fightinillini229
Horizons 1 is now departing...
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2005
- Messages
- 190
Intro
This is my first attempt at a trip report, so you’re all going to have to bear with me while I go through this process! First, a little bit about me. I am going to be a senior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this coming fall, and am originally from a northwest suburb of Chicago. This summer, I am interning at Abbott Vascular in Temecula, California, which is about 90 miles south of LA and 60 miles north of San Diego. One of the first things that came to mind when I found out I was going to be assigned to California for the summer was my proximity to Disneyland. I have been to WDW 7 times growing up with an 8th trip coming up this August, but we never got to do Disneyland while out in California on family vacations. 12 weeks in Southern California for the summer appeared to be the best opportunity to visit the park that started it all.
Two weeks ago, my boss told me that she would head out on vacation for a week and a half and that I could take a day off and do some sightseeing around SoCal. As this was the only day off I was going to get during the week over the course of the summer, I knew that I was going to head to DL in order to try and miss the crowds that descend on the weekends. I was a little sticker shocked when I saw that a one day one park ticket was $87 and purchasing one through my work saved me all of $4, but as this was probably my only chance to get up to DL while out here in California, I bit the bullet and decided that it was worth the price.
We have always been “power” Disney visitors when visiting WDW; my mom plans every minute in every park from when we have to get FPs to ADR’s and the prime fireworks viewing spots. As a result, after learning I was going to DL, I immediately hit up the DIS boards and other websites to try and locate some one day touring plans. After plenty of searching, I couldn’t really find anything for a WDW vet that only had one day in DL. Most plans I found assumed you had either multiple days in the park, or a park hopper, neither of which were true in my case. So I sat down, and figured out my own touring plan. Thanks to Hydroguy’s thread about FP utilization in high season, I was able to plan out most of my morning and hit the major headliners as well as collect FPs while the crowds were still *relatively* low. According to Touring Plans, the crowd level at DL was supposed to be a 4. Unfortunately, because it was also a Grad Night, I would guess that the crowd level started at a 4, but by 2 or 3 in the afternoon was easily a 7 or 8.
My Disney Day
I left my apartment in Temecula at 5:45 in the morning. As a WDW vet, I realize the importance of the first hour or two after the park opens, and with the LA traffic being as unpredictable as it is, I wanted to leave myself enough buffer time to make sure I was in DL by 8. The drive without traffic is right around an hour, and with the morning rush hour traffic I was in the parking lot by 7:20. I had read all over that parking in the Toy Story lots was significantly better than Mickey and Friends, and from my experience on Tuesday I would 100% agree. When I pulled in at 7:20, there was no line at the toll booth. I then parked on the Woody side maybe 10 cars down from where the shuttle picks you up. I walked up, immediately got on a bus, and was at the Esplanade by 7:35. When I was leaving the park at closing, there was a massive mob of people heading over to where the Mickey and Friends tram picks up, and significantly less heading to the Toy Story Lot shuttle. I was walking down Main Street at 11 and was in my car merging onto the expressway by 11:25. I would highly recommend the Toy Story lot, especially if you plan on leaving during the mass exodus at closing.
I had forgotten that unlike the Magic Kingdom at WDW, they don’t hold you at the main entrance, but rather let you into DL and hold you at the hub. I was at the rope for Tomorrowland by 7:45. Good start. 8 rolled around and the opening announcement played over the PA system. Either everyone at DL actually listens to the “walk, don’t run” part, but I was the only person off and running toward SM as soon as the CMs indicated we were free to do so. As a veteran SM Marathon runner from WDW, I had my FP for SM in hand and was entering the standby line just as everyone else from the rope was arriving at the entrance. As there was MM the day that I was there, I still ran into a line inside SM, but was still done with my first ride on SM with a FP in hand by 8:20. I really enjoyed the onboard audio that played throughout the ride, but still prefer the WDW version of the ride. The SM FP had a return time of 8:40, so that meant I could grab my next FP at 8:35. I hoofed it across the hub to Adventureland and was entering the line for Indiana Jones by 8:25. Perfect, I thought to myself; the ride shouldn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes, and I would be right there to grab a FP for Indiana Jones around 8:40. Of course, Murphy’s Law came a knocking and threw my plans through a loop.
June Gloom in the morning, but it warmed up quickly!
