Elk Grove Chris
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2011
- Messages
- 5,618
Combo trip to see the anniversary celebration and move my Daughter back into her apartment for school. Son was starting high school this week, so we were limited when we could go in August. We normally like to go a little later as some of the schools are already in full swing. With the celebration at the parks, probably didn’t matter when we went. Definitely more packed than what we are used to for August, but not terrible with a little flexibility in planning.
Drove down with my Daughter on the 8th, Wife and Son flew into Long Beach. We checked into the Carousel Inn after we picked them up. Nice room, very close to the parks. Really noisy though, weird noises from within the walls, like rats. Both the sink and shower dripped, pretty annoying, but we could deal with that. Overall, probably would stay there again, but would have asked for a different room after the first night.
Made our way to DTD around 8 for a bite at the Uva Bar. Consistently good food there, great spot to people watch.
August 9
Got a somewhat late start, did not make it to the gates until 7:45 for an 8:00 opening. Ladies decided to sleep in a bit. Overcast, humid, was not supposed to be that hot today-low 80’s.
We walked quickly to Space Mountain, 10 minutes to get on since there was a good early crowd. No music, boo. This ride always seems slower first off in the morning, not sure if it is my imagination or if takes a while for the tracks to heat up and speed things along.
We did Star tours next, basically a walk on.
Started with the droid opening, then the-Wookie planet, Admiral Akkbar, lastly Boba Fett/Asteroid belt/Death Star. Very entertaining CM, older gentlemen really into selling us a ride to space.
Buzz Lightyear was also a walk on. I got crushed, to be fair to myself, I did snap a few pics. Not that it really mattered.
Our Ladies arrived around 8:45. My daughter wanted to see the changes to Peter Pan, so we headed to Fantasyland. Yep, huge line, 50 minutes.
Seemed a little brighter inside, still pretty tough to get any decent pictures in there.
I went and got Fast Passes for Indiana Jones, return time of 9:30-10:30 at 9:00.
I met up with them at Big Thunder Mountain. Standby line was 25 minutes, too close to IJA FP time so we moved on.
We used our IJA FPs-about 15 minutes to get on. Standby line was at 35 minutes at 10:05.
One of my favorite, if not my most favorite queues (Star Tours/TOT right there for me as well). Some dufus put gum on the nose of one of the idols in the queue. Yet another reason not to sell gum in the parks.
We did the Haunted Mansion next, about 10 minutes and on at 10:45. I did not notice if FP was running.
Hatbox Ghost pretty cool, hard to capture photo though. Regular HM is so much darker than overlay. I like it darker, but much harder to get decent photos.
They all sat down for a break as I ran to get a FP for Space. Doh-forgot to check app-all the way there and the ride is down.
Picked up a FP for Star Tours instead, with return time of 2:50-3:50 at 11:00.
Sun finally coming out, decent temps, but with the surface of the walkways and all the people, heating up quite a bit. And it’s gone, cloud cover once again. Common theme for the next few days. Of course the day we left the sun was out bright and early.
Crowds swelling now, definitely 60th anniversary buzz, not normal summer crowds we are used to. Still pretty humid too, lucky me, I sweat like a boxer on 80 degree days with humidity. 100 degrees up north and no humidity, no sweat, literally.
Castle really shines when the sun is out.
Sent a text that Space was down, for them to meet me at BTMRR, no signal. They got some food already at Harbor Galley and we were about to lose FP window, miss the old days. Hot footed to them and we made it back in time to use passes for BTMRR. Wife not a big fan of this ride so she stayed behind. It took us about 10 minutes to get on.
We made it back to Harbor Galley to chow down. Son and I shared a BBQ chicken potato, Ladies shared a lobster roll. Potato was ok even though it had cooled down, could have used a little more chicken though. Lobster roll was not as good as last time, too much mayo.
They decided to take a break already, we headed to the train station at NOS.
