For the First Time In Forever.....A Disneyland reopening TR, Dark Ride photos and The End 5/8

[rndmr2]

Followed you over here from your other TR, glad to see a new one going. Looks like you had a great first day.

 

[franandaj]

Great update and pics! We also enjoyed the soft opening.

And I'm looking forward to Thursday!

I thought the Plaza Inn fried chicken was amazing! Double mashed, cannot go wrong.

I don't get how you did double mashed, I
couldn't find anywhere in the app where you could make substitutions. But I like the green beans. One of the few Theme Park veggies I enjoy.

Looking forward to this coming Thursday as well. So fun to be normal again!!!!

Me too!

 

[franandaj]

Enjoying all the pictures.

Thanks I hope to post more in the next day or so.

So nice to hear you had a great day.

It was quite fun!

My dh thinks they should always keep the trash cans open He loved that part of WDW when we were there in September.

It makes me wonder how many things will become permanent after this whole thing blows over.

 

[franandaj]

Whats on the list for today?

Change of plans....

 

[DnA2010]

Literally the 3rd time I've quoted this update, so I'm doing my replies Right Now!

What can I say? I love Hei Hei!

hehe me too!

Mickey started off the parade. I don’t even remember the name of this parade we were literally among the first people to see it. I think it started the day or two before.

the colours really match the castle!!

[/QUOTE]

I'm always impressed by the puppetiers on these sorts of floats, always try to smile at them

The genie jigging in the back ground cracked me up!

Until it broke down in front of us…..

a wee bit less magical...

song over and over and over again

not like hearing it doesn't make it already stay in your head...

Intriguing deal being made...

Leonard was having some serious words with Peter Pan….

Serious indeed!

Stay strong Fran!

From there we got the Fiscalini White Cheddar Lager Soup served in a Mini Boudin® Sourdough Bowl (Vegetarian) – $6.75

I would totally love this right now...I've never really made a beer/cheddar soup, although I do make a lager/cheddar fondue

Yumm! Salmon (I know you aren't a fan) looks right up my alley

I have no idea what that beverage in the background is, but both the option from that booth were non-alcoholic drinks.
Strawberry-Rose Lemonade (Non-Alcoholic) – $6.00
Fig & Lavender Cold Brew (Non-Alcoholic) – $6.50

I'm thinking it's the cold brew (I think that's a coffee term?)

This must have been the Smoked Bacon Barbecue Beef Loco Moco on Rice (Gluten-Friendly) – $7.50

What were the big white things on top? Cheese?

Tortilla-crusted Fried Guacamole

Not sure about this..I like quac, but big chunks fried...hmmm

That's a lot of joy in that front seat!

Jacuzzi tub, since mine at home are continuingly malfunctioning.

the trials hey...

She got BG27

Ya she did! Score!!!

Her daughter, Chloe, put her head down, shaking it, saying, “That’s not my Mom.”

I'm sure M does that a few times with her Dad and I at the parks

However, once they opened the Tropical Hideaway with the swirls, I immediately went for the raspberry and never turned back!

My "go to" now too, Dorian is a float fan like Fran

Mmmm want! Funny enough, when I was a kid, there was a dole whip machine at a stand behind where we used to sit at hockey games...my sister says that had strawberry sometimes- it rotated between pineapple, raspberry, and stawberry apparently.

giving riders these decoder cards like they gave out when it first opened.

I remember those!

I learned that if we ever start traveling again, that I will text him the day we leave just to confirm that he should start feeding that night in case he entered it wrong in his phone.

Sounds like a plan!

Naked Jim, and he didn’t realize that we left Friday afternoon, so he didn’t feed the cats Friday night or Saturday morning.

I bet they were pretty happy to see you!

By the time we got back to the resort, Jill and Jenny were celebrating Jenny’s birthday in style.

Like how they roll, yup

we went to our local Tiki bar

I'm so glad you introduced me to the idea of Tiki Bars- had no idea...the one we went to in Vegas- so much fun, but WOW were the drinks strong!!

 

[franandaj]

I wonder if the border will open this summer. Doubtful.

You never know. I think your outbreaks were less than ours. Then again all the vaccine hesitant states are near your border.

That might have caused some issues with some people I’m sure

I know that they notified us that there would be a long walk. ECVs were available for rent at the parking structure.

Send some up here!

Happy to help.

With the price of shipping for your medal, can you imagine what it would cost?

Yeah...... I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

You never know...

 

[franandaj]

Very well-coordinated for the magical return.

Thanks! I planned it that way!

Ugh. How long of a walk was that?