Just before boarding Indiana Jones, all the lights came up to full strength. I immediately knew this meant that the ride had shut down. Sure enough, the increase in lighting was accompanied by “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our ride vehicles. We hope to return to normal operations as soon as possible. Thank you.” The CM in front of me said that this type of thing usually only lasted about 20 minutes, but I knew that this delay was only going to push my next FP time out. After 15 minutes, the announcement for CMs to clear the track was made, and after 20 minutes the ride was running again. I really enjoyed the ride, and easily understand why it is such a headliner at DL. I exited the ride at 9 and grabbed a FP. The return window was 10:15, so not terrible. Plus I was planning on doing Frontierland, NOSQ, and Critter Country next anyway, and didn’t need a FP for anything in these lands.
I walked over to BTMRR next, and rode it with a 15 minute wait. Very similar to the WDW version, but still a fun ride. Next was Splash Mountain. I noticed that the standby line was only 15 minutes still, but as I was alone I figured why not do the single rider line. Walked around back through the exit and was immediately seated in the next log with no wait. For some reason, I noticed people were just not getting as wet compared to Splash at WDW. Every time I have ridden Splash at WDW, I have come off completely drenched. People getting off at DL appeared to be a little wet but nowhere near the level of WDW. I had my laptop in my backpack as I had planned on catching up on email during lunch, and was initially nervous about it getting wet, but rode with no problems. I enjoyed that the DL version of this ride had a more deep south vibe to it compared to its WDW sister. I would have to assume it is because the ride is located in Frontierland at WDW and as a result has a more western twang style.
My adoptive family for SM.
After Spash, I walked right over to HM. There was no wait and immediately walked into a stretching room. I enjoyed the ride, and it was cool to see the attic scene that is largely absent in the WDW version. When I walked out of HM, it was right around 9:50. 3 rides in 50 minutes? Not too shabby! With still some time before my next FP window opened, I jumped on POTC before heading back over to Tomorrowland. It goes without saying that POTC blew me away here at DL. Not to say that I don’t enjoy the ride back at WDW, but the one in DL blows the WDW version out of the water. It’s really too bad I didn’t get a chance to grab a Rueben at the Blue Bayou, but I suppose I have to save some things for when I return with my own children down the road!
I walked back over to Tomorrowland and was ready to grab a FP for Star Tours right around 10:30. ST FP return time was 1pm, so the 2 hour window would begin, but I planned to grab a FP before heading out to lunch around 12:30 so this would work out perfectly. I grabbed my FP and got in the standby line. I am a huge Star Wars nerd, and I loved the original ST ride. This would be my first time on ST 2.0, and I was initially worried that the new version might not live up to my expectations simply from nostalgia’s sake. Boy, were my worries unfounded. I LOVED the new ride. It is now a toss-up between WDW’s Space Mountain and Star Tours as to which is my favorite ride at Disney.
I exited ST right around 11:15 and headed over to the Finding Nemo Subs. As something that no longer exists at WDW, I was excited to experience the Submarine Voyage ride’s current incarnation. This ended up being the longest line of the day, at close to 40 minutes. I enjoyed the ride, but would not wait longer than 15 minutes to ride it again. I walked over to BLAB and the line was posted as 1 minutes. Perfect. I liked the ability to actually pick up the gun out of the holster, compared to the attached guns in WDW, but other than that the ride was very similar. I finished BLAB around 12:25, walked over to SM, and secured another FP with a return time of 4:20. The 2 hour window went into effect, but that worked pretty well with my plan to spend at least an hour at McDonalds.
In the first 4 hours, I had managed to ride 9 rides and had 2 FPs for SM, 1 for Indiana Jones, and 1 for ST. I considered that an extremely successful morning. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to check some email during lunch. In addition to free Wi-Fi, the food at McD’s was obviously significantly cheaper than eating lunch in the park. I planned to eat dinner in the park, so eating lunch offsite was definitely the way to go.
I returned to the park around 2 and browsed the Main Street shops for a few minutes. I returned to Tomorrowland at 2:20 ready to get my next FP. I had originally planned to grab a second ST one, but ended up getting one for Autopia with a return time of 3:20. That gave me an hour to head over to Fantasyland and visit some of the rides that were DL exclusives, then drop by ST at some point to pick up my last FP. First on the list of DL exclusives; Alice in Wonderland. Of all the dark rides I did in Fantasyland, Alice was my least favorite, but it was still enjoyable as it was something not found in WDW. After Alice I headed over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which closed in WDW shortly before my first visit in November of 1998. After Mr. Toad, I headed over to Toontown to ride Rodger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. I didn’t anticipate a long line, but when I arrived the standby time was 55 minutes. I was shocked, but then remembered that the RR FPs were disconnected from the network. Fantastic! I secured a RR FP with a return time an hour out. (4:45)
At this point I was able to get another FP for an in-network attraction, so I walked back over to Tomorrowland and picked up my final ST FP with a return time of 7:55. The standby at 3:50 was still only 30 minutes, and even with 2 FP in my possession I decided to jump in line again. After ST, I walked back over to It’s a Small World and rode it with no wait, followed by RR with my FP and Storybook Land Canal Boats which had a 15 minute wait. As a 6’2 21 year old guy, I’m sure I looked a little creepy standing in line for all of these Fantasyland attractions, and always felt a little sad saying “1” when the CM would ask me how many were in my party, but I was not going to let that stop me from seeing everything in DL that I couldn’t experience back East!