We saw 3 trains come and go before we could get on. They went all the way to MS, I got off at Tomorrowland to grab a FP for Space (yeah, checked this time to see if it was running). Space FP return time was 7:10-8:10 at 1:25 pm.
I stopped at Star Traders before heading back to the room at 2.
We all headed back to DL around 3:30, out touring style has changed a bit over the years. We never used to take breaks when we only made one trip a year. Now that we go a little more frequently, we don’t mind missing a few hours at the parks for some rest. In fact, next trip may actually have some non-park days. We have a big WDW trip planned for December and have several days off and a couple of half days built in-I am sure we will be glad we listened to peeps on the scheduling.
We headed to Star Tours to use our FP, lots of people in the parks. It took about 15 minutes to get on. Droid again, Pod Race, Admiral Akkbar, Boba Fett/Deathstar again.
I ran and got a FP for BTMRR, return time of 6:00-7:00 at 4:15, hmmm, we had dinner reservations for the Fantasmic package at Blue Bayou at 6, not likely going to use these fast passes. I grabbed them anyways, if we couldn’t use, we could give them away. They made their way towards It’s a Small World.
I caught up with them and we all got in line. Despite the crowds, 25 minutes to get on, not bad. Love the fast loaders. Nice cool ride, worth that song.
We caught Soundsational parade as we exited, was just hitting IASM area. I still like this parade, but some of the floats could use a little TLC.
We moved through Fantasyland and stopped at the Armory store. My Son was eying a dragon dagger, should have bought it then as the saying goes. Made our way to NOS to check for our table early as we wanted a water table. We were told it would be up to an hour for a water table, really only took 15 minutes and we almost made our 6:00 reservation exactly. Handed the BTMRR FP to a young family that could not get a walk-up accommodation (none of those to be found apparently the next few days).
Fantasmic package was 3 courses, standard menu items for the most part. There was a shrimp cocktail starter, which was actually pretty decent. They were very accommodating, My Son wanted the Jambalaya, with the seafood on the side, which gave the rest of us a few bites of fish and more shrimp! The ladies both had the filet and I had the surf and turf. All good, nothing great, but outstanding atmosphere and decent viewing for Fantasmic (although I do miss the chairs of the dessert packages-the FP system in general for this show is a vast improvement to the camping system of the past). The dessert choices were a bit limited, meyer lemon crème brulee and a seven layer chocolate cake. They all got the cake, I got the crème brulee, both were excellent. The cake was really good, not super sweet.
After we left, we grabbed a bench on Frontierland next to the Golden Horseshoe to rest, we were stuffed. We normally share meals at the parks because they are so big, so we were all hurting a bit.
We did some resting and people watching the next 15 minutes, as if we could move otherwise. We headed over to use our FP’s for Space around 7:45. Only took about 10 minutes to get on. Wife sits this one out too, she decided to go back to the room and drop off our leftovers from dinner. We all met back in NOS to get our spot for Fantasmic. We hoofed it, she took the train from MS.
We were there a few minutes ahead of her at 8:10, lots of people inside the ropes already. We got decent spots, BB package almost dead-center, we were off to the left just a bit because we showed up later than most. You get a little cushion with the package, nice, but did nothing to spell the pains in my back. Sure miss those chairs. Great show, everything seemed to be working.
I don’t recall seeing so much extra on the water projections tied into the fireworks last year when we did the dessert package, it was a nice plus. You could barely see Tink fly and you missed the Castle effects obviously, but it was nice just staying in one spot. Wow, the snow was crazy during the Let it Go sequence, a bit too much if you were asking.
We waited for a few minutes to let some of the crowd dispel. We were going to stake a spot for the 11:00 Paint the Night Parade. We found a pretty good spot around 10:15, near the Matterhorn, across from the Fantasyland bathrooms near Alice. On the ground again, at least we still had our cushions. Several people asked about the cushions, kind of bulky to carry around, but worked out fine for us as we had spent the better part of the day in the park.