I'm not great at estimating distance but I'm sure it was at least half a mile. It wasn't quite as long as the walk from DHS to the Epcot Resorts, but it was close.

Huh. Wouldn't have guessed that.

Me neither. Alrhough I didn't go inside. Maybe they had less gates open.

Any excuse is a good one in a Disney gift shop.

I'm sure it always comes down to enforcement. Generally speaking, I think if people are following mask protocol there's no harm in sitting down for a bit.

Yeah, I don't think CMs are actually enforcing stuff. I think they are relying on guests to follow the rules.

I see the pixie dust is back, too!

There was a lot of pixie dust. And CMs were SUPER friendly. I was almost uncomfortable with how friendly they were being!

Wonder why they did that? The blast effects were awesome!

When it first reopened, I got to ride it at the previews. They had an awesome blast sequence where a huge cloud thrust out of the flashpoint. But it didn't take long until that effect ceased to happen. There was an explosion noise, but the whosh of smoke/steam was gone.

The current modification is better than what it was, after the "whosh" broke down.

That sounds like a fun ride. I should try it sometime.

Yeah, you really should. I bet you'd like it!

Mmmm...Plaza chicken....

So yummy!

 

[franandaj]

I saw hints you had started a trip report...your reports are some of my favorites Alison and I am so glad I found it!

Not too far behind....so nice to be able to walk into Disneyland again. Your updates will help refresh my memory--its been way too long

I'll try and have plenty of pictures!

 

[brookelizabeth]

WooHoo! So much fun. They made some changes to the blast scene. It's not quite as cool as it was when the ride first reopened, but they used the technology that they use in the Castle projections to make the rocks explode.

I noticed that in a video I watched of opening day! I must have missed WHY they did this change, do you know? It really is not nearly as cool...

I noticed that Indy only had a 15 minute wait, so I rode it.

15 minutes for Indy!!!!! Incredible!!!

 

[taaren]

Soft Opening April 28
So before we get started on the new material, those of you who know me, know that I rarely visit Disney without a general plan. Once I knew what days we were going, I made lists of all the food I've missed, and I poured over all the new menus to make sure they had my favorites. Bengal BBQ fell off the list when I learned they don't have the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Skewer right now. I also made lists of my favorite rides, and plan to tick them off over the coming weeks.
Now I have planned out all our favorite food places and which days we would enjoy them all they way through the end of May. We'll see how well we follow through and that's how June's plan will evolve.
So with that in mind, today's menu would include Plaza Inn fried chicken, and a raspberry swirl Dole Whip. I began checking the Mobile Food App while I was still in bed and no one had gone nuts and started ordering, all the slots were still open starting at 11AM.
The park opened at 9AM and we wanted to avoid the crazy opening crowds that we heard about for the first soft opening day. So we left the house at 9:20. Here I am ready to do this!

Your day sounds delicious before you even leave! Now I am reconsidering our RD plan for Memorial Day, wondering if we shouldn't annoy ourselves with the inevitable line trying to get out of the Grand into DTD. Love the idea of trying to set up our food plan/mobile orders before entering the parks.

Right off the bat Fran noticed that all the trash cans are propped open so you don't have to touch the flap that pushes in when you discard your trash.

Love these details that Disney does! I've always hated that flap when I throw things away, feels like I have to wash my hands after throwing an item away.

DCA was busier than Disneyland!

We admired some of the artwork, but we didn't have $8K to blow on the original painting the HM ballroom. That was the only thing we really liked in there.

What??? Who wouldn't want to spend $8K on Disney art?

Wonder why DCA entrance was busier?

We went into the Emporium next. They didn't have a lot that interested us although I did spy these really cute aprons and hand towels. I need to replace a lot of mine at home.

I checked the food app and now the first slot was 11:10-11:40AM. Still OK. I wasn't really hungry yet cause we drove through Mickey D's on the way.

Glad to hear the slots were still available throughout your morning. After ToD I'm wondering if we'll have to pick all of our meals early or be out of luck.

I collect the Disney kitchen stuff too (although not much of an apron person). Those towels are super cute!!

Great update and pics! We also enjoyed the soft opening. I thought the Plaza Inn fried chicken was amazing! Double mashed, cannot go wrong. Looking forward to this coming Thursday as well. So fun to be normal again!!!!

How did you get Double Mashed on a mobile order? We couldn't figure out how to customize at ToD!

 

[DnA2010]

Bengal BBQ fell off the list when I learned they don't have the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Skewer right now.

