pjlla
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2003
- Messages
- 11,654
See Part 1 for specifics on cast....
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Our first day at DL!!
Mom (Me) up at 5:55 am... kids and Dad up at 6:20 am. We were dressed and left the hotel exactly 7 am. Quick breakfast at McDonalds on Harbor Blvd on the way to DL. Prices not any worse than local (especially compared to the highway robbery of the McD at the Grand Canyon!!).
We were in line at the gates by 7:30 am. Probably 12-15 people back. We met/talked with a nice family from Australia who were currently living in Texas.
The Mad Hatter arrived inside the gates to open them at exactly 8am. We went right in.... I told the kids and DH to "give Mom a moment" to enjoy my first few minutes EVER at DL. Since I can't remember my first moment at WDW (I was 10), I wanted to be able to remember my first moments ever at DL. The first thing I wanted to see was the light in the Firehouse window in Walt's apartment..... then up Main Street to the castle. It is SO much smaller than the Castle at WDW, but so pretty all dressed up for the 50th. Per our pre-arranged agreement, we first headed into Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.... but it was down. So off we went to off to ride the Matterhorn at DS's request. No line... It was SO jerky. But glad to cross it off our "A" List ..... let me explain....
Before we make a trip to WDW or DL, we go through the guidebook and decide which rides are "A"s or "B"s , etc. Everyone gets a vote (sometimes Mom's vote carries more weight) and then I average the votes and give every ride a letter grade (A, B, C, D, or F). Then I carry a "Priority List" with me in the parks. As long as we get done all of our "A"s and "B"s, then I know we have done the most important things... then we are free to re-ride the A's and B's or move on to the C's. This trip our A's from DL were Astro Blasters, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, BTMRR, Disneyland's 50th movie (mostly just an A for Mom), Parade of Dreams, Fantasmic, POTC, Indiana Jones.... can't remember the B's at the moment.
Back to the story.....
Next over to IASW (it was also on the A list)... no line, we rode immediately... it seems longer than the one at WDW... I thought it would never end!! I kept thinking about the crowds that were arriving in the park as I sat there singing that song! But the kids like that ride, so rode we did!
On our way over to Buzz we noticed the Space Mountain was having a "soft" opening with a 30 minute wait! WOOHOO!!!!! We were so excited. We jumped in line at 8:45 am and were riding by 9am. DS didn't want to ride and shed some tears. But he is notorious for doing this on rides where he can't see what he is going to ride. I bribed him a bit and he rode and LOVED IT! (Please understand, I would never have made him ride if he truly didn't want to.... but he has a history of not wanting to ride ANYTHING that he can't see ahead of time... but he usually loves it in the end.... I sat with him and held his hand, just in case.... but he was loving it!)
Then AstroBlasters was open... we got FPs and rode at 9:10 am with almost no line. We walked to BTMRR and walked on twice with no wait (9:40 and 9:50 am)... then back to AstroBlasters to use the FPs for the 10-11am window. Got MORE FPs for Buzz (DS and DH are real Buzz fans) and then got in line for Star Tours at 10:20am.
After Star Tours I saw Princess Aurora and Prince Philip walking toward the castle through Tomorrowland. We followed them closely (I felt like a stalker!) and were first in line for pictures.... on a path near the castle.
Over to the Jungle Cruise at 10:57 am (I think this was a "B")... reasonable line.... were off the ride by 11:20am. Our driver was Steven on the Kissimee Kate. He was great! Then we checked the standby line at Splash Mtn. It was 65 minutes... and the FP return time was 3:15 to 4:15. So we skipped both. We really want to ride just before we go back to the hotel for our lunch break.... so we will plan it for tomorrow.
Stopped for snacks/light lunch at a cart in Frontierland on our way to use our AstroBlaster FPs. Buzz was broken down AGAIN, so there was a 15 minute wait, even in the FP line.
We were going to see the 50 yr show, but it had just started 2 minutes ago, which meant an 18 minute wait and then 20 minute show, so we wouldn't be leaving the park for almost another hour.... so we decided to see it later.
Left park at 12:30pm... getting hot and crowded. Kids swam and napped, Mom did laundry and napped. (Keep in mind, this is day 6 of our total trip, so I needed to do laundry or we'd be "going commando"!)
