pjlla
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2003
- Messages
- 11,654
For cast of characters, see Part 1.
Friday, July 15, 2005
We slept in a bit after last night's late Fantasmic show. We arrived at the Disneyland gates at 8:15am. They had special park maps for the day commemorating the Grand Opening of Space Mountain. The lines were long-ish. We went straight over to Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters to see if we could use last night's FP's, as it never was up again during our FP time the night before. It was still down this morning, but they signed our FP's so that we could use them any time during the day.
Over to check out Space Mountain... the CM's were telling people that Space Mtn was not opening to the general public (standby or FP machines) until after 11am. The opening ceremony/press event was scheduled for 10 am. (We had seen the tables set up for the press event the night before.) DH and kids rode Astro Orbiter (I'm afraid of heights, so once was enough for me!) We criss-crossed over to Frontierland for BTMRR (again???) we were in line at 8:55 am with a 5 minute wait. We rode twice and then back over to AstroBlasters. It was back online so we rode with our FP's from last night. We were just walking away from Buzz on our way out of the park to head over to DCA when a pretty CM named Stephanie stopped us. She asked where we were going and we told her over to DCA. She asked if we would like to be part of the SPACE MOUNTAIN OPENING CEREMONY and see Neal Armstrong!! I think I was a bit speechless!! The family all agreed to this and we were off with her. She grabbed another family along the way and we got to enter the upper platform of the Space Mountain waiting area through "Cast Member Only" doors!! We were behind the "official" press, but we were able to see the DL president (?? can't remember his name) and Neal Armstrong and Mickey Mouse!! Mickey presented Neal Armstrong with a plaque, etc. I'm sure my kids are too young to appreciate this moment, but they were excited we got to ride Space Mtn again with almost no line!!! We got interviewed by Fox 11 News because we were so excited and hi-fiving each other in line! The ride was great and we bought the ride photo. Too bad it doesn't say something commemorating that it was a press event or something.
After that we headed over to DCA, about an hour or so behind schedule. We got a locker for our ride photo, got FP for Soarin', got in the standby line for Soarin with a 25 minute wait. DS was complaining/whining again about being "terrified" but I was able to get him to ride and he loved it... said it was "cool!".
Over to California Screamin'... DH and kids got in line at 11:54.... I waited until 12 exactly so that I could get FP's for Screamin'. I got the FP's and caught up with my family in line. Standby line showed 35 minute wait, but actual wait time was under 20 minutes. We LOVED the coaster!!
Back over to Taste Pilots for lunch (I had read here that it was a good lunch place) at 12:30 pm and into Soarin' FP line at 12:55 pm. (And got MORE FP's) Then BACK over to Screamin' to use the FP's and then into standby line again!! (15-20 minute wait). It was definitely getting hotter!!
We got FP's for Grizzly's River Run with a return time of 4:30 to 5:30pm. Later than we wanted, but oh well.
DH took DS to ride Jumpin Jellyfish while DD and I checked out the Grand Californian Hotel. We met up at Soarin to use the FP's
Then we headed into the Hollywood area. We got stopped on the way in Sunshine Plaza.... the kids got to be in a hula hoop contest run by a band called the "Wave Riders". It was fun, but took a long time. The kids kept getting picked for the "next round". We finally pulled them out. We needed a cool spot to stop for a while, so we headed into the Animation building. The original plan was to do the Animation tour with the hopes of seeing an Incredibles character at the end. Instead we decided to do Turtle Talk with Crush. I believe it had just opened that day. There was a 20 minute wait until the next show, but it was cool and dark, so we plopped on the floor to rest while we waited. I swear, DH fell asleep! The show was nice, but nothing I would need to see more than once.
We got out of the show at 4:00pm and headed into the Sunshine Plaza to get a spot for the Block Party Bash. I had spotted a few benches earlier and decided to stake our our spot on one of these. Well, even 75 minutes before the Bash, every bench was taken. We found a shady spot under a tree and "staked our claim" there. We had Mickey Pops and water while we waited. At least we were in the shade!!
The Bash as neat. DS got a squishy ball that they shot out at the end of the Bash. He was happy with that! It was fun, but nothing I would wait to see a second time... but as this is our last day in CA, that is a non-issue for us anyhow!
We had positioned ourselves for a quick getaway over to GRR to use our FP's after the Bash, but unfortunately GRR was down. They told us to try again in an hour.
At this point we decided to split up. DD and I needed to do some souvenir shopping! DH took DS to California Screamin' again while DD and headed over to DL. There was a long line to get into the park (6pm). We shopped on Main Street a bit and then decided to save most of the purchasing for the end of the night, so we weren't worrying about breakables. Main Street was getting crowded as people were getting ready for the 7pm parade.
We schlepped over to Space Mountain.... no FP's left for the day and the standby time was 90 minutes. So we got FP's for AstroBlasters! We knew that would make the guys happy.
