DW, DS17, DS20, and myself visited Disneyland Thursday 6/26 and Saturday 6/28. (We visited SFMM on Friday.) Here are a few comments from my trip:
Wide Right – We arrived 5 minutes before rope drop Saturday and had decided to do TSMM since we were way at the back of the crowd to enter CA. At the last minute I yelled to my family that we should try wide right for the heck of it. Well, it worked like magic! We stuck to the right at the back of the crowd and BOOM, all of the sudden we are at the front of the crowd headed to RSR. I thought my wife would have issues with the crowd crush due to her claustrophobia but she and DS17 actually passed me and I had to catch up! I guess her expert Black Friday shopping experience paid off for once, lol. We were on RSR in probably 10 – 15 minutes. There was just a bit of jostling where they funnel the crowd down to a line, but nothing out of control at all.
RSR Fast Passes – We rode TSMM and Screamin’ after RSR Saturday morning and wanted to get additional RSR fast passes for a night time ride. It took way longer than I thought for the return time to get to where I wanted. We relaxed at Starbucks for a while and I finally settled for 5:55PM - 6:55PM since we wanted to get over to the DL side. I think it was around noon. However, we did end up getting a night ride because of well timed……
Ride Breakdowns – TSMM broke down when we rode Saturday morning and we had to be escorted off the ride. The CM’s were well organized but it did take a while to evacuate the entire ride. We did receive a special Fast Pass good for anything except RSR. If ya’ll ever receive one of these I recommend you use it on a ride that does not take Fast Passes. The reason being – on Fast Pass rides they put you in the Fast Pass line, but with no Fast Pass line rides they let you on the ride immediately. My kids used the pass to ride Matterhorn and bypass a huge line Saturday night as our first to last ride.
When we arrived to use our 5:55 - 6:55PM RSR fast passes Saturday evening we were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t quite dark yet. But, at least the ride lights were turned on. Well, RSR was down and we were told we could return any time that evening! We waited until after dark and used the expired Fast Passes without a hitch.
(Sorry for the watermark, just paranoia after frequenting professional photography forums. Never know what people could try with your photos.)
Crowd Levels – Planning the trip in late June when most of the AP’s are first blocked still seems to be a good strategy. Crowd levels Saturday were definitely smaller than Thursday, although I didn’t think either day was that bad.
FFI – we requested quiet rooms away from elevators and foot traffic. We stayed in rooms 540 and 541 on the back side of the hotel and were quite happy with the noise levels, by far the best stay we’ve had there. Great service and employees as usual.
Disney Cats – this was the first time I noticed the Disney cats. I think this kitty got more attention from the crowd than some of the characters
Mad T Party - really enjoyed watching this for a few minutes, especially the dancers for the Rhythm Nation (Janet Jackson song) performance. If there were more of a dance floor I would have busted out some old school dance moves with DW to embarrass my kids, but it just wasn't happening
Disney Magic – We traditionally ride Splash as our last ride (this is our 4th trip). We showed up just before midnight and were one of the last boats of the night (the ride was closed when we finished). We always order a ride photo when we are done. (I think DS17 actually practices different faces for these ride photos, the look on his face was beyond bizarre and got quite a few comments in the photo queue, sheesh…) After chatting with the very nice young lady CM, she handed me my photo and digital download card and said, “since this is your last day at the park I’m giving you this photo for free”! This is the type of stuff that keeps people coming back to the parks, kudos Disney!
Wide Right – We arrived 5 minutes before rope drop Saturday and had decided to do TSMM since we were way at the back of the crowd to enter CA. At the last minute I yelled to my family that we should try wide right for the heck of it. Well, it worked like magic! We stuck to the right at the back of the crowd and BOOM, all of the sudden we are at the front of the crowd headed to RSR. I thought my wife would have issues with the crowd crush due to her claustrophobia but she and DS17 actually passed me and I had to catch up! I guess her expert Black Friday shopping experience paid off for once, lol. We were on RSR in probably 10 – 15 minutes. There was just a bit of jostling where they funnel the crowd down to a line, but nothing out of control at all.
RSR Fast Passes – We rode TSMM and Screamin’ after RSR Saturday morning and wanted to get additional RSR fast passes for a night time ride. It took way longer than I thought for the return time to get to where I wanted. We relaxed at Starbucks for a while and I finally settled for 5:55PM - 6:55PM since we wanted to get over to the DL side. I think it was around noon. However, we did end up getting a night ride because of well timed……
Ride Breakdowns – TSMM broke down when we rode Saturday morning and we had to be escorted off the ride. The CM’s were well organized but it did take a while to evacuate the entire ride. We did receive a special Fast Pass good for anything except RSR. If ya’ll ever receive one of these I recommend you use it on a ride that does not take Fast Passes. The reason being – on Fast Pass rides they put you in the Fast Pass line, but with no Fast Pass line rides they let you on the ride immediately. My kids used the pass to ride Matterhorn and bypass a huge line Saturday night as our first to last ride.
When we arrived to use our 5:55 - 6:55PM RSR fast passes Saturday evening we were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t quite dark yet. But, at least the ride lights were turned on. Well, RSR was down and we were told we could return any time that evening! We waited until after dark and used the expired Fast Passes without a hitch.
(Sorry for the watermark, just paranoia after frequenting professional photography forums. Never know what people could try with your photos.)
Crowd Levels – Planning the trip in late June when most of the AP’s are first blocked still seems to be a good strategy. Crowd levels Saturday were definitely smaller than Thursday, although I didn’t think either day was that bad.
FFI – we requested quiet rooms away from elevators and foot traffic. We stayed in rooms 540 and 541 on the back side of the hotel and were quite happy with the noise levels, by far the best stay we’ve had there. Great service and employees as usual.
Disney Cats – this was the first time I noticed the Disney cats. I think this kitty got more attention from the crowd than some of the characters
Mad T Party - really enjoyed watching this for a few minutes, especially the dancers for the Rhythm Nation (Janet Jackson song) performance. If there were more of a dance floor I would have busted out some old school dance moves with DW to embarrass my kids, but it just wasn't happening
Disney Magic – We traditionally ride Splash as our last ride (this is our 4th trip). We showed up just before midnight and were one of the last boats of the night (the ride was closed when we finished). We always order a ride photo when we are done. (I think DS17 actually practices different faces for these ride photos, the look on his face was beyond bizarre and got quite a few comments in the photo queue, sheesh…) After chatting with the very nice young lady CM, she handed me my photo and digital download card and said, “since this is your last day at the park I’m giving you this photo for free”! This is the type of stuff that keeps people coming back to the parks, kudos Disney!
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