Oddly I've never picked up food here before...

today's menu would include Plaza Inn fried chicken, and a raspberry swirl Dole Whip.

2 of my favs for SURE!!

Here I am ready to do this!

So cute! Matching

Even Mickey is masked!

Right off the bat Fran noticed that all the trash cans are propped open so you don't have to touch the flap that pushes in when you discard your trash.

I wish more places would do this, although will have to see how they do in the heat, we have lots of wasps here...

I just heard music start in my heading looking at this!

We also noticed Mickey and Minnie socially distanced at the train station.

And a disney horse


we will have to see which of these goodies end up coming home with us!

Yum yum! Is there caramel under the chocolate on the marshmallow wands? Love it when there is both!

The wait for BTMRR was up to 25 minutes now, but I went to get a return time and they let me right on.

D's fav! Gotta love the wildest ride in the wilderness!!

Socially distanced roller coaster seating.

Well that's nice indeed!

Fran asked if I wanted to check out the dress shop, so we headed over to New Orleans Square

The Dress Sop was closed.

I hope it's open by the time I get there (I'm sure it will be) I was between sizes when we were last there, but I think I'm more one size now and want to get one.

CM near the exit. I got the "return pass" for HM, and it was for 11:43, I was like, "It's 11:43 now?" Pretty cool no waiting!

Score indeed!

I had an hour to come back, just like FP. So instead of riding it right then we waited until noon, secured the BG and then I rode HM.

Double score!!
Glad you will have this all figured out by the time we get back

I don't know if it was because it was soft opening, but never do you see this corridor in front of Indy so empty!

Wowzas! that area can be sooo frustrating and bottlenecked!

I got my own truck that I drove!

Ok this is awesome! I don't know if we ever have, even at say closing time!

 

[pkondz]

You never know. I think your outbreaks were less than ours. Then again all the vaccine hesitant states are near your border.

We're making up for it now with our 3rd wave.
Vaccinations are progressing slowly due to availability.

With the price of shipping for your medal, can you imagine what it would cost?

Meh. How many arms and legs do you need?

 

[franandaj]

Followed you over here from your other TR, glad to see a new one going. Looks like you had a great first day.

We did! Looking forward to going back tomorrow!

 

[franandaj]

Literally the 3rd time I've quoted this update, so I'm doing my replies Right Now!

I hate that!

the colours really match the castle!!

I never even noticed!

I'm always impressed by the puppetiers on these sorts of floats, always try to smile at them

I guess I really didn't notice them before!

The genie jigging in the back ground cracked me up!

I must be pretty blind, I only seem to notice what's in the front of the pictures, not the back.

a wee bit less magical...

Yeah....

not like hearing it doesn't make it already stay in your head...

But it was blaring so loud, and at least with a parade like this there are any number of songs that could get stuck in your head!

Intriguing deal being made...

Or as pkondz said, maybe she's giving him directions.....

I would totally love this right now...I've never really made a beer/cheddar soup, although I do make a lager/cheddar fondue

I made the one from Le Cellier quite a bit, well at least once a year or so.

Yumm! Salmon (I know you aren't a fan) looks right up my alley

I wish I liked it, there are so many things I could do with it, but it's just too fishy tasting for me.

I'm thinking it's the cold brew (I think that's a coffee term?)

Sounds right. It had to have been Leonard's. Jill doesn't drink coffee, and he likes his coffee, even late in the day. It would keep me up if I drank it.

What were the big white things on top? Cheese?

No they were hard boiled eggs. That was one of the reasons I didn't care for it, too much egg.

Not sure about this..I like quac, but big chunks fried...hmmm

Yeah, guac is fine, but this was kind of weird. I can't wait to have my tableside guac next week! We are having dinner at Tortilla Jo's one night!

That's a lot of joy in that front seat!

So much fun!

I'm sure M does that a few times with her Dad and I at the parks

Funny how we are the giddy ones at Disney, and they say it's for kids.

"go to" now too, Dorian is a float fan like Fran

Next time I'm going to try the raspberry/lemon swirl.

Mmmm want! Funny enough, when I was a kid, there was a dole whip machine at a stand behind where we used to sit at hockey games...my sister says that had strawberry sometimes- it rotated between pineapple, raspberry, and stawberry apparently.

Interesting.

I had never even heard of a Dole Whip until I joined the DIS.

I remember those!

I bet Fran has some of the original ones tucked away in a box somewhere.

Sounds like a plan

He can be rather forgetful.

I bet they were pretty happy to see you!

I think they were just happy to have their bowls filled.

Like how they roll, yup

They got a pretty good head start on me.