We had trouble finding the shirt the DD had her heart set on, so we decided to try DTD. We ran all the way there and were able to find the shirt in the World of Disney store. At this point I was concerned that there was less than 1 hour left before the Main Street Electrical Parade and I was calling DH, leaving him a message to try to get a spot for us and that we would meet him there. We bought the shirts (I got one too!) and we RAN to the security line to get our bags checked to get back into the parks. At this point I got over my BRAIN CRAMP and realized it was 2 HOURS before the Electrical Parade, so we had plenty of time.
We met the guys at GRR and finally got to ride. We all got splashed and damp, but no one got soaked. The kids got the most wet. But the sun was setting and it was getting cooler and damp shirts wouldn't feel good after dark. We debated between walking back to the hotel (which would have taken at least 45 minutes round trip, considering we would have to go back through security) to get them dry shirts and sweatshirt, or buying shirts there. Well... our tiredness won and the kids each got a $44 sweatshirt out of the deal! But at least they were neat 50th anniversary shirts!! This was the only time during the entire trip that anyone needed anything more than just a t-shirt.
Back to Sunshine Plaza to get a parade spot. The plan is to leave DCA as soon as the parade is finished and head into DL for the fireworks. We got take out dinner at Taste Pilots again, as it was the handiest.
The parade was fun and fairly long, but IMHO it is no SpectroMagic! (Guess I am just a WDW girl at heart!). After the parade we emptied the locker (9:20pm) and thought we'd head into DL for the fireworks. Well, so did everyone else!! The fireworks could be seen but not heard from the esplanade, so we got in line for DL. We saw/heard the end of the fireworks from the trainstation area. Then we fought the crowds going up Main Street (we ducked into the first store and worked our way up Main Street going through the stores.... it worked well!).
Tomorrowland was a MOB SCENE!! We used our FP's for AstroBlasters and said good-bye to DL and the castle and headed back to Main Street to do our shopping. The stores were crowded. The lines weren't too long, but it seemed to take the cashiers FOREVER to wrap everyone's purchases. DS fell asleep on the floor near my feet while I was in line getting my purchases wrapped. I swear, DH fell asleep standing up!! I think DD and I were running on adrenaline and caffeine! We headed out of the park and were in the hotel by 11pm. Everyone else went straight to bed. (Personally, I would have pushed myself to stay in the park that one last hour, and I think DD would have also, but DS and DH were done in and worn out. I felt it was the responsible thing to do to leave with them at 11pm.)
I stayed up to finish the packing and went to the front desk to have our boarding passes printed for the next morning. Off to LAX in the morning.
........LOOK FOR MY REPORT OVERVIEW LATER...........P
Friday, July 15, 2005
We slept in a bit after last night's late Fantasmic show. We arrived at the Disneyland gates at 8:15am. They had special park maps for the day commemorating the Grand Opening of Space Mountain. The lines were long-ish. We went straight over to Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters to see if we could use last night's FP's, as it never was up again during our FP time the night before. It was still down this morning, but they signed our FP's so that we could use them any time during the day.
Over to check out Space Mountain... the CM's were telling people that Space Mtn was not opening to the general public (standby or FP machines) until after 11am. The opening ceremony/press event was scheduled for 10 am. (We had seen the tables set up for the press event the night before.) DH and kids rode Astro Orbiter (I'm afraid of heights, so once was enough for me!) We criss-crossed over to Frontierland for BTMRR (again???) we were in line at 8:55 am with a 5 minute wait. We rode twice and then back over to AstroBlasters. It was back online so we rode with our FP's from last night. We were just walking away from Buzz on our way out of the park to head over to DCA when a pretty CM named Stephanie stopped us. She asked where we were going and we told her over to DCA. She asked if we would like to be part of the SPACE MOUNTAIN OPENING CEREMONY and see Neal Armstrong!! I think I was a bit speechless!! The family all agreed to this and we were off with her. She grabbed another family along the way and we got to enter the upper platform of the Space Mountain waiting area through "Cast Member Only" doors!! We were behind the "official" press, but we were able to see the DL president (?? can't remember his name) and Neal Armstrong and Mickey Mouse!! Mickey presented Neal Armstrong with a plaque, etc. I'm sure my kids are too young to appreciate this moment, but they were excited we got to ride Space Mtn again with almost no line!!! We got interviewed by Fox 11 News because we were so excited and hi-fiving each other in line! The ride was great and we bought the ride photo. Too bad it doesn't say something commemorating that it was a press event or something.
After that we headed over to DCA, about an hour or so behind schedule. We got a locker for our ride photo, got FP for Soarin', got in the standby line for Soarin with a 25 minute wait. DS was complaining/whining again about being "terrified" but I was able to get him to ride and he loved it... said it was "cool!".
Over to California Screamin'... DH and kids got in line at 11:54.... I waited until 12 exactly so that I could get FP's for Screamin'. I got the FP's and caught up with my family in line. Standby line showed 35 minute wait, but actual wait time was under 20 minutes. We LOVED the coaster!!