Back into the park by 5:30pm. The men headed to AstroBlasters (so what's new??) while DD and I saw the DL 1st 50 years show. It was pleasant and funny, but I wish it had a bit more substance. But it was a nice cool spot to stop on a hot day!!
Then DD and I got a spot in the hub for the 7pm parade (it was now 6pm). We snacked on popcorn and water. The guys arrived about 6:30pm. We all had a Mickey bar. The parade was FABULOUS!! I was in tears. And the CM's who did the "preshow" before the parade were so much fun. DD and DS were up playing and dancing and getting CM autographs!
After the parade the men returned to AstroBlasters (do you see a pattern here???). DD and I decided to try Matterhorn again. The line looked very long (I was estimating 40 minutes) but it was probablay less than 15 before we were riding!! But this will be my last time on the Matterhorn...I'm concerned about whiplash!! The men weren't done with AstroBlasters yet (we kept in contact by cellphone) so we wandered into ToonTown. It is so cute! We saw Mickey and Minnie's houses and the line to meet Mickey was short, but DD didn't want to do it without the guys (isn't that sweet!) so we ducked out of line. Then we met the guys at AstroBlasters and used our FPs at 8:15pm.
We got a late dinner (guys at Pizza Port and DD and I at Club Buzz... she wasn't in the mood for pizza). The lines were short but the waits were LONG!! Two parties in front of us and the wait was at least 25 minutes. We hustled out to Main St. to find a spot for fireworks. We had to go through the hub, kind of circle through Frontierland, and were finally able to squeeze into a spot at the back of a section in front of the Frontierland entrance of the hub area. Fortunately, some kind folks let DD and I move up with them so that she could see better and DS sat on DH's shoulders (although he is really too big for that!). We were in the back of our area, so I know we didn't block anyone.
THe fireworks were absolutely fabulous. It truly brought a tear to my eye! And Tinkerbelle's flight was great! She was practically flying through the fireworks!
Then over to Space Mountain.... 60 minute wait time posted... we actually waited 58 minutes!.... were out by 11:05pm. We used our AstroBlaster FPs and then out of the park.... in the hotel room by 11:45pm. Hope everyone can handle getting up early for our EE day tomorrow!!.......................P
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Our first day at DL!!
Mom (Me) up at 5:55 am... kids and Dad up at 6:20 am. We were dressed and left the hotel exactly 7 am. Quick breakfast at McDonalds on Harbor Blvd on the way to DL. Prices not any worse than local (especially compared to the highway robbery of the McD at the Grand Canyon!!).
We were in line at the gates by 7:30 am. Probably 12-15 people back. We met/talked with a nice family from Australia who were currently living in Texas.
The Mad Hatter arrived inside the gates to open them at exactly 8am. We went right in.... I told the kids and DH to "give Mom a moment" to enjoy my first few minutes EVER at DL. Since I can't remember my first moment at WDW (I was 10), I wanted to be able to remember my first moments ever at DL. The first thing I wanted to see was the light in the Firehouse window in Walt's apartment..... then up Main Street to the castle. It is SO much smaller than the Castle at WDW, but so pretty all dressed up for the 50th. Per our pre-arranged agreement, we first headed into Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.... but it was down. So off we went to off to ride the Matterhorn at DS's request. No line... It was SO jerky. But glad to cross it off our "A" List ..... let me explain....
Before we make a trip to WDW or DL, we go through the guidebook and decide which rides are "A"s or "B"s , etc. Everyone gets a vote (sometimes Mom's vote carries more weight) and then I average the votes and give every ride a letter grade (A, B, C, D, or F). Then I carry a "Priority List" with me in the parks. As long as we get done all of our "A"s and "B"s, then I know we have done the most important things... then we are free to re-ride the A's and B's or move on to the C's. This trip our A's from DL were Astro Blasters, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, BTMRR, Disneyland's 50th movie (mostly just an A for Mom), Parade of Dreams, Fantasmic, POTC, Indiana Jones.... can't remember the B's at the moment.
Back to the story.....
Next over to IASW (it was also on the A list)... no line, we rode immediately... it seems longer than the one at WDW... I thought it would never end!! I kept thinking about the crowds that were arriving in the park as I sat there singing that song! But the kids like that ride, so rode we did!