I'm so glad you introduced me to the idea of Tiki Bars- had no idea...the one we went to in Vegas- so much fun, but WOW were the drinks strong!!

I think the strong drinks are part of the experience!

 

[franandaj]

OK, So I still have a few more replies to get to, but I wanted to get this post up before we go out for our next day tomorrow

So we left off with us heading to our boarding group for RotR. Here we are traveling through Batuu to the Resistance Base.



Notice the table on the right, they didn’t used to have those there. Now you can take your Ronto Wrap to the table to enjoy it.



Especially since you can’t sit on the random rocks.



Now Disney had to get really creative in their queue design, since every queue length had to be multiplied by six feet. With the queue for this ride mostly being indoors (inside the mountain) they had to extend it out into the very long walkway, which goes back to the Hungry Bear Restaurant. The line went as far as the bridge for the train. Here’s some fauna you’ll find in the queue.



I never noticed this waterfall in the queue of the ride, probably because the queue did not extend past this waterfall until now.



Another interesting plant in the queue.



If you don't want any spoilers, I suggest you scroll down to the third post.

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

What I didn't realize is that there was a path to skip the indoor queue, and the Rey briefing sequence wasn't running, we just walked straight through that portion and out to the ship where you leave the planet. We’re on the transport now.



And as I was writing this up the morning after our park visit, a story aired on my local news explaining that CA guidance says that Indoor rides can be no longer than 15 minutes. RotR is 18 minutes long so they had to remove the Rey briefing sequence part of the ride in compliance.

Pretty soon we were on our way to join the Resistance.



It’s so cool how you start off in this cave and ascend to space.










Our pilots accompanying us noticed a problem.



And then we figured out the problem.



We were about to be boarded.



Our Captain



And we were forced to leave our ship.



I never noticed this prisoner transport in this room.








Pretty soon we were on our way to be interrogated.





Kylo Ren was going to give us the third degree, but aw shucks, he got called to the bridge.



And then we were busted out and in our getaway vehicle. Finn gave us the low down on how to get out of there.



I don’t think I’ve ever taken this many selfies in one day before!



Folks call this, “the disco room.”



We were almost in the clear, until this droid saw us.



Which caused these guys to start shooting at us.



And then we took a wrong turn.



And the wrong elevator!



As we tried to escape, we inadvertently found our way to the bridge.



When Kylo Ren realized that the prisoners were escaping, he came after us. When we entered a lift, he climbed on top and tried to cut it with his light saber. This feature was actually down the time that I rode this in Feb 2020.



I love the way the walls are burning from blaster fire at various points throughout the attraction!



At this point chaos was reigning. The rebels had amassed a fleet that was bringing the First Order to its knees. Finn issued an order for everyone to evacuate the ship. We had to contend with these huge blasters.



Kylo Ren tried once again to get us to reveal the location of the Rebel base.



Soon we were loaded into our little evacuation pods and sailed back down to the surface of Battu. Notice the pods across from us being released down to the surface, amidst the explosions.



Here we are approaching the planet.



Ooops we landed a little bit off course.





Oh well, we made it back!

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

As I got off the ride, I could tell that I was "done". My legs felt a little wobbly, and that fatigue that only comes from a Disney theme park was starting to set in. I was very thankful to have my scooter to carry me around!

We traveled around Batuu for a little more.



Fran asked if we could look in “that expensive shop that always has so many people in it that I can’t see anything.” So we headed that direction. I don’t remember all these statues being here before, but I don’t have any pictures of it so who knows?



Lotsa cool stuff in here. I guess I never took pictures before cause there were always too many people in here.









Creepy little creatures





We walked down to the square where the Falcon was, but I was too tired to ride that ride, and the line looked longer than I wanted to wait.



We headed over to the section where the First Order rules.



So sad to see the Cantina closed up. We’ll have to go back when it opens.



We checked out the First Order store, but I’d rather own Rebel merch. These guys were trying to pick a fight with anyone who would bite.



And Kylo Ren came out to join the fun.



We had one last stop, the Tropical Hideaway. We placed our Mobile Order at 3:15. On our way to that part of the park, I noticed that the Shooting Gallery is all closed up and converted to seating for dining.



We still had time to kill so we ducked into the Mercantile to take advantage of their AC. By now it was pretty hot. I found a tank top that I liked for our second merchandise purchase of the day. It was getting close to the time for our mobile order window so we went outside.



When our time window came up I pressed, "I'm here prepare my order." That was around 3:43. However I didn't get the "We're preparing your order, come on in." message until nearly 4 o'clock! And then there was a line once they let us in.



