WonkaKid
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2009
- Messages
- 4,718
I just got in from the park (Memorial Day). I arrived at rope drop (barely) and I could already tell it would be a busy day. My day ended around 1:00 and the cars queuing for the garage were backed up to the exit ramp and then some. Glad I bailed when I did.
I didn't go to the park yesterday as I usually do. I wasn't feeling well, DL opened at 9:00 and a few other people I knew were going today instead of yesterday. All good reasons to wait until today. However, I got a slightly late start and after traveling seven miles, I realized that I'd forgotten my wallet at home. Great. My fragile hope of making rope drop was shattred. By the time I returned home, snatched my wallet and headed back to the park, I was decidedly late. I nearly always make rope drop in plenty of time. Today, however, I got out of my car in the garage -- parked all the way at the back -- at 7:44. There was no way I'd even come close to making rope drop. Right? Well, luck was on my side (in truth, it often is). Security and the tram were a breeze as was the main gate. I made it to the rope and met up with my friends with mere seconds to spare. Despite all of the challenges, I still made it. But that explains why you won't see any "First in the park!" pics today.
Incidentally, being relegated to such a far-flung parking spot had one advantage. When I got in my car to leave, I simply took a left turn and in 15 feet I was on the exit ramp. Couldn't have been easier.
Many other things went well today. I broke 2M on both guns on Buzz, however it seems that I went over by one lousy shot on the right gun and my score reset. That was my last ride of the day, too. I can't think of a better way to end my visit.
One guy approached me towards the Buzz exit (where the high scores are displayed). He asked if I was Rob. It turns out that he was MIK (Mike), as seen in the Buzz scoreboard pic below. We talked about Buzz and many other things, traded strategies, etc. Cool guy and it was nice to meet another Buzz fanatic.
Mike told me a cool/interesting story. For years, his uncle told him that he'd been the second person into the park on opening day, 1955. Recently he saw a DL doc on PBS. To his great surprise, he saw a quick clip on people passing through the gate. Seems that his uncle's story checked out. He saw him as he came through the gate second. Apparently the guy immediately ahead of him -- Dave MacPherson -- was given a lifetime pass that he still uses.
Pics below.
It's still duckling season in the park.
In the two pics below from the Buzz queue, I've often questioned these scores. Since real scores can only end in zeroes, I've wondered in the past if they were semi-hidden references to Imagineers' birthdays. Seems plausible. 11-21-64 and 02-04-64. Any thoughts?
Broke 2M on both guns (a rarity: only happens to me about once per dozen visits).
My 2,090,900 score was earned on my last ride of the day. If you have to leave the park, I can think of worse ways of doing it ;-).
This is the ride on which I broke 2M on both guns but slightly exceeded 2,096,000 on the right one, at which point your score resets. Always supremely frustrating.
Lastly, the state of the SWL construction.
I didn't go to the park yesterday as I usually do. I wasn't feeling well, DL opened at 9:00 and a few other people I knew were going today instead of yesterday. All good reasons to wait until today. However, I got a slightly late start and after traveling seven miles, I realized that I'd forgotten my wallet at home. Great. My fragile hope of making rope drop was shattred. By the time I returned home, snatched my wallet and headed back to the park, I was decidedly late. I nearly always make rope drop in plenty of time. Today, however, I got out of my car in the garage -- parked all the way at the back -- at 7:44. There was no way I'd even come close to making rope drop. Right? Well, luck was on my side (in truth, it often is). Security and the tram were a breeze as was the main gate. I made it to the rope and met up with my friends with mere seconds to spare. Despite all of the challenges, I still made it. But that explains why you won't see any "First in the park!" pics today.
Incidentally, being relegated to such a far-flung parking spot had one advantage. When I got in my car to leave, I simply took a left turn and in 15 feet I was on the exit ramp. Couldn't have been easier.
Many other things went well today. I broke 2M on both guns on Buzz, however it seems that I went over by one lousy shot on the right gun and my score reset. That was my last ride of the day, too. I can't think of a better way to end my visit.
One guy approached me towards the Buzz exit (where the high scores are displayed). He asked if I was Rob. It turns out that he was MIK (Mike), as seen in the Buzz scoreboard pic below. We talked about Buzz and many other things, traded strategies, etc. Cool guy and it was nice to meet another Buzz fanatic.
Mike told me a cool/interesting story. For years, his uncle told him that he'd been the second person into the park on opening day, 1955. Recently he saw a DL doc on PBS. To his great surprise, he saw a quick clip on people passing through the gate. Seems that his uncle's story checked out. He saw him as he came through the gate second. Apparently the guy immediately ahead of him -- Dave MacPherson -- was given a lifetime pass that he still uses.
Pics below.
It's still duckling season in the park.
In the two pics below from the Buzz queue, I've often questioned these scores. Since real scores can only end in zeroes, I've wondered in the past if they were semi-hidden references to Imagineers' birthdays. Seems plausible. 11-21-64 and 02-04-64. Any thoughts?
Broke 2M on both guns (a rarity: only happens to me about once per dozen visits).
My 2,090,900 score was earned on my last ride of the day. If you have to leave the park, I can think of worse ways of doing it ;-).
This is the ride on which I broke 2M on both guns but slightly exceeded 2,096,000 on the right one, at which point your score resets. Always supremely frustrating.
Lastly, the state of the SWL construction.
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