On our way over to Buzz we noticed the Space Mountain was having a "soft" opening with a 30 minute wait! WOOHOO!!!!! We were so excited. We jumped in line at 8:45 am and were riding by 9am. DS didn't want to ride and shed some tears. But he is notorious for doing this on rides where he can't see what he is going to ride. I bribed him a bit and he rode and LOVED IT! (Please understand, I would never have made him ride if he truly didn't want to.... but he has a history of not wanting to ride ANYTHING that he can't see ahead of time... but he usually loves it in the end.... I sat with him and held his hand, just in case.... but he was loving it!)
Then AstroBlasters was open... we got FPs and rode at 9:10 am with almost no line. We walked to BTMRR and walked on twice with no wait (9:40 and 9:50 am)... then back to AstroBlasters to use the FPs for the 10-11am window. Got MORE FPs for Buzz (DS and DH are real Buzz fans) and then got in line for Star Tours at 10:20am.
After Star Tours I saw Princess Aurora and Prince Philip walking toward the castle through Tomorrowland. We followed them closely (I felt like a stalker!) and were first in line for pictures.... on a path near the castle.
Over to the Jungle Cruise at 10:57 am (I think this was a "B")... reasonable line.... were off the ride by 11:20am. Our driver was Steven on the Kissimee Kate. He was great! Then we checked the standby line at Splash Mtn. It was 65 minutes... and the FP return time was 3:15 to 4:15. So we skipped both. We really want to ride just before we go back to the hotel for our lunch break.... so we will plan it for tomorrow.
Stopped for snacks/light lunch at a cart in Frontierland on our way to use our AstroBlaster FPs. Buzz was broken down AGAIN, so there was a 15 minute wait, even in the FP line.
We were going to see the 50 yr show, but it had just started 2 minutes ago, which meant an 18 minute wait and then 20 minute show, so we wouldn't be leaving the park for almost another hour.... so we decided to see it later.
Left park at 12:30pm... getting hot and crowded. Kids swam and napped, Mom did laundry and napped. (Keep in mind, this is day 6 of our total trip, so I needed to do laundry or we'd be "going commando"!)
Back into the park by 5:30pm. The men headed to AstroBlasters (so what's new??) while DD and I saw the DL 1st 50 years show. It was pleasant and funny, but I wish it had a bit more substance. But it was a nice cool spot to stop on a hot day!!
Then DD and I got a spot in the hub for the 7pm parade (it was now 6pm). We snacked on popcorn and water. The guys arrived about 6:30pm. We all had a Mickey bar. The parade was FABULOUS!! I was in tears. And the CM's who did the "preshow" before the parade were so much fun. DD and DS were up playing and dancing and getting CM autographs!
After the parade the men returned to AstroBlasters (do you see a pattern here???). DD and I decided to try Matterhorn again. The line looked very long (I was estimating 40 minutes) but it was probablay less than 15 before we were riding!! But this will be my last time on the Matterhorn...I'm concerned about whiplash!! The men weren't done with AstroBlasters yet (we kept in contact by cellphone) so we wandered into ToonTown. It is so cute! We saw Mickey and Minnie's houses and the line to meet Mickey was short, but DD didn't want to do it without the guys (isn't that sweet!) so we ducked out of line. Then we met the guys at AstroBlasters and used our FPs at 8:15pm.
We got a late dinner (guys at Pizza Port and DD and I at Club Buzz... she wasn't in the mood for pizza). The lines were short but the waits were LONG!! Two parties in front of us and the wait was at least 25 minutes. We hustled out to Main St. to find a spot for fireworks. We had to go through the hub, kind of circle through Frontierland, and were finally able to squeeze into a spot at the back of a section in front of the Frontierland entrance of the hub area. Fortunately, some kind folks let DD and I move up with them so that she could see better and DS sat on DH's shoulders (although he is really too big for that!). We were in the back of our area, so I know we didn't block anyone.
THe fireworks were absolutely fabulous. It truly brought a tear to my eye! And Tinkerbelle's flight was great! She was practically flying through the fireworks!
Then over to Space Mountain.... 60 minute wait time posted... we actually waited 58 minutes!.... were out by 11:05pm. We used our AstroBlaster FPs and then out of the park.... in the hotel room by 11:45pm. Hope everyone can handle getting up early for our EE day tomorrow!!.......................P
