Thumping Our Way Through Disneyland. The Dream Begins.

[smidgy]

yay!!!

[nebo]

Originally Posted by bankr63

First, I really enjoy your report, you and TMW really keep things Thumpin' along. But for me it's really about time, so my logic is a bit different than yours. Perhaps as a Project Manager, I feel I need to complete things; hit milestones as we say. I can knock off one of the Neboite's reports and it stays that way for a while. Especially with the Hot Dogs gone cold and Nomads wandering the desert now - hello Mony and Laura! Each of those has been a 10 second check for weeks now!

Malcolm, I wondered about the dogs and nomads too, best I can figure out is their schedules really got busy, I do know that Monica's did, I'm more familiar with hers.

Since I am a good Neboite and follow his orders, I read everything on his report, and most of it on a 30 minute lunch (when I take a lunch). So if I focus on the real Nebo report, I read to the end of the page, hit the next page, and watch Page 88 of 118 climb to Page 89 of 120 (I haven't even looked at his number yet today, and lunch is almost over). Yup while I finished one page of Nebo, ya'll wrote two! I know a lost cause when I see it, so with the real Nebo reports, I tawdle along in the background and finsh months after y'all have moved along. Heck, I get the same repartee from all of you on any one of these reports!

Well, um, geesh, I encourage others to interact.
I'm sorry. No I'm not. Well, really, yes I am. Um, no I'm not.
You are saying that you really wish I'd put in links to new chapters aren't you? Here's one of the problems:
I know how to do a link I think to a specific page, but not to a certain post, all 15 posts per page fall under the same umbrella. If somebody knows how, I guess it wouldn't hurt ot know this myself, for in the future.

But if you just read my chapter posts, then you'd be missing out on the world famous ad libber Ponzi, and the always clever Laura and Mony when they get around to it.
Not to mention the Bunny tag team, and many others.
I do at least put in the page number of the last chapter alwys, to help a little bit at least.

But the reason nobody gave away the result of the Hammer is because Nebo died at the end of that chapter.
It was a shock but his contract with the Dis was up and they weren't going to re-sign him anyway.

I do wish they would have come up with somthing a bit more original though:
"Trip writer Nebo's Santa Fe was shot down over the Sea of Japan, there was no survivors."

C'mon Mitch, you can keep up, just take it easy and slow, 20 minutes during the day at work, and then 20 minutes at night and you'll be right back up there, with a great new body and rock hard abs, not to mention a new outlook on life!

That said, I need to get over there too. I'm actually closer to page 100 now, and I think the Hammer might fall soon - shhhh, don't spoil it for me...

Oh.

Originally Posted by Thumper_Man

I'm going to have to hunt that person down and get our postcard.


Attention! ATTENTION!

As I mentioned, we were going to kick this TR into high gear. There has been an outcry for pictures. I've finished uploading most of them, so these next chapters are going to start coming at you pretty quick. So try to keep up and roll with us homies. Should have the next chapter up sometime tomorrow.

Yeah man, can't wait!
Not to tell you how to do your report, but Mike, if you can, since you have been to both parks now, I'd really love to hear a not only Park comparison, but if yoiu could, a ride comparison as well. I know, I'm being a jerk, but we hope to get there next year, and , like for one thing, I can't WAIT to compare the INDY JONES ride up against it's sister, Dinosaur. Or the Disenyland side-by-side Space Mountain ride against the Worlds "single file" SM.
I've also wondered if food prices are the same.
I also have a feeling that there are more foreigners at Florida then in California, am I right?

See how I am?

Looking forward to what's next, as you might be able to tell!

[Thumper_Man]

Come with me
And you’ll be,
In a World of
Pure imagination
Take a look
And you’ll see
Into your imagination

We’ll begin
With a spin
Traveling in
The world of my creation
What we’ll see
Will defy
Explanation



“How could I be here both tomorrow and yesterday when I’m here today? I don’t want to leave today, because then I might get to see what I came to see. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow and I can’t go back to yesterday. ”

This was the first thought I had when I saw this sign. Either way, I was happy to be here; no matter which here it is.

As we enter DL, Lady H and I grab a park map and off we go.

There has been a demand for lots of pictures. I don’t want to get lynched, so I will grant you your wish.








The marine layer wasn’t quite as thick this morning. Although it seems cloudy, it was pretty warm already. Not a lot of people headed down Main Street yet either. This would work in our favor. As we entered the gate, the CM handed us a card that we would have to give to another CM at the end of Main Street in order to enter Fantasyland and/or Tomorrowland. Again, this is another one of those things you want to know why DL does what they do. They did and we had no choice but to go with the flow. One would think (and believe me I thought it), once you are in the park you obviously had the proper credentials to enter early. If you didn’t, you would still be lined up outside the gates waiting to get in. And why is it we were only allowed into Tomorrowland and Fantasyland? Now I know why the sign referenced Tomorrow and Fantasy. Makes perfect sense now.

