Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[Sherry E]

Once again, great flower photos, Bret!

Does anyone know what kinds of flowers (the light pink ones) those are in the tree photo? I am sure they're not cherry blossoms, but they look sort of cherry blossom-esque. Maybe they belong to the same family.

I think the new DSLR camera definitely helps a lot in taking some stellar flower photos (among other types of photos). I've also seen amazingly beautiful flower photos taken with regular point & shoot cameras too (like from Deej, for example). I think some of the reasons for why certain flowers' beauty comes across in photos really well, while other flowers' beauty doesn't translate quite as well, are due to lighting & weather conditions on any given day, as well as which stage of life the flowers are in.

Also, the flower 'stylists,' landscape architects, horticulturists and gardeners that Disney employs sometimes put together flower beds of multi-colored flowers that really complement each other, and the look is very dramatic and theme-specific. Whereas, other times, they put together flower beds with the wrong-colored flowers for the season (like the Easter-ish flowers I saw around the Hub during December 2009 and November 2010), and those don't have the same impact for me.

Speaking of flowers, trees and other botanical fun & games, I would love love love to attend the Flower and Garden Festival at WDW! I wouldn't give up a holiday trip to WDW if I ever could get there, but I think my next-preferred time to go to WDW would be during the Flower & Garden time. Those character topiaries are amazing!

I don't know about you, Bret, but I am so excited for all the work to be done in DCA! I really cant believe it's only 3 months away. It's hard to fathom that the 4 years involved in the billion dollar makeover have already passed! TSMM has already been open for almost a full 4 years! I am so sick of those DCA construction walls and the roundabout entrance into DCA. I miss the days of just being able to walk straight into the park without having to walk past Soarin' and beyond to get in.

If I am not mistaken, though - and please correct me if I am wrong - it's mainly Cars Land and Buena Vista Street that will be open in Summer, but there is still more DCA work to be done, right? Will Ghirardelli definitely be open by June? Also, the new Hyperion Bridge (or whatever it will be called) at the entrance of DCA - is that going to be done by Summer? And aren't there supposed to be more restaurants and shops coming to BVS and Cars Land later on down the line? I think I remember reading (maybe on MC?) that some of the dining places will not be open in June and will come later. Correct? So I think that the bulk of the work will be complete, but there will still be many more things to come in the next couple of years.

 

[tksbaskets]

Your flower pictures are just wonderful! I'm looking forward to seeing all the changes on MS with the Carnation Cafe and Bakery remodel.

Great installment Bret!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Once again, great flower photos, Bret!

Does anyone know what kinds of flowers (the light pink ones) those are in the tree photo? I am sure they're not cherry blossoms, but they look sort of cherry blossom-esque. Maybe they belong to the same family.

I think the new DSLR camera definitely helps a lot in taking some stellar flower photos (among other types of photos). I've also seen amazingly beautiful flower photos taken with regular point & shoot cameras too (like from Deej, for example). I think some of the reasons for why certain flowers' beauty comes across in photos really well, while other flowers' beauty doesn't translate quite as well, are due to lighting & weather conditions on any given day, as well as which stage of life the flowers are in.

Also, the flower 'stylists,' landscape architects, horticulturists and gardeners that Disney employs sometimes put together flower beds of multi-colored flowers that really complement each other, and the look is very dramatic and theme-specific. Whereas, other times, they put together flower beds with the wrong-colored flowers for the season (like the Easter-ish flowers I saw around the Hub during December 2009 and November 2010), and those don't have the same impact for me.

Speaking of flowers, trees and other botanical fun & games, I would love love love to attend the Flower and Garden Festival at WDW! I wouldn't give up a holiday trip to WDW if I ever could get there, but I think my next-preferred time to go to WDW would be during the Flower & Garden time. Those character topiaries are amazing!

I don't know about you, Bret, but I am so excited for all the work to be done in DCA! I really cant believe it's only 3 months away. It's hard to fathom that the 4 years involved in the billion dollar makeover have already passed! TSMM has already been open for almost a full 4 years! I am so sick of those DCA construction walls and the roundabout entrance into DCA. I miss the days of just being able to walk straight into the park without having to walk past Soarin' and beyond to get in.

