Wait times seem high today - anyone in the parks today that can verify this?

[TikiTikiFan]

We were there today, too. We found wait times to be mostly accurate, with some that were overestimated (sometimes significantly).

We had a great day and were very happy with what we did - partially because we made some smart choices and were also VERY flexible about what we rode (like, we did nothing in Cars Land today, and we ended up skipping Matterhorn even though it was on our "must-do" list because the line was craaaaazy the two times we were over there).

I would say the parks were pretty crowded, and I'd take Maxpass over the current line/ride situation at least 99% of the time... (but I was also a particularly efficient user of Maxpass, so there's that...) We had a lot of priorities today that weren't rides - Avengers Campus shows, Animation Academy drawings, Lamplight Lounge, Redwood Challenge Creek, fireworks, watching the Disneyland Band and Five and Dime perform... but here's some ride-specific information:

We rope-dropped at DCA and opted NOT to try for RSR. So while seemingly 90% of the crowd peeled off there (or at Avenger's Campus), we hit the following rides before 9:32am. Wait times were all accurately posted at 10 or less.
- Incredicoaster
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Fun Wheel or whatever it's called now
- Emotional Whirlwind
- Silly Symphony Swings
- Goofy's Sky School
- Jumpin' Jellyfish
- Ariel's Undersea Adventure

*After all that in 90 minutes, we did non-ride stuff for two hours*

- Soarin' (35 minute wait posted at 11:35am) - waited 32, boarded, something was wrong with the seatbelts so they unloaded our entire middle section and put us on the next one. So, actual wait was 44, but if it had worked, 35 would have been very close.
- GOTG (40 minute wait posted at 12:44pm) - this one was great - 16 minutes to the pre-show, sitting in our gantry lift 12 minutes after that. So 28, total, until the actual ride.

- Webslingers - we SUPER lucked out and were in the first 10 people in line after it reopened at 1:36. 11 minutes from entering the queue to exiting the ride.

- Jessie's Carousel was a walk-on at 3:55.

- Disneyland Railroad (30 minutes posted at 4:30, actual 10)
- Haunted Mansion (20 minutes posted at 5:35, actual 17)
- Millennium Falcon: SR (30 minutes posted at 6:17, actual 31)
- Big Thunder (20 minutes posted at 7:01, actual 14)
- Jungle Cruise (no time posted at 7:30, they said 15ish, actual 7)
- Mr. Toad's (20 minutes posted at 8:00, actual 19)
- Teacups (didn't see estimate but waited 10 minutes at 8:21)
- *My husband and daughter then rode Star Tours with a 15 minute wait posted around 8:35, was pretty accurate.

So, I would not be discouraged! But I also think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think it's going to be amazing crowds/waits. "Plan for the worst, hope for the best" and all that...

I think the moral here is when the crowds zig... you zag! We did this a lot at WDW when facing similar lack of FP issues and it worked. Usually everyone runs to the same 1-2 rides so go elsewhere instead! We saved those crazy waits for right at park close so at least the time spent in line wasn't wasting park time.

 

[AmazonMama]

Went today as well. It really isn’t that busy—it’s not quiet... but it’s not busy. We have been there on thanksgiving. This was totally manageable. No FP makes it harder, some of the lines are definitely on the long side, but so many were very reasonable. However as someone mentioned before me, A LOT of broken down rides. We managed to ride most of what we wanted to, avoiding the breakdowns. Even though it says it’s closed, Jungle cruise IS open for a soft open and I was unimpressed but it’s definitely an improvement. Shortest wait I’ve probably ever had for that ride, about 6 or 8 minutes.

One thing I’ll note, not sure it’s been talked about much but there is not a shuttle running from Mickey and friends parking. You have to walk. It adds a lot of steps to your day! And to enter the park at 8 am was probably one of our longest waits of the day. It was backed WAY up. We went to DL first, the DCA side looked very reasonable. But I always like to start at DL. We got to the lines around 8. Probably worst case. But it was fine once we got in. I didn’t ever feel like the walkways were full until tonight around 6 in Adventureland/frontierland areas. And shopping in the stores was a breeze all day.

It’s obvious they are still working out staffing kinks. A lot of strange lines, that weren’t set up in proper queues, running out into the park walkways. Stuff you don’t typically see. But I felt the crowd was pleasant. We are all so happy to be back doing things like this!!

 

[fly girl]

We went July 1-3. Noticed the crowds increase every day. Dh didn't meet us until late in the evening on the 2nd, so he only experienced the parks on the 3rd. That day was very busy. It was disappointing to see the wait times on the 4th compared to the 3rd when we got home.

