Just back from the DLR!

ArchOwl

The Highly Educated Owl
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
2,480
Just back from a three day visit to the DLR. Overall, a magical trip! My friend had not been to Disneyland for 13 years, so we had a lot to catch up on. The first thing was the Mickey and Friends parking structure, lol. We started on Tuesday and stayed through Thursday. And I finally just broke down and got a Premium AP, because let's face it, I will be going again soon! :wizard:

Star Tours was our number one priority, followed by World of Color. I never thought I would see the day where I would prefer to walk through Adventureland in the middle of the day over Tomorrowland, but it was true. The area surrounding Star Tours was crazy! :scared1: We managed to ride Star Tours 5 times and saw every different variation except for one hologram message. I thought that was pretty amazing, kudos to Disney. My friend was over the moon about this ride and thought it easily the best ride in either park. :3dglasses He is a huge Star Wars fan and this ride and watching Darth Vader and the Sith guy during Jedi Academy was a huge "geek" moment for him.

The FPs were pretty consistently running out between 11am and noon during each of our days there. The line to get the FPs was about 5 minutes or so, not as bad as I was expecting. The FP return line was normally about 15 minutes or so, not bad for such a popular ride! However, on Wednesday night, the fastpass return line for ST was insane. We got in line at 11pm and it took us 45 minutes to get in and off the ride. The standby line at that time was 120 minutes. When we got inside, we saw that only two simulators were running (gates A and B), the other two were closed. I don't know if there was a technical problem or what, but the FP return line was past the restrooms between ST and Plaza Inn. Still worth it, though!

Another winner was World of Color. Man, I just love this show! We were able to get a FP for the 10:15 blue section. We snagged a spot one stairway to the left of the Preferred Section dining rail. Awesome spot! My friend was literally picking up his jaw from the ground at the end of the show. I was wiping away a tear or two. :love: It was interesting to see how they are handling the handicapped sections now. We were at the front of the blue section and they allowed the handicapped to pick any spot in the blue section first. I was just lucky in going down the correct ramp to snag a rail spot in such a good location. They still have benches, but they are in the very back of each of the color sections, not in the middle as they were before. But they now allow you to pick whatever section you want before they let the rest of the people in. In theory this should keep big parties from filling the benches.

The Soundsational parade was so cute! I especially loved the Mary Poppins section, including the chimney sweeps and the "carousel horses". What a creative way to incorporate a classic scene into a parade, just one more reason why I love Disney. :) I would rate this parade quite high, especially when compared to the last parade, which shall remain nameless here.

Celebrity sighting! Paul Rudd was in Tomorrowland on Thursday in the early evening with a plaid contingent. I didn't recognize him, but my friend did. It was a good way to introduce the "rich or famous" game. When I see plaids in the park with guests, I always like to guess if they are celebrities or just regular ole rich folks :lmao:.

Indiana Jones be needing some love, ya'll! Went on this ride early in the day on Tuesday, made it past the idol room and the ride totally shut down. Lights on, rails up. We sat for about 15 minutes and then told we would be sent through and then allowed a re-ride. Rode almost the entire ride with lights on until the final scene when it was dark. Approached the loading area and the ride broke down again. At this point, we all wanted off the ride. We were told everyone was going to be evacuated and the ride was closing indefinitely. We were escorted off, no special fastpasses or anything. Dang, harsh Disney! I finally was able to get a rider switch pass so we didn't waste an FP. Later on, we rode again and I have to say that this ride needs some TLC, and I say this with all the love in my heart. No fire in the bridge scene or cool lasers or anything :sad1:, the part when the rats fall into your vehicle was out, and the final scene stopped in the middle and there was a huge pause before the end. Awkward. It was like watching a movie and the DVD skips around right during the climactic ending!

Big Thunder was also hiccuping a lot during our visit. Tuesday we were in line for about 10 minutes and the ride shut down. They emptied out the entire queue. Ok, no biggie. We went to Indiana and it went 101 as well. Made it onto HM and then tried BTMRR again and it went down before we got on, crazy! We finally rode it once on Wednesday night and it was the scariest BTMRR ride ever! I was holding on for dear life, it felt like it had no brakes. We tried again on Thursday evening, but it was down again. Dang gremlins! :figment:

Ironically we had less problems in DCA, even though the cramped walkways made for a tight squeeze at times! :crowded: We both enjoyed Little Mermaid with reasonable wait times (always under 25 minutes or so), Ursula was especially impressive. Screamin' was a hit as was Toy Story. I kinda laughed after getting off of GSS, they basically repainted it. Not much of a rehab, but I understand that it is not destined to stay around long, so I understand why. Aladdin was amazing as usual, my friend was impressed with the quality of the production. He was totally freaked out by the Tower of Terror, especially since we had an especially creepy bellhop who played up the drama. We only rode it once ;). The only technical difficulty in DCA was Electronica. On Tuesday night, the opening of the portal was delayed and eventually cancelled. No big deal, though, they still had glowitos!

The new front gates at DCA were very beautiful and the construction in that park seems to be rolling right along. The Carthay Circle Theater seems to be apparating out of nowhere! Amazing progress on that building. The Carsland area keeps looking better and better. We braved the Wheel of Death (non swinging) for a good look at the construction.

