Here now and my (and my husbands) observation about difference in guests

[DisneyFan0304]

I was in the parks every day from last Sunday (the 21st, the day before the AP blackout ended) through Friday the 26th. I have to say, I encountered very few rude people. I was surprised that as crowded as Disneyland was on Monday and Wednesday things went very smoothly and being on an ECV I even got numerous offers of help from many people. I had problems with several cast members stepping right in front of me when they knew I was there or saw me coming but many other guests made sure to give me room to get by and some even told their kids to watch out when they stepped too close. This was quite different from the last couple of times I was at WDW where people stepped right in front of me and dragged their kids with them.

 

[Frozen2014]

We're in the same boat as far as the price of flying out. Actually, my kids are all big enough to ride just about everything with exception of the 5yo. And it's not that they're too little. In fact, I preferred going to WDW because of the rides that DIDN"T require height to be on it (Kilimanjaro, SSE, GMR, etc.) For us, it was that they all passed the 2yo mark and required plane tickets. Once we needed to have 5 tickets to fly, it pushed beyond what I was willing to pay.



If I had to fly to either park because of distance, I would fly to WDW every time, hands down. DL is great and all, but WDW is an experience unto itself. Nothing like it anywhere. But when we're a $100 round trip car ride to Anaheim, it fits into our budget a lot better. I figure each plane trip the kids don't go on is another semester in college I'll be able to afford one day.

We went to WDW Oct 2014 and absolutely loved it. We stayed on-site at Art of Animation (amazing theming) and loved the parks we visited. We will never beat our first trip as I think there is something special about experiencing parks for the first time ( plus our DD was into pprincess so that made it special). People there were lovely from CMs to crowds).

Having said that we are planning for A Disneyland trip next summer. We need to fly to both (but Orlando is closer) and selected DL party because if weather in the summer, but also to experience Disney again for the first time. Am sorry OP had bad experience of the people, but sounds like it was a one off.

 

[lorijohnhill]

The Bugsbunny characters are at the park. They have a M&G location, but they're also often out in the entrance area when they open. They do not have the DC characters like Magic Mountain. I'm hoping they will soon since they're adding more DC themed rides. My kids LOVE superheroes.

Yeah, I was really disappointed. When we were there for three days in July we saw Pepe Le Pew, Speedy, Porky Pig, and Sylvester. That was three days of actively looking for characters. When we were there Sunday we couldn't find any. Anywhere.

That's one thing I love about Disney. I can always get my character hugs!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

we are WDW vets, go at least twice a year. We have been to DL 3 times since April of 2015. We have noticed a huge difference in guests and guest behavior between the 2. We have been here since last Friday and I was ready to go home by yesterday-because of the guests. Like I said, this is only my opinion.

1. There are so many more locals at DL. It is very clear that many people are here to just waste some time. I have never seen so many people walk so slowly around a Disney Park. And with it being smaller, it is impossible to get around them. And people just stop and stand anywhere they please.
2. The guests behavior seems so much worse here than it is a WDW. People are continuously budging in line and just being plain rude.
3. It is almost like it is a teen hang out most of the day and especially at night. I feel like I am at six flags! Teens all over and the selfies, my god the selfies. They are taking them everywhere and it is highly annoying. I had a bunch in front of me (3 rows full) on pirates and they were taking selfies the entire time!
4. Finally, a lot of the people seem very "rough" never in my life of going to Disneyworld have I been called a dumb *** *****. But I was tonight by a guy that I was walking by with my 12 year old son. He apparently was mad that I walked in front of him. But I was just trying to get around him as we were trying to get somewhere and he kept stopping every 3 second to see if it was a good spot for fireworks. Mind you, we were all in the middle of the cattle call from one side of the park to the other. You were not even supposed to the stopping where we were walking.
Anyway, we leave Saturday and I am very ready. Unfortunately we have decided we are done with DL for a very long time.

1. The locals aren't the ones standing around. For the most part, they know the place well. The ones standing around (at both DLR and WDW) are the ones walking in at 10 or 11 am and the first planning they do other than book a hotel is open their map. At WDW it's the narrow areas under the RR bridge. At DLR, it's main street. Fortunately for me, I'm in when the park opens and well away from there with many of the big bottlenecks behind me by then. So I don't see that much any more. Used to when I was a kid.
2. As for bad behavior, Well I've never witnessed domestic violence at DLR. I have at WDW. I've never been collapsed upon by a drunk at DLR. I have at WDW. Fortunately, there's no Get drunk around the world club at DLR.
3. Because Nobody ever took a selfie at WDW.
4. "Rough?" What exactly is that code for?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...Having said that we are planning for A Disneyland trip next summer. We need to fly to both (but Orlando is closer) and selected DL party because if weather in the summer, but also to experience Disney again for the first time. Am sorry OP had bad experience of the people, but sounds like it was a one off.

For the most part, people are going to find what they are looking for. If a guest is looking for things to criticize and complain about, then that's exactly what they are going to find (usually in spades). If guests are looking for the magic (both receiving it and making it for others), then that's what they're going to find. Walt's park is a really special place. Hope you think so, too, and have a wonderful trip!

 

[Disney_Alli]

1. The locals aren't the ones standing around. For the most part, they know the place well. The ones standing around (at both DLR and WDW) are the ones walking in at 10 or 11 am and the first planning they do other than book a hotel is open their map. At WDW it's the narrow areas under the RR bridge. At DLR, it's main street. Fortunately for me, I'm in when the park opens and well away from there with many of the big bottlenecks behind me by then. So I don't see that much any more. Used to when I was a kid.
2. As for bad behavior, Well I've never witnessed domestic violence at DLR. I have at WDW. I've never been collapsed upon by a drunk at DLR. I have at WDW. Fortunately, there's no Get drunk around the world club at DLR.
3. Because Nobody ever took a selfie at WDW.
4. "Rough?" What exactly is that code for?

Re: #2 You must travel to WDW at the same time as us lol. On our last trip we saw two separate violent domestic incidents on two separate days. One at Thunder Mountain where a woman grabbed another woman (probably her mother) by the hair and pulled her all the way down to the ground (yes we reported it to staff and helped the managers keep eyes on them until security could arrive, then the next day at Epcot where a woman was screaming and yelling at another woman and when the second lady tried to walk away she grabbed her and pulled her back. This one happened after Illuminations and we could not find any CMs around to report them too. I kept eyes on them both until the one lady managed to get away from the other one... Hubby and I just kept saying how fun it was to get dinner AND a show lol.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I totally went to Disneyland today to "waste time" while my kids were in school. I do this every week during the school year.

Why does that bother you so much? If you lived 15 min away, you'd do it too.

Maybe you should move closer to a Disney park so you can be a "local".

<---jealous I would totally love to spend DD's school day at DL

 

[Angel Ariel]

And you have no idea how jealous I am of someone living only 5 hours away! We are more than 20 hours away from both Disney resorts.

Amen! We do 2.5-3.5 hour drives almost multiple times/month to see family on weekends...I would totally drive 5 hrs to go to DLR for a weekend and come home.