Some people love the parks with out Maxpass. We don't. I just don't enjoy sitting in line forever. TAKE OUR MONEY, BRING BACK MaxPass!! I will happily pay more. However, we were very happy single rider is open again and we definitely utilized it.

And people saying wait times were off are correct, but its off on both ends. Autopia had a 10 minute wait one day so dd and I hopped in line. I knew it wasn't 10 from the get go, but she wanted to ride so I went along. It was easily 25 minutes. GOTG finally had a line that said 25 minutes, but it was actually 35. Although it beat the average of 50+ minute wait, so that was good. However Pirates said 15 one day and it was literally a walk on. You never know which one you are going to get, which I found frustrating. I just want MaxPass back then it won't be a guessing game.

 

[Babybears]

Please keep these coming if you are in the parks. All of the input from you guys has been so appreciated!! Today waits seem wild over at CA (95 for GOTG, 100 for RSR), would love to know how those go throughout the day. I am certainly encouraged by several replies, but also want to really try to get full grasp of how things are looking there for our trip next week so we can have a realistic expectation. You all are awesome!

 

[fly girl]

Please keep these coming if you are in the parks. All of the input from you guys has been so appreciated!! Today waits seem wild over at CA (95 for GOTG, 100 for RSR), would love to know how those go throughout the day. I am certainly encouraged by several replies, but also want to really try to get full grasp of how things are looking there for our trip next week so we can have a realistic expectation. You all are awesome!

If you can do single rider for RSR, take advantage. Then go to GOTG at rope drop. That will be the shortest wait for it all day. We always hoped after our first ride of GOTG we would hop back for a double dose with minimal wait but it never happened. (by the time we exited the ride wait was at 50+ minutes) So we went to TSMM one day and the wait was only 15 minutes and then swinging gondola Ferris wheel as a walk on. The next day after GOTG we went to Soarin' and the wait said 10, it was 25. My dd and dh gave me the side eye as they wanted TSMM instead. Oops! It said 10!! At least we got concourse B.

Single rider at RSR was always less than 10 minutes. Same with Matterhorn. Indiana Jones had single rider our first few days, but not on the last day which was a bummer for dh (and were weren't waiting over an hour in standby). Space Mountain was the longest single rider wait, but it was still much faster than regular queue. Same with Incredicoaster.

 

[Disney0010]

Arrived at DL around 9:00 and went hit POTC, HM. BTMR, train and ETB before stepping out to grab lunch at UVA. POTC was having issues while we were on it. I think it went down afterwards. Park was getting busy when we left for lunch but wait times early we’re not bad.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So... as with most things, crowds at Disneyland are very much a matter of perspective. (They also can "feel" very different, even on the same day, just depending where you are in the parks at what time). I have a lot of Disneyland crowd perspective as a very frequent (pre-covid) parkgoer who also spent most of 2019 and early 2020 collecting ride/Maxpass data for my Maxpass thread here, causing me to pay a lot of attention to crowds and ride data.

The parks are busy right now, based on my experience. They are not slammed in a "week of Christmas/Saturday in October/the SoCal deal is about to expire in May" kind of way - so if that is your reference point, sure, it's much less crowded than those times. Those kinds of crowds were always unusual, though, in spite of what a lot of people seem to believe. But, yeah, it's currently garden-variety "crowded" from my perspective; I even went back and looked at pictures from my July 2019 visits (9 days) to compare.

As far as how that relates to lines, it's a mixed bag that's also a matter of perspective. If you were used to "never riding a FP-enabled ride without FP (including Maxpass)" and cleverly working in your non-FP rides at super-low waits - then this is going to be a lesser line experience, probably (but it's also nice to be in lines that move constantly). If you were used to going with the flow, you weren't a rope-dropper, you tended to hit crowded days and just wait for stuff - then, yeah, this is better than what you're used to!

An additional point of perspective: I had a friend the other day talking about going and she said, "I just don't want crowds like last time I was there." And I asked when that was, and she said, "December 26 a few years ago," and I laughed and said, "Oh, you're going to be FINE, then, these are not those kind of crowds." So, she went yesterday (7/12), and here's what she said:

"We had a great time! It felt crowded though - especially in the middle of the day. But again lines are what I care about, and lines were fine, I think we waited in a couple of 30 minute ones but that's it. A and E are also not ready for the big rides so we didn't have to wait in the hour long splash mountain or indiana jones or anything. I was shocked at how much it cleared out around dinnertime."

Anyway. Just wanted to say that about crowds and lines. Everyone's going to report something a bit different based on their perspective, and I think it's good to keep that in mind.

 

[camouseketeer]

The parks are not empty. They are busy, and without FP/Maxpass, waits are long.