If I am not mistaken, though - and please correct me if I am wrong - it's mainly Cars Land and Buena Vista Street that will be open in Summer, but there is still more DCA work to be done, right? Will Ghirardelli definitely be open by June? Also, the new Hyperion Bridge (or whatever it will be called) at the entrance of DCA - is that going to be done by Summer? And aren't there supposed to be more restaurants and shops coming to BVS and Cars Land later on down the line? I think I remember reading (maybe on MC?) that some of the dining places will not be open in June and will come later. Correct? So I think that the bulk of the work will be complete, but there will still be many more things to come in the next couple of years.

Thank you Sherry.

I would like to know what the flowers names were at the Hub.

My Nikon D5100 camera picture quality is way better then my old Nikon D60 camera. I still don't regret buying this new camera from last year which some of my family members think that it is a waste of money. But if I used it a lot for my Disney trips and other events, it does seem worth it.

The Flower and Garden Festival at ECPOT WDW is so amazing with all those different flowers and topiaries of the characters. It is special to go down to EPCOT during Spring Break to see all those flowers. If I have the option of going to WDW during the Flower and Garden Festival or the Holiday season at WDW, I would always choose the Holiday season easily over the Flower and Garden Festival.

I am also excited that the one billion dollar expansion to DCA is almost complete in just 3 months. I can't believe it has been four years ever since the construction started at DCA. Can't believe TSMM is four years old and the wait times are as long as it has been since it opened. Good thing that DCA TSMM is not that insanely long like DHS TSMM. It wil be very nice to see the construction walls come down this summer. After the last few trips going through the back side of Soarin, I am waiting to go through the regular entrance to DCA.

For the summer ads it will be Cars Land and BVS. There is also the Mad T Party which will replace Electronica this summer as the new nighttime event at the HPB. Over at DL, the Matterhorn will be reopened with the new bobsled cars. There is a lot of new activities to do at the DLR this summer. I heard that Ghirardelli will be opening in late spring this year. I really missed the Mission Tortilla Factory. My DA really missed that the most since we would go in and get a quick tortilla for a snack. The Hyperion Bridge should be ready this summer when Cars Land opens with BVS. But I haven't heard any news about it. I know that when the monorail is closed during my visit, I would guess that the construction crew is working on the bridge as of now until March 10 when the monorail will be running again. There will be a lot of shops at BVS. There is a few at Cars Land. For now I know that the main shop at DCA will be called Elias & Co. at BVS. I'm just waiting for all the updates of all the restaurants and stores.

Your flower pictures are just wonderful! I'm looking forward to seeing all the changes on MS with the Carnation Cafe and Bakery remodel.

Great installment Bret!

Thank you TK. It will be neat to see what CC look like after the refurbishment.

The next update is coming up.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – March 2, 2012 – Part 5​

After being in DL for about an hour, I decided it was time to head on out of the park and get back to BWPPI and meet up with my DA. We have a reservation at the ESPN Zone to watch the Sacramento Kings play the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30pm. I know that by watching the game, I would have no chance to get my usual prime spot in front of SB Castle for RDCT. But I was planning on seeing in on Saturday so it didn’t affect me that much until Saturday night. That will be in another time when I talked about our Saturday night event.

While I was walking down MS, the Ice Cream Parlor and Carnation Café were closed due to its refurbishment which extra seating will be at the former Blue Ribbon Bakery. It was sad to see the Blue Ribbon Bakery gone, but the extra space will be perfect for CC.

Carnation Cafe closed

The Flag Retreat was already over when I got back to MS TS.

When I was at MS TS, I saw that there was a big crowd around the Flag Retreat. I first thought it was just a big crowd of people getting pics with the characters. There was a movie crew around the TS and what they were filming. I first thought it was just a small Disney commercial at first. But I didn't ask any of the CMs of what they were doing. So I just walked up closer and see what they were doing. There were a lot of familes with bags of toys around the area so I thought that they were doing a update of DL on DVD.

While I want to get better pictures, I head up on the MS station and get some better pictures.

There were a lot of people looking at what is going on.

After getting some pics, it was already late for me so I head on out of the park.

Later on during that weekend, I talked to skiingfast and said what was filming at DL on Friday. He said that it was Modern Family filming at DL. They filmed on Thursday going all the way to Friday. It was neat to hear that Modern Family was filming at DL.

When I got back to the hotel, my DA and I head on over to the ESPN Zone to watch the Kings play the Lakers at 7:30pm that night. I didn't bring my camera so there is no pictures to show for this post. When we past the esplanade and DTD, it started to pick up with most of the guests heading on over to DL. There were a lot of cheer leading girls that night. DTD was busy but not that crowded.