I had seen a few pictures of the parade, avoided videos on purpose. The pictures do the parade no justice, we were blown away. Well done Disney! Long day, tons of people, but had a blast. Hitting the other park tomorrow, first time I can remember in a long time we did not park hop at all. We were so tired walking back to the room, big smiles though.
Drove down with my Daughter on the 8th, Wife and Son flew into Long Beach. We checked into the Carousel Inn after we picked them up. Nice room, very close to the parks. Really noisy though, weird noises from within the walls, like rats. Both the sink and shower dripped, pretty annoying, but we could deal with that. Overall, probably would stay there again, but would have asked for a different room after the first night.
Made our way to DTD around 8 for a bite at the Uva Bar. Consistently good food there, great spot to people watch.
August 9
Got a somewhat late start, did not make it to the gates until 7:45 for an 8:00 opening. Ladies decided to sleep in a bit. Overcast, humid, was not supposed to be that hot today-low 80’s.
We walked quickly to Space Mountain, 10 minutes to get on since there was a good early crowd. No music, boo. This ride always seems slower first off in the morning, not sure if it is my imagination or if takes a while for the tracks to heat up and speed things along.
We did Star tours next, basically a walk on.
Started with the droid opening, then the-Wookie planet, Admiral Akkbar, lastly Boba Fett/Asteroid belt/Death Star. Very entertaining CM, older gentlemen really into selling us a ride to space.
Buzz Lightyear was also a walk on. I got crushed, to be fair to myself, I did snap a few pics. Not that it really mattered.
Our Ladies arrived around 8:45. My daughter wanted to see the changes to Peter Pan, so we headed to Fantasyland. Yep, huge line, 50 minutes.
Seemed a little brighter inside, still pretty tough to get any decent pictures in there.
I went and got Fast Passes for Indiana Jones, return time of 9:30-10:30 at 9:00.
I met up with them at Big Thunder Mountain. Standby line was 25 minutes, too close to IJA FP time so we moved on.
We used our IJA FPs-about 15 minutes to get on. Standby line was at 35 minutes at 10:05.
One of my favorite, if not my most favorite queues (Star Tours/TOT right there for me as well). Some dufus put gum on the nose of one of the idols in the queue. Yet another reason not to sell gum in the parks.
We did the Haunted Mansion next, about 10 minutes and on at 10:45. I did not notice if FP was running.
Hatbox Ghost pretty cool, hard to capture photo though. Regular HM is so much darker than overlay. I like it darker, but much harder to get decent photos.
They all sat down for a break as I ran to get a FP for Space. Doh-forgot to check app-all the way there and the ride is down.
Picked up a FP for Star Tours instead, with return time of 2:50-3:50 at 11:00.
Sun finally coming out, decent temps, but with the surface of the walkways and all the people, heating up quite a bit. And it’s gone, cloud cover once again. Common theme for the next few days. Of course the day we left the sun was out bright and early.
Crowds swelling now, definitely 60th anniversary buzz, not normal summer crowds we are used to. Still pretty humid too, lucky me, I sweat like a boxer on 80 degree days with humidity. 100 degrees up north and no humidity, no sweat, literally.
Castle really shines when the sun is out.
Sent a text that Space was down, for them to meet me at BTMRR, no signal. They got some food already at Harbor Galley and we were about to lose FP window, miss the old days. Hot footed to them and we made it back in time to use passes for BTMRR. Wife not a big fan of this ride so she stayed behind. It took us about 10 minutes to get on.
We made it back to Harbor Galley to chow down. Son and I shared a BBQ chicken potato, Ladies shared a lobster roll. Potato was ok even though it had cooled down, could have used a little more chicken though. Lobster roll was not as good as last time, too much mayo.
They decided to take a break already, we headed to the train station at NOS.
We saw 3 trains come and go before we could get on. They went all the way to MS, I got off at Tomorrowland to grab a FP for Space (yeah, checked this time to see if it was running). Space FP return time was 7:10-8:10 at 1:25 pm.
I stopped at Star Traders before heading back to the room at 2.
