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

[deejdigsdis]

Disneyland sure looks empty that Sunday morning. I love those early morning moments before it gets crowded.

Those flowers by the Frontierland entrance are so pretty. I remember seeing those when I was there last April. They are some of my favorite Disneyland flowers.

Great score on BLAB!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I am having some internet problems at my house so I won't be on the threads until it is fixed. But while I am at work, I can still update my TRs.

Great update! You got some beautiful pictures of the ROA this morning. Not a big crowd it seems.

Your BLAB score was outstanding!

TK

Thank you TK. The RoA was quiet that morning and it was very nice on a busy Spring Break Sunday. After seeing you eat at the Riverbelle Terrace during your TR, I had to do it during this TR after not eating there the last trip in early March.

I was happy that I got a great score that morning.

Disneyland sure looks empty that Sunday morning. I love those early morning moments before it gets crowded.

Those flowers by the Frontierland entrance are so pretty. I remember seeing those when I was there last April. They are some of my favorite Disneyland flowers.

Great score on BLAB!

It's always great to go to DL in the morning. It will be very interesting to see what DL will be like in the morning when DCA will be opening at 8am when Cars Land and BVS are opened this summer.

Glad that I got those flowers right by the entrance of Frontierland for you Deej.

Thank you.

The next update will be up shortly so stay tune.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 25, 2012 – Part 3​

After waiting at the TL monorail station, I boarded Monorail Red and on my way over to the DTD station. I planned on riding the monorail around the resort back to the TL monorail station. As for the DISers that follow my TR, I like to ride the monorail at least once during each of my trips. But the last trip I couldn't ride it because the monorail was down due to refurbishment. The monorail was most likely down during my last trip was the bridge at DCA BVS. Now I get to ride my favorite ride at DL.

I was in the back side of Car 5 on Monorail Red and I was all by myself which is neat to have a car to myself.

Monorail Blue is circling TL as I left the TL station

Now passing DCA which is still closed that morning for now

Here are some pictures from BVS during the construction from the monorail

It was neat to see BVS progressing since the last time I rode the monorail back in November. 4 months is a big difference when I last saw it in person.

Lego store under construction

When I got to the DTD monorail station, I moved to the other side of the monorail to get some pics of BVS when I pass by it.

The buildings at BVS are coming along nicely

There are some guests waiting to enter DCA that Sunday morning.

I didn't get pics of the Matterhorn right at the station since there were other people with me on the monorail that entered from the DTD station. So I was unable to get some pics of the Matterhorn.

When I got off the Matterhorn, it was almost time to head on out of DL and over to DCA. But on the way over to DCA, I wanted to go by FL to see what the crowd level is like before I left DL.

Now at FL which wasn't that crowded yet

Over at PP, it was still about 15 minute wait

Back side of SB Castle

I went towards the Frontierland side instead of going through the castle to get some side pics of SB castle.

So I am on my way heading out of DL and over to DCA. MS is getting a little bit busier with more and more people coming in around 9:25am

Another look at the former Blue Ribbon Bakery which will be an expansion for CC.

Just leaving Town Square

I left DL around 9:35am and on my way over to DCA to do my usual things like I do on any of my TRs.

The next update will be later this weekend.

 

[tksbaskets]

Bret,
Great pictures from your monorail ride. The BVS pics were the best sneak peek I've had so far. Can't wait to see it open. DCA will look so different.

 

[franandaj]

Bret,
Great pictures from your monorail ride. The BVS pics were the best sneak peek I've had so far. Can't wait to see it open. DCA will look so different.

^^^^^^^ What she said! I can't wait to sit and have drink in the Cathay Circle Theater!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret,
Great pictures from your monorail ride. The BVS pics were the best sneak peek I've had so far. Can't wait to see it open. DCA will look so different.

Thank you TK. It was so fun to ride the monorail that morning and get some nice pics of BVS. Just about two months until the grand re-opening of DCA this summer.

^^^^^^^ What she said! I can't wait to sit and have drink in the Cathay Circle Theater!

It will be fun to see the inside of the CCT.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 25 2012 – Part 4​

After doing my usual rides and taking photos of DL, it is now time to head on over to DCA to do my usual favorite rides. The esplanade when I left DL was not that crowded since DCA is already opened at 9:30am.

Just passed through the turnstile and now on my way to enjoy another nice day at DCA.

When I got to Condor Flats, the first thing I did was head on over to GRR to get a FP for WoC. The regular followers know that I always get a FP when DCA opens at 9:30am even though I am not going to see the show that night is that I like to collect FPs.

As expected that I did get the first show at 8pm and the blue section.

After getting the FP, it was too early to go right by PP for the rides. So I decided to head obn back to Condor Flats to get a FP for Soarin.

I got the Soarin FP around 9:42am that morning and I had to return around 10:25am to use my FP.

I looked down towards the Carthay Circle Theater as the rope off area is right by Taste Pilotss Grill.