We arrived at the ESPN Zone at 7pm and we stayed until 10pm when the Kings and Lakers game was over. The Lakers beat the Kings, but it wasn't that hostile with Laker fans. Good thing that it wasn't that busy since I couldn't get a reservation at 7pm. But this is not like a Sunday where you have to wait at least half an hour for a football game.

After dinner, we head on back to the hotel. My DA asked if I wanted to go to DL for a quick time, but I was really tired after driving that morning. So we just head on back to the room and called it for the night.

It was nice to head on over to both parks that afternoon. I got to see the BSC, BVS, Cars Land, Matterhorn construction site, MS buldings, and a filming of Modern Family. The day started out very nice and now looking for the next day which would be the most bizarre trip I have ever done. I will talk about it on the next post.

 

[kmedina]

Cool. Looks like quite a few people were interested in the filming. You're right about 06-15-12 for the Carsland opening. I just read it today and could not be happier. I cannnot wait to see it.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Cool. Looks like quite a few people were interested in the filming. You're right about 06-15-12 for the Carsland opening. I just read it today and could not be happier. I cannnot wait to see it.

There were quite a number of people at MS TS during the Modern Family filming. There were quite a number of park guests that were asked to be part of the filming which is neat. Al Lutz was correct on the opening day of Cars Land. I know that it is going to be a mad house on opening day at Cars Land and Buena Vista Street just like when I did WoC on the opening day back in 2010. Can't wait in just a few months.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 3, 2012 – Part 1​

After a fine day at the DLR on Friday, now it is time to enjoy another day at DL first thing in the morning at 8am. I always like to get up early and head on over to the park when it opens at 8am. Since most of the guests are sleeping or going for breakfast. The best time to enter DL is always when the park opens during MM at 7am or if you don't have a MM you can go to the park when it opens at 8am.

Since my DA didn't feel like getting up early and go with me to DL at 8am, I head on over to DL and she would meet up with me at DCA at 9:30am.

I left BWPPI around 7:45am and head on over to the park. The day was so perfect in the 60s that morning and th sky was cleared. I knew that this was going to be a very nice Saturday morning at DL. At first it did look like a normal Saturday morning at the esplanade with a few guests trying to get in the park at 8am. I believe there were about 5 people that were in front of me when I went past the turnstiles in the middle.

Now I am going to do my first ride at DL which is BLAB before the ride wait times get busier around 9am. The park looked like a normal not busy morning while I was walking down MS.

I just got to the park when it was 8am. Very interesting that the rope drop was not right by the MS shops but instead close to land entrances. I was wondering why the rope drops were close to the lands instead right by the shops.

The Penny Arcade closed for refurbishment

When the parked opened at 8am, I head on over to TL and get a FP for ST first. Since I know that ST will have a long queue in the morning. But I just get the FP since I like to collect them.

I got my FP at ST

After getting the FP, I head on over to BLAB and go on my favorite ride. When I completed BLAB, I was so mad that I didn't do well on BLAB. I only got 537,400 points is a very low score for me on this ride. I just didn't hit the targets like I usually do especially on the secret target on Zurg. But that won't stop my day of enjoying the park and taking a lot of pictures.

When I got off BLAB, I saw that ST wait time was not past 20 minutes which should be usual in the morning. At first I thought that it was just a glitch or something went wrong. But I decided to head on over to ST and go on one quick ride.

The wait time didn't seem like 15 minutes but it did seem like less then 10 minutes.

As for my experiences on ST. We started with the Stormtroopers at the beginning. On our next destination was the Wookie planet Kashyyyk. We left the planet and got a transmission from Princess Leia. Then it was over to Geonosis and met up with Boba Fett and Darth Vader.

When I got off ST, TL didn't looked that busy. But I didn't wonder why the park was busy so I head on over to my next ride which is POTC. I missed it back in November when it was down due to refurbishment. So off to POTC.

There was no one in the queue for ST which is strange that morning

Now I was back at the Hub and just like TL, it was a ghost town at the Hub. I didn't worry about it since I was focusing on going on POTC.

When I past through Adventureland it was just like the same where I don't see anyone.

The wait time was only 10 minutes which is usual for Indy in the morning.

I head on over to POTC and went on the ride.

When I completed POTC, it was enhanced a little bit when I rode last year. While I was still in NOS, it didn't seem that busy. So I just went around NOS take some more pics of the decorations on the buildings.

Now that I went on the rides that I wanted to do that morning, now it was time for the picture taking since I know the park will be picking up after I got off POTC.

