First time back to Disneyland since Covid and my family was sorely disappointed in the shape the park is in now. Dirty bathrooms, rude cast members, inability to handle the simplest logistics. We took a quick trip to Anaheim to visit the park with our 7 and 4 year old and it was a nightmare.
1st suggestion: Go elsewhere. Disneyland isn't worth the money, even when they're discounting tickets. Especially with young children. Just lower your expectations and go somewhere like Legoland. Much better bang for your buck. And shorter waits, too. My family really wanted to ride the Cars ride and the wait was down to 60 minutes so we decided to go ahead and wait. 15 minutes into the queue the wait was still 60 minutes. We ended up waiting 2 and a half hours. My wife and daughter bailed because she had to go to the bathroom and they didn't even get to ride. Meanwhile we watched as cars full of single riders just marched on by us. When I raised concern to the cast member, they didn't say a word and just walked away. We almost missed dinner, my son missed the parade, daughter didn't even get to ride the ride. Just a complete mess.
2nd suggestion: If you can't escape the Disney mystique, spend the extra money and go to Walt Disney World. Having gone to both in the last few years and experienced them both post-Covid, all of Disney's efforts in parks have clearly been allocated to the Florida resort. If you have to go Disney, save yourself a terrible experience and go to Florida instead.
3rd suggestion: If you're trapped into Disneyland, just expect the worst. Lower your expectations as far as possible. Don't eat dinner inside the resort. That was the biggest mistake we made. We weren't sat for an hour after our reservation time and missed just as much time at the park as if we had left. Cast members didn't even apologize and acted as if they didn't care, until I complained openly. It was pathetic.
4th suggestion: Don't expect the same bubbly, fun, informative, and helpful cast members. Training and hiring has clearly taken a turn for the worst. We had rude cast members at both parks across multiple days. There were a few decent ones but for the most part they were a disaster. And when concerns were raised, I was met with "Ok, whatever" followed by a cast member walking away. We were with friends who have an annual pass and they confirmed that the quality of cast members has declined significantly in the last few years.
Just an awful time. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies. Please save yourself and go somewhere else, anywhere else. We've been lucky enough to save 2 friends from taking this vacation in the last few weeks and hopefully this review saves you from making the same mistake. Best of luck if you do go!