HaleyB
I am not a robot
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
- Messages
- 6,912
This will be short and mostly just the facts for now.
Ok, I am incapable of not running on about everything. This will be verbose and full of needless asides.
We got a really late start and just made it to the gate at opening. Normally I don't worry too much about a Disneyland day, we are old pro's, but this was July 27th.
Everything has changed now that Space Mountian is open again. It used to be you could FP Space later in the day with no worries, it used to be Splash that you worried about. No longer is this true. By the time we made it to Tomorrow land there was a 90 minute wait for Space Mountian (posted, I bet it was more like 60) and a 5 minute queue for the FP machines!
Enter park, go to the middle or right side turnstyles if there are lines. Because everyone parking at DL enters from the left side of the entrance the lines to the right go faster. I guess the people walking in from Harbor are more of a trickle in, where as the parking tram dumps loads of people all at one time. Anyhow, if you are early it will not matter.
Walk quickly down Main Street (duh).
FP runner (DH in my case) gets FP for Space while we get in Buzz 'line'. We had a 5 minute wait but let people pass us so DH could catch up and ride too.
Aside- They held the line outside of the walk through/preshow area. This is new to us, but they did it all morning. Strange to force people to stand outside in the heat. Anyone know the reason for this? I gueesed it was a staffing issue...
Ride Buzz again. DH scored way higher than me, so we jumped back in 'line' again it was a walk on. DH beat me again.
FP Splash attempt by DH while we ride Startours with a 10 minute wait. FP machines down at Splash, major bummer. DH did not get BTMRR FP because at DL they are not next to each other.
DH meets us at Star tours exit. Still no wait for Buzz, so we ride Buzz again.
Off to Adventure Land by foot. Normally we would take the train and work from back towards the front of the land, but since Splash FP machines were down we decided to reverse that. It was still way early so we were still ahead of the crowds.
Indiana Jones by Stand by line (saving FP in case Splash machines open). Also the line is the best part of the ride for me. I love the themeing. I think we waited 15-20 minutes and I got to make someone scream!
Tip- Touch, pull, and push everything you can in the queue. The rope marked "do not pull" needs a good yank. Do it 3 times listening after each time. Earlier in the line there is an area that has bamboo polls and spikes on the ground and ceiling. One of the polls is a trigger, just push on all of them, one will move. That is how I made people scream. Big fun.
We decide after IJ to check the Splash FP machines. They can run out before noon on busy days and we wanted an afternoon return. Good news, they are working. FP for Splash in hand (2:10 return) we get in line for the Haunted Mansion (right next to Splash).
Ride HM (no FP anymore) via 20? minute Standby line. Wait was closer to 10 minutes.
Walk close to the water (less crowded) to Pirates and ride it. Again no FP and no need, walked on.
After Pirates we checked out the stores in that area and had a bathroom break. It is around 10 am at this point. Time for mid morning snack. We get the Clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl. Yummy. We got something else but I can't remember what.
DD wants to ride the Mark Twain so we do that now. We have to wait 10 minutes because the Columbia is at dock. I haven't been on the Twain for years, it is a nice relaxing ride. We stood on the covered second deck, checked out the paddle wheel in back, and relaxed.
Off the boat we walk towards BTMRR and secure a set of FP's for BTMRR. Then we walk around the back way to Toon Town. We have to get fries on the way because the smell so yummy.
When we get to Toon Town we FP Roger Rabbit. I think this might be a disconnect (or BTMRR is) because I doubt it took an hour to walk from BTMRR to RR. I didn't check the FP's though, sometimes they let you get the next set early.
Toon Town took forever to get done because my Son wanted to see Minnie and my DD wanted to see Mickey. Both were 40 minutes (start to finish, about 30 waiting). We had hot dogs in Toon Town and also did some pin trading. Suddenly it was mid-late afternoon. How did that happen? Darn that Mouse.
Ride Roger Rabbit, walk on w/FP (it was at least a 60 minute line w/o FP)
Get Guest of Honor badges made on way to Space Mountian (Shop in front of Matahorn). Distract kids as we walk past Autopia by pointing out the Matahorn line. I love that ride but with no FP (they don't offer one) it is just too long a wait.
Ride Space Mountian. Wow. If you were a fan of the ride before the improvements you are going to love it now. Wow. Too bad all the FP's are gone for the day and the line is 90 minutes. We decide we will check the wait during the fireworks (we saw them last week with front and center seats so we decide to take advantage of the shorter lines). Wait w/ FP is about 15 minutes.
Take train to Frontierland.
Ride Splash w/ FP. Wait with FP is however long it takes you to walk to the boarding area! Wait in Standby is 190 minutes! That is insane.
Ride Winnie the Pooh (which is right by the Splash exit) because there is no wait. Cute with no wait but questionable if there is a wait, though worth seeing once. It is basicly a "dark" ride style ride only not inside.
