DVC Mike Live from Disneyland (5/17-5/22/09)

[wulfekamp]

Is splash or big thunder any differn't from the one's at WDW? I really enjoyed the pictures. Hope your having fun.

 

[bama106]

Thanks Mike for the AWESOME pics and the reports. We will be making our first trip there in May of 2010, so everything you have posted has got me very excited and can't wait for our trip. These are some of the best pics I have seen of DL and CA.

 

[photobob]

Wow! Great stuff Mike!

 

[toocherie]

Hi Mike--wonderful photos! Are the crowds significantly smaller than they were on Sunday?

 

[lisah0711]

Thanks for the great TR! Makes me excited for our trip on 6/10. Keep an eye out for the kitty that lives at Whitewater Snacks. She is a cutie! I wish you had live streaming video, we could hear the people screaming on the TOT with the view that you have . . .

 

[DVC Mike]

Hi Mike--wonderful photos! Are the crowds significantly smaller than they were on Sunday?

Crowds were down in the morning. However, they did pick up and it did get crowded in the afternoon.

 

[DVC Mike]

Thanks for the great TR! Makes me excited for our trip on 6/10. Keep an eye out for the kitty that lives at Whitewater Snacks. She is a cutie! I wish you had live streaming video, we could hear the people screaming on the TOT with the view that you have . . .

Oh, I hear screaming from my balcony. I can't tell if it's from Grizzly River Run or the ToT.

 

[disneymom8589]

Love the pictures!! I have a special spot in my heart for DL. It was the first park I went to in 1974, first park we took our kids to, and our DD got engaged in front of the castle last December.

We toured the VGC when we were there in December and it was about all I could do to sell some of our current points to add on there!! It is gorgeous inside!

Thanks for the great TR!

 

[kikiq]

Welcome to Southern California. So glad the weather has been wonderful for you. Will you still be here on Saturday night? If you like swing/jive music, take some time to listen to the band and watch the dancers in Disneyland. That's where you'll find us

Have you given any thought about the special present you are bringing home to your wife?

 

[stopher1]

Mike - thank you so much. Wonderful, wonderful photos. DL is my happy place even more so than WDW... so thank you for the current and beautiful shots.

 

[Mouse511]

Great Trip Report and awesome pictures - DH and I have never been to DL but your report might make us want to visit some time in the future.

 

[ccigliano]

Enjoying your trip report (as usual). I love the Blue Bayou and the tables by the water, sorry that your Monti Cristo was just OK - that's what I've ordered both times I've been to Blue Bayou. I actually think that Pirates in DL is a better ride since they have that whole firefly/man rockin on the porch in the beginning - I can hear the crickets now. Have a wonderful vacation in sunny CA.

 

[La2kw]

I walked over to Disneyland Park early this morning and was lucky to get right up to the rope at the end of Main Street. When the rope dropped, I headed straight for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. I was the 4th person in line and got right on the first sub.

I haven’t been on this since I was on the old submarine voyage when I was a kid. All I can say is “great job!” The imagineers took the technology they developed for the Seas with Nemo at Epcot, combined it with the submarine ride and added a great story. It really beats the clamshell ride at Epcot. Highly recommended.

I then headed straight to the Matterhorn, and since there was only a 5 min wait, I rode it twice (once on each side). I then went to Space Mountain and rode it after a short wait.

I headed over to the Indiana Jones Adventure, but it was still closed since the earthquake last night. So I headed over and rode Big Thunder Mountain followed by Splash Mountain.

I walked around a bit until my lunch reservation at Blue Bayou. I got seated at a table right against the water, so it was relaxing watching the boats drift by and listening to the banjo music. I had the Monte Cristo sandwich, which was not spectacular but fine. I’m glad I had priority seating as they were booked up the entire day.

I then grabbed a Fastpass for Indiana Jones, since it had re-opened, and listened to some different wisecracks and jokes on the Jungle Cruise before buying a Dole Whip and sitting in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

I then did Indy and finally walked back to the room since the crowds were picking up.

All in all, a very nice day so far! The weather is great too.