The final collection of FPs for the day
After these 3 rides, it was just about 5:20. I then headed to the last Fantasyland attraction on my list, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. I’m not sure why, but this was my favorite dark ride I did all day. Maybe it’s my affinity for Jiminy Cricket, who knows. While walking from Fantasyland to Adventureland, I stopped and took a walk through Sleeping Beauty castle and looked at the dioramas inside, which I thought were very well done!
I should mention that shortly after I rode Indiana Jones in the morning, the ride broke down once again and was down from about 10 in the morning until 5:15 in the afternoon. I kept checking my Touring Plans Lines app on my phone, which kept reporting it down. Finally, around 5:30 I decided to walk past and ask the CMs outside if they thought there was any chance it would open again that day. This time, Lady Luck was on my side, I learned when I walked up that they had just starting letting people back into the queue about 15 minutes prior. Rather than waste my FP, I utilized the single rider option and literally walked up to the boarding area.
I exited Indiana Jones around 6:05 and as I was walking past the Tiki Room I noticed that a show was about to start. I had not seen the Tiki Room since my first trip way back in 1998 and even then it was the awful “Under New Management” version, not the original Walt Disney version. I took a seat in the back so I would have something to rest my back against. I really enjoy the Tiki Room, even if some people think it is dated. When I walked out of the show, I was walking back toward Tomorrowland to ride Autopia when I realized the parade was just starting. Being 6’2 really helped now, as I was able to stand a few people back from the curb and still catch the entire parade. I think this is the first time since my family’s first trip back in 1998 where I watched a Disney daytime parade (we always catch Spectromagic or MSEP) and I really enjoyed it. The whole Sounsational thing really worked!
My sister loves Tinkerbell, and I was able to get her to wave right at me and snap a picture
After the parade, it was just about dinnertime. I didn’t want to lose too much time and to be honest did not think to research any counter service places for dinner online, so I ended up eating at Rancho del Zocalo in Adventureland as I wanted to use my Indiana Jones FP right after dinner. Eating at Disney is the opposite of cheap and didn’t expect a whole lot but was pleasantly surprised! For about $10 I got two fajita tacos, beans and rice. Anywhere outside of Disney I would have been upset at the amount of food for the price but for Disney I was fairly satisfied! Not quite as good as the nachos from La Cantina at Epcot, but not bad either!
Not terrible for Disney prices!
With my stomach full, it was about 7:30, and about time to start using my FPs if I was going to catch all the nighttime festivities. A quick walk and I was at the entrance to Indiana Jones. Standby time? 140 minutes. I remember reading somewhere that Disney had figured out a guest is happy if they ride 5 rides a day. This seems unrealistically low, but I guess it’s the people waiting 140 minutes in line that only get to ride 5 rides! I overhead a CM tell two individuals that the single rider line was 40 minutes, so I decided that FP was the way to go.
This brings me to a side point for discussion among DL vets. The single rider line at IJ allows you to proceed up the exit to the first mini-preshow area, where you are held by a CM alongside people from the standby queue. Then you are allowed to enter the normal queue, where you can either proceed to the loading area where handicap individuals are loaded, or even go right up the stairs with the other people in the standby queue. It seems to me that abusing the single rider line would be extremely easy at IJ; simply put that single rider pass in your pocket once you get past the preshow and proceed up the stairs to the loading area with the rest of the standby riders. With my FP, I was only able to skip the line outdoors and it still took about 30 minutes with all the queuing inside the attraction. Has anyone else ever noticed this?
Sorry for the digression, I just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience! After using my FP for IJ, it was about 8. I still had 5 FPs in my possession; 2 for SM, 2 for Star Tours, and 1 for Autopia. With a little over an hour before Magical, I made an executive decision to pass on Autopia unless time permitted after the second showing of Fantasmic, as I would much rather ride the other attractions in Tomorrowland. That left me with 4 rides and a little over one hour to take them in. Challenge accepted!