The next post will be up later today.

 

[tksbaskets]

Day 2 – March 3, 2012 – Part 1​

After getting the FP, I head on over to BLAB and go on my favorite ride. When I completed BLAB, I was so mad that I didn't do well on BLAB. I only got 537,400 points is a very low score for me on this ride. I just didn't hit the targets like I usually do especially on the secret target on Zurg. But that won't stop my day of enjoying the park and taking a lot of pictures.

Hi Bret,
Was this the day of the bomb scare? It must have been strange to have the park that empty (and quite wonderful for the low wait times on the rides!)

I was LOL that your score on BLAB was 'low'. Did you see my paltry score? Some day it would be nice to ride BLAB with you and I'll ride with you on TSMM and we can share tricks. Too this day all I seem to be able to do on BLAB is pout at my pitiful scores...

WONDERFUL pictures of a quiet morning at DL.

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret,
Was this the day of the bomb scare? It must have been strange to have the park that empty (and quite wonderful for the low wait times on the rides!)

I was LOL that your score on BLAB was 'low'. Did you see my paltry score? Some day it would be nice to ride BLAB with you and I'll ride with you on TSMM and we can share tricks. Too this day all I seem to be able to do on BLAB is pout at my pitiful scores...

WONDERFUL pictures of a quiet morning at DL.

TK

Hi TK,

I was trying to make this TR special because of the bomb scare on that Saturday morning. Yes, that day was the day of the bomb scare which actually turned out to be a scavenger game which was a spiritual message in the bag. It was strange that morning at first when I first saw ST wait time that low. It doesn't make that sense ever since ST first opened last summer that the wait times are always above 20 minutes in the morning. Then when I just kept walking around the park taking pictures, I knew that something was wrong so I asked the CM's around the park to see what was the problem. After when I got close to the exit at MS, there were security CM's making sure that no one left the park that morning. I could have left the park that morning if I was escorted by a CM. But since it was quiet at DL, I had to stay and enjoy the time being there with about a few hundred other guests in the park. It was strange at first and later on it turned out to be the time of a lifetime when you can go on any ride without waiting a long time.

I was not happy at first getting that low score that morning. I aimed my gun at the targets and the targets didn't light up. I did see your score on your TR. As you know I am not saying anything about your score, it just happens and you got to know what are the big targets are on the ride. I was also hoping that I would have got on the ride with a handicapped person so the ride can stop and just keep on shooting while riding. I know all the tricks on TSMM, but the only problem is that my arm is not that strong and I do get tired by pulling on that string. I can't shoot that fast with my arm, but my finger I can do it so fast. That would be nice to ride with you on BLAB and TSMM if our TR cross paths.

Thank you TK.

 

[Sherry E]

My scores on BLAB and TSMM are awful - that's not even an exaggeration. Awful, I tell you! Especially the BLAB scores! I have seen improvement off and on in my TSMM scores, but the BLAB scores are just horrific all across the board. That one is hard to master, and I don't have good enough hand-eye coordination to master it!

So I finally just resigned myself to the fact that I will ride those rides just for the fun of shooting at targets in general, but that I am never going to be good in any way. Sometimes I do better than other times and I beat my own average, but I rarely beat my other friends. Even the friends I can beat at first, end up beating me later!

I think that for you, Bret, because you are used to getting such great scores, if you get anything less than what you're used to getting you probably feel like you let yourself down. But just know that we would all probably love to have your BLAB scores!!

 

[kmedina]

Love how 537k is not a big score for you on Buzz. I would need 3-4 games to even get that high. Do you just save the fastpasses you collect or do you use some of them? Looks like you knock most of the rides out before most people even enter the park. Smart man.

Al Lutz was correct on the opening day of Cars Land. I know that it is going to be a mad house on opening day at Cars Land and Buena Vista Street just like when I did WoC on the opening day back in 2010. Can't wait in just a few months.

We were already planning a trip around 06-21-12 for my son's first birthday. Whether it opened or not, we were going. I am just happy that it will be open. I realize it will be busier due to that but would still rather have excess crowds than it not be ready at all. I went to the World of Color show a couple of weeks after it opened. The park was busy, but we dined at Ariel's Grotto to get passes for the show. It worked out nicely. Hopefully, Carsland goes well for us too. Opening day must have been insane. You are brave.