Talk DD out of standing in line to meet Tigger and Pooh by reminding her we have FP's for BTMRR (yikes that was a close one).
On way to BTMRR entrance we notice they have FP's avaliable with return time 30 minutes from now. Grab a set of those! FP's this late in the day make me wonder if some people are still spooked by the BTMRR accident...
Ride BTMRR. Yipee. DD loved it.
Double back to ride Pirates again. Both sides were open but the line to the right was outside the building. All the 'them' saw a line and got in it. We went to the left and had a 5 minute wait.
Time to have dinner. We do the French Market. They have really good food (cheese cake) and a fruit plate that is well worth the $6 price. While we are eating we notice that the Fantasmic viewing area is full. Bummer. This was my big mistake. The kids really wanted to see it. It WAS offered a second time that night but I didn't realize it untill it was too late.
We jump on the train to Tomorrow Land with high hopes that the Fireworks will effect the Space Mountian line... no such luck. Autopia is a walk on so we ride it. The kids always like it as a filler.
After that we reride Star Tours with a 5 minute wait (DS picked this as his ride again ride, POC was DH's pick and BTMRR DD).
The kids refuse to let me ride Buzz again.
It had a 15 minute posted wait.
Cut through Fantasy Land to check line for Peter and Mr Toad on way to BTMRR. Both lines were over 15 minutes so we skip them. Bummer, but expected.
Ride Carrousel, no wait.
Use FP to ride BTMRR. It is way fun in the dark. We could have ridden it again with a 10 minute wait but kids don't want to.
We swing by the Jungle Cruise on the way out. Boy am I glad I didn't skip it, they updated the ride and have a mostly new script. Our captian was very funny so it was an all around great way to end the day.
Tradition holds that we sit and listen to the Piano player at the top of Main Street (mind blanking on name of place). So we do and DD falls asleep. I guess 7 is a bit young for a comando day at DL, but we had fun and nothing planned for the rest of our time in So Cal... we ended up going to Downtown Disney to visit Build a Bear and have lunch at the Rainforest cafe the next day, but we only stayed a few hours.
Regrets- We missed Fantasmic! We didn't see the new movie with Donald on Main Street. We didn't fit in a trip to the Museum above POC. We forgot to take a picture of the kids in the Mr Toad car (tradition) and didn't fit in Mr Toad (I am always worried they will replace it before our next trip)...We only got to ride Space one time...
Ok, I am incapable of not running on about everything. This will be verbose and full of needless asides.
We got a really late start and just made it to the gate at opening. Normally I don't worry too much about a Disneyland day, we are old pro's, but this was July 27th.
Everything has changed now that Space Mountian is open again. It used to be you could FP Space later in the day with no worries, it used to be Splash that you worried about. No longer is this true. By the time we made it to Tomorrow land there was a 90 minute wait for Space Mountian (posted, I bet it was more like 60) and a 5 minute queue for the FP machines!
Enter park, go to the middle or right side turnstyles if there are lines. Because everyone parking at DL enters from the left side of the entrance the lines to the right go faster. I guess the people walking in from Harbor are more of a trickle in, where as the parking tram dumps loads of people all at one time. Anyhow, if you are early it will not matter.
Walk quickly down Main Street (duh).
FP runner (DH in my case) gets FP for Space while we get in Buzz 'line'. We had a 5 minute wait but let people pass us so DH could catch up and ride too.
Aside- They held the line outside of the walk through/preshow area. This is new to us, but they did it all morning. Strange to force people to stand outside in the heat. Anyone know the reason for this? I gueesed it was a staffing issue...
Ride Buzz again. DH scored way higher than me, so we jumped back in 'line' again it was a walk on. DH beat me again.
FP Splash attempt by DH while we ride Startours with a 10 minute wait. FP machines down at Splash, major bummer. DH did not get BTMRR FP because at DL they are not next to each other.
DH meets us at Star tours exit. Still no wait for Buzz, so we ride Buzz again.
Off to Adventure Land by foot. Normally we would take the train and work from back towards the front of the land, but since Splash FP machines were down we decided to reverse that. It was still way early so we were still ahead of the crowds.
Indiana Jones by Stand by line (saving FP in case Splash machines open). Also the line is the best part of the ride for me. I love the themeing. I think we waited 15-20 minutes and I got to make someone scream!
Tip- Touch, pull, and push everything you can in the queue. The rope marked "do not pull" needs a good yank. Do it 3 times listening after each time. Earlier in the line there is an area that has bamboo polls and spikes on the ground and ceiling. One of the polls is a trigger, just push on all of them, one will move. That is how I made people scream. Big fun.
We decide after IJ to check the Splash FP machines. They can run out before noon on busy days and we wanted an afternoon return. Good news, they are working. FP for Splash in hand (2:10 return) we get in line for the Haunted Mansion (right next to Splash).