Got to SM around 8:05 and used my first FP. Standby line was 45 minutes. Not terrible considering the amount of grads there for grad night. Walked up to the start of the indoor queue, and was boarding 10 minutes later. 15 minutes after entering the SM queue, I was circling back around to the FP entrance in order to use my second FP. Right on track. The second time the indoor queue was a little longer, and I was done with my SM FPs by 8:45. 2 rides done, 2 more to go. I used my first FP for ST and entered the line at 8:50. Unfortunately ST is just simply not as fast of a queue as SM, so my first ride was done right around 9:10. At this point, I had two options; ride ST again and forgo a decent viewing location for Magical, or ride one more time and just catch Magical where I could. I chose to jump on ST one more time, as I just really loved the new ride. I walked out of ST at 9:26, just in time to try and find a place where I could see some of the fireworks.
Forever alone in the front row of SM. I was able to have an amazing time at DL even while alone!
I walked right to the entrance of Tomorrowland where CMs were helping to direct the flow of people in and out of Tomorrowland and in and around the hub. I stood just to the south of Astro Orbiter along the railing the boarders the Plaza Inn, and was actually able to most of the fireworks. Was it as good as viewing on Main Street USA or the hub? Definitely not, but I was able to use up all my SM and ST FPs in a little over an hour and catch Magical. I considered it a success. Unfortunately, Dumbo did not fly that night, I’m not sure if it’s still a night to night decision or if they removed that portion of the show, but either was I was slightly disappointed.
Playing with Instagram
As the fireworks ended, I began to make my way across the hub to secure my place for Fantasmic. I was determined to get a good view. I made my way to the front of the rope where they were holding the incoming Fantasmic viewing guests to allow for people who had caught the first Fantasmic and stayed for Magical. I know people have their ways of getting around this rope where they hold people, but as soon as the rope was lowered I made my way over to the seated viewing section and was able to secure a spot right off of the split of the two seated areas and about 15 feet off of the rail. In my opinion, there really is no better viewing spot. And because the second show was at 10:15, I only had to wait 25 for the show to start.
I have to say that Fantasmic is definitely better at DL compared to the show over at MGM. Between the Peter Pan ship and the full sized dragon, the show just felt so much bigger. It also helps to be sitting so close to all the action.
And with that, my day at DL ended. I stopped in a few shops along Main Street, picked up some souvenirs for my friends and family, and grabbed a Star Wars Vinylmation for myself. I cannot stress enough the benefits of parking in the Toy Story Lots over Mickey and Friends. I walked out of the park straight onto a bus, and was on the road back home 15 minutes after walking out of the turnstiles.
Good Night!
Final Thoughts
Disneyland is awesome. Plain and simple. People try and compare DL to the Magic Kingdom, and to me the two places are just different and each is amazing in its own way. I was sad I didn’t get to experience California Adventure, but that leaves me with something exciting and new to do whenever it is I get the chance to return. I had a jammed day, and some people just do not enjoy touring the way that I did. To be honest, I would have rather split the park up into two days and been able to stop and smell the roses a little more, but I was able to hit every attraction I wanted. It was extremely nice to be able to utilize the old FP strategy one more time before heading over to WDW and experiencing FP enforcement. I really don’t like the new policy, as I do not think the change would do much of anything to increase guests’ experiences because it was a very small majority of people that used FP outside of the return time like my, but that is a discussion for another time. Thanks to the old FP strategy, I was able to ride SM 3 times, ST 4 times, and IJ 3 times.
I still love my WDW as much as ever, and there is something about the sheer size of the resort in Florida that really adds to the magic. In the week that I often spend at WDW, I feel the magic 24 hours a day for the entire time I am there. With DL being in the middle of Anaheim, I just didn’t get that feeling, which is probably going to make some DL vets a little upset. That said there is also something to be said for both DL’s proximity to major metro areas, as well as the wonderful SoCal weather. I could definitely see myself living in the LA area in the near future, and at that time I would definitely become an AP holder.
