**July 2024 Check-In**

[mrsashbaugh]

Packing and making sure all is ready for tomorrow. I called reservations to check with my requests and they do have them listed. Hopefully we'll be able to get them. We won't arrive until about 5pm, so I'm sure our room will be ready by the time we arrive. I've enjoyed hearing about your trip and how things have been going so far.

 

[mrsashbaugh]

You can read about our first night here. https://www.disboards.com/threads/grand-californian-super-thread.2396588/post-65598780

 

[Artygal90]

I’m finally back home after our July 1-5 trip and I will definitely be coming back to Anaheim in the summer! I was worried about crowds and the heat and both were completely manageable. My friend loved Fantasmic and I loved seeing Mickey interact with my 2 year old. Of course there were things we didn’t get to do this trip but that’s all the more reason to plan something for summer 2025

 

[OlliePop27]

I’m finally back home after our July 1-5 trip and I will definitely be coming back to Anaheim in the summer! I was worried about crowds and the heat and both were completely manageable. My friend loved Fantasmic and I loved seeing Mickey interact with my 2 year old. Of course there were things we didn’t get to do this trip but that’s all the more reason to plan something for summer 2025

Woohoo! I'm happy you had a great time.

We are also freshly back from a July 2-7 trip.

I'm always happy to hear about people trying July and finding the crowds to be manageable and the experience excellent.

Many of us on here tell people all the time how July is a great time to visit and crowds are manageable. Many people don't believe us until they experience it themselves!

 

[PrincessRileysMom]

Hey! I haven't posted here in ages, I tend to do more FB groups but when I found this thread I got excited! We do WDW annually in August, but this year for my 50th we are going big! Staying at the Westin Anaheim. Disneyland was actually my OG park in the 70s as my grandparents lived in Anaheim. I'm an East Coaster but have such a strong connection to Disneyland from those very early trips. We will be there July 28- Aug 3. Dreaming in vain that HM might open earlier as I've heard rumored!
So glad to hear crowds haven't been too bad. Hoping to convince my husband that Disneyland is totally worth a trip across country!
We will be doing the Plaza Inn Breakfast and the Main Street Tour on my birthday. Trying so hard to plan extra special character moments!
Still debating if we should book WOC dessert party. That is a lot of money where maybe only I will be the one to eat a dessert, haha. None of it looks appealing to hubby and daughter.
Sorry for the babbling. I'm just too excited!!!!

 

[matthewthompson87]

We just did the WOC dessert party. It was our 2nd time betting we’d be willing to pay the $90 per person to sit in a (surprisingly comfortable) chair for WOC instead of standing… and it being just about worth it. Every time, I debate it, and I’m begrudgingly glad we did it each time.

Once seated, the servers are super sweet. Our kids only pick at the food, but It’s nice even just to rehydrate with unlimited bottled water, have a glass of sparkling wine, or a hot cup of ginger lemon tea.

Expensive but your feet will thank you.

 

[sophy1996]

If you’re visiting in late July, be aware that Disneyland workers have scheduled a strike vote for July 19. I saw a report that says there will be a meeting with management three days after the strike vote. But after that, who knows what might happen?

 

[disny_luvr]

We are back from our California trip and had the best time! We were at Disneyland from July 30-July 4 (in the parks July 1, 2, 3) but only got home late last night as we headed to LA and San Diego after Disneyland.

I'm still a Disney World girl, but my family truly loved Disneyland so much! There were a lot of rides that we liked more at Disneyland. Some that come to mind quickly as I'm typing this are Pirates, Small World, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. We also really, really loved DCA! We really enjoyed the whole Cars Land area and loved Radiator Springs Racers. My sons and husband loved the Guardians ride (I didn't ride it as I hate rides that drop) and we all loved Web Slingers. That ride was so much fun! We watched the parade at Disneyland (the name is eluding me at the moment) and absolutely loved it! We also loved World of Color! I was totally mesmerized the entire time watching it!

We were able to ride Rise at Disneyland and while we've rode it before at Disney World, our last two trips it was down both times we were at Hollywood Studios so we were excited to ride it on this trip. We watched wait times throughout the day and when it dropped to 60 minutes, we headed over. We only waited about 45 minutes to ride, which was nice! We also got lucky with Radiator Springs Racers and waited about 40 minutes to ride it. These were our longest two waits the entire trip. We found crowds very manageable. With Genie+ we were able to ride everything we wanted and some things multiple times, so we were thrilled.