After we hand the CM our “makes no sense” card, we notice most everyone is headed to FL. We head in the opposite direction to TL. We head on over to Space Mountain. This would probably be our best chance to ride it. We get to the entrance and notice the wait time.



They’re not even distributing FP’s yet.


We walk through the queue and figure out why the wait time is 10 minutes. The CM has to wait 10 minutes for you to get there as you walk through the Queue. Take note how empty the queue is now.






Now Lady H will ride each roller coaster at least once for bragging rights.

Here she’s already getting a little nervous. This will be the first time on any trip she rides a roller coaster first.


This is probably the shortest line we would see for Space Mountain all day.



Now I know some of you wanted a few comparisons between rides. First comparison, Space Mountain DL vs. Space Mountain MK. Both are really good and each unique in their own way. Queue for SM-DL is mostly outside (as you can see in the pics I posted). SM-MK is mostly inside (although I have seen the line pretty long outside as well). Mk’s has the new interactive queue which I really enjoy. You get the pleasure of air conditioning on hot days. Not so much at DL’s. As for the ride itself, the one I really like the most is……….. Now all you WDW fans don’t go hating on me. Scroll down and skip to the next set of pictures if you must. And please don’t start a big debate, but I think DL’s is just a little bit better. Not to say I don’t like the one at MK. Trust me, I can read each one 5 times a day given the chance. DL just seemed to have a little bit smoother ride. I didn’t feel like I was getting thrown side to side on each turn. DL’s also seemed to be much darker inside than the one at MK. At MK, I can still see the track. At DL, I could not see the track at all. This made the ride a little more intense for me.

Next would be Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Another walk on ride.



There really is no difference between this one and the one over at MK. At least none that I really noticed.



Did I mention that I am the defending champ for this ride over at MK? Lady H is the defending champ for TSM. I have to defend my championship here at DL.

The winner and still champion of the world: Thumper_Man. Look at that score baby.



At the end of Buzz, you can actually email the picture to yourself. Which was good, because the pictures we tried to take didn’t quite come out. I don’t know if you’re able to do this at MK. I’ll have to look when I defend my championship once again.

After Buzz we hopped on over to Star Tours to finish off what we really wanted to do in Tomorrowland before the park opened for everyone else. Which was perfect timing on our part. Not too long after we finished Star Tours, there was a large group lining up and Star Tours jumped from a 15 minute wait when we entered the line, to a 30 minute wait. Darn CM’s must’ve opened up the park now. Every attraction we did in Tomorrowland was literally a walk on for us. EMH really worked to our benefit.

After we’re done in Tomorrowland we head on over to the Matterhorn.


Don’t we all wish the parks could stay this empty? At least the whole time we’re there?



I still need to figure out how to climb that mountain. I'll end it here for now while I go and figure it out. Plus our Early Morning Magic hour is over. Park is officially open.

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by pkondz

Au contraire! I thought the resort was pretty nice and wouldn’t have minded even more.

Ask and you shall receive. I posted some of the major highlights of the resort. Didn't want to post too many. Then what would I talk about? Plus trying not to make the posts too long.

MORE RESORT PHOTOS!

I'll also post the link in Post #2, where I've been posting the chapter links; along with the pie and eventually cake recipes.

[dwheatl]

T-Man, I think anyone with a ticket can enter Main St. early, to do shopping, buy food, or just look around. They open the two areas that get the longest lines, Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, for EMH ticket holders. I imagine they don't open the whole park, because then you have to staff a whole park. That's my theory, anyway.

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by nebo

Not to tell you how to do your report,

Ever notice when someone tells they don't want to tell you how to do something, they're going to tell you how to do something?

Originally Posted by nebo

but Mike,

Uh oh, there's that but. That means it's coming.

Originally Posted by nebo

if you can, since you have been to both parks now,

Actually, we've been to all 6 parks now. MK, AK, DHS, Epcot, DCA and DL.

Originally Posted by nebo

I'd really love to hear a not only Park comparison, but if yoiu could, a ride comparison as well.

There it is. Telling me how to write my TR. Just because you're a celebrity now don't mean you can tell me how to write a TR. I've stolen lots of ideas from you already.

Originally Posted by nebo

I know, I'm being a jerk,

Jerk. Hey, you said it first. I'm just agreeing with you.

Originally Posted by nebo

but we hope to get there next year, and , like for one thing, I can't WAIT to compare the INDY JONES ride up against it's sister, Dinosaur.

Oh. since you can't wait to do it yourself, does that mean I don't have to now?

Originally Posted by nebo

Or the Disenyland side-by-side Space Mountain ride against the Worlds "single file" SM.

I had to laugh when I read this. You just posted before I did, and I did a Space Mountain comparison in my latest post. Had I posted before you, you would've had your comparison.

Originally Posted by nebo

I've also wondered if food prices are the same.

Keep wondering. Or better yet, keep coming back and you'll find out.

Originally Posted by nebo

I also have a feeling that there are more foreigners at Florida then in California, am I right?

