Just Back - A Few Thoughts and Observations

[numbersix]

Returned last night, after staying at the Santa Fe Sunday - Friday, travelling on the Eurostar.

Crowds - despite there being no school holidays in any neighbouring countries that I could see on the inter web, the parks were very busy. The 'Park Full' sign was out as we arrived on the Sunday, and there were sizeable crowds every day. A lot of small children, so I guess a lot of them aren't at school yet anyway, or aren't missing much just yet.

Eurostar - comments on other threads about food are totally valid. If you are travelling Standard bring your own. If you are travelling Economy Premier or whatever it is called, bring your own, as the offering may not be your taste. Yesterday it was a pasta salad with a pesto sauce - not bad, but not to everyone's taste. Also, make sure you have something to drink or nibble in case of delays. Our return journey was delayed by 2 and a half hours because of a fatality on the line between Lille and Paris, and the on-board cafe ran out quickly. You could get a coffee, but they had no cups, so they would only serve it in a china cup, which you couldn't carry back to your seat for health and safety reasons!
Also, the sooner they open up Ashford and Ebbsfleet the better. The departure area at St Pancras is way too small for the number of people trying to use it.

Santa Fe Toilet Paper - I love the Santa Fe, but the loo roll is awful, not quite the tracing paper we had at school on the 1970's, but so, so thin.

Main Gates - Confusing! The refurbishments on the Disneyland Hotel are spilling over to the gates, so you enter round the sides, where you normally enter for the EMH. The signage is vague, and in places non-existent, but serious bottlenecks occur on the way in. For anyone staying on-site, you enter round the left-hand side as you look at the main gates, sometimes they were opening up some of the usual gates on the inside, but you had to go round on the left first to access them. One day we arrived before 08:30am, and were held outside for half an hour, with seemingly no forward movement at all, for no apparent reason. We did read later in the day that Prince Albert of Monaco was visiting, so maybe it was something to do with that.

Closing Time - not the time the rides close! The advertised closing time for the main park during the week was 11:00pm. The rides were closing at any time after 9:00pm, depending on where you were in the park. The rides in Fantasyland were closing early, and then they were employing crowd control and diversions to reroute you around the park. I am guessing this was due to the fireworks, but it was disappointing to come back to the park after having had dinner, only to find that rides were closing at just the time the queues were dropping to reasonable levels.

Weather - Hot, Hot, Hot! It was seriously hot at times, and all day as well, so if the weather forecast is hot for your visit, make sure you carry water with you. None of the fountains seem to work, and it can be hard to source water without paying, but you will need it - and sunscreen!

30th Anniversary Merchandise - disappointing! A lot of the advertised merchandise is not available, all sold out! Given that it has only been on sale since March, that is a little bit disappointing. My DW wanted the exclusive Pandora charms, and we struck lucky on two separate days in different shops, that had literally just had new stock delivered that they were not expecting. Unless Disney do a massive restock of the 30th Anniversary merchandise, anyone going later in the year will find the shelves empty, which is a shame.

Having said all of that, we had a cracking time. We usually visit in colder months, so being able to wander around in shorts and t-shirt was liberating! The rides were all great, the food was great, and we are already starting sentences with - "next time we go we will... "

[Enchanted]

We got home last night... literally agree with every word you said!

[Logan]

Great report numbersix, thanks!
Can I ask, how accurate did you find the wait times displayed on the app to actual wait times?

[numbersix]

I found that the waiting times on the app were largely the same or close to the times posted at the ride entrances. That said, the actual waiting times were often different, but in a positive way. We found that, unless there was a problem, the waiting time was usually less than the advertised wait time. I wonder if they do this to divert people away from busier rides. Peter Pan was a notable exception, you could see when you rocked up and joined the queue that the wait time was always underestimated, and you almost always waited longer than the advertised time

[Logan]

Yes, I've found that too in the past. I've been enough times to DLP to pretty much know whether it's worth queueing or not, at least from those where you can see the queue. If btm queue is almost back to the entrance, you know it will be a long wait. Not so easy to gauge with queues you can't see until you're in, such as Space Mountain and ToT.
Edit: what sort of temperatures are we talking about high 20s, 30s, plus is humidity high?