Thanks if you read this report all the way to the end! I know it’s a very extensive report for such a short trip, but I wanted to capture everything I did in the 15 hours I spend at DL. The day trip will definitely be one of the highlights of my summer here in SoCal, and pumped me up even more for my return to WDW in August for what will be our last trip as family. And just as Rex Allen sings, there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow…
This is my first attempt at a trip report, so you’re all going to have to bear with me while I go through this process! First, a little bit about me. I am going to be a senior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this coming fall, and am originally from a northwest suburb of Chicago. This summer, I am interning at Abbott Vascular in Temecula, California, which is about 90 miles south of LA and 60 miles north of San Diego. One of the first things that came to mind when I found out I was going to be assigned to California for the summer was my proximity to Disneyland. I have been to WDW 7 times growing up with an 8th trip coming up this August, but we never got to do Disneyland while out in California on family vacations. 12 weeks in Southern California for the summer appeared to be the best opportunity to visit the park that started it all.
Two weeks ago, my boss told me that she would head out on vacation for a week and a half and that I could take a day off and do some sightseeing around SoCal. As this was the only day off I was going to get during the week over the course of the summer, I knew that I was going to head to DL in order to try and miss the crowds that descend on the weekends. I was a little sticker shocked when I saw that a one day one park ticket was $87 and purchasing one through my work saved me all of $4, but as this was probably my only chance to get up to DL while out here in California, I bit the bullet and decided that it was worth the price.
We have always been “power” Disney visitors when visiting WDW; my mom plans every minute in every park from when we have to get FPs to ADR’s and the prime fireworks viewing spots. As a result, after learning I was going to DL, I immediately hit up the DIS boards and other websites to try and locate some one day touring plans. After plenty of searching, I couldn’t really find anything for a WDW vet that only had one day in DL. Most plans I found assumed you had either multiple days in the park, or a park hopper, neither of which were true in my case. So I sat down, and figured out my own touring plan. Thanks to Hydroguy’s thread about FP utilization in high season, I was able to plan out most of my morning and hit the major headliners as well as collect FPs while the crowds were still *relatively* low. According to Touring Plans, the crowd level at DL was supposed to be a 4. Unfortunately, because it was also a Grad Night, I would guess that the crowd level started at a 4, but by 2 or 3 in the afternoon was easily a 7 or 8.
My Disney Day
I left my apartment in Temecula at 5:45 in the morning. As a WDW vet, I realize the importance of the first hour or two after the park opens, and with the LA traffic being as unpredictable as it is, I wanted to leave myself enough buffer time to make sure I was in DL by 8. The drive without traffic is right around an hour, and with the morning rush hour traffic I was in the parking lot by 7:20. I had read all over that parking in the Toy Story lots was significantly better than Mickey and Friends, and from my experience on Tuesday I would 100% agree. When I pulled in at 7:20, there was no line at the toll booth. I then parked on the Woody side maybe 10 cars down from where the shuttle picks you up. I walked up, immediately got on a bus, and was at the Esplanade by 7:35. When I was leaving the park at closing, there was a massive mob of people heading over to where the Mickey and Friends tram picks up, and significantly less heading to the Toy Story Lot shuttle. I was walking down Main Street at 11 and was in my car merging onto the expressway by 11:25. I would highly recommend the Toy Story lot, especially if you plan on leaving during the mass exodus at closing.
I had forgotten that unlike the Magic Kingdom at WDW, they don’t hold you at the main entrance, but rather let you into DL and hold you at the hub. I was at the rope for Tomorrowland by 7:45. Good start. 8 rolled around and the opening announcement played over the PA system. Either everyone at DL actually listens to the “walk, don’t run” part, but I was the only person off and running toward SM as soon as the CMs indicated we were free to do so. As a veteran SM Marathon runner from WDW, I had my FP for SM in hand and was entering the standby line just as everyone else from the rope was arriving at the entrance. As there was MM the day that I was there, I still ran into a line inside SM, but was still done with my first ride on SM with a FP in hand by 8:20. I really enjoyed the onboard audio that played throughout the ride, but still prefer the WDW version of the ride. The SM FP had a return time of 8:40, so that meant I could grab my next FP at 8:35. I hoofed it across the hub to Adventureland and was entering the line for Indiana Jones by 8:25. Perfect, I thought to myself; the ride shouldn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes, and I would be right there to grab a FP for Indiana Jones around 8:40. Of course, Murphy’s Law came a knocking and threw my plans through a loop.
June Gloom in the morning, but it warmed up quickly!
Just before boarding Indiana Jones, all the lights came up to full strength. I immediately knew this meant that the ride had shut down. Sure enough, the increase in lighting was accompanied by “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our ride vehicles. We hope to return to normal operations as soon as possible. Thank you.” The CM in front of me said that this type of thing usually only lasted about 20 minutes, but I knew that this delay was only going to push my next FP time out. After 15 minutes, the announcement for CMs to clear the track was made, and after 20 minutes the ride was running again. I really enjoyed the ride, and easily understand why it is such a headliner at DL. I exited the ride at 9 and grabbed a FP. The return window was 10:15, so not terrible. Plus I was planning on doing Frontierland, NOSQ, and Critter Country next anyway, and didn’t need a FP for anything in these lands.