IMO, you would be WRONG! In Florida, your major minority would be the Brazilian's. In California, your major minority seemed to be a lot of Oriental's.

Originally Posted by nebo

See how I am?

I can't really see how you are. You're way over there and I'm way over here. I can't see that far.

Originally Posted by nebo

Looking forward to what's next, as you might be able to tell!

You just missed it.

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by dwheatl

T-Man, I think anyone with a ticket can enter Main St. early, to do shopping, buy food, or just look around. They open the two areas that get the longest lines, Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, for EMH ticket holders. I imagine they don't open the whole park, because then you have to staff a whole park. That's my theory, anyway.

That would be odd then. When we arrived, they had a separate gate open for the EMH ticket holders. There were already people starting to line up at the regular gates. So either those people didn't know they could get in, or the CM's didn't let them in without having the EMH on their ticket.

I know what you mean about staffing the whole park. We've never stayed on site at WDW, so we've never done EMH at WDW. I'm not able to compare the 2, but makes sense to open those 2 lands first.

[dwheatl]

I know it's weird, but if the park "opens" at 9, then EMH opens at 8, and Main St. at 8:30. Then they have a rope drop (sometimes) at 9.

[smidgy]

I remember at MK when they only had morning EMH (called it early entry) and it was only fantasyland for about a half hour, then tomorrow land would open next. then they let the Hoardes in.

It seemed weird to see main street and sleeping beauty's castle.. It look smaller than I thought.

the resort look sreally nice! I esp. like the nightime pictures.

I am interested how Matterhorn is (for us coaster scardey cats, those of us deathly afraid of heights.

oh yeah, I wanted to add, did I ever get my butt reamed out a year or two ago on some thread when I said something about Orientals.

I was infomed that people are NOT Oriental.. they ar Asian..a rug is Oriental. .... sheesh.. ok, if I say Asian, it could be oriental, russian, Indian, etc. etc. dont' know why I shared this rebuke with you... well, so there is enough rebuke to go around.

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by smidgy

It seemed weird to see main street and sleeping beauty's castle.. It look smaller than I thought.

Compared to Cinderella's castle, it is very small but still nice to look at. Gotta remember, back when you were young , SB's Castle was probably built as tall as they would allow them. I was reading about all the Disney castles and how Disney builds them to make them look bigger than they actually are.

Originally Posted by smidgy

the resort look sreally nice! I esp. like the nightime pictures.

Thanks. We hadn't taken any the whole week we were there. Last night before we were supposed to leave is when we said, we still need to take some night time pictures.

Originally Posted by smidgy

I am interested how Matterhorn is (for us coaster scardey cats, those of us deathly afraid of heights.

I'll cover the Matterhorn in the next chapter.

Originally Posted by smidgy

oh yeah, I wanted to add, did I ever get my butt reamed out a year or two ago on some thread when I said something about Orientals.

I was infomed that people are NOT Oriental.. they ar Asian..a rug is Oriental. .... sheesh.. ok, if I say Asian, it could be oriental, russian, Indian, etc. etc. dont' know why I shared this rebuke with you... well, so there is enough rebuke to go around.

I'll keep this in mind.

[Thumper_Man]

Nebo asked for ride comparison's. I provided my comparison for Space Mountain and I mentioned about BLAO being the same. If there were any differences between MK's AO and DL's AO, I didn't really notice them. It's all about blasting the targets once you get going.

One ride I can't compare (just in case you're wondering Nebo) is Star Tours. When we went to WDW in 2010, Star Tours was closed for a major refurb. So we never got to ride it. I don't know what changes were made to Star Tours over at DHS. I'll find out this next trip. I can let you know then. Unless you already know what they are since you're the true WDW vet here. Then you can tell me.

Star Tours at DL is about the same as I remember riding it the first time back at MGM Studios in 2006.

[wiscbugs]

Space Mountain at DL is much, much better than at WDW. We made our first trip to DL in August and I think my son rode is about 25 times. It is much smoother than WDW and the sound is great.

Star Tours is exactly the same at the two places.

Buzz is a bit better at DL because you get to lift the gun instead of it being connected to the car.

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by wiscbugs

Space Mountain at DL is much, much better than at WDW. We made our first trip to DL in August and I think my son rode is about 25 times. It is much smoother than WDW and the sound is great.

Star Tours is exactly the same at the two places.

Buzz is a bit better at DL because you get to lift the gun instead of it being connected to the car.

When in August did you go? This TR is for our trip in Aug. We were there 8/25-9/1.

See, I forgot the gun at MK was stationary. No wonder I did better at DL.

[pkondz]

Haven't read the last chapter yet... getting late and I'm tired... but I'll be back tomorrow.

However...

Originally Posted by Thumper_Man

Well, yeah. Every guy knows what's at the very top of the list.

True.

Sports.

[Thumper_Man]

Originally Posted by pkondz

Haven't read the last chapter yet... getting late and I'm tired... but I'll be back tomorrow.

However...



True.

Sports.

And beer.