Disneyland 50th Celebration - Share your experience

[jiminy579]

A friend and I ended up in line around 4am, and at first I was frightened at the crowd already ahead of us. As it turns out, Disney was SO organized and really prepared to handle everyone. We did ALOT of walking, I think Disney planned that with the hopes that as long as they kept us moving, we'd be happy. We made it into Disneyland close to 8am, and the welcome we received was not only completely unexpected, but a memory I will have for the rest of my life. It was so touching, I had to film it. Seeing Disney employees cheering us on, shouting out "welcome home" and "happy birthday" made the wait more than worth it. We then headed straight to the pin line, which again, was more frightening than words can describe. By the grace of God and a HUGE miracle, we received vouchers and spent the rest of the afternoon in line for our pins. By 2pm we were free to roam the park! As crazy as it sounds, the wait, the heat, and our sheer exhaustion were MORE THAN WORTH IT! Being in line so early with people who truly love Disney made the experience so much better. The rest of the afternoon was surprisingly calm, and we had the chance to hit quite a few rides. Wait time for dinner was only 10 minutes and we were out of the park by 7pm. I am SO impressed with Disney, and couldn't be happier that I didn't stay away because I would have missed out on the celebration of a life time.

 

[bonzie1]

Thanks for posting all of your MAGICAL memories. It is wonderful for those of us on the East coast to read such wonderful first hand experiences. How I wish we could have been there too!

 

[TheLionKing]

My 50th experience began on Friday, when I registered for the Imagineer's Quest event. No photos were allowed in the talks, but I listened to the Napa Rose's executive chef who put on a food display. We also listened to an Imagineer talk about some behind the scene stories about Disneyland. Went into the park in the afternoon and got a FAst Pass for Space Moutain and rode it. What an improvement. It is really a great ride now and well worth the wait.

We had a dinner at the Disneyland Hotel where each resturant had their "signature item" and a great desert buffet with flowing chocolate.

Saturday, we went to a talk by Joe Rhodes, I hope I spelled his name correctly, to see the development of Everest Expedition. An excellent talk. We had lunch and then went to get some items signed by Diane Disney Miller

Went into the park and rode Pirates and HM and then had our event dinner party in the old Festival of Fools location.

More photos of desert and the show they put on.

Including former Mousketeers.

Hit the 10:30 Fantasmic.

Got back to our Hotel, got up at 5:30 and got in line in DTD next to House of Blues. Saw Mary Jo in line. We watched the DCA people go in and then we went in. We split up with one person going to get a pin, the other getting a Fast Pass for Space Mountain and I got a bad spot in the hub. But I took some photos to give a sense of the golden ears and people there.

We hit Space Mountain, got lunch, hit the paradeat 3:15 watched the 4:45 playing of Walt openning the park and headed out a little exhausted.

 

[iceskatejen]

We were among the group who were in DCA. We left my freind's house at about 12:30 and arrived in the Timon (one of my friends is in a wheelchair and they used Timon for handicapped parking initially) at about 1:15 am. We waited for the wheel to go to the line and then wish we'd walked it. We probably would have been about even with Tink 33 if we had. We got into DCA at about 4:30ish, used the restroom and worked our way back into the Paradise Pier area. We were right before the skeeball game in the blue group.

We finally made our way into DL and got a bang out of the Cms welcoming us home. We got a pretty good spot to watch the ceremonies and I was actually able to see for the most part. We all started crying when Diane Disney Miller said the first line of the dedication speech.

Afterwards, we made our way to Frontierland and watched the 10:45 Laughing Stock. I loved all the 50th referrences they used. Then I made my way over the the pin cart and met Mary Jo and her rascals. It was great to put a name to a face. We then ate at Rancho Del Zocalo, but we couldn't find a table in the shade and between the heat and the spicy food, I couldn't eat much even though I hadn't eaten anything for about 10 hours.

After that, we went aghead and got a spot for Fantasmic (we got there at about 12:45). Since it wasn't nearly as crowded as we expected, we realized we could have waited a little longer, but I was so beat at that point, I was pretty happy to just sit down. A couple of us did go and hunt down some 50th merchandise, and I got the blue t-shirt for the day, a key chain and a magnet.

