Update w/trip report #5: Disneyland crowd calendar for 2/24/17?

[AnnieW625]

I won two park hopper tickets to DL and my kids have that Friday off of school. The free crowd calendar I saw last month said the crowd was estimated to be a 4 or 5, but I wonder if that is still correct.

DL park hours are 8 am to 12 am, and CA Adventure are 9 am to 10 pm.

Thanks


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[bisous]

I've been using isitpacked.com and have found it to be pretty accurate. The 24th is supposed to be pretty packed!

[SnuggleBuggles]

With hours like those, they're expecting big crowds! The hours are always a hint.


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[AnnieW625]

they just reintroduced the electrical parade so I think that has something to do with it, but if we stay that late we won't watch the parade and will go on rides instead. Otherwise it could be slightly more crowded because it could be "ski week" in many areas of the country. All of the major school districts have school this week and my kids don't because of the Catholic Conference that is the same weekend. It is the best day for us to use the passes though before it gets really crowded for the Spring Break and then summer season.

[AnnieW625]

It was super crowded and probably the busiest I have ever seen it, and until we moved here and had passes from 2008-2012 we always went in July or August. We arrived at about 9:15 am, and it took us a good 10 minutes to get to the parking pay station but I figured everyone was just getting there at the same time. The security check lines are now outside the parking garage and that went fine and we got to CA Adventure and went to straight to the Radiator Springs Racer fast pass station; we got a good time 4:45 to 5:45. Then we did Cars World (Mater, and Luigi rides), Boardwalk area (Toy Story Midway, and Merry Go Round), and Dd1 really wanted to go on CA Screaming but the stand by line was 30 minutes and they didn't have a separate line time for singles (which she would've been because I don't do upside down rides, and Dd2 is only 6 and can't ride with her....7 seems to be limit to ride with an under 14 yr. old) and with it being that crowded I didn't want her waiting in the 30 minute line by herself so she said it was okay and we ate lunch, and headed to DL. We walked pass Soaring as well to look at fast passes and the come back time was already 9:30 so we opted not to get passes. It was about 12:30 when we switched parks.

In DL it took us a good 10-15 minutes (I can walk fast and make it in less time to get to Space Mountain) and the fast pass time was 9:30 to 10:30 pm and I said no, and the stand by like was 75 minutes. We then went to Autopia, Small World (stood in the longest line ever at that ride, which was delayed by 5 minutes because I let Dd1 go get cotton candy and I let about 50 people go ahead of us while I waited for her to get back), Tea Cups, and then as we walked by King Arthur's Carousel I noticed even that had a 30 minute wait. After that we headed to Big Thunder Mountain and it had just been closed (it had been an hour earlier and had a 40 minute wait) due to a repair. We walked around the Mark Twain ship which was docked and not going on any tours. Pirates was scheduled to be closed, and The Haunted Mansion was a 60 minute wait (it had been a 40 minute for much of the day, but I bet the Thunder Mtn, closure effected that a bit) with a late evening fast pass; Indiana Jones was 90 minutes with the late evening fast pass. We then went to the Enchanted Tiki Room as I had never been and ended up getting the Pineapple soft serve and it was yummy, and e Tiki Room while "weird" as Dd1 called it was fun. After this we headed back to CA Adventure and it was about 4:30.

The wait for Radiator Springs Racers with the fast pass was 10 minutes (posted time 120+ plus....we saw one family we knew in line), and we were done by 5:10. We then went back to the Paradise Pier area, and did The Little Mermaid, Jumping Jelly Fish, and Golden Zephyr. We left the park to go to Rainforest Cafe (DD1's request) at about 6:15 and got there at 6:30 and it was crowded too (about 10 people a head of me to make a reservation or check in) so I didn't want to deal with gimmicks of RFC and having to wait for a reservation so we left and my girls weren't happy, but I realized I was done done done by that point. Dd1 was irritated she didn't get to go back to the park for fireworks and I had promised DD2 one of those Mickey balloons with the Mickey shaped balloon inside, but I told them both next time.

