Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[mvf-m11c]

What a lovely morning! I love that you have such short wait times and get to experience the park with low crowds. If only we were all that blessed every time we went!

Thanks for sharing.

It was a nice morning at DL before the park was open that morning. I like to go to the park first thing in the morning to get pictures of the park while it is not that crowded and also the short wait times for the rides which is great. If you want to go on a ride that has a high wait time in the afternoon or night, I would go on it first thing in the morning when the park opens.

Thank you PiO.

 

[tksbaskets]

HI Bret,
I just love your pictures of a quiet NOS and Critter Country. Especially of the Riverboat on the ROA.

I'm most impressed at your score on BLAB. WOW Nice update.

 

[mvf-m11c]

HI Bret,
I just love your pictures of a quiet NOS and Critter Country. Especially of the Riverboat on the ROA.

I'm most impressed at your score on BLAB. WOW Nice update.

Hi TK,

It was a nice quiet time at NOS and CC. It is so quiet when DL opens that morning and most of the people are at FL or TL. It's fun to go to those lands in the morning when it opens. The Mark Twain looks very nice in the dock before it set sails that day.

That was a nice score on BLAB. As you know that I always try to get in the 999,999+ score every time I ride it. But it didn't happen that day and maybe next time when I go back I will try it again.

Thank you

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – August 15, 2012– Part 3​

We left off at DL that Wednesday morning where I was in the park during MM and was excited to go in and go on a few rides and take some pictures of the park while it is partially empty. Mostly when I am at DL in the morning, I mostly just go around the park taking pictures while the park is empty which we don’t see too much on the threads. But I always like to get pictures of DL in the morning where it isn’t that busy.

Now I am in NOS about to go and take more different pictures in the park. I head on over to CC and passing the Haunted Mansion. As expected the HM has no wait time and no one is in the area. I like riding the HM when I have the chance, but I really like the Haunted Mansion Holiday where it is all decorated during the Halloween and Christmas season. It would be nice if the MK at WDW would have the same thing like DL, but there is no comparison for me about the Haunted Mansions at both parks. DL by far my favorite over the MK where the DL has the advantage of the Holiday version.

Now heading on over to CC

I knew that Splash Mountain will have a long queue that day since it is during the summertime and people will go on rides that get you wet and cooled down. I like to ride Splash Mountain, but the morning time was not the time to ride it. But if you don’t want to wait in a long queue to ride Splash Mountain and don’t care if it is during the morning than this is the best time to go on Splash Mountain where is not that crowded.

Over at Hungry Bear Restaurant, it is closed as expected in the morning and won’t open until later during the afternoon.

It was quiet over at CC and right by Splash Mountain

A look at Splash Mountain FP return time sign and they were early that morning

A few more light fixture pics

One of the light fixtures underneath the DLRR bridge

Over at CC, it was like a ghost town and there were no one around the area. So I head on over to Pooh’s Corner to check out the store while I was in the area.

After being in Pooh’s Corner store for awhile just to check out what is there. In the store, it has the regular merchandise that you see around DL and they do have a kitchen where they make treats. I head on out of CC and back around the ROA.

Over at the Columbia where it is at the side dock, there were CM’s working on the Columbia that morning.

Now I am back at NOS/Froniterland and it was still quiet that morning.

I now heading on over to Frontierland and see BTMRR possibly until it is closed for the refurbishment.

Just 5 minutes to get on BTMRR and the return time is early just like Splash Mountain

I passed by BTMRR and now entering the backside of Frontierland

Now heading on over to the back side of Frontierland where Big Thunder Ranch is located and the backside to Fantasyland. I will get back to the trip report on the next update.

 

[tksbaskets]

Very cool light fixture under the DLRR~

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for the pictures. That's about one of my favourite corners in DL....HM, Splash Mountain and CC....lovely and green.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very cool light fixture under the DLRR~

That was a nice light fixture underneath the DLRR.

Thanks for the pictures. That's about one of my favourite corners in DL....HM, Splash Mountain and CC....lovely and green.

Your welcome. It is very nice to go to the HM, Splash and CC in the morning where it is walk-ons.


The next update will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – August 15, 2012– Part 4​

We left off at Frontierland while I was in DL during MM that Wednesday morning. It was a nice day where the park wasn’t that crowded in Frontierland. I was just walking around the park like I usually do every time I go to DL in the morning. The rides wait times were walk-ons and I could easily go on rides in the morning. But I like to walk around to get some pictures of the park that is empty. I have only done BLAB that morning and maybe I will go on some more rides later that day.

Now I am in the backside heading on over to Big Thunder Ranch and passing by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I like to walk on the back side of Frontierland and see the mountain. Every time I see that mountain is so amazing to see.