At about 4:30, 3 of us made our way over to Town Square to watch the rebroadcast of the Walt's original dedication speech on the screens. Then we say the First 50 Years and then grabbed some ice cream. After returning to ROA, two of us went to get some chicken strips. We got back to ROA and ate then took a nap. At 8:30, we joined the Side Street Strutters (who were playing the pre-show) in singing Happy Birthday to DL. Fantasmic was great as were the fireworks and we all sang along to "Remember When" after the fireworks. We settled in for Fantasmic #2, sang Happy Birthday again, and watched another great show. About 35 minutes later and a filling of the tarp with total strangers, it was Fantasmic #3 (my first time seeing 3 shows in one night). After, we folded up the tarp and started heading out. We made a brief stop in Town Square to read the dedication plaque, then left (trying to remember to turn left after walking out of the gates.

 

[MamaKate]

Got to DCA @ 5am. Received our ears & maps.

Walked through Disneylad gates a little before 8am. (Video taped all the employees waving and cheering us on up Main St. ).

Went to look at the merchandise line and figured it wasn't worth it with 2 kids.

Got a Fastpass for Space mountain & went and bought the Baby Doll white tee-shirt that said July 17, 2005 (and a mug).

Saw the dedication cermony @ 10 in front of small world.

Lunch at Blue Bayou at 12 (bought the special pin).

After that it's a blurr. We rode several rides: Space Mountain, Autotopia (my daughter won 1 of the toy cars), Buzz, Small World, Indiana Jones, Pirates.

Saw the 3:15 parade in the preferred seating by Small World. There were only about 10-15 people in the area & only 3 were kids, so my kids got alot of special attention from all the characters .

Then we went and did the preferred seating for Snow White show.

Had a Dole Whip Float & watched the Tiki room.

My son ate about 10 cupcakes throughout the day. I had 1 (I don't like buttercream frosting).

Watched the 7pm parade & then went and checked in for our Fantasmic premium viewing & just hung around there until it started. I've gotta tell you, we've done the balcony viewing twice, but this was our first time doing the premium viewing by the river and the CM's who work here are great & go above and beyond to make your experience great. The cooled off the hot chocolate for my kids so they wouldn't burn there tongues, they offered to run and get lemonade or milk for the kids since they only have soda, hot chocolate & water, they made sure that no one stopped or stood in front of us and blocked our view. It was great.

Watched the fireworks from the Fantasmic viewing area and walked back to the Pumbaa parking lot.

I'm glad we went & it wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be.

,
Katie

 

[Itinkso]

We got to DL on Saturday night and by a stroke of good fortune, were able to watch the fireworks from the hub area - a family left the roped in area as we were being herded by and DD and I along with 4 people behind us ducked in! We left the park at midnight and saw at least 200 people waiting in the tram road. As we walked to the Anaheim Plaza, we passed hundreds more on their way to DL and they were as excited and as happy as could be plus they were decked out in pins!

We got to the park a little after 6 and were in line in front of Libby Lu...fortunately Jamba Juice was open and that was our breakfast. Once we were allowed to wait at the gates, it was an amazing site to see a line of Gold Mickey Eared people streaming from DCA into DL! We all cheered for the last people in line and then it was our turn!!

DD and I took some pics and then headed to Space. She got in line while I got FPs for her for later: 11:05. She was on and off in less than 30 minutes!
From there, we joined the virtual sea of gold ears in the hub and watched the birthday ceremony. After that, we ate at Pizza Port with no wait at all!!
It was DD's day to enjoy, so we went to the Tiki Room and only had a 10 minute wait! Shopped at the Emporium for the special July 17th merchandise after being told not to wait in the Festival lines just for shirts. Also rode the train and all trains were running in 3 minute intervals...we waved at people throughout the park and saw the Columbia sailing. We stayed to watch Walt's remarks broadcast and then we were on our way home.