After being in Condor Flats, I head on over to PP to wait around the light tower until the park opens at 10am. It was nice to see the Rushin River Outfitters store all finished after it was covered with tarps on my last trip.

When I got to PP around the light tower, there were quite a number of people around the area. But it wasn't that bad as I have expected since I would thought that the crowds would be close to the LM ride.

While I was waiting until PP opened at 10am, I got some pics of the flowersright by the light tower to kill some time.

Right around the LM ride is not that crowded

Facing towards PP is crowded

Now the park officially opens at 10am and I am now part of the big group that is heading on over to PP just to go on TSMM or CS.

That is a lot of people heading on over to PP.

Most of the people head on over to TSMM while some stopped at CS

Since the whole queue for TSMM is not opened yet, the queue is so long that morning. I believe it was only a 10 minute wait. But my goal was to head on over to MFW and get the aerial photos of Cars Land and the rest of the DLR.

I head on over to MFW

When I got to MFW, there was no people as expected. So I would get my car only to myself so I can get some pics of the resort.

That is it for this post and I will have photos from MFW later today.

Happy Easter everyone.

 

[tksbaskets]

Happy Easter Bret!

I just love on DCA adventures is starting to look. Your picture of Carthay Circle Theater with TOT in the background was great! It is going to look so different we'll have to post some before/after photos.

Looking forward to your MFW view of Cars Land.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Happy Easter Bret!

I just love on DCA adventures is starting to look. Your picture of Carthay Circle Theater with TOT in the background was great! It is going to look so different we'll have to post some before/after photos.

Looking forward to your MFW view of Cars Land.

Thank you TK.

DCA is coming along nicely and we all can't wait when it opens this summer in June. That was a nice pic of the CCT with the ToT that morning. It will be very interesting to see what BVS will be like this summertime. I can't wait to go through the BVS and under new bridge which the monorail goes over. After going through the backside of Soarin this past year, I just can't wait for this summertime.

The wait is over since I forgot to upload the next post last night.

Day 2 – March 25, 2012 – Part 5​

Now I got on MFW that Sunday morning since I wanted to see what Cars Land looked like since I was there a few weeks ago. I would expect not much has changed at Cars Land. Here are my pics from MFW.

A look at Cadillac Range from MFW

You can barely see the Cove Bar is under construction

GRR

The Matterhorn looks so good without the tarpes from MFW.

Cozy Cone

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

Luigi's Flying Tires

Cadillac Range

Back to Radiator Springs town

Cozy Cone Motel sign

Tow Mater sign

Another look at the Cozy Cone Motel

That is it for now and I will have more later on.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great pictures! Do you have plans to go for the opening of Cars Land?

Looking forward to more.
TK

 

[kaoden39]

Wow Bret it all looks wonderful!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great pictures! Do you have plans to go for the opening of Cars Land?

Looking forward to more.
TK

Thank you TK.

Yes, my DA and I are planning on going to DL in June for the opening or AP preview of Cars Land if they have one. I hope that there is an AP sneak preview before the grand opening of DCA so we can avoid the insane crowds on Friday the 15th. If not, we will be there on the opening day of Cars Land. We will brave the crowds that day so that we can say we were there on the opening day of Cars Land. This will be a very different environment when we did the opening of WoC during the summer of 2010. I expect the crowd levels to be very high that Friday morning. So that first day might just be a photo taking day while we will try to go on the rides the other days.

Right now our days during the grand re-opening of DCA is June 14th to 17th. We will be there on Thursday afternoon and be there until Sunday afternoon. Three days should be enough if we spend our whole time at DCA just for the three rides, BVS, and try out the restaurants at both lands.

This will be a very interesting summer with the opening of Cars Land in which we waited for over 4 years.

Wow Bret it all looks wonderful!!

Thank you Michele.

 

[kmedina]

Glad you got an extra day at Disney. It's good that your Buzz scores were back near the 7 digit mark (at least 7-10 rides for me, lol). More great pictures. I like all of the flower shots. The flowers are so beautiful that time of year. It is so cool to see the progress at DCA and the Matterhorn at Disney. Glad the monorail was back up. I prefer the red one, so it was worth the wait. Xander loves to ride it each Disney trip too.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Glad you got an extra day at Disney. It's good that your Buzz scores were back near the 7 digit mark (at least 7-10 rides for me, lol). More great pictures. I like all of the flower shots. The flowers are so beautiful that time of year. It is so cool to see the progress at DCA and the Matterhorn at Disney. Glad the monorail was back up. I prefer the red one, so it was worth the wait. Xander loves to ride it each Disney trip too.

It was nice to get an extra day at DL. I was glad that I didn't go back to LB that day since there was nothing else to do that day. I was also glad that the people that was with me at the hotel decided not to go back to LB after yesterday. That was a long day on Saturday at being at the LB convention center and DL that Saturday night.

It has been a long time since I got a good score on BLAB.

The flowers during this time of the year is one of the best times to see it. Have you seen the EPCOT International Flowers and Garden Festival during this time of the year. The flowers, topiaries characters, etc. are so amazing. I went in 2009 & 2010 during the Flowers and Garden festival. Even though it is during spring break and the crowds were heavy, that event at EPCOT is great to see in person.