I walked over to BTMRR next, and rode it with a 15 minute wait. Very similar to the WDW version, but still a fun ride. Next was Splash Mountain. I noticed that the standby line was only 15 minutes still, but as I was alone I figured why not do the single rider line. Walked around back through the exit and was immediately seated in the next log with no wait. For some reason, I noticed people were just not getting as wet compared to Splash at WDW. Every time I have ridden Splash at WDW, I have come off completely drenched. People getting off at DL appeared to be a little wet but nowhere near the level of WDW. I had my laptop in my backpack as I had planned on catching up on email during lunch, and was initially nervous about it getting wet, but rode with no problems. I enjoyed that the DL version of this ride had a more deep south vibe to it compared to its WDW sister. I would have to assume it is because the ride is located in Frontierland at WDW and as a result has a more western twang style.
My adoptive family for SM.
After Spash, I walked right over to HM. There was no wait and immediately walked into a stretching room. I enjoyed the ride, and it was cool to see the attic scene that is largely absent in the WDW version. When I walked out of HM, it was right around 9:50. 3 rides in 50 minutes? Not too shabby! With still some time before my next FP window opened, I jumped on POTC before heading back over to Tomorrowland. It goes without saying that POTC blew me away here at DL. Not to say that I don’t enjoy the ride back at WDW, but the one in DL blows the WDW version out of the water. It’s really too bad I didn’t get a chance to grab a Rueben at the Blue Bayou, but I suppose I have to save some things for when I return with my own children down the road!
I walked back over to Tomorrowland and was ready to grab a FP for Star Tours right around 10:30. ST FP return time was 1pm, so the 2 hour window would begin, but I planned to grab a FP before heading out to lunch around 12:30 so this would work out perfectly. I grabbed my FP and got in the standby line. I am a huge Star Wars nerd, and I loved the original ST ride. This would be my first time on ST 2.0, and I was initially worried that the new version might not live up to my expectations simply from nostalgia’s sake. Boy, were my worries unfounded. I LOVED the new ride. It is now a toss-up between WDW’s Space Mountain and Star Tours as to which is my favorite ride at Disney.
I exited ST right around 11:15 and headed over to the Finding Nemo Subs. As something that no longer exists at WDW, I was excited to experience the Submarine Voyage ride’s current incarnation. This ended up being the longest line of the day, at close to 40 minutes. I enjoyed the ride, but would not wait longer than 15 minutes to ride it again. I walked over to BLAB and the line was posted as 1 minutes. Perfect. I liked the ability to actually pick up the gun out of the holster, compared to the attached guns in WDW, but other than that the ride was very similar. I finished BLAB around 12:25, walked over to SM, and secured another FP with a return time of 4:20. The 2 hour window went into effect, but that worked pretty well with my plan to spend at least an hour at McDonalds.
In the first 4 hours, I had managed to ride 9 rides and had 2 FPs for SM, 1 for Indiana Jones, and 1 for ST. I considered that an extremely successful morning. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to check some email during lunch. In addition to free Wi-Fi, the food at McD’s was obviously significantly cheaper than eating lunch in the park. I planned to eat dinner in the park, so eating lunch offsite was definitely the way to go.
I returned to the park around 2 and browsed the Main Street shops for a few minutes. I returned to Tomorrowland at 2:20 ready to get my next FP. I had originally planned to grab a second ST one, but ended up getting one for Autopia with a return time of 3:20. That gave me an hour to head over to Fantasyland and visit some of the rides that were DL exclusives, then drop by ST at some point to pick up my last FP. First on the list of DL exclusives; Alice in Wonderland. Of all the dark rides I did in Fantasyland, Alice was my least favorite, but it was still enjoyable as it was something not found in WDW. After Alice I headed over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which closed in WDW shortly before my first visit in November of 1998. After Mr. Toad, I headed over to Toontown to ride Rodger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. I didn’t anticipate a long line, but when I arrived the standby time was 55 minutes. I was shocked, but then remembered that the RR FPs were disconnected from the network. Fantastic! I secured a RR FP with a return time an hour out. (4:45)
At this point I was able to get another FP for an in-network attraction, so I walked back over to Tomorrowland and picked up my final ST FP with a return time of 7:55. The standby at 3:50 was still only 30 minutes, and even with 2 FP in my possession I decided to jump in line again. After ST, I walked back over to It’s a Small World and rode it with no wait, followed by RR with my FP and Storybook Land Canal Boats which had a 15 minute wait. As a 6’2 21 year old guy, I’m sure I looked a little creepy standing in line for all of these Fantasyland attractions, and always felt a little sad saying “1” when the CM would ask me how many were in my party, but I was not going to let that stop me from seeing everything in DL that I couldn’t experience back East!