Today, 7/13, was our third day in the parks. Being a Tuesday, with the least expensive one day ticket available, it was definitely more crowded than yesterday, and it rivaled Sunday's crowds. Waits for E ticket rides are 60+ minutes (some up to 100 minutes) and rides like Luigi's had waits of 40 minutes at noon. Ride lines do decrease late in the day, but E-ticket rides will still be 20-45 min waits.

I am a FP/Maxpass person, so these waits are long. It also feels warm (air temp is 82-84 but it feels warmer), so waits are even harder in heat.

People with one day tickets need to manage their time and expectations of what they will accomplish.

Being our third day of a three day trip, we have hit everything we wanted with breaks built into the day , but we have waited in line during this trip FAR more than we have, perhaps ever.

 

[brentm77]

Just to add a different point of view. We were always Maxpass/fastpass users - and pretty good at using it to maximum efficiency. But I still love the parks more without them.

We just finished a day at each park.

As for lines - yes - they are long at times. But they actually move. You get in them and spend most of the time moving. it is so refreshing after the fast pass lines that stopped for long periods of time again and again. We rode close to the same number of rides we would have with fastpass. But, instead of watching my phone and grabbing passes as they were available, I chatted with my family and enjoyed the ambiance while we waited in line. Instead of spending half the day crossing the park because a fastpass window was coming up on the other side of the park, we did each land and the moved to the next.

The parks were busy, but nothing like some of the crowds we experienced pre-covid, where moving within the park was exhausting and frustrating. There were crowded parts for sure, but there was also parts that felt very light at times. Even the worst areas, like Adventureland, were bearable at the worst times. There were also benches and tables that were easy to snag the entire day, unlike trips in the past where you would have to wait like a shark and grab one as soon as it opened. While I am sure the lack of AP's helped with crowding, I think the lack of fastpass played a big part too, as people were waiting in line instead of waiting for a fastpass return time.

In the end, I would keep fastpass away if I had my choice. Ride capacity is what it is with or without it, and having everyone wait in the same line and the same period of time is the most efficient and least frustrating method to use that capacity in my opinion.

On a side note - Disney really really really needs to up its wages and hire more janitorial staff. Disney was not up to its old standards. Bathrooms were actually gross, with overflowing garbage cans much of the day, used paper towels and garbage on the floor, dirty toilets. I saw garbage around the park too - including spilled food that sat out a long time and was never cleaned up while I was around. I have never seen anything like it at Disney. It was bad enough that I plan to send a suggestion to Disney that it is an area that needs help. There was also more cranky cast members than usual. Disney needs to get back to paying a premium wage to make sure it attracts the best customer-focused talent.

That said, overall, the cast members were great and we had a very very good trip. I am glad we went.

 

[Linkura]

Ditch Fastpass/Maxpass permanently, keep single rider.

 

[brentm77]

Ditch Fastpass/Maxpass permanently, keep single rider.

Yep. Single rider was amazing now that we have older teens and don't mind splitting up.

 

[fly girl]

Ditch Fastpass/Maxpass permanently, keep single rider.

If only it was available on more rides! No single rider for GOTG, Soarin, BTMRR, HM, TSMM and definitely not as fun on MFSR (I don’t want to always be an engineer)

I want MaxPass back. But don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy single rider.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

But, instead of watching my phone and grabbing passes as they were available, I chatted with my family and enjoyed the ambiance while we waited in line. Instead of spending half the day crossing the park because a fastpass window was coming up on the other side of the park, we did each land and the moved to the next.

These are two great and underreported upsides to the current system. My daughter asked about our step count, and it was significantly less than prior “all day” trips - I actually mentioned to her that this was because of less criss-crossing to follow FPs.

(We also parked at Toy Story, so we didn’t have the structure walk juicing our step count. )

We’d still like Maxpass back, ourselves, but I understand your point of view for sure. I’ll be curious to see what they eventually come up with for a FP-type system.

 

[brentm77]

These are two great and underreported upsides to the current system. My daughter asked about our step count, and it was significantly less than prior “all day” trips - I actually mentioned to her that this was because of less criss-crossing to follow FPs.

(We also parked at Toy Story, so we didn’t have the structure walk juicing our step count. )

We’d still like Maxpass back, ourselves, but I understand your point of view for sure. I’ll be curious to see what they eventually come up with for a FP-type system.

Your right about walking. We averaged just over 10 miles each day, when we used to clock 14 on average. That is a huge difference.

 

[Lm3js]

Was there this past weekend and without fastpass/max pass and with the weird restaurant/food/mobile order situation, seemed like we spent even MORE time on the phone and waiting in some line or another. So while I agree some of the paths/corridors were less crowded, spending so much time waiting and/or trying to find shorter queue lines or reading menus on phone really got to us.

