twain Riverboat
Sailing Ship Columbia
Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes
Pirate’ Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
Mad Tea Party
Splash Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Autopia
Fantasmic!
Disneyland Railroad
It’s a Small World
20th Century Music Company
Disney California Adventure Rehabs:
Grizzly River Run
Muppet Vision 3D
World of Color
Soarin’ Over California

Ouch! Well, I guess we are all bested by the day DL got shut down by the rain.

The pessimist in me kinda wants to know the real "worst week ever" in terms of closures/refurbs/park hours.

 

[KBinCO]

At least rain won't be an issue for us!

 

[sturner324]

At least rain won't be an issue for us!

We arrive the 13th and so far that looks perfect!

 

[KBinCO]

Friday on a holiday weekend