The final collection of FPs for the day
After these 3 rides, it was just about 5:20. I then headed to the last Fantasyland attraction on my list, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. I’m not sure why, but this was my favorite dark ride I did all day. Maybe it’s my affinity for Jiminy Cricket, who knows. While walking from Fantasyland to Adventureland, I stopped and took a walk through Sleeping Beauty castle and looked at the dioramas inside, which I thought were very well done!
I should mention that shortly after I rode Indiana Jones in the morning, the ride broke down once again and was down from about 10 in the morning until 5:15 in the afternoon. I kept checking my Touring Plans Lines app on my phone, which kept reporting it down. Finally, around 5:30 I decided to walk past and ask the CMs outside if they thought there was any chance it would open again that day. This time, Lady Luck was on my side, I learned when I walked up that they had just starting letting people back into the queue about 15 minutes prior. Rather than waste my FP, I utilized the single rider option and literally walked up to the boarding area.
I exited Indiana Jones around 6:05 and as I was walking past the Tiki Room I noticed that a show was about to start. I had not seen the Tiki Room since my first trip way back in 1998 and even then it was the awful “Under New Management” version, not the original Walt Disney version. I took a seat in the back so I would have something to rest my back against. I really enjoy the Tiki Room, even if some people think it is dated. When I walked out of the show, I was walking back toward Tomorrowland to ride Autopia when I realized the parade was just starting. Being 6’2 really helped now, as I was able to stand a few people back from the curb and still catch the entire parade. I think this is the first time since my family’s first trip back in 1998 where I watched a Disney daytime parade (we always catch Spectromagic or MSEP) and I really enjoyed it. The whole Sounsational thing really worked!
My sister loves Tinkerbell, and I was able to get her to wave right at me and snap a picture
After the parade, it was just about dinnertime. I didn’t want to lose too much time and to be honest did not think to research any counter service places for dinner online, so I ended up eating at Rancho del Zocalo in Adventureland as I wanted to use my Indiana Jones FP right after dinner. Eating at Disney is the opposite of cheap and didn’t expect a whole lot but was pleasantly surprised! For about $10 I got two fajita tacos, beans and rice. Anywhere outside of Disney I would have been upset at the amount of food for the price but for Disney I was fairly satisfied! Not quite as good as the nachos from La Cantina at Epcot, but not bad either!
Not terrible for Disney prices!
With my stomach full, it was about 7:30, and about time to start using my FPs if I was going to catch all the nighttime festivities. A quick walk and I was at the entrance to Indiana Jones. Standby time? 140 minutes. I remember reading somewhere that Disney had figured out a guest is happy if they ride 5 rides a day. This seems unrealistically low, but I guess it’s the people waiting 140 minutes in line that only get to ride 5 rides! I overhead a CM tell two individuals that the single rider line was 40 minutes, so I decided that FP was the way to go.
This brings me to a side point for discussion among DL vets. The single rider line at IJ allows you to proceed up the exit to the first mini-preshow area, where you are held by a CM alongside people from the standby queue. Then you are allowed to enter the normal queue, where you can either proceed to the loading area where handicap individuals are loaded, or even go right up the stairs with the other people in the standby queue. It seems to me that abusing the single rider line would be extremely easy at IJ; simply put that single rider pass in your pocket once you get past the preshow and proceed up the stairs to the loading area with the rest of the standby riders. With my FP, I was only able to skip the line outdoors and it still took about 30 minutes with all the queuing inside the attraction. Has anyone else ever noticed this?
Sorry for the digression, I just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience! After using my FP for IJ, it was about 8. I still had 5 FPs in my possession; 2 for SM, 2 for Star Tours, and 1 for Autopia. With a little over an hour before Magical, I made an executive decision to pass on Autopia unless time permitted after the second showing of Fantasmic, as I would much rather ride the other attractions in Tomorrowland. That left me with 4 rides and a little over one hour to take them in. Challenge accepted!
