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For a while now, fans have been less than happy with the Walt Disney Company and the Disney experience they’ve been delivering to Guests at the Parks. The height of this dissatisfaction was during former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s tenure, and since current Disney CEO Bob Iger has returned to the helm, Disney has been taking steps to ensure that the Disney Park experience returns to the quality it once enjoyed.
Sleeping Beauty Castle, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort / Credit: Disney
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Recently, some in the community shared data that demonstrated that while the Disney Parks, in particular the Walt Disney World Resort, were certainly packed, they were less crowded than expected for the summer months. This may not be surprising to many considering that fans have purportedly been “done” with Disney for a while now.
However, while Disney World may be slower than some expect, it appears Disneyland Resort’s wait times are through the roof at the moment.
Pixar Pier, Disney California Adventure Park / Credit: Disney
The Disneyland Resort in Southern California is the original Disney Park, inaugurated by Walt Disney himself in 1955. It’s home to some iconic rides like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain. Over the years, the theme park has seen new additions highlighting the ever-popular Marvel movies, the Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure Park. These incredible lands and attractions are so popular that Guests have recorded some hefty wait times to experience them.
Per a chart shared on Reddit by user CoasterGT24 that compares wait times in Disneyland Resort in June 2023 with June 2019, the results are telling.
Disneyland Wait Times June ’23 vs. June ’19
byu/CoasterGT24 inDisneyland
In the chart, we see that wait times in June 2023 are notably higher than what they were during June 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans who visited the Parks during that time recalled that the month was an anomaly.
One fan shared,
Very few people remember summer 2019, immediately GE opening, was crazy dead. The theory then was people were avoiding the parks thinking GE was going to have things super packed and busy and it was the opposite, so nice. I really don’t think we’ll ever see anything like it ever again.
Splash Mountain at Disneyland Resort has officially closed to be re-themed to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure / Credit: Disney
Others recalled that it wasn’t necessarily that Guests were avoiding the Parks; rather, block-out dates were a part of the problem. One shared, “People weren’t necessarily avoiding the parks. They were kicked out. Passes were blocked. Even for CMs!”
As some fans would remember, Disney had a $99 Park-hopper ticket (inconceivable in 2023), which was one of the noteworthy aspects of that summer. Regardless, it’s notable to see how vastly different the wait times during the summer of 2019 were compared to the present day.