 

[Crayon119]

We just got home from our 4 day trip to the parks. Here’s my overall thoughts. We used to utilize MaxPass to its fullest and would spend our days moving back and forth within each park and hopping to make sure we hit all of our return windows. It was go go go the whole time. I was so worried this trip that we wouldn’t enjoy doing things differently and having to change our normal strategies. We had a great time!

We always made sure to arrive an hour before rope drop - those first couple hours are priceless for the lower crowds and shorter lines. Instead of bouncing all over like a ping pong we would choose one area to start and experience and explore everything there. I felt like I was able to enjoy the parks themselves more and just take in the general ambience and atmosphere- it was so much less stressful. We always took an afternoon break- even coming from AZ it was hot!! The waits were almost always overestimated. My family laughed at me for turning on my stopwatch whenever we got in line.

My biggest takeaway and advice I can give is to be flexible. We never got in any lines that were over 45 mins. We would just choose something else or utilize single rider. My 17yo loves the Matterhorn- my back is good for one ride on it lol. She rode it 6 times yesterday via single rider with a standby line of 60 mins! She had never used single rider and was amazed at how quickly she could get on.
Bottom line is we got everything done - multiple times- that we wanted to and it was a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. My DH has never loved DL as much as me and said it was his favorite trip. With a teenage daughter and a 21yo son I know we probably won’t have too many more trips like this so I’m so grateful that it was a great time!

 

[CherylGonz]

We just got home from our 4 day trip to the parks. Here’s my overall thoughts. We used to utilize MaxPass to its fullest and would spend our days moving back and forth within each park and hopping to make sure we hit all of our return windows. It was go go go the whole time. I was so worried this trip that we wouldn’t enjoy doing things differently and having to change our normal strategies. We had a great time!

We always made sure to arrive an hour before rope drop - those first couple hours are priceless for the lower crowds and shorter lines. Instead of bouncing all over like a ping pong we would choose one area to start and experience and explore everything there. I felt like I was able to enjoy the parks themselves more and just take in the general ambience and atmosphere- it was so much less stressful. We always took an afternoon break- even coming from AZ it was hot!! The waits were almost always overestimated. My family laughed at me for turning on my stopwatch whenever we got in line.

My biggest takeaway and advice I can give is to be flexible. We never got in any lines that were over 45 mins. We would just choose something else or utilize single rider. My 17yo loves the Matterhorn- my back is good for one ride on it lol. She rode it 6 times yesterday via single rider with a standby line of 60 mins! She had never used single rider and was amazed at how quickly she could get on.
Bottom line is we got everything done - multiple times- that we wanted to and it was a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. My DH has never loved DL as much as me and said it was his favorite trip. With a teenage daughter and a 21yo son I know we probably won’t have too many more trips like this so I’m so grateful that it was a great time!

I’m hoping this is how our trip goes. We want to explore areas we normally skip like storybook and Mr Lincoln. Staying at the Grand so hopefully we get to explore this area too instead of making arrangements around FP

 

[CherylGonz]

I’m also hoping that since we are going on the 18th of Aug and LA schools start on the 16th it won’t be as crowded. Fingers crossed.

 

[Babybears]

Love all the great info!! While we have always been avid fans of Fastpass/Maxpass, and honestly if it came back by next week, I would probably jump for joy, I am intrigued by the concept of constantly moving Standby lines. I've heard repeatedly that it is a much different feel and the wait seems not as bad when you are constantly moving. It also is nice to hear that at least some of the wait times are overestimated. We are a get up and go first thing family, so I think that strategy will serve well in getting there early and utilizing lower waits that first hour or so. We also don't mind using Single Rider. Can someone who has been there recently comment on which rides are currently offering single rider? I know, in general, the ones typically offered, but I wanted to see if they all are currently available.

 

[Linkura]

Love all the great info!! While we have always been avid fans of Fastpass/Maxpass, and honestly if it came back by next week, I would probably jump for joy, I am intrigued by the concept of constantly moving Standby lines. I've heard repeatedly that it is a much different feel and the wait seems not as bad when you are constantly moving. It also is nice to hear that at least some of the wait times are overestimated. We are a get up and go first thing family, so I think that strategy will serve well in getting there early and utilizing lower waits that first hour or so. We also don't mind using Single Rider. Can someone who has been there recently comment on which rides are currently offering single rider? I know, in general, the ones typically offered, but I wanted to see if they all are currently available.

The rides that are typically offered are the ones that are generally open. They can vary day to day or even hour to hour. For example, single rider was closed at one point when I checked for RSR, but was open less than an hour later.