So here is my summary of wait times:
Rides we went on (in order):
Mater's Tow ride: sign said 40; actual: 30
Luigi's Dancing Cars: sign said: 40, actual 30.
Toy Story Mania: sign wait time: 45, and that estimate was pretty accurate, but normally I have never walked on to this ride, and I think the fastest I have gone thorough a line is 25. A favorite and wtw imho.
Neptune's Carousel: sign wait time: 5 minutes; actual: 5 minutes.
Autopia: sign said: 45; actual: 30.
Small World: sign said 50; actual: 45 (really would've been about 40 had Dd1 not got out of line to get cotton candy)
Tea Cups: sign: 15 minutes; actual: 15 minutes.
Mark Twain boat: no sign and walked right on. (We did this after finding out that Thunder Mountain was closed).
Enchanted Tiki Room & Tiki Room concession stand: no sign time, but I inadvertently got in the concession line thinking it was the Tiki Room line so that was about 10 minutes, but we loved the pineapple soft serve we shared. We walked right into the Tiki Room, but it was packed.
Radiator Springs Racers: sign said: 120+, actual: fast pass was 10 minutes.
Little Mermaid: sign: 30 minutes; actual 15
Jumping Jelly Fish: sign: 15 minutes; actual: 15 minutes.
Golden Zephyr: don't recall the time from the sign as it had just reopened, but the wait was about 10 minutes.

Rides that were advertised as closed:
Pirates
Non swinging chairs of Mickey's Ferris Wheel
Matterhorn
Tom Sawyers Island and riverboats (riverboats were open, but didn't leave the socks)
DL train
A few monorail stops
Old Bear Country area (I know it was something else but it will always be Bear Country to me)

Rides that ended up being shut down that weren't scheduled:
Mickey Ferris Wheel
Thunder Mountain

long wait times
Space Mountain,75-120 minutes
Indiana Jones, 75-120 minutes
Jungle Cruise, 50 minutes
Haunted Mansion, 60-75 minutes
Nemo Submarine, 60-75 minutes
Small World, 50-60 minutes
Fantasyland attractions, less storybook boats and Tea Cups, 50-120 minutes (varied by attraction)
King Arthur's Carousel, 30 minutes
Dumbo, 50 minutes (waited this time a few times when the kids were little and it was all they wanted to go on so not a huge surprise)
Goofy's Sky School, 50-75 minutes
Radiator Springs Racers, less maybe before 12 noon where it was 75 minutes this was 120 minutes.

rides we could've gone on but didn't and didn't have longer than normal wait times
Winnie the Pooh, 20-30 minutes
Roger Rabbit, 45 minutes
Gadget Coaster, 30 minutes
Star Tours, 35 minutes
Astro Jets (sorry another these will always be Astro Jets to me), 40 minutes
Buzz Lightyear Blasters, 40 minutes
Paradise Pier Swings, 30-40 minutes (by the time we finally made it there it was pretty cold and we would've froze; plus imho the swing ride is much too short and doesn't go high enough.)
Splash Mountain, 60-75 minutes (it was in the low 60s yesterday so we opted not to do this as I would've froze even in the afternoon)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Why'd you leave so early? Got to make marathon days.


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[HannaAddict]

Why'd you leave so early? Got to make marathon days.


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Agreed. Take a breather and stick it out especially if just for a day!


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[AnnieW625]

Why'd you leave so early? Got to make marathon days.


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I was just done, and believe me my original plan was to eat at Rainforest Cafe around 6:30 and then go back in the parks for some more rides (probably Paradise Pier area) and then if we couldn't get a good view of the fireworks from the park then we would watch the fireworks from the top deck of the parking garage. This was the first time I have left the park (except when we had passes) before 9 pm since I was 8 yrs. old (the last time I remember going out to eat dinner outside the park with my family after DL, but we probably did it because my brother was 5 and had outgrown the stroller by age 3 so he was probably dead tired by 7 pm so we had to leave) so yeah leaving early is not my norm. Oh and my feet were in pain as it turns out my cross trainers were dead (didn't realize that before I walked almost 7 miles yesterday per Fitbit) and my feet were killing me and had it not been so crowded I would've sucked it up. I took 400mg of Advil last night and my feet are still sore today. Oh and I really hate the gimmicks of Rainforest Cafe when it is crowded and the kids were hungry and it would've been a good 15 minute walk back to the eateries I like in or near CA Adventure (La Brea, Boardwalk Pizza, Condor Flats, or Cucamonga) and the kids wouldn't have liked Ralph Brennan's in DT Disney (I do, but not simple enough for them). We ended up getting Zankou Chicken, a local middle eastern place I highly recommend to anyone who stays in the Disney area with a car and doesn't mind driving 5 miles west on Ball Rd from the park. Everyone was happy.

Agreed. Take a breather and stick it out especially if just for a day!


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Oh I so wanted to, but I just couldn't. The line for the ticket booth was long too so there were even more people coming in for the Electric Parade and fireworks. I figure we got there at 10 am and left at 6:30 and despite it being so crowded we're still able to go on/see 15 rides and even though I had to pay $159 for Dd2's 3-9 park hopper ticket I feel like we got our money's worth especially since mine and DD1's tickets were cast member comps so it was free. I would've been ticked if I had paid almost $500 for the three of us for a day though.