2011NewYorkTraveler
Aug 2022
We came because our 9 year old niece wanted to go. We had a good time on the rides. However, other factors diminished our fun. Regrettably, Disneyland is in decline and we do not intend to return. While I will not be as harsh as some of the most recent reviews posted on TripAdvisor, there is a lot of truth of them. It is clear that Disney is not spending the necessary funds to keep the park spotless and prevent the rides from breaking down (which happened a few times when we were there). It is seeking to extract every penny it can by packing into the park as many customers as it can get away with or by hard selling its "Genie+" benefit ($20 supplement per ticket) that is supposedly for reduced waiting times for the rides. Genie+ is worthless and a ripoff; the Genie+ lines were long and you can't use it again until two hours after you reserve a time for a ride. Those who don't purchase Genie+ have to stand in a "Standby Line", as if they are second class persons. And you can't use Genie+ for the Star Wars ride. If you want fast access to that, you have to pay an additional $20/ticket on top of the Genie+ fee! Unbelievable. The park was so overcrowded that at times it felt like the center of NY's Times Square on a busy weekend. Surprisingly, the bathrooms were not clean! And many of the employees - "Cast Members" as they are called - seemed downright unhappy, if not surly. Moreover, the food was uniformly bad and expensive. Good luck with the Hungry Bear, which is next to Splash Mountain. At least if you ask $150/person (plus parking fee) just to enter the place, you shouldn't have to see the unpleasant things we did. To reiterate, the rides remain a lot of fun, but it's clear that Disney is now cutting corners and trying to extract every dime it can to juice its cash flow. While that may be a short-term benefit to its bottom line and its shareholders, ultimately, in the long run the word will get out about the Disney Parks. Pennywise and pound foolish. Very disappointing.