On our first night, we were able to find a good spot for the castle show and fireworks. Unfortunately, the fireworks were canceled due to winds, but I still enjoyed the castle show. We watched Fantasmic on our last night and had booked a dining package at Rancho Del Zocalo. We all really liked our food. My husband and I had the shrimp tacos and our sons had the carne asada. We arrived to the viewing area at 8:15 and it was a lot more full than I thought it would be. We found a spot, but only at the far left. There was a lot of saving of spaces - people with bags and hats and other items laying all over. We sat behind a family of five (three of them young children) that had two huge blankets. They literally were sitting on one blanket, so that was frustrating that they were taking up a lot of space that other people could have used. CMs came around several times telling people to pick up their belongings and to move forward, but nothing was enforced.

We found CMs to be hit and miss. We thought many of the ride CMs were meh. They weren't mean, but they weren't necessarily nice. Several times I got off a ride and said "thank you" and there was no response. We just felt like a lot of them were there going through the motions and not really enjoying their job. That said, we had some really great encounters with the people that took our pictures, a CM at City Hall (I left her a compliment in the app), and several of the CMs working at the food locations.

We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn and liked it a lot. Our room was so nice and clean, all the employees were super nice, and we thought the location was great. We were able to see the fireworks from right outside our room on the night we arrived in Anaheim, so that was a nice surprise.

The weather was absolutely amazing! It was hot, but totally doable without the humidity. As soon as we stepped off the plane last night we were greeted by the humidity and I was reminded how much I hate it, lol.

There are definitely things that we missed that are only at Disney World, but it was fun to also experience new things. I do hope we are able to return to Disneyland one day.

If you're still reading along, thank you! I really appreciated this thread as I was preparing for our trip. Thank you to everyone that helped me and answered all my questions. For all of you that have Disneyland trips coming up in the next few weeks, have a great time!

 

[LKing]

Downtown Disney Nightly Entertainment for July

Photos taken from disney.kid.at.heart Instagram

 

[BriannaRuth]

If you're still reading along, thank you! I really appreciated this thread as I was preparing for our trip. Thank you to everyone that helped me and answered all my questions. For all of you that have Disneyland trips coming up in the next few weeks, have a great time!

Read all of it

CMs not enforcing people moving forward with all their stuff is annoying for sure. But so glad you had a good time! Sounds like you got to do just about everything you wanted!

 

[disny_luvr]

Read all of it

CMs not enforcing people moving forward with all their stuff is annoying for sure. But so glad you had a good time! Sounds like you got to do just about everything you wanted!

Awe, thanks for reading! Yes, it was frustrating, but at the end of the day, we were in Disneyland, so it was all good!

 

[jrsharp21]

Less than a week away from our visit to DL! We are packing tomorrow and headed to the Sacramento area on Sunday. Then after visiting family for a few days, we are flying to John Wayne on Thursday afternoon. Should be inside DL before 6pm (fingers crossed).

 

[kittylady1972]

We leave in 18 days...and I've done little to no planning. First night we are at Hampton Inn & Suites Convention Center, the remaining 3 nights in a DVC Studio room at Disneyland Hotel. Our last trip to Disneyland was August 2013 with 3 young kids and now we will have 2 adults kids with us (20 and 21) for the revisit. I'm sure a lot has changed. We are mostly hoping to wing it though. We did Blue Bayou back then as well as Carnation Cafe (I think) so hopefully we don't need to book anything this time.

Is it possible to snag last minute cancellations (like I do at WDW all the time...but of course many more options) for a party of 4 or a walkup reservation for places? I don't know that we have any must dos really.

Our goal is just to enjoy another stay at Disneyland hotel (we stayed there in 2013 also) and spend Wed/Thur/Fri at the parks with the new PH 3-day deal. We will probably buy LL/G+ also...assume we can decide that later.

We will be on East Coast time on arrival, so early entry should work for us but the late evenings may be tough. Maybe with some rest time we can get through it.

Love hearing the great reports on weather as we stew here in the upper 90s and one million percent humidity.

 

[BriannaRuth]

Is it possible to snag last minute cancellations (like I do at WDW all the time...but of course many more options) for a party of 4 or a walkup reservation for places?

Yes, you can sometimes get reservations that someone else has cancelled and they also do walkups. You can see availability for both on the app. If you haven't done so already, you might think about downloading the app and taking a look at it to find where these options are located before you leave.

Reservations are on the "hamburger" on the bottom right/Reserve Dining, but that's not where the walk-up list is. To do that, you go to Search, enter the name of the restaurant you want, then it will give you some options, one of which is "Join Walk Up List." You have to be in the vicinity of the restaurant to join the list.

Have fun!