Got to SM around 8:05 and used my first FP. Standby line was 45 minutes. Not terrible considering the amount of grads there for grad night. Walked up to the start of the indoor queue, and was boarding 10 minutes later. 15 minutes after entering the SM queue, I was circling back around to the FP entrance in order to use my second FP. Right on track. The second time the indoor queue was a little longer, and I was done with my SM FPs by 8:45. 2 rides done, 2 more to go. I used my first FP for ST and entered the line at 8:50. Unfortunately ST is just simply not as fast of a queue as SM, so my first ride was done right around 9:10. At this point, I had two options; ride ST again and forgo a decent viewing location for Magical, or ride one more time and just catch Magical where I could. I chose to jump on ST one more time, as I just really loved the new ride. I walked out of ST at 9:26, just in time to try and find a place where I could see some of the fireworks.
Forever alone in the front row of SM. I was able to have an amazing time at DL even while alone!
I walked right to the entrance of Tomorrowland where CMs were helping to direct the flow of people in and out of Tomorrowland and in and around the hub. I stood just to the south of Astro Orbiter along the railing the boarders the Plaza Inn, and was actually able to most of the fireworks. Was it as good as viewing on Main Street USA or the hub? Definitely not, but I was able to use up all my SM and ST FPs in a little over an hour and catch Magical. I considered it a success. Unfortunately, Dumbo did not fly that night, I’m not sure if it’s still a night to night decision or if they removed that portion of the show, but either was I was slightly disappointed.
Playing with Instagram
As the fireworks ended, I began to make my way across the hub to secure my place for Fantasmic. I was determined to get a good view. I made my way to the front of the rope where they were holding the incoming Fantasmic viewing guests to allow for people who had caught the first Fantasmic and stayed for Magical. I know people have their ways of getting around this rope where they hold people, but as soon as the rope was lowered I made my way over to the seated viewing section and was able to secure a spot right off of the split of the two seated areas and about 15 feet off of the rail. In my opinion, there really is no better viewing spot. And because the second show was at 10:15, I only had to wait 25 for the show to start.
I have to say that Fantasmic is definitely better at DL compared to the show over at MGM. Between the Peter Pan ship and the full sized dragon, the show just felt so much bigger. It also helps to be sitting so close to all the action.
And with that, my day at DL ended. I stopped in a few shops along Main Street, picked up some souvenirs for my friends and family, and grabbed a Star Wars Vinylmation for myself. I cannot stress enough the benefits of parking in the Toy Story Lots over Mickey and Friends. I walked out of the park straight onto a bus, and was on the road back home 15 minutes after walking out of the turnstiles.
Good Night!
Final Thoughts
Disneyland is awesome. Plain and simple. People try and compare DL to the Magic Kingdom, and to me the two places are just different and each is amazing in its own way. I was sad I didn’t get to experience California Adventure, but that leaves me with something exciting and new to do whenever it is I get the chance to return. I had a jammed day, and some people just do not enjoy touring the way that I did. To be honest, I would have rather split the park up into two days and been able to stop and smell the roses a little more, but I was able to hit every attraction I wanted. It was extremely nice to be able to utilize the old FP strategy one more time before heading over to WDW and experiencing FP enforcement. I really don’t like the new policy, as I do not think the change would do much of anything to increase guests’ experiences because it was a very small majority of people that used FP outside of the return time like my, but that is a discussion for another time. Thanks to the old FP strategy, I was able to ride SM 3 times, ST 4 times, and IJ 3 times.
I still love my WDW as much as ever, and there is something about the sheer size of the resort in Florida that really adds to the magic. In the week that I often spend at WDW, I feel the magic 24 hours a day for the entire time I am there. With DL being in the middle of Anaheim, I just didn’t get that feeling, which is probably going to make some DL vets a little upset. That said there is also something to be said for both DL’s proximity to major metro areas, as well as the wonderful SoCal weather. I could definitely see myself living in the LA area in the near future, and at that time I would definitely become an AP holder.
Thanks if you read this report all the way to the end! I know it’s a very extensive report for such a short trip, but I wanted to capture everything I did in the 15 hours I spend at DL. The day trip will definitely be one of the highlights of my summer here in SoCal, and pumped me up even more for my return to WDW in August for what will be our last trip as family. And just as Rex Allen sings, there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow…
I was interested to read your comparison of the two (FL and CA) shows. I saw the Orlando Fantasmic! show last year, and whilst I loved it, I am so looking forward to seeing it staged on the Rivers of America at DLR when we go later this year. I imagine it is just so much more atmospheric there than in the great big amphitheatre that they have at HS?