We had an amazing time, despite the crowds and the warm temps. Just a reminder to everyone out there who is hemming and hawing about dates and times and so on. It is Disneyland, it is amazing and magical and awe inspiring whenever you go. Even if you can only go in the middle of July (like my friend), just do it! As we were leaving the final day, he turned and said it would not be another 13 years before he returned again. I smiled. :goodvibes
 
Thanks for the detailed report ArchOwl. :thumbsup2

Always good to get the straight skinny from knowledgable Dis'ers "on the ground". :hippie:

:)
 
Sounds like a great visit!

I have been saying for several years now that they to just shut IJ down for a while and do some major work on it. The other week the boulder didn't roll. There are so many glitches and a lot of wear. It needs help. Maybe they will after the Materhorn.

We didn't have any problems with BTMRR though.
 
Love your report. We go several times a year but have not been since spring break. Really looking forward to all the new offerings and enjoyed your comments on them all.
 

Thanks for the report! I rode Indy for the very first time last month. We got to ride it twice during the trip. The first time, it was missing lots of the effects, but I didn't know any better. I didn't really think it was much better than Dinosaur over at Animal Kingdom. As we were exiting, a couple next to us said that most of the cool things about the ride weren't working. We got the opportunity to ride it again later in the trip and that time was fantastic!:thumbsup2 I know all rides have their glitches, but it seems Indy does need some TLC, as you stated.
 
Thanks for the great report, Archie! The Dobies are going in two days! Woohoo!
 
!
The other week the boulder didn't roll. .




OK ... Now things make sense. We rode this last Saturday for the 1st time. Liked it. Wanted to redo it on Wednesday---- so we did and this time we had the front row. and saw the boulder. Was wondering how we missed that really big boulder but figured it was our seats.... it probably didn't roll HA;)
feel better--- thought it was me !

Jill
 
I am a WDW vet and we are going to DLR for our first time in 2 days time! I have heard ab lots of malfunctionings with the rides and I checked mousewait today all day long and BTMRR was down! What is up with this? I have never experienced a ride malfuctioning at WDW! Only rides closed for refurbishment! I am not dissing DLR bc I haven't been there before! Just concerned about our trip!
 
Great Report...so sorry you had so many problems with the rides! But I bet you still had a Great Time!

Yep, still had an amazing trip. Just wanted to give a heads up to those planning on going soon. I think maybe a combination of heat and lots of people means a lot of issues with the rides? Not sure, but it didn't ruin anything for us.

Sounds like a great visit!

I have been saying for several years now that they to just shut IJ down for a while and do some major work on it. The other week the boulder didn't roll. There are so many glitches and a lot of wear. It needs help. Maybe they will after the Materhorn.

We didn't have any problems with BTMRR though.

Totally agree! Give IJA some love Disney!

Thanks for the great report, Archie! The Dobies are going in two days! Woohoo!

Woot! Have fun!

I am a WDW vet and we are going to DLR for our first time in 2 days time! I have heard ab lots of malfunctionings with the rides and I checked mousewait today all day long and BTMRR was down! What is up with this? I have never experienced a ride malfuctioning at WDW! Only rides closed for refurbishment! I am not dissing DLR bc I haven't been there before! Just concerned about our trip!

I am going to say that this was unusual for me. I am hoping it was just an a random thing, it has to happen to someone, right? :lmao: Even if there were some hiccups, we had a great time and so will you! :thumbsup2
 
It was interesting to see how they are handling the handicapped sections now. We were at the front of the blue section and they allowed the handicapped to pick any spot in the blue section first. I was just lucky in going down the correct ramp to snag a rail spot in such a good location. They still have benches, but they are in the very back of each of the color sections, not in the middle as they were before. But they now allow you to pick whatever section you want before they let the rest of the people in. In theory this should keep big parties from filling the benches.

Is this correct. All disabled guests were allowed into Paradise Park first, to take any spot they want. Then general guests were let in after this?

Did general guests enter about 15 minutes before the Show Ticket return time?


Bummer about Indy, I agree it could use work. But since it's still great I think they let a lot slide on it. IMO I don't know if I'd like another big attraction down for a long time.
 
Is this correct. All disabled guests were allowed into Paradise Park first, to take any spot they want. Then general guests were let in after this?

Did general guests enter about 15 minutes before the Show Ticket return time?


Bummer about Indy, I agree it could use work. But since it's still great I think they let a lot slide on it. IMO I don't know if I'd like another big attraction down for a long time.

No, I wouldn't like another biggie down but I am getting frustrated with IJ and all break downs and parts not working. I just think it has be done. Maybe after the Materhorn. :confused3
 
Is this correct. All disabled guests were allowed into Paradise Park first, to take any spot they want. Then general guests were let in after this?

Did general guests enter about 15 minutes before the Show Ticket return time?


Bummer about Indy, I agree it could use work. But since it's still great I think they let a lot slide on it. IMO I don't know if I'd like another big attraction down for a long time.

Well, I can only say how it was working on 7/20 for the 10:15pm show, since they seem to change it a lot. Blue line started at the Golden Vine Winery, but they put the handicapped up by Sonoma Terrace. About 5-10 minutes before the general blue was allowed in, the handicapped folks were allowed in. We were told that benches were available in the back for those who needed it, but that otherwise you could go wherever you wanted in the blue section. It did take a lot of pressure off the benches, since most, including those in wheelchairs, tried to get as close to the front and near a rail as possible.

Yeah, Indy needs some love, perhaps after Pirates and Matterhorn?
 





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