Back over to Taste Pilots for lunch (I had read here that it was a good lunch place) at 12:30 pm and into Soarin' FP line at 12:55 pm. (And got MORE FP's) Then BACK over to Screamin' to use the FP's and then into standby line again!! (15-20 minute wait). It was definitely getting hotter!!
We got FP's for Grizzly's River Run with a return time of 4:30 to 5:30pm. Later than we wanted, but oh well.
DH took DS to ride Jumpin Jellyfish while DD and I checked out the Grand Californian Hotel. We met up at Soarin to use the FP's
Then we headed into the Hollywood area. We got stopped on the way in Sunshine Plaza.... the kids got to be in a hula hoop contest run by a band called the "Wave Riders". It was fun, but took a long time. The kids kept getting picked for the "next round". We finally pulled them out. We needed a cool spot to stop for a while, so we headed into the Animation building. The original plan was to do the Animation tour with the hopes of seeing an Incredibles character at the end. Instead we decided to do Turtle Talk with Crush. I believe it had just opened that day. There was a 20 minute wait until the next show, but it was cool and dark, so we plopped on the floor to rest while we waited. I swear, DH fell asleep! The show was nice, but nothing I would need to see more than once.
We got out of the show at 4:00pm and headed into the Sunshine Plaza to get a spot for the Block Party Bash. I had spotted a few benches earlier and decided to stake our our spot on one of these. Well, even 75 minutes before the Bash, every bench was taken. We found a shady spot under a tree and "staked our claim" there. We had Mickey Pops and water while we waited. At least we were in the shade!!
The Bash as neat. DS got a squishy ball that they shot out at the end of the Bash. He was happy with that! It was fun, but nothing I would wait to see a second time... but as this is our last day in CA, that is a non-issue for us anyhow!
We had positioned ourselves for a quick getaway over to GRR to use our FP's after the Bash, but unfortunately GRR was down. They told us to try again in an hour.
At this point we decided to split up. DD and I needed to do some souvenir shopping! DH took DS to California Screamin' again while DD and headed over to DL. There was a long line to get into the park (6pm). We shopped on Main Street a bit and then decided to save most of the purchasing for the end of the night, so we weren't worrying about breakables. Main Street was getting crowded as people were getting ready for the 7pm parade.
We schlepped over to Space Mountain.... no FP's left for the day and the standby time was 90 minutes. So we got FP's for AstroBlasters! We knew that would make the guys happy.
We had trouble finding the shirt the DD had her heart set on, so we decided to try DTD. We ran all the way there and were able to find the shirt in the World of Disney store. At this point I was concerned that there was less than 1 hour left before the Main Street Electrical Parade and I was calling DH, leaving him a message to try to get a spot for us and that we would meet him there. We bought the shirts (I got one too!) and we RAN to the security line to get our bags checked to get back into the parks. At this point I got over my BRAIN CRAMP and realized it was 2 HOURS before the Electrical Parade, so we had plenty of time.
We met the guys at GRR and finally got to ride. We all got splashed and damp, but no one got soaked. The kids got the most wet. But the sun was setting and it was getting cooler and damp shirts wouldn't feel good after dark. We debated between walking back to the hotel (which would have taken at least 45 minutes round trip, considering we would have to go back through security) to get them dry shirts and sweatshirt, or buying shirts there. Well... our tiredness won and the kids each got a $44 sweatshirt out of the deal! But at least they were neat 50th anniversary shirts!! This was the only time during the entire trip that anyone needed anything more than just a t-shirt.
Back to Sunshine Plaza to get a parade spot. The plan is to leave DCA as soon as the parade is finished and head into DL for the fireworks. We got take out dinner at Taste Pilots again, as it was the handiest.
The parade was fun and fairly long, but IMHO it is no SpectroMagic! (Guess I am just a WDW girl at heart!). After the parade we emptied the locker (9:20pm) and thought we'd head into DL for the fireworks. Well, so did everyone else!! The fireworks could be seen but not heard from the esplanade, so we got in line for DL. We saw/heard the end of the fireworks from the trainstation area. Then we fought the crowds going up Main Street (we ducked into the first store and worked our way up Main Street going through the stores.... it worked well!).
Tomorrowland was a MOB SCENE!! We used our FP's for AstroBlasters and said good-bye to DL and the castle and headed back to Main Street to do our shopping. The stores were crowded. The lines weren't too long, but it seemed to take the cashiers FOREVER to wrap everyone's purchases. DS fell asleep on the floor near my feet while I was in line getting my purchases wrapped. I swear, DH fell asleep standing up!! I think DD and I were running on adrenaline and caffeine! We headed out of the park and were in the hotel by 11pm. Everyone else went straight to bed. (Personally, I would have pushed myself to stay in the park that one last hour, and I think DD would have also, but DS and DH were done in and worn out. I felt it was the responsible thing to do to leave with them at 11pm.)
I stayed up to finish the packing and went to the front desk to have our boarding passes printed for the next morning. Off to LAX in the morning.
........LOOK FOR MY REPORT OVERVIEW LATER...........P
