Grandma and I are getting close to our first trip to Disneyland in over 20 years. Back in the late 1990s, the kids were younger. Our plan was to alternate between Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It was a great plan. However, California did not have a Disney Vacation club presence. Lodging for a family of 4 plus my Dear Mother-in-law was expensive. So, we opted for DVC trips to Walt Disney World instead.

As the years ticked by life happens. The kids grew up and started lives of their own. Finding time became harder. Then tragedy; My Dear Mother-in-law had a massive stroke. For the next decade our lives revolved around providing around the clock care of Grandma’s mom. All things Disney went by the way side.

New Traditions

Fast forward till today. Covid is over, Grandma lost her mother, it was time to start new traditions with the next generation, the GrandChildren. In December of 2023, we began a new tradition. we took our oldest daughter, her husband, and the 2 granddaughters to Disney World. Our other daughter is not much of a theme part fan. We don’t know where we went wrong! We found that Disney World had changed a lot in the 20 years since we last visited. One thing that was constant, however, was the look of joy and wonder in the faces of the children.

Changes

We found lots of changes. Some Great. Some Not So Much. Change is inevitable and a way for the parks to remain fresh. In the tech industry you either innovate or die. Same is true for Theme Parks.

Here are the changes that I found very troubling and irritating.

• Free Fastpass replaced with Genie Plus that is now Lightning Line. These are paid replacements.
• No Off Season. The parks are pretty crowded all year long.
• Park Reservations. This has changed again, but still required in some cases.
• No Resort Delivery. You can’t get your packages delivered to your room from the parks. Universal still does.
• Magical Express closure. The shuttle service between Orlando airport and the resorts is no more.
• Attraction Down Time. Things have not been maintained as they should have been. Lots of Down Time.
• Parks look worn and tired. In the past the parks always looked like new.
• Cost and Quality of food. I think the food has degraded. In some cases degraded by a lot!
• Disney Springs. This deserves a whole post but give me the old Downtown Disney any day.
• Entitled, Spoiled Self Important guests. Seems to be more of them these days.

Now for changes that we found pretty great.

• Early Entry to ALL parks. Early entry used to be a select parks an hour ahead of time. Now all parks 1/2 hour early.
• Magic Bands. I hated keeping up with paper tickets and room key cards.
• New lands like Pandora and Galaxies Edge with their E-Ticket attractions
• Constants like Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Tower of Terror, etc. Still going strong.
• Remote Check In. You can by pass the font desk entirely.
• Streamlined Security checks.

Constants

Cast Members

Through it all one constant was the quality of the Cast Members. This has remained unchanged over the decades we have been a Disney Family. Cast Members can really make or break a vacation. I think they do not get enough credit for the fantastic job they do under very demanding conditions. This includes everyone from mousekeeping and bus drivers to food service and ride attendants . They make Disney, Disney.

Transportation

As long as we have been going to Walt Disney World, we have been amazed at Transportation. Buses run often between resorts hotels and parks. These buses are clean and pretty much run on time. Improvements to the bus stops to include status screens was a great addition. At certain parks there is water transportation between different ports of call. And let’s not forget the all new Skyliner. All in All it is very easy to navigate around Walt Disney World. This has not changed, except to get even better.

Disneyland

Extra Point if you know the decade of the above sign. Let me know in the comments!

Our last Disneyland visit was 2006. Grandma and I used DVC points to stay in the Grand Californian Hotel. It was a Grandma and I only trip as the kids were mostly grown. It was fantastic. Our room overlooked Grizzly River Run in California Adventure. We had a blast.

Fast forward to now. In the intervening years since our last visit, Disney Vacation Club has come the West Coast. In 2023 DVC opened new villas at the Disneyland Hotel. There was always a very small presence at the Grand Californian Resort. However, it is very hard to get a contact at this resort, even on the resale market. So when it became available, we jumped at the opportunity to buy additional points at the Disney Land Hotel. Having points on the west coast will make it possible for shorter and more frequent stays. We live on the west coast so flights are cheaper and shorter than to Orlando. Having only 2 parks makes it possible to experience it in fewer days. You can walk everywhere, no transportation needed. We used to stay at the Disneyland Hotel on our stays, so there is a nostalgia factor here!

We are sure there will be many changes at Disneyland as there were at Walt Disney World. Grandma and I are very excited to experience it and take it all in. This is a trip to see if our old plan of alternating Disney parks is still practical. We would love taking the Grandkids on a short 3 to 4 day trip. We are hoping that this is the start of another great tradition.

In preparation for this trip, I have done a lot of research. I have watched countless videos, read a metric crap ton of blog posts. Then I realized, I did the same for our first Walt Disney Trip back in 2023. It did not matter! It was great absorbing all the material, but at the end of the day, everyone’s experience is different. If Grandma and I had followed all the suggestions, we would have bought Genie Plus. Then we would have spent the day glued to our phones. Instead, we decided to just go free form like in the old days. It worked great for us and the family. That’s when the Be Like Crush park strategy was born. We relaxed, took it easy and it paid off. The Grandkids could unwind. They experienced Disney not as a conquest, but as a place filled with magic and wonder.

Will Be Like Crush work at Disneyland? Don’t know. We are going to find out.

Stay Tuned. We leave in a matter of weeks. Of course I will report back!

Until Next Time: