Here’s What You Need to Know About Disneyland Resort’s Reopening, Including

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Ok, so I’ll admit to not having done a ton of research before buying tickets the first day they were available (major stress at the time, but that’s another story), but I figured it would be an intuitive process (again, I wasn’t thinking straight).

So I wait for 12 “more-than-one-hours” in the online queue, get in, choose the Tier I want—and here’s where it messed me up. The ticket selection was displayed on a calendar graphic, so, silly, exhausted, stressed out me, I thought they’d made the reservation process automatic (cuz why would I buy a ticket on a calendar for a day I didn’t want a reservation for).

I bought the ticket on my phone (the only window that didn’t crash), and the completion screen didn’t show a MAKE A RESERVATION NOW button, it only showed a “view your ticket” button (if it did, it must’ve been off screen and I didn’t scroll down). And in my email confirmation, there was a reservation link, but some marketing twit put the link below an ad to download the DL app!!! Any web professional knows that people ignore ads in emails the majority of the time. Why they would put the very necessary reservation link right below an ad is so beyond me.

Thankfully some DL friends saw the error of my ways, so I got back in line for another 7 hours (my reservation window had closed) and got my reservation (along with two more tickets+reservations, cuz I was gonna be sitting there anyway). But still, yes, I also feel sorry for anyone who couldn’t figure out DLs horrible user interface and then didn’t find out until they actually got to the park.

I’m a web professional and still screwed up (most websites don’t require extensive research to use properly), so I’m sure there are plenty of people who are going to have a horrible day as they’re turned away from the park entrance.

Another friend of mine, who did do the research ended up in the reservation line first, because both queues looked identical, save for the words “reservations” and “tickets” in the insanely long URLs (I just happened to notice that, which is how I could be in both the res line and the ticket line at the same time for my 7-hour stint).

Anyway, I admit to my error, but I hold a multi-billion dollar company to a higher standard when it comes to web UX/UI. And I feel sorry for anyone who was too tired or distracted like I was (and didn’t have friends to guide them back in the right direction), to successfully complete the process.

Ok, rant over. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

TLDR: I was tired and screwed up the reservation process, but the DL website UI didn’t help.

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Ok, back to RotR… :smiley:

So, at go time, is it better to click through on the DL app home screen, where it says “Join Boarding Group” or is it better to be on the Join Boarding Group screen and refresh the page until the “Join” button appears?

And do we have any reports yet of people getting BGs at both times yet? (Should I just create a new thread for RotR stuff? :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:)

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I have a friend who had a similar experience. He didn’t realize that he was supposed to get tickets and the reservations.

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Oh I’m sure there were plenty of people who didn’t know. What’s sad is that I did know and yet, the way the ticket interface was set up, it looked as if the reservation process was automatic. Even my friends who did tons of research and took all appropriate steps in the correct order said it was confusing and stressful. In good news, wait times for tickets on the 2nd day had dropped to around 30 minutes or less, so if anyone messed up on the second day, getting back in the reservation line wouldn’t have been as much of a problem (assuming of course they already knew they needed reservations). Considering how much emotion and energy (and money!) people put into a trip to DL, it just really irks me that the company would be so cavalier (or so misguided by whoever their web dev team). I was so put off by the experience that I’m kinda glad I’m moving out of the area. I love DLR, but I hate giving them my money. Total first world problem, but still. I need to find simpler, less complicated, ways to find joy in my life :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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So frustrating! You definitely weren’t the only one. Another liner friend waited 15 hrs for the same reason. I agree the set up is terrible.

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I started from the first screen on the app and that’s probably why I got BG 69 and the people next to me BG24. They were already on the next screen ( I was eavesdropping) :rofl::rofl: another reason I was late pushing join​:roll_eyes::rofl:

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Ha! (not laughing at you, laughing at the urgency of the RotR BG process and my incessant micro-research) Great intel, thanks! :grin::+1:

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I ment to mention that on Friday they let GCH guests line up 10 minutes earlier than the Harbor Blvd. people and the parking garage people. Then they would mix the 2 groups together. I’m sure the way they have people line up will change daily but I doubt they’ll take away GCH going first. And they totally should get some kinda perk for staying onsite!

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Sorry it was so stressful! I think it was easier for people who had been to WDW since reopening, as it is more obvious on the WDW website that buying tickets did not mean you had a park reservation. Hopefully it is very clear now on the DL website for those buying in the future (not that their bad IT helps everyone who didn’t get the dates they wanted).
I spent hours in the GCH queue that day, as I had tickets from before the shutdown so made park reservations on the Monday before tickets went on sale. It definitely was a crazy day.

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Congrats on the GCH reservation! :grin::+1:

Not surprised that it was also a long day for those reservations as well.

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Not sure if we will keep it, $906 a night after taxes seems absolutely insane, but I had FOMO and booked it anyway! :crazy_face::rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Exactly the reason why I haven’t stayed there yet. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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Thanks for explaining this - it makes complete sense to me now why DLR guests would arrive at the without a park reservation! I won’t judge them so harshly anymore, though I still feel anxiety on their behalf! :grimacing:

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We have stayed there before, but for a much more reasonable cost. It’s great, but not $906 a night great! :rofl:

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Absolutely, me too.

And the kicker of my 19 hour stress-fest was my credit card fraud alert triggering (over 2 tickets!), thus blocking my credit card during the checkout process. My hands were literally shaking as I tried another card, also blocked (same bank), and then waking up my husband from a sound sleep at 1:30am to ask him where his wallet was so I could steal his card—all the while freaking out that the checkout cart had a time limit too (it didn’t, luckily). I might be done with DLR trips after these last couple. I can’t handle the stress. :sweat_smile:

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DS20 goes to school just south of Disneyland. He said he has heard Disney’s fireworks going off for nights now! Prepping for a return?!?

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Alright!!! I’ve been waiting to hear this :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::smiling_face_with_three_hearts::heart::heart: looks like I’ll be watching the Matterhorn cam tonight!!

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So are the wait times I’m seeing on the weekends, accurate? 45 min to an hour for Indy, Haunted, Toy Story, Soaring, and RSR? These were all only about 20-30 minutes for most of opening day (which was sold out, so I figured it would be the worst of it) with a few peaks into the 45-60 min range. I was so jazzed about going, now it’s just looking like a regular, wait in line all day at the parks (and no FPs, of course). Are the lines actually going faster than the wait times on the app are saying? In good news, MF wait times have been quite reasonable, although even those are climbing. Any theories? Please someone give me some hope! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

(oh and I know that ride capacity will be lower because of social distancing and lines will look longer for the same reason. I’m just basing this on my comparisons between opening day/weekend wait times and this past weekends wait times)

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I was reading this earlier and thought wait times and lines must be getting longer

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But I’ve also seen a few on FB Disney groups report that the Disney app wait times and TP times are a bit higher than actual waits. 45 posted was an actual 20 minute wait. I know on opening day the line looked crazy but went really fast

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