Overall it was a great day ! Everyone, especially the CMs, appeared to be in a birthday party mood. We enjoyed the day and were suprised that the park wasn't as crowded as we had feared. On our way out of the park, DD16 said she was happy to have been able to experience the actual birthday as well as the Sneak Peek day. It was a nice end to our DL birthday experiences!!

 

[DisneyMom&Fan]

Thanks for all the great stories!! My sister was there on 7/17/05 in memory of our Dad, who was there on 7/17/55!! All these reports remind me of just how special Disneyland is to so many of us.

 

[cmwade77]

We were among the ones that did the camping out at DCA, and to have all of the cast members lined up down main street cheering for us, and welcoming us was what was priceless and made the lack of sleep worth every bit of it, even being extremely tired at work the next day.

 

[karylrocks]

Huge thanks to everyone sharing their experiences here! I can feel the magic just reading these stories. It sounds like it was a totally wonderful day.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Awesome-

I'n the fact I just got home and the brain is still a little or alot fuzzy... I'll be the condensed version right now

Got in line at 12:45 (2nd group or-PINK Wristband)
Got in DL about 7:15ish
Got my pins at 10:45ish
Lunch at 2
Fireworks and the infamous cupcake incident
11:30 F!
Left the park 12:00

Total time awake: 41+ hours

7 am July 16th to 12:15ish am July 18th

Totally and Completely 100% worth it!

-em

 

[Goofydiane]

Here's my recap:

Woke up Saturday morning at 3:30am Minnesota time to catch a flight to SNA. The plan was to arrive and take a nap, but my room wasn't ready so I headed straight to DCA and then DL after meeting up with friends. The new plan was to come back to the room and take a nap and get to the parks about 5:00am, however after we heard about all the people camping out and that some friends of ours were camping out, decided - who needs sleep?!

Joined friends in line about 11:30pm, we were about 300 people from the front of the line. It was a very orderly evening, much different than the disorder of May 05. As you went through security and got split into groups, we were in group 3 in the staging area before they brought you into DCA. Received my ears and my orange band and are new place in line was at the Award Weiners stand. The hardest part of the night was about 4:00 - 4:30am when you were cold and tired and nothing really to do except wait for the next step - going into Disneyland! Disney TV was all around and people were screaming in excitement. It was amazing to see the crowds of people - I'm glad I gave up sleep as I was getting the limited edition pin for a friend who couldn't get there until later in the day.

Chaos erupted about 6:15ish when some idiot stood up and told everyone the line was moving and to get your stuff, that nice orderly line all night long created one massive charge. Disney people kept telling us if we didn't go back to our spot in line they would let the pink group go first! We had our choice to be in the first 1000 to get in the park, or we could go after the blue/red puzzle bands. People started to calm down and re-adjust the line and we slowly made our way to Disneyland! It was fun seeing all the cast members welcoming us and guiding us directly to the pin area.

We were blessed in the line as a young girl thought the pins were free and had no money so she agreed to wait with us so we got an extra limited edition pin and 2 more of the commemerative pins for my friend who couldn't be there that early in the morning. Now I got to keep my pin! Ariel was one of the nicest young girls and she refused to take any money from us for her time!

After we scored out pins (about a 2 hour wait) 2 of our group went to watch the ceremony, 1 stayed with a table at River Belle Terrace and I got in line to buy us all breakfast. The line was about 50 minutes long and was timed perfectly, got breakfast to the table right as the ceremony ended. We ate a leisurely breakfast and then grabbed a spot in front of the castle for the fireworks and general meeting area for all of us. Through the day there were about 15-20 of us who came and went from this area, always ensuring someone was there to watch our location.

Between the heat and lack of sleep, I finally gave up and left back for my hotel about 4:30pm - deciding that 40 hours without sleep was enough and it was time to rest. My room at the Hilton allows for a perfect view of the fireworks so I can watch from the room, if I would have stayed awake.

It was a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat, however, I can do without the crowds and am looking forward to my October trip when the crowds will be lighter and I'll be having a birthday meal at Club 33!

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Thank you all for posting your experiences and pictures

TLK - nice to see you posting again