 

[mvf-m11c]

My scores on BLAB and TSMM are awful - that's not even an exaggeration. Awful, I tell you! Especially the BLAB scores! I have seen improvement off and on in my TSMM scores, but the BLAB scores are just horrific all across the board. That one is hard to master, and I don't have good enough hand-eye coordination to master it!

So I finally just resigned myself to the fact that I will ride those rides just for the fun of shooting at targets in general, but that I am never going to be good in any way. Sometimes I do better than other times and I beat my own average, but I rarely beat my other friends. Even the friends I can beat at first, end up beating me later!

I think that for you, Bret, because you are used to getting such great scores, if you get anything less than what you're used to getting you probably feel like you let yourself down. But just know that we would all probably love to have your BLAB scores!!

It is really hard to hit a small light target on BLAB. With those moving targets make BLAB a very fun ride to go on every time. I like to challenge myself on BLAB to beat my best score which was 2,000,000+ a couple of years ago. I understand what you are saying Sherry, I should just be happy that I am getting good scores on BLAB. But every time I get off the ride and see those 1,000,000+ scores from these other guests, I want to be up there with them as having my initials on the screen as the highest scores.

Love how 537k is not a big score for you on Buzz. I would need 3-4 games to even get that high. Do you just save the fastpasses you collect or do you use some of them? Looks like you knock most of the rides out before most people even enter the park. Smart man.



We were already planning a trip around 06-21-12 for my son's first birthday. Whether it opened or not, we were going. I am just happy that it will be open. I realize it will be busier due to that but would still rather have excess crowds than it not be ready at all. I went to the World of Color show a couple of weeks after it opened. The park was busy, but we dined at Ariel's Grotto to get passes for the show. It worked out nicely. Hopefully, Carsland goes well for us too. Opening day must have been insane. You are brave.

Ever since I have got an AP, I ride BLAB at least once a trip and always try to get the highest score as I can. But those blasters won't trigger the targets and I do lose a lot of points when they aren't working. Maybe I should videotape myself on the ride one day and show how I do on the ride.

I just collect the FPs and have a scrapbook of the tickets, maps, time sheets, FPs etc. from both resorts. I just like to collect them and remind me of those great times at the parks. I still have WoC FPs on the first day when it opened. Very funny is that when we were let in the viewing area, all the guests were pushing so the CMs couldn't collect the FPs. So I have one to remind myself of that first day.

It is really important to do the best rides in the morning and go on the average wait time rides later during the day. You also got to plan for the shows of which one you want to see. I did use ridemax program to help me plan of what rides to ride and get the FP. You should try ridemax if you haven't used it. It is a real life saver for going on rides without waiting a long time.

Glad that you are going to the DLR to celebrate your son's first birthday. What a better way to celebrate his first birthday by going to Cars Land. At least you won't be going during the opening date which will be crazy. To tell you the truth, I really don't want to go on opening date like I did with WoC back in 2010 when we waited outside the queue to get a FP. This time it might be even crazier this summer because of two new lands at DCA. If there is a AP sneak peek, we will go during the day that DCA will have an AP sneak peek and cancel the opening day trip. But that is only if there is a sneak peek and we get selected.

Good thing that you did the WoC dining package at AG. It was easy for us on the 2nd day when we did the dining package instead of getting up early for a FP. We should have done that on the opening day which would saved us all those hours, but it was a great experience to see the first WoC to the public.

 

[Sherry E]

I definitely think you and TK need to ride TSMM together and compare tips!

Your scores on BLAB - whether they're from 2 years ago or one year ago or last week - are still great, and you should be very proud.

It's amazing to see those photos from DL with almost no people. It won't look like that in about 3 months, will it?

 

[mvf-m11c]

I definitely think you and TK need to ride TSMM together and compare tips!

Your scores on BLAB - whether they're from 2 years ago or one year ago or last week - are still great, and you should be very proud.

It's amazing to see those photos from DL with almost no people. It won't look like that in about 3 months, will it?

It will be nice to ride with TK on TSMM. The only problem is that I know where the secret targets on TSMM for each different scene and I just can't pull the string a lot since my arm is not that strong enough. I just don't work out a lot with my arms so they do hurt every time I go all out on TSMM. I should go do some weightlifting.

Your right, I should be proud of my scores on BLAB.

The first post is only the beginning, I still have more photos to show for my upcoming updates. You will never see the park that empty again in the morning unless something like that incident happens again at the ticket booth. I can understand the management closing off the ticket booth, but if the suspicious package is around DTD then the east side of the bus loading zone will be open and you can enter the parks from there. Just not from the DTD side.