It was only about five or six people, but it was nearly an hour from the time we actually placed the order to when we were enjoying our tasty treats.



People keep asking if it's crowded and really it's not too bad, but one phenomenon that is new is all the people standing around waiting for their mobile orders to be ready. About 20 minutes before, there were probably triple the amount of people standing around waiting for Dole Whips.



I'll have a few more chances to perfect the system over the coming weeks. After we enjoyed our Dole Whips, we were "done" for sure, and we still had that long ride back to the parking structure with no trams.

We stopped at the Candy shop on Main Street and picked up a few items that we enjoyed at home. We got a Caramel Chocolate Wand.

We also got a Cheshire Cat Tail and Caramel apple.Sorry forgot to take pictures before we ate them!

Then we headed out of the park. I was amazed at how empty Main Street was.


Nice to see Walt's light on.



We'll be back for more visits. One thing I forgot to mention. When in the stretching room at the HM, there were five spots indicated by circles on the floor. Each party was assigned to one of the circles. As I was a solo rider, I had my own number. There were parties of two or three on the other numbers. This system was also utilized at a point on RotR as well.

Here's the list and what I crossed off today!

Eat:
Plaza Inn Chicken
Corn Dog/Cheese Dog
Asparagus Skewer (not available)
Cafe Orleans
Mickey Macaroon from Jolly Holiday
Mickey beignets from Mint Julep Bar
Funnel Cake
Pickle Corn Dog
Raspberry Swirl Dole Whip
Bacon Mac n Cheese from Cozy Cone
Sweet treats from candy shops
Ghirardelli sundae

Ride:
Haunted Mansion
Pirates
Star Tours
Space Mountain
Guardians of the Galaxy
Soarin
Indiana Jones
Incredicoaster
Little Mermaid
RotR
Falcon
Train
Snow White
Mr. Toad
BTMRR

 

[tiggrbaby]

What a nice first day back!

 

[franandaj]

I noticed that in a video I watched of opening day! I must have missed WHY they did this change, do you know? It really is not nearly as cool...

I'm guessing that the original technology was not sustainable. The event where they let us ride during CM previews had one of the imagineers speaking to us beforehand. He mentioned that some of the technology they incorporated into the refurb would not have been possible when the ride was originally built. Maybe it wasn't feasibly possible to run over and over daily in reality either.

15 minutes for Indy!!!!! Incredible!!!

I know! I had to do it!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Notice the table on the right, they didn’t used to have those there. Now you can take your Ronto Wrap to the table to enjoy it.

A place to sit and eat? Imagine that.

Especially since you can’t sit on the random rocks.

I never noticed this waterfall in the queue of the ride, probably because the queue did not extend past this waterfall until now.

Makes sense. Better than staring at a parking lot or something.

If you don't want any spoilers, I suggest you scroll down to the third post.

Ah, I've already spoiled myself for this ride multiple times.

What I didn't realize is that there was a path to skip the indoor queue, and the Rey briefing sequence wasn't running, we just walked straight through that portion and out to the ship where you leave the planet.

Boo.

And as I was writing this up the morning after our park visit, a story aired on my local news explaining that CA guidance says that Indoor rides can be no longer than 15 minutes. RotR is 18 minutes long so they had to remove the Rey briefing sequence part of the ride in compliance.

I think I read about that. Every state's guidelines get a little weird.

And then we figured out the problem.

Somebody forgot to pack the cookies!

That's a pretty epic-looking room.

As we tried to escape, we inadvertently found our way to the bridge.

Who's driving this thing? You can't leave this dummy in charge.

When Kylo Ren realized that the prisoners were escaping, he came after us. When we entered a lift, he climbed on top and tried to cut it with his light saber.

So cool.

I love the way the walls are burning from blaster fire at various points throughout the attraction!

So cool!

Ooops we landed a little bit off course.

I guess he's not any better of a pilot than he was as a driver.

As I got off the ride, I could tell that I was "done". My legs felt a little wobbly, and that fatigue that only comes from a Disney theme park was starting to set in.

There's no fatigue like Disney parks fatigue.

Fran asked if we could look in “that expensive shop that always has so many people in it that I can’t see anything.”

Gotta be more specific. That's like, every shop in Disney.

These guys were trying to pick a fight with anyone who would bite.

I bet that was fun.

We also got a Cheshire Cat Tail and Caramel apple.Sorry forgot to take pictures before we ate them!

This kind of thing happens all the time with us.

Nice to see Walt's light on.

Yes, what a relief!