Unforgettable Disneyland: Your 2-5 Day Magic Journey

It is my opinion that Disney parks, including Disneyland, are no longer what they were in the 1980s and 1990s. The overall quality of the experience has declined as maintenance and labor have been reduced, while prices have risen faster than the consumer price index. Disney appears focused on cutting operating costs rather than preserving the standards that once defined the parks. For example, Disney’s ongoing failure to properly maintain the Indiana Jones attraction reflects a broader trend in which popular but high‑maintenance rides are neglected or replaced with simpler experiences that require less upkeep. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is, in this view, a particularly poor replacement for the former Splash Mountain, with frequent malfunctions and show elements that do not meet the standard set by the original attraction. Special effects on several of Disneyland’s best rides have also been removed or scaled back, further diminishing the sense of immersion. Decades ago, Disney’s primary goal seemed to be to entertain and impress guests, and both customers and employees were treated with exceptional courtesy and care. Guests typically left feeling valued, reassured, and satisfied. Today, the company appears more focused on maximizing revenue by introducing increasingly complex up‑charge systems and schemes, while offering less value in return. This shift is visible throughout the parks: fewer flowers and detailed show scenes, fewer animatronics in new attractions, and a noticeable decline in day‑to‑day maintenance. Guests are now expected to spend a significant portion of their visit planning every detail on their phones, rather than enjoying a spontaneous, carefree day. What was once a magical, welcoming experience has become a highly procedural ordeal that tends to favor affluent visitors, leaving the Disney brand feeling diminished and damaged.

You cannot fault the park itself, the characters, the rides, the experience are all amazing. A fabulous day out. The cost is high though, but it is what it is. What surprised me most though, was that they are getting thousands of visitors a day yet seem to have no clue at all at organizing. Lines for the car park, the car open space green lights are faulty, lines for security , lines for the tram, mega lines to get in. They need to do much much better in this respect. So they get a 5 for the park and 1 for organization - that’s my 3 stars.

Disneyland is always an incredible experience; nostalgia, entertainment and fun! This time we only did one day and packed it full with all the popular rides. Was pleasantly surprised how much we could fit in!

After 30 years, I was looking forward to experiencing Disneyland again and this time seeing it through the eyes of my kids. It was our first time as a family and we were very excited! We drove from Canada and camped at the Anaheim RV park. Our first day, we got up early and packed up our wagon with snacks for the kids, jackets for the evening when it cooled off and a blanket for the family to sit on for the parade. As we approached the park, an employee stopped us and asked why we had a wagon. Now this part was our bad as my mom and I failed to communicate if either of us had read the Disney website and assumed we had but neither of us did. Anyways we explained to the employee that it was to help us carry our stuff around for the day. He proceeded with a condescending tone “nope, not allowed. Who’s gonna volunteer to walk this thing back”. Dissapointed, my mom and I walked the wagon back to our motorhome 20 minutes away, saddled our bags and jackets over our arms and walked 20 minutes back to the park. I was quite annoyed with the rude response of this employee and lack of customer service. He could have offered to hold our wagon at the front till the end of the day so that I wouldn’t have missed my kids first reaction to Disneyland and their first ride. Again, not reading the website and bringing a wagon was our bad, but for the price we paid to get there and be there, the customer service was not worth it in that moment. Disneyland could have handled that situation much better!

After many years and many visits to Disney parks in Orlando, Paris and Hong Kong, I finally made it to the one Walt made and I cannot be happier about this! Many people told me "oh that one is small, after you´ve been in Magic Kingdom, the one in Anaheim is nothing....." well well well, not true lol not only the park is not that small comparing to MK, but there is SO MUCH to see!! We went at 8am sharp and were there till about 8pm (park was closing 11pm but we were dead). We only missed the night shows but did all we could in rides, shops, photos, walking, eating and enjoying every corner. Being from Argentinean is always less expensive to go to Orlando as flight is shorter, so I don´t know when I would be able to come back here, but I would certainly love to and also visit California Adventure, which we did not at this time as we were in the area only for 3 days. The park is Disney, not much to say about it, for anyone who knows Disney products, parks, eating, merchandise, entertainment, etc, would know what to expect. Cuestomer service is not the same as before, but that is not a big deal, as it´s not only in Disney, this is happening everywhere! I worked for The Walk Disney Company on board cruise ships 2008 - 2011 and the service was certainly different (much better) but this is also a generational aspect that has changed in all entertainment and hospitality industry so not much we can complain about lol. I got to see characters and take pictures with Thiana, Goofy and Pluto, we loved specially the Indiana Jones ride, amaziiinggggg, exceeded my expectations! The Mickey runway ride broke down when we were inside and we got to walk around to exit, I know many people would complain about this but I always wanted that to happen to me lol we even got a fast pass for another ride to comp for that and that was super helpful!! I loved every second of my visit to the park!!!!!

Not a good value- even for the family memories. We up purchased for rides and had to wait in line anyway. The lightening pass does not work for all rides. The rides are so short compared to the wait. Be prepared to use the app and learn the rules for booking rides. We spent too much time trying to figure it out and trying to optimize our time. Rip off is the best description of the place.

Most magical and wonderful place ever. A must for your bucket list. Excellent customer service throughout both parks .

We brought the kids and grandkids over for a family event, this place caters for all ages! The older ones like the larger rides with thrills, noise and drops, the youngest ones liked the more humble ones; me, I liked the lot! My stand out was the Star Wars recreation and having an audience with the Sith Lord, Darth Vader! The staff are all super helpful and the whole site is amazing! We had the 4 day hopper pass and enjoyed rolling between respective parks.

I can never rate my time at Disney high enough. Its just always a highlight. No matter how many rides you get on, how many snacks consumed or how many amazing interactions you have, you will always remember the moments you shared here. Everything was brilliant on our most recent trip and we can't wait till next time.

From the start it's clear that Disney has studied every aspect of how to run a theme park. From the big design to the small details. The Star Wars land, where we spent most of our day, is amazing. Crowd levels are a game changer though. Check a crowd calendar to find the best day to visit. We managed to attend a day with only a 22% filled park, which allowed us several rides on both Rise of the resistance and Smuggler's run. Both are amazing. Smuggler's run features a single rider line. Use it. It can greatly decrease your waiting time, we passed line of 30 minutes every time. On crowded days lines can grow to several hours which makes for a vastly different experience. The only thing that wasn't great was the character meet & greets, especially the Star Wars characters. They don't have set spots, instead they are roaming the area and on our visit they rarely showed up on time, sometimes not at all. We spent several hours looking for and chasing characters. Some we found, some we didn't. Kylo Ren wasn't keen on posing for a photo, which made my son a bit sad. Fantastic four has their designated spot, but rotates members on an unknown schedule. To meet them all would mean hanging out in the area for a long time and then try to time your place in the queue to get to the front before the character you're waiting for leaves. The characters that we actually met though were all amazing. Really friendly, chatted and took their time to have a short conversation.