 

[Sherry E]

I think that sometimes the arms and wrists get exerted more on TSMM when the strings are too loose or too tense on the ride, and when the shooter/contraption/string is further away from the rider. Some of the contraptions are closer to the riders, while others are further out and you have to lean in more to operate them. I like the ride vehicles on TSMM where the shooting strings and devices are even with each other, and one is not closer than the other.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I think that sometimes the arms and wrists get exerted more on TSMM when the strings are too loose or too tense on the ride, and when the shooter/contraption/string is further away from the rider. Some of the contraptions are closer to the riders, while others are further out and you have to lean in more to operate them. I like the ride vehicles on TSMM where the shooting strings and devices are even with each other, and one is not closer than the other.

Thank you for the lesson sherry. THe ride vehicles on TSMM are fun to ride on and I like to pull the strings on the guns. You are right that sometimes when I am on different ride vehicles, the string does feel like it is short or long.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 3, 2012 – Part 2​

Now back to going around the park taking pictures after going on my usual rides that morning. The park still looked empty that day and I just didn't asked where everyone was that morning. Good thing that it wasn't that crazy so I could do some picture taking without too many people in my pictures.

After leaving POTC, I head on back to the Hub to get some pictures.

Now I am back at MS and once again, it was quiet.

I took some pics of the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe

Now I am back at the Hub to take somepics of the flowers upclose. Here are more pictures of the flowers upclose for you Sherry, Deej, and TK.

What ride is in the background of this picture?

Now I head on over to the Matterhorn to get some upclose pictures. It does look strange to see the Matterhorn all wrapped up. But it will be very nice to see the mountain all fixed up and ready to go for the summertime.

After getting some pics of the Matterhorn, I was now back in TL. Most of the ride at TL were still short and still spooky.

So my next destination was over to IASW.

Even over at IASW, it was quiet and it was already 9:15am.

The back side of the Matterhorn

So I head on over to FL and see what the crowd levels are like. Just like everywhere arount he park, FL is almost empty that morning.

After seeing PP with a short queue, I concluded that something was wrong. I didn't know why there weren't anyone at the park. So I just walked around the park and see what the wait times were like.

I head on over to the back side of Frontierland to get some decent pics.

Now back at the RoA where it is still quiet.

So I just kept walking around to see why the park wasn't that crowded that morning. On the next post will tell the whole thing. So stay tune for the next post on Saturday.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Yay for more pictures of flowers! I just don't get tired of looking at Disneyland flowers. Was it BTMR in the background of that picture?

"Spooky" is a good word to describe the way the park looked that Saturday morning. That would have been amazing to have the park to yourself like that.

What is your record high score on BLAB? That's one of the rides my kids can't wait to get back to this fall. I want to tell them about your high scores. That would be fun if you and TK could take a spin on BLAB and TSMM together sometime.

 

[kmedina]

More lovely shots. The flowers are so beautiful. I cannot wait to hear why it was so slow. I have never seen a Saturday that was not completely packed.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Yay for more pictures of flowers! I just don't get tired of looking at Disneyland flowers. Was it BTMR in the background of that picture?

"Spooky" is a good word to describe the way the park looked that Saturday morning. That would have been amazing to have the park to yourself like that.

What is your record high score on BLAB? That's one of the rides my kids can't wait to get back to this fall. I want to tell them about your high scores. That would be fun if you and TK could take a spin on BLAB and TSMM together sometime.

Yes, it was BTMRR in the background of the Hub tree.

It was spooky at the beginning that DL was not that crowded after 9am. So I knew that something was wrong and the CM's wouldn't allow the guests to enter the park. At first I thought about the suspicious bag at TL a couple of years ago. I can't remember what date it was but I know that they wouldn't let any guests in TL until it was clear. So I thought it would be something like that this Saturday morning. I did my usual routine going around the park taking pictures. Than after finding out the situation at the esplanade, I just went on rides after that.

Here is my score from 2010 and it did take awhile to look for it on my flickr. It was 2,581,500 points which is my highest. I remember that the ride stopped a few times to let the handicapped guests on the ride. Luckily I was in areas that had the triangles which gave me those high scores.

It would be great to ride with TK on TSMM and BLAB.

More lovely shots. The flowers are so beautiful. I cannot wait to hear why it was so slow. I have never seen a Saturday that was not completely packed.

Thank you kmedina. You will find out later on the next post of what happened that Saturday morning.