Ride HM (no FP anymore) via 20? minute Standby line. Wait was closer to 10 minutes.
Walk close to the water (less crowded) to Pirates and ride it. Again no FP and no need, walked on.
After Pirates we checked out the stores in that area and had a bathroom break. It is around 10 am at this point. Time for mid morning snack. We get the Clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl. Yummy. We got something else but I can't remember what.
DD wants to ride the Mark Twain so we do that now. We have to wait 10 minutes because the Columbia is at dock. I haven't been on the Twain for years, it is a nice relaxing ride. We stood on the covered second deck, checked out the paddle wheel in back, and relaxed.
Off the boat we walk towards BTMRR and secure a set of FP's for BTMRR. Then we walk around the back way to Toon Town. We have to get fries on the way because the smell so yummy.
When we get to Toon Town we FP Roger Rabbit. I think this might be a disconnect (or BTMRR is) because I doubt it took an hour to walk from BTMRR to RR. I didn't check the FP's though, sometimes they let you get the next set early.
Toon Town took forever to get done because my Son wanted to see Minnie and my DD wanted to see Mickey. Both were 40 minutes (start to finish, about 30 waiting). We had hot dogs in Toon Town and also did some pin trading. Suddenly it was mid-late afternoon. How did that happen? Darn that Mouse.
Ride Roger Rabbit, walk on w/FP (it was at least a 60 minute line w/o FP)
Get Guest of Honor badges made on way to Space Mountian (Shop in front of Matahorn). Distract kids as we walk past Autopia by pointing out the Matahorn line. I love that ride but with no FP (they don't offer one) it is just too long a wait.
Ride Space Mountian. Wow. If you were a fan of the ride before the improvements you are going to love it now. Wow. Too bad all the FP's are gone for the day and the line is 90 minutes. We decide we will check the wait during the fireworks (we saw them last week with front and center seats so we decide to take advantage of the shorter lines). Wait w/ FP is about 15 minutes.
Take train to Frontierland.
Ride Splash w/ FP. Wait with FP is however long it takes you to walk to the boarding area! Wait in Standby is 190 minutes! That is insane.
Ride Winnie the Pooh (which is right by the Splash exit) because there is no wait. Cute with no wait but questionable if there is a wait, though worth seeing once. It is basicly a "dark" ride style ride only not inside.
Talk DD out of standing in line to meet Tigger and Pooh by reminding her we have FP's for BTMRR (yikes that was a close one).
On way to BTMRR entrance we notice they have FP's avaliable with return time 30 minutes from now. Grab a set of those! FP's this late in the day make me wonder if some people are still spooked by the BTMRR accident...
Ride BTMRR. Yipee. DD loved it.
Double back to ride Pirates again. Both sides were open but the line to the right was outside the building. All the 'them' saw a line and got in it. We went to the left and had a 5 minute wait.
Time to have dinner. We do the French Market. They have really good food (cheese cake) and a fruit plate that is well worth the $6 price. While we are eating we notice that the Fantasmic viewing area is full. Bummer. This was my big mistake. The kids really wanted to see it. It WAS offered a second time that night but I didn't realize it untill it was too late.
We jump on the train to Tomorrow Land with high hopes that the Fireworks will effect the Space Mountian line... no such luck. Autopia is a walk on so we ride it. The kids always like it as a filler.
After that we reride Star Tours with a 5 minute wait (DS picked this as his ride again ride, POC was DH's pick and BTMRR DD).
The kids refuse to let me ride Buzz again.
It had a 15 minute posted wait.Cut through Fantasy Land to check line for Peter and Mr Toad on way to BTMRR. Both lines were over 15 minutes so we skip them. Bummer, but expected.
Ride Carrousel, no wait.
Use FP to ride BTMRR. It is way fun in the dark. We could have ridden it again with a 10 minute wait but kids don't want to.
We swing by the Jungle Cruise on the way out. Boy am I glad I didn't skip it, they updated the ride and have a mostly new script. Our captian was very funny so it was an all around great way to end the day.
Tradition holds that we sit and listen to the Piano player at the top of Main Street (mind blanking on name of place). So we do and DD falls asleep. I guess 7 is a bit young for a comando day at DL, but we had fun and nothing planned for the rest of our time in So Cal... we ended up going to Downtown Disney to visit Build a Bear and have lunch at the Rainforest cafe the next day, but we only stayed a few hours.
Regrets- We missed Fantasmic! We didn't see the new movie with Donald on Main Street. We didn't fit in a trip to the Museum above POC. We forgot to take a picture of the kids in the Mr Toad car (tradition) and didn't fit in Mr Toad (I am always worried they will replace it before our next trip)...We only got to ride Space one time...