I also got to see the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree sign which features Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Mostly Billy Hill and the Hillbillies are at the Golden Horseshoe, but this summertime they have been over at Big Thunder Ranch. The Jamboree wasn’t open that morning since BTR doesn’t open until the afternoon. So there was no way for me to get into BTR that morning.

Also around the back side of Frontierland, there were BTR Jamboree signs on the light poles promoting the Jamboree. It was also neat that they had Country Bear characters on the signs.

A look at BTMRR

More BTR Jamboree signs which had the Country Bear characters

One with Mickey on it

It was quiet around the Big Thunder Ranch

They had the times of when Billy Hill and the Hillbillies played at. It wasn’t until 11:15pm when they started to perform at BTR Jamboree

So I just head on over to the back side of Fantasyland

Another look of the backside of BTMRR

On the way over to FL, I found another light fixture which is close to a railroad lamp

Over at FL, it wasn’t that busy around Casey Jr. Circus Train

Some flowers right by the Village Haus Restaurant at FL

So I just kept walking around FL where it did get busy around Dumbo.

While I was in FL, I went over to see what the wait time for PP was at. It was around 20 minute wait time so I wasn’t on planning on going on PP since I have rode it that morning. I still had plenty of time in the park since my DB and V were still resting up in the hotel while I am walking around the park while it just opened a while ago.

King Arthur Carrousel

A look at the backside of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

When I looked at the backside of SB Castle, I decided to head on in the castle and go through Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough. I haven’t been through the walkthrough in about a year and it is fun going in. It has been the same ever since they have re-opened it after it was closed for a while. So I head on in Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough.

I got a few pictures inside the walkthrough. I was trying to get a lot of pictures inside the walkthrough, but some of them didn’t turn out really well so I took a few pictures.

After going through SB walkthrough, I started to go around the park and decided to head on back to Tomorrowland and go on some rides. While I was in FL, I also saw that some of the ride wait times started to pick up and a few more people were in the park that day. I thought about going through to the front of TL, but I went back to the back side.

That’s it for this post and I will have the next post. We will find out what I did next that day at DL in the morning.

 

[franandaj]

OK, pretty much caught up. You take a lot of pictures!!!!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

All caught up too.

Love the light fittings.

 

[mvf-m11c]

OK, pretty much caught up. You take a lot of pictures!!!!!!

Thank you Alison.

All caught up too.

Love the light fittings.

Thank you PiO.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – August 15, 2012– Part 5​

We left off at Fantasyland where I was in Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough where I haven’t been there in quite a long time. It was nice to go through the walkthrough and see the story of Sleeping Beauty. It was re-opened a few years ago where it was closed. Now, the park was nice and quiet that morning and I can tell that it was going to pick up later that day with more and more guests coming in the park.

I have just passed the Mad Hatter store and on my way on back to TL to possibly go on some rides. I haven’t decided on what to ride yet, but I will decide when I get closer. While I was about to leave FL, it was getting busy around Dumbo, Storybook Land Canal Boats & Alice in Wonderland. Those three rides always get huge lines in the morning, afternoon or night.

Just passing by the Matterhorn while heading on over to the Matterhorn and it looks so amazing now that it is re-open. I did say on my past updates during this trip report that I don’t like the railings on parts of the mountain. But safety is a key issue to the ride.

I was right by the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Lagoon looking at how nice it is that morning where it is a little cloudy, but that’s how it is every morning in Anaheim where it is partially cloudy in the morning. I don’t mind the cloudy morning in Anaheim during the summertime since it is one of the hottest times of the year to be in Anaheim.

Another look at the Matterhorn

While I was heading on over to Tomorrowland, I see Monorail Orange or Mandy they would call it during the summertime entering the TL Monorail Station.

The day in TL was not that busy where the FNSV was a 10 minute wait that morning which is great. But I decided not to go on it since I have done it a lot of times over the years. For my possible trip in January with my other aunt, her BF and her DD which is 2, that this is a ride that she will like the most. But I will get to that another time while I am still working on this trip report and have two more trips at WDW in a few weeks and DL next month.

A look at the Matterhorn right by the FNSV entrance

Over at TL, it started to pick up with more and more people. I knew that TL would be quite crowded that morning since most of the guests head on over to this land when the park opens just to ride Space Mountain and Star Tours. I knew that SM will always have a long queue in the morning all the way to night while Star Tours didn’t get a lot of people in the morning. Shows you in one year while Star Tours got a lot of people and the wait times were in the 1+ hour wait time. Now after one year, it is in the 5 to 10 minute wait time in the morning. I looked over at Space Mountain and the wait time was around 25 minutes to get on so I didn’t go on it that morning.