We all headed back to DL around 3:30, out touring style has changed a bit over the years. We never used to take breaks when we only made one trip a year. Now that we go a little more frequently, we don’t mind missing a few hours at the parks for some rest. In fact, next trip may actually have some non-park days. We have a big WDW trip planned for December and have several days off and a couple of half days built in-I am sure we will be glad we listened to peeps on the scheduling.
We headed to Star Tours to use our FP, lots of people in the parks. It took about 15 minutes to get on. Droid again, Pod Race, Admiral Akkbar, Boba Fett/Deathstar again.
I ran and got a FP for BTMRR, return time of 6:00-7:00 at 4:15, hmmm, we had dinner reservations for the Fantasmic package at Blue Bayou at 6, not likely going to use these fast passes. I grabbed them anyways, if we couldn’t use, we could give them away. They made their way towards It’s a Small World.
I caught up with them and we all got in line. Despite the crowds, 25 minutes to get on, not bad. Love the fast loaders. Nice cool ride, worth that song.
We caught Soundsational parade as we exited, was just hitting IASM area. I still like this parade, but some of the floats could use a little TLC.
We moved through Fantasyland and stopped at the Armory store. My Son was eying a dragon dagger, should have bought it then as the saying goes. Made our way to NOS to check for our table early as we wanted a water table. We were told it would be up to an hour for a water table, really only took 15 minutes and we almost made our 6:00 reservation exactly. Handed the BTMRR FP to a young family that could not get a walk-up accommodation (none of those to be found apparently the next few days).
Fantasmic package was 3 courses, standard menu items for the most part. There was a shrimp cocktail starter, which was actually pretty decent. They were very accommodating, My Son wanted the Jambalaya, with the seafood on the side, which gave the rest of us a few bites of fish and more shrimp! The ladies both had the filet and I had the surf and turf. All good, nothing great, but outstanding atmosphere and decent viewing for Fantasmic (although I do miss the chairs of the dessert packages-the FP system in general for this show is a vast improvement to the camping system of the past). The dessert choices were a bit limited, meyer lemon crème brulee and a seven layer chocolate cake. They all got the cake, I got the crème brulee, both were excellent. The cake was really good, not super sweet.
After we left, we grabbed a bench on Frontierland next to the Golden Horseshoe to rest, we were stuffed. We normally share meals at the parks because they are so big, so we were all hurting a bit.
We did some resting and people watching the next 15 minutes, as if we could move otherwise. We headed over to use our FP’s for Space around 7:45. Only took about 10 minutes to get on. Wife sits this one out too, she decided to go back to the room and drop off our leftovers from dinner. We all met back in NOS to get our spot for Fantasmic. We hoofed it, she took the train from MS.
We were there a few minutes ahead of her at 8:10, lots of people inside the ropes already. We got decent spots, BB package almost dead-center, we were off to the left just a bit because we showed up later than most. You get a little cushion with the package, nice, but did nothing to spell the pains in my back. Sure miss those chairs. Great show, everything seemed to be working.
I don’t recall seeing so much extra on the water projections tied into the fireworks last year when we did the dessert package, it was a nice plus. You could barely see Tink fly and you missed the Castle effects obviously, but it was nice just staying in one spot. Wow, the snow was crazy during the Let it Go sequence, a bit too much if you were asking.
We waited for a few minutes to let some of the crowd dispel. We were going to stake a spot for the 11:00 Paint the Night Parade. We found a pretty good spot around 10:15, near the Matterhorn, across from the Fantasyland bathrooms near Alice. On the ground again, at least we still had our cushions. Several people asked about the cushions, kind of bulky to carry around, but worked out fine for us as we had spent the better part of the day in the park.
I had seen a few pictures of the parade, avoided videos on purpose. The pictures do the parade no justice, we were blown away. Well done Disney! Long day, tons of people, but had a blast. Hitting the other park tomorrow, first time I can remember in a long time we did not park hop at all. We were so tired walking back to the room, big smiles though.