Enough of me blathering, I’ll post some pictures…

Sounds like a great day at Disneyland! Just to clarify, the technology for Nemo was developed for Disneyland's Submarine ride first. It was adapted for the Seas at Epcot afterwards. The Seas opened first because it was a simpler ride than the subs. Same with Midway Mania. It was developed for Paradise Pier and then added to the Studios.

 

[stopher1]

Is splash or big thunder any differn't from the one's at WDW? I really enjoyed the pictures. Hope your having fun.

Both are somewhat different than at WDW.

Splash: At DL is single row seating, vs. rows double seating. At DL the logs accomodate up to 7 in a single row, at WDW it's 4 rows of 2. The interiors at DL are darker, whereas when they built WDW's version they added more lighting and defined the story a little bit more. DL's is in Critter Country, WDW's is in Frontierland. DL's colors are a bit more cartoony, WDW's are a bit more subdued to try and fit in with the southwestern aspect of Frontierland. When designing it for DL, it was inhabited by all but 2 or 3 of the original characters from the old "America Sings" (attraction designed to replace COP when it moved east from DL to WDW). When they built the WDW version, they had to recreate the critters that inhabit the attraction, and consequently didn't build quite as many. (And then the one they built for Japan is different still, being more cartoony, and with it's own restaurant nearby). Splash was DL's 4th mountain and WDW's 3rd in their respective mountain ranges.

Big Thunder: At DL both the placement of the attraction and the orientation of the tracks is opposite to WDW as related to the Rivers of America. As such, it does not go out over the River at DL like it does at WDW. The acreage of the actual attraction is less at DL too, given the more compact nature of the park vs. the MK. At the MK the train runs along through the water logged town, but not so at DL. The town at the end of the attraction at DL is the original Rainbow Ridge town that was found in the old Mine Train through Rainbow Caverns ride that predated BTMRR that Walt loved so much. At DL you can walk around BTMRR and leave Frontierland and go through the pass into Fantasyland - at WDW, it's at the end of the path there in Frontierland, the outer edge of the land, if you will. The queues are also different. At WDW you go up into the structure to go down to the loading platform and enter the bat caves straightaway from inside the queue building. At DL you go down from the main entrance, wrap around the building and then climb up into the station platform loading area before then entering the mountain and the bat cave. Subtle differences, but differences just the same. Both mountains are based on real parts of the country (at least in design qualities and the overall look of the attractions, not based on actual mountains or anything like that) - but they are not from the same places. WDW's is based on Monument Valley in UT, and DL's is based on the more intimate Bryce Canyon. BTMRR was originally designed to be a part of the Western River Expedition expansion of Frontierland at WDW but was shelved there - so it was actually approved and built for DL and opened 2 years earlier than the one that was ultimately approved for WDW. Big Thunder was DL's 3rd mountain, and WDW's 2nd in their respective mountain ranges.

 

[La2kw]

Is splash or big thunder any differn't from the one's at WDW? I really enjoyed the pictures. Hope your having fun.

Big Thunder is the reverse of WDW's version, but very similar. Splash is a bit different, with smaller logs where the seats are in a single line. It also moves quicker through the scenes and doesn't tell a story as well as the WDW version. However, it's the original Splash, so it is our favorite.

 

[Disney Princess]

Mike -

Thanks for the pictures and information! It looks like a great day at DL. Continue to have a great time.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Wow, things have changed a lot in the 18 months since we were last there! It looks strange to see the Tower of Terror there!

 

[arthur06]

Great trip report! I look forward to your trips more then my own trips! (almost)

 

[wulfekamp]

Thanks for the great info on big thunder and splash. After seeing Mikes Pictures I would love to see DL someday.

 

[DVC Mike]

I had dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Cafe in DTD. It was OK; just OK. The Pasta Jambalaya was good, but not fantastic.

I asked for an outside table on the patio, so I got a nice view of DTD and all the people walking by. That made it worth it to me.

Since I'll probably spend most of Saturday with my family and I fly home on Sunday, that still leaves me 4 more days at DLR. That's plenty of time to just enjoy the parks.