 

[OlliePop27]

I hope everyone is enjoying their July trips so far! Crowds have been blissful! Fri-Sun are particularly great with the promo tickets unavailable and max MK blockouts. Enjoy! Let's keep the wonderful July touring conditions to ourselves and savor it again next year!

 

[OlliePop27]

We leave in 18 days...and I've done little to no planning. First night we are at Hampton Inn & Suites Convention Center, the remaining 3 nights in a DVC Studio room at Disneyland Hotel. Our last trip to Disneyland was August 2013 with 3 young kids and now we will have 2 adults kids with us (20 and 21) for the revisit. I'm sure a lot has changed. We are mostly hoping to wing it though. We did Blue Bayou back then as well as Carnation Cafe (I think) so hopefully we don't need to book anything this time.

Is it possible to snag last minute cancellations (like I do at WDW all the time...but of course many more options) for a party of 4 or a walkup reservation for places? I don't know that we have any must dos really.

Our goal is just to enjoy another stay at Disneyland hotel (we stayed there in 2013 also) and spend Wed/Thur/Fri at the parks with the new PH 3-day deal. We will probably buy LL/G+ also...assume we can decide that later.

We will be on East Coast time on arrival, so early entry should work for us but the late evenings may be tough. Maybe with some rest time we can get through it.

Love hearing the great reports on weather as we stew here in the upper 90s and one million percent humidity.

You'll be fine. DL doesn't require tons of pre-planning for a great time. Learn the ins and outs of Genie+ (soon to be called LL multi pass) and you'll have a blast.

FYI - The 3 day deal is only valid Mon-Thu, unless you pay to upgrade each ticket for Fri-Sun availability. You also have to pay to add park hopping and also for Genie+. You can add Genie+ day of. Make sure to make reservations in advance for starting park. Park hopping is allowed each day starting at 11:00 am.

 

[remycat]

If you’re visiting in late July, be aware that Disneyland workers have scheduled a strike vote for July 19. I saw a report that says there will be a meeting with management three days after the strike vote. But after that, who knows what might happen?

How concerned are folks feeling about this? Timeline makes me anxious. Strike authorization vote July 19, further negotiations scheduled July 22... our trip July 29.

I understand that part of this is a tactic and that it would be unwise of the union not to authorize the ability to call a strike, as then they look weaker to the company. But how likely is it that they will actually walk out, and what would the timing look like? We have sunk a lot of money into this trip and it is our family's first and probably only DL vacation.

 

[kittylady1972]

You'll be fine. DL doesn't require tons of pre-planning for a great time. Learn the ins and outs of Genie+ (soon to be called LL multi pass) and you'll have a blast.

FYI - The 3 day deal is only valid Mon-Thu, unless you pay to upgrade each ticket for Fri-Sun availability. You also have to pay to add park hopping and also for Genie+. You can add Genie+ day of. Make sure to make reservations in advance for starting park. Park hopping is allowed each day starting at 11:00 am.

Good to know, thanks for the response. Yes I am aware there are 2 different 3 day deals...one that includes Fri and Sun which is what we planned to purchase, likely through UT to save some extra money as last I checked it was a bit cheaper there.

Yes, you can sometimes get reservations that someone else has cancelled and they also do walkups. You can see availability for both on the app. If you haven't done so already, you might think about downloading the app and taking a look at it to find where these options are located before you leave.

Reservations are on the "hamburger" on the bottom right/Reserve Dining, but that's not where the walk-up list is. To do that, you go to Search, enter the name of the restaurant you want, then it will give you some options, one of which is "Join Walk Up List." You have to be in the vicinity of the restaurant to join the list.

Have fun!

Thank you for the response and the detailed information. Sounds like it works like the MDW app, but even if not we can figure it out I'm sure. I'm not stressing about it that much.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

I'll be back at the Parks this Sunday, but big heads up the parks are pretty empty and the morning many rides that get over hour waits are basically walk on's near rope drop so make sure to get to the park when they open even if you it means going back to your hotel for a nap later.

 

[Brian rhymes with dyin]

How concerned are folks feeling about this? Timeline makes me anxious. Strike authorization vote July 19, further negotiations scheduled July 22... our trip July 29.

I understand that part of this is a tactic and that it would be unwise of the union not to authorize the ability to call a strike, as then they look weaker to the company. But how likely is it that they will actually walk out, and what would the timing look like? We have sunk a lot of money into this trip and it is our family's first and probably only DL vacation.

I am not concerned. It's expected posturing. There will be no strike, especially in July anyway.

Every day Disneyland is closed is a massive hit to their revenue. Fear not.