DCA and the Matterhorn are progressing nicely and we all can't wait till this summer.

It was nice that the monorails were running that trip. I really missed riding it on my last trip. The Mark VII monorails at DL are by far my favorite monorails at any Disney parks. I always have to ride the monorails on any Disney trip if they have them. I would like to ride the ones at Tokyo Disneyland Resort one day if I ever go to Japan.

The next update from MFW will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 25, 2012 – Part 6​

Now back with more pics from MFW on Sunday morning.

Top of the Carthay Circle Theater

ToT

The Cove Bar under construction

After I got out of the gondola, the queue for both the swinging and non-swinging were already long so they annouce when I got out that they had to pair other groups of people to ride in the gondolas. I was shocked to see that both queues were already that long that morning. It was not even 10:20am yet and the queue is already long. Luckily I got on MFW at the beginning when PP opened at 10am.

That is it for now and I will be back with more on another day.

 

[franandaj]

Great pictures! I can't believe how well Radiator Springs Racers is coming along, it looks pretty much done.

How do you get such great pictures without the grating? My pictures are always fulll of the grates of the cars.

 

[tksbaskets]

Thank you TK.

Yes, my DA and I are planning on going to DL in June for the opening or AP preview of Cars Land if they have one. I hope that there is an AP sneak preview before the grand opening of DCA so we can avoid the insane crowds on Friday the 15th. If not, we will be there on the opening day of Cars Land. We will brave the crowds that day so that we can say we were there on the opening day of Cars Land. This will be a very different environment when we did the opening of WoC during the summer of 2010. I expect the crowd levels to be very high that Friday morning. So that first day might just be a photo taking day while we will try to go on the rides the other days.

Right now our days during the grand re-opening of DCA is June 14th to 17th. We will be there on Thursday afternoon and be there until Sunday afternoon. Three days should be enough if we spend our whole time at DCA just for the three rides, BVS, and try out the restaurants at both lands.

This will be a very interesting summer with the opening of Cars Land in which we waited for over 4 years.



Thank you Michele.

It will be special to be there for the grand opening of Cars Land.

Your MFW photos are wonderful. Cars Land changes the whole landscape of DCA in a very cool way!

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great pictures! I can't believe how well Radiator Springs Racers is coming along, it looks pretty much done.

How do you get such great pictures without the grating? My pictures are always fulll of the grates of the cars.

Thank you Allison. Most of the rides are already completed and now are undergoing testing. Now the only thing they got to do at Radiator Springs town is just finishing up the details of the land.

I actually put my DSLR camera very close to the grating and use the extended lens which is the 55-200mm lens to get past the grating. It was difficult at first when I did it the first time on MFW a few years ago. But now I have got use to it and the pictures are clear. Sometimes the pictures are very bad that I couldn't use them.

It will be special to be there for the grand opening of Cars Land.

Your MFW photos are wonderful. Cars Land changes the whole landscape of DCA in a very cool way!

TK

This will be a great experience to be there for the grand re-opening of DCA. It also can be a nightmare with all those locals and guests on the opening day of Cars Land and BVS. If we can get on RSR and go on the other two the other days, I will consider it an accomplishment for the two of us.

Thank you TK. Cars Land will be the new face of DCA.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 25, 2012 – Part 7​

After getting off MFW, I need to head on over to BVS and HPB to see what it looks like until I leave the park that afternoon. I was so surprise to see MFW so crowded that morning and I kind of figure out why MFW was so crowded.

When I past by TSMM, it was empty so I knew that the ride was shut down due to a breakdown. That's why MFW was so busy that morning since most of the guests went on over to MFW and CS when TSMM was closed due to the breakdown.

I didn't get a photo what CS looked like, but it was busy that morning.

I head on out of PP

While I was walking down towards BVS, it would be nice to see Cars Land from the Blue Sky Cellar so I head on over there to see what it looks like.

Here are some pics of Cars Land from the BSC

I went inside the BSC to see the Cars Land presentation again just like the last trip and it always makes me so excited to see Cars Land this summer.

After leaving the BSC, I head on over to BVS to see what the progress looks like at the Carthay Circle Theater and the shops right across the CCT.

The CCT is coming along nicely

Now I was in HPB to see what it looks like that Electronica is almost over and being replaced with the Mad T party for this summer. The cover for Electronica at the center of HBP where they serve drinks is now gone and the only thing left around the area is the stage right by the Off the Page store.

Now in the area where Monsters Inc & Muppets 3D

This is where Stage 17 is located which was the former Who wants to be a Millionaire building

That's it for this post and I will be back with more later.

 

[kmedina]

I have been to Disneyland during that time of year but never DisneyWorld. Even though I am highly allergic to pollen and bees, I would like to see it at least once. You got more great pictures. Carsland looks awesome. I've never seen Toy Story down. That stinks, especially since it put extra people of your MWF.