You can tell from that the queue for ST is not that long that morning

While I was in TL, I decided to go back on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster and get redemption on the ride since I got an average score that morning. It was only a 5 minute wait time so it was an easy decision to go back on the ride. I could have not and just walked around like I usually do at the park, but I wanted to go and see what happens the 2nd time.

When I finished up BLAB, I got the 999,999+ score on the ride. This time the gun was working really well and I scored a lot of points on the ride. Most of my points was from the secret Zurg target where I hit it about 3 times. So I knew that this was going to be a great score and I was looking forward to see what I got total.

I wasn’t the top score that morning, but I did had the 2nd highest at 1,025,100. So I just barely got past the one million point score that morning. This was not even close to my good score of 2,000,000+ a few years ago, but I was happy with the score.

Who’s that point the gun at the screen?

When I got off BLAB, it was still early that morning and I decided to head on over to DCA. I could have stayed in DL a little longer, but I have walked all around the park that morning. I wanted to go over and get some last second pictures of DCA before the three of us headed on back to Sacramento. But we didn’t have to leave the room until 12pm so I had some time. I also didn’t want to keep them waiting that long so I didn’t stay too long at the parks that morning.

Now I am heading on out of DL and over to DCA. It wasn’t that busy around TL and Star Tours was a walk-on.

Now back at the Hub.

Before I head on out of the park, I head on over to Frontierland to get some last minute pictures as well as get a FP for BTMRR since I like to collect FP’s. I was happy that I was able to ride BTMRR before the rumors said that it was going to be closed later this year. At least I got a shot to ride it that trip and maybe I will be able to ride it again in the next trip to DL.

It was quiet at Frontierland

I got my FP for BTMRR and it was an early time

So I now head on out of Frontierland and back towards the Hub at MS

Some flowers right by the entrance of Frontierland

When I was back in the Hub, I started to head on out while more and more people are entering.

It was just before 9am that I was about to leave MS

That’s it for this update to the trip report and we will wait and see what I did later that day at DCA.

 

[tksbaskets]

Holy smoking BLAB gun!

One time my DH got the 999999 score (the ride was stopped for some reason in the Zurg area) and thought his gun was broken so he quit trying to hit more. Boy was he surprised when we sent that email home and he saw his acutal score.

He's never scored 2 million! WOW.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's a fantastic BLAB score. I was looking at the pictures and then saw the score and all I can remember is the score!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Holy smoking BLAB gun!

One time my DH got the 999999 score (the ride was stopped for some reason in the Zurg area) and thought his gun was broken so he quit trying to hit more. Boy was he surprised when we sent that email home and he saw his acutal score.

He's never scored 2 million! WOW.

I was really lucky during the 2nd attempt on BLAB that morning. It did made my day at DL that morning where I got a good score. It has been a couple of years since I have hit the 999,999+ score. There were times on riding BLAB that it stopped to let handicapped people on the ride and i just kept shooting until the ride was done.

Do you know what your DH scored when he got the 999,999+ on BLAB?

Thank you TK.

That's a fantastic BLAB score. I was looking at the pictures and then saw the score and all I can remember is the score!

Thank you PiO. That was a nice score on BLAB.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – August 15, 2012– Part 6​

We left off at Disneyland where I just finished riding Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster and got a 999,999+ score and I was on my way out of Disneyland and over to Disney California Adventure that morning. It was a nice morning where I was at the park during Annual Pass Early Entry. I only there for only 30 minutes, but I have done Magic Morning before in the past at Disneyland so it wasn’t a priority like Disney California Adventure the other day. Before it was time to head on back to the hotel and meet up with my DB and V, I wanted to do some other activities at Disney California Adventure that morning. There was something else that I haven’t done at Cars Land ever since it has opened during the summertime and you will find out later on. Let’s get back to the trip report.

I was about to leave Disneyland that morning which is around 9am that Wednesday morning. In the past when Disney California Adventure opens at 10am, I head on over to DCA around 9 to 9:30am in the morning to get a FP and wait around Paradise Pier until the park opens at 10am. But now that DCA opens at the same time as DL during the regular hours during the summertime, it is something different that I don’t experience too much ever since I have been going to the Disneyland Resort a lot the last few years.

Just like when I went to DCA at 7am during my APEE, it was odd that I was going to DCA first before to DL. It just shows you that DCA has come a long ways since it opened back in 2001. This does help a lot for people who are at DL where both parks can balance out each other with guests so that DL is not that crowded like in the past.

Disneyland was getting a little busy that morning at Main Street where more and more guests are coming in the park while I was about to exit the park.

When I passed by the Emporium store, I remember to get pictures of the window display of the Disney movies for you Lil’ Grumpy if you are reading my trip report. I knew that you were at the DLR during the summertime and I remember to get these pictures for you.

I was now in Main Street Town Square about to head on out of DL while it was not that full.

A look at the Fire House

City Hall

One of the DLRR engines was at the MS station picking up guests and it was the Fred Gurley Engine #3

Now I exited DL and now at the esplanade. It was really busy that morning at DL where there was a huge line on the right hand side of the turnstiles to enter the park while the left side is the exit and the middle turnstiles was just closed off.

Good thing that I wasn’t going in the park that morning since there were a lot of people heading on in DL that morning.

While I was in the esplanade, I was about to head on over to DCA and like always later during the morning, it wasn’t that busy. Every time DL turnstiles get way more people than DCA, but I have no problem with that since I go to DL first thing in the morning and then head on over to DCA. When I go back to DL next month with my DA, I am thinking of doing the opposite and go to DCA first thing in the morning and DL later. But I knew if I do that DL turnstiles will be crowded. It is mostly for Radiator Springs Racers where it gets huge wait times during the day and the FP are gone the first hour to two when the park opens.

I passed through the turnstiles at DCA and now in Buena Vista Street. At first it wasn’t that full and it was walkable. So on the way over to my next destination, I stopped around to take a few pics including the rededication plaque at the Flag Retreat.

After I got a picture of the plaque, I now head down BVS

A look at the Carthay Circle Theater

When I was right by the CCT, I thought about riding the Red Car Trolley, but I wanted to head on over to Cars Land and do some activities in the area before I head on back to the room. The Red Car Trolley was full so I couldn’t get in the car.

Around the CCT, the RSR FP queue was still going on that morning even after one hour. But I wasn’t planning on getting a FP since I wouldn’t be able to use it since we will be gone that day.

Also there were a sign that DCA was filming that day. I didn’t know what they were filming that day on Wednesday August 15th. I was intrigued on what they were filming. It must be for the promotion of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street.

Good thing I got FPs the other day and don’t have to go in the RSR FP queue to get FP’s that day.

Now I am heading on over to Cars Land to do my next activity. No it is not RSR since the wait time will be at least an hour or even 2 hours that morning.

Over at CL, it wasn’t that busy and I didn’t see that long queue for RSR like the other day during APEE/MM. I knew that they were all at the queue of RSR. So I head on in to do my next activitiy.

That’s it for this post and I we will see what I did next that morning at Cars Land.

 

[Sherry E]

So we have no idea what was filmed that day? Interesting! It could have been anything (unless you already found out what it was and just haven't gotten to that part of the TR yet).

I suppose the filming could be anything. Travel Channel, the Food Network and HGTV could all be doing specials on Disneyland Resort, or on Disney Parks in general. Or, perhaps they will now do separate shows only about DCA. In the past, Disneyland was the main focus and not much time was spent on DCA in their shows. Perhaps they are updating existing shows with brand new segments or footage from CL and BVS.

I love those Matterhorn pictures in the previous post (before this last one)!

(By the way, more rumors are coming out about the reindeer not being at the Round-Up/Jamboree this year. It's not official yet, but...I don't even need to say anymore - you know my thoughts on that!)

 

[mvf-m11c]

So we have no idea what was filmed that day? Interesting! It could have been anything (unless you already found out what it was and just haven't gotten to that part of the TR yet).

I suppose the filming could be anything. Travel Channel, the Food Network and HGTV could all be doing specials on Disneyland Resort, or on Disney Parks in general. Or, perhaps they will now do separate shows only about DCA. In the past, Disneyland was the main focus and not much time was spent on DCA in their shows. Perhaps they are updating existing shows with brand new segments or footage from CL and BVS.

I love those Matterhorn pictures in the previous post (before this last one)!

(By the way, more rumors are coming out about the reindeer not being at the Round-Up/Jamboree this year. It's not official yet, but...I don't even need to say anymore - you know my thoughts on that!)

I don't even know what they have filmed that day since I was in DCA for about two hours until I had to leave that day. I didn't stay too long at the park. I could have asked a CM at Guest Relations of what they were filming today, but I wanted to do some other activities at the park. Now I would have liked to find out what they were filming that day.

The filming could have been anything just as you said. I would guess that it was for the Disney Parks company promoting the new lands. That would be my guess that day since I didn't see any camera crews while I was passing the Carthay Circle Theater. Just as you said that the DLR is updating the footage of the DVDs of the park or the Travel Chanel, etc.

Thank you Sherry.

I will be shocked if there are no reindeer's at the Round-Up/Jamoree.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great morning pictures of DCA. Thanks for being so diligent during your time at DLR to take these shots to share with us.

I can't wait to see it for myself.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great morning pictures of DCA. Thanks for being so diligent during your time at DLR to take these shots to share with us.

I can't wait to see it for myself.

Thank you PiO.

The day was really nice and as you know that I like to go to the parks to relax and take pictures while I am roaming around